CHAP 1.

The Information Age 220 BC

Society  Chinese small seal writing was developed

 Highly modernized, automated, data-driven, 100AD

and technologically advanced
 Book (parchment codex)
Information
105AD
 knowledge communicated or obtained
concerning a specific fact or circumstance  Woodblock printing and paper was invented
by the Chinese
Information Age
1455
 defined as a “period starting in the last
quarter of the 20th century when information  Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing
became effortlessly accessible through press using movable metal type
publications and through the management of 1755
information by computers and computer
networks”  Samuel Johnson's dictionary standardized
 conveying symbolic information among English Spelling
humans has evolved with increasing speed
1802
 Digital Age and New Media Age

James R. Messenger  The Library of Congress was established

 proposed the Theory of Information Age in
1982
 defined Information Age as the “true new
age based upon the interconnection of
computers via telecommunications, with
these information systems operating on both
real-time and as-needed basis. Furthermore,
the primary factors driving this new age
forward are convenience and user-
friendliness which, in turn, will create user
dependence
 Invention of the carbon are lamp
1824
 Research on the persistence of vision
published
1830’s
 First viable design for a digital computer
 Augusta Lady Byron writes the world's first
computer program

History 1837

3000BC  Invention of the telegraph in Great Britain

and the United States
 Summerian Writing system used pictograph
to represent words 1861

2900BC  Motion pictures were projected onto a

screen
 Beginnings of Egyptian hieroglyphic writing
1876
1300BC
 Samuel Johnson's dictionary standardized
 Tortoise shell and oracle bone writing were English Spelling
used
1877
500BC
 The Library of Congress was established
 Papyrus roll was used
  Invention of the carbon are lamp 1960’s

1899  Library of Congress developed LC MARC

(machine-readable code)
 Research on persistence of vision published
1969
1902
 UNIX operating system was developed,
 Motion picture special effects were used which could handle multi-tasking
1906 1971
 Lee DeForest invented the electronic  Intel introduced the first microprocessor
amplifying tube (triode) chip
1923 1972
 Television camera tube was invented by  Optical laserdisc was developed by Philips
Zvorkyn and MCA
1926 1974
 First practical sound movie  MCA and Philips agreed on a standard
1939 videodisc encoding format

1975
 Regularly scheduled television broadcasting
began in the US  Altair Microcomputer kit was released: first
1940’s personal computer for the public

1977
 Beginnings of information science as a
discipline  RadioShack introduced the first complete
1945 personal computer

1984
 Vannevar Bush foresaw the invention of
hypertext  Apple Macintosh computer was introduced
1946 MID 1980s
 ENIAC computer was developed  Artificial Intelligence was separated from
1948 information science

1987
 Birth of field-of-information theory
proposed by Claude E. Shannon  Hypercard was developed by Bill Atkinson
1957 recipe box metaphor

1991
 Planar transistor was developed by Jean
Hoerni  Four hundred fifty complete works of
1958 literature on one CD-ROM was released

