Caffeine Buzz

In Honors Biology this week, we will begin organic chemistry.  I like to start my morning with a cup of coffee and while enjoying my coffee this morning, I started thinking about the organic structure of caffeine.

Apparently, I am not the only organism that works a little harder after a cup of coffee.  Read the following article.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/10/151015131835.htm

What do you think?  Do you think the bees would react to other addictive chemicals?  Is this why Starbucks has a hold on the coffee drinking public?  When I was in high school, no one drank coffee before school, but now I see students every morning walk into school carrying a Starbucks.  Are bees just like teenagers?  Do teenagers really need the caffeine?  In a scholarly paragraph, summarize the article, provide your own opinion, and comment on the caffeine habit of today's teens.

And the Award Goes To ....

Last week, the 2015 winners of the Nobel Prizes were announced.  The 2015 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine was awarded to three different scientists for their work with parasites.  How cool is that!

From the Nobel Prize website:
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2015 was divided, one half jointly to William C. Campbell and Satoshi Ōmura "for their discoveries concerning a novel therapy against infections caused by roundworm parasites" and the other half to Youyou Tu "for her discoveries concerning a novel therapy against Malaria".

I love the fact that we just studied parasites and now the Nobel Prize for medicine went to three different scientists that have devoted their lives to studying these organisms.  I did learn a lot of interesting information about the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine....

        106 Nobel Prizes in Physiology or Medicine have been awarded from 1901-2015.
          12 women have won the prize so far.
          32 years was the age of the youngest Medicine Laureate ever, Frederick G. Banting, 
               who was awarded the 1923 Medicine Prize for the discovery of insulin.
          87 years was the age of the oldest Medicine Laureate ever, Peyton Rous, when he was
               awarded the Medicine Prize in 1966 for his discovery of tumor-inducing viruses.
       

This week I want you to go on the official website of the Nobel Prize and pick one former or current Nobel Prize winner to write about.  Ideally, I would love for there to be no repeats.  Use the website to pick a winner and then give a brief synopsis of that person's life and contribution to society.  The winner does not have to be a Medicine or Physiology Prize winner as there are also awards for Physics, Peace, Chemistry, Literature, and Economic Sciences.  In a scholarly paragraph, (at the very least five sentences long with proper spelling, capitalization and punctuation) present a biography and a reason why they won the award.

http://www.nobelprize.org/

GMO....Giant Modified Ordeal?

In a week when we are studying population ecology and different growth models, I thought it was totally appropriate that GMOs hit the news-stands across the country.  (Not to mention the fact that our big debate last week included GMOs, over-population and the energy crisis.)

This week in Time magazine:

Over Half of E.U. Countries Are Opting Out of GMOs

This week in Fortune magazine:
The GMO controversy: Time to move on?

From the Kokomo, Indiana Herald newspaper:

Myths behind genetically modified foods

In a scholarly response, I want you to summarize what you read in one of these articles.  What I would like even better.....would be for you to find me another legitimate article and post that article on the blog.  Copy the URL and put it at the beginning of your blog response.  Then write your paragraph.  What did you read?  What do you think?  Will GMOs help solve the problem of world hunger?  Should companies be required to label their products that contain GMOs?  Are GMOs any worse for humans that the pesticides and chemicals that are already being used on different agriculture products?  Would you feed your kids GMOs or would you try to avoid them?