JANUARY 1997
 First integrated circuit
 RSA (encryption and network security
software) internet security code cracked for
a 48-bit number
1980’s
 real angst set in Richard Wurman called it
Information Anxiety
1990’s
 information become the currency in the
business world
 information- preferred medium of exchange;
information managers- information officers
1. Desktop computer. A PC is not described
for portability. A workstation is simply a
desktop computer that has a more powerful
processor, storage, and power, than portable
ones.
2. Laptops. Portable computers that integrate
the essentials of a dc in a battery-powered
package- usually called notebooks.
3. Personal Digital Assistants. Tightly
integrated computers that have no
keyboards.
4. Server. Computer improved to provide
network services to other computers. Has
large hard drives.
5. Mainframes. Huge computer system that
can fill an entire room. Used by large firms.
Now called centerprise server.
6. Wearable computers. Involve materials
usually integrated into cellphones, watches,
and other small objects.
WORLD WIDE WEB
Claude E. Shannon
 origin of the Internet
 Father of Information Technology
 worked at Bell Laboratories at the age 32
 published a paper positioning that
information can be quantitatively encoded as
a sequence of ones and zeroes
Internet
 developed during 1970s by the Department
of Defense
 remained under government control until
1984
 worldwide system of interconnected
networks that facilitate data transmission
 development of fiber-optic cables allowed
for billions of bits of information to be
received every minute
 Intel developed faster microprocessors so
personal computers could process the
incoming signals at a more rapid rate
Google
• founded by Sergey Brin and Larry Page
• launched in 1998
• the world’s most popular search engine,
accepting more than 200 queries daily
New Forms of Communication
 electronic mail
 America online and compuserve
 Surfing the New
 Bill gates: Microsoft
 Steve Jobs: Apple
 Mark Zuckerberg: Facebook
Applications of Computers in Science and
Technology
 Bioinformatics. It is the application of
information technology to store, organize,
and analyze vast amount of biological data
which is available in the form of sequences
and structures of proteins— the building
blocks of organisms and nucleic acids— the
information carrier (Madan, n.d.)
 SWISS-PROT Protein Sequence
Database. It was established in 1896 and
was collaboratively managed since 1897 by
the Department of Medical Biochemistry of
the University of Geneva and the EMBL
Data Library. Contains about 70,000 protein
sequences from more than 5,000 model
organisms.
SOFTWARES FOR ANALYSIS
Blast
 Basic Local Alignment Search Tool
 Used for comparing sequences
Annotator
● An interactive genome analysis tool
GeneFinder
● Tool to identify coding regions and splice
sites
HUMAN GENOME RESEARCH PROJECT
● Initiated in 1988
● Initially proposed by Dr. Alvin Trivelpiece
but when it began, was led by David Galas
and James Watson.
● Its completion was formally announced on
June 26, 2000.
● It involved more than 500 million trillion
calculations in the process of assembling the
sequence alone.
● It is regarded as the biggest exercise in the
history of computational biology.
BIOINFORMATICS AND
PHARMACOGENOMICS
● Pharmacogenomics- study of genes and
their effects on medicine (Garvan Institute
of Medical Research)
BIOINFORMATICS AND PLANT
BIOTECHNOLOGY
● Plant Biotechnology- involves the use of
scientific tools and techniques that allows
for screening and manipulation of genetic
components of plants to develop beneficial
or useful plant/plant products (Kalia, 2018.)
HOW TO CHECK THE RELIABILITY OF
WEB SOURCES
1. Who is the author of the article/site?
How to find out?
a. Does the author provide his or her
credentials?
b. What type of expertise does he or
she have on the subject he or she is
writing about?
c. What type of experience does he or
she have? Should you trust his or
her knowledge of the subject?
d. What kind of websites are
associated with the authors?
e. Do commercial sites come up?
2. Who published the site?
How to find out?
 Look at the domain name of the website.
o Ex. http://www.lee.edu/library
(“lee.edu”) is the domain name.
 The site provides information about the
owners registered domain name.
 Do not ignore the suffix on the domain
name.
 Here are some examples:
o .edu = educational
o .com = commercial
o .mil = military
o .gov = government
o .org = nonprofit
3. What is the main purpose of the site? Why
did the author write it and why did the
publisher post it?
 To sell a product?
 As a personal hobby?
 As public service?
 To further scholarship on a topic?
 To provide general information on a
topic?
 To persuade you of a particular point of
view?
4. Who is the intended audience?
 Scholars or the general public?
 Which age group is it written for?
 Is it aimed at people from a particular
geographic area?
 Is it aimed at members of a particular
profession or with specific training?
5. What is the quality of information provided
on the website?
 Timeliness: When was the website first
published? Is it regularly updated? Check
for dates at the bottom of each page on the
site.
 Does the author cite sources? Just as in print
sources, web sources that cite their sources
are considered more reliable.
 What type of other sites does the website
link to? Are they reputable sites?
 What types of sites link to the website you
are evaluating? Is the website being cited by
others?
EXAMPLES OF USEFUL AND RELIABLE CHAP 2. Biodiversity and The Healthy Society.
WEB SOURCE
BIODIVERSITY & ECOSYSTEM
1. AFA e-Newsletter (Alzheimer’s foundation
of American Newsletter)  vast variety of life form in the entire earth.
2. American Memory  the variability among living organisms from
3. Bartleby.Com Great Books Online all sources, including terrestrial, marine and
4. Chronicling America other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological
5. Cyber Bullying complexes of which they are part.
6. Drug Information Websitre  the source of the essential goods and
 National Library of Medicine’s ecological services that continue the source
MedlinePlus of life for ail and it has direct consumptive
 Drugs.com value in food, agriculture, medicine, and
 PDRhealth industry.
7. Global Gateaway:  Understanding biodiversity within the
Word Culture& Resources concept of ecosystem needs a thorough
8. Google Books study on the relationship of the biotic, the
9. Googlescholar.com living organisms and the abiotic, nonliving
10. History Sites with Primary Documents organisms.
 AMDOCS  Sustainability of the ecosystem ensures a
 Avalon Project better survival rate against any natural
disaster.
 Internet Modern History Sourcebook:
Colonial Latin America  Remember, people will always depend on
biodiversity on the wholeness of our being
 Teacher’s Oz’s Kingdom of History
and in our daily lives.
11. Illinois Digital Archives
12. Internet Archives  If we fail to keep the process of taking care
the ecosystem, it is us who are actually
13. Internet Archive for CARLI digitized putting our lives at risk.
resources
CHANGES IN BIODIVERSITY
14. Internet Public Library
 Alteration in any system could bring varied
15. ip12 effects. A change in biodiversity could have
erratic effects not only in wildlife or marine
16. Librarians’ Internet Index life but also in human being. Biodiversity is
17. Making of America declining rapidly due to land use change,
climate change, invasive species,
18. Maps overexploitation, and pollution.
 These result from demographic, economic,
19. NationMaster
sociopolitical, cultural, technological, and
20. Nursing sites: other indirect drivers.

 AHRQ How humans affect biodiversity?

 National Guidelines Clearinghouse  Deforestation, habitat destruction, and

urbanization- which can reduce the space
 PubMed and resources available for organisms/
 Agricultural activities- which can remove
21. Project Gutenberg
native species from land for livestock and
22. Shmoop crops for human.
 Overfishing- creates an imbalance that can
23. StateMaster erode the food web and lead to a loss of
24. Virtual Reference
 other important marine life, including
vulnerable species like sea turtles and corals.
THREATS
1. Habitat loss and destruction.
 Major contributing factor is the inhabitation
of human beings and the use of land for
economic gains.
2. Alteration in ecosystem composition.
 Alteration and sudden changes, either within
species groups or within the environment,
could begin to change entire ecosystem.
Alterations in ecosystem are a critical factor
contributing to species and habitat loss.
3. Over-exploitation.
 Over hunting, overfishing, or over collecting
of species can quickly lead to its decline.
Changing consumption patterns of human is
often cited as the key reason for this
unsustainable exploitation of natural
resources.
4. Pollution and contamination.
 Biological system responds slowly to
changes in their surrounding environment.
Pollution and contaminator, cause
irreversible damage to species and varieties.
5. Global climate change.
 Both climate variability and climate change
cause biodiversity loss. Species and
population may be lost permanently if they
are not provided with enough time to adapt
to changing climatic conditions.
CONSEQUENCE OF BIODIVERSITY LOSS
Biodiversity loss can have significant direct human
health impacts if ecosystem services are no longer
adequate to meet social needs.
• Outline. Intact ecosystem function
best since the organism composing
them are specialized to function in
that ecosystem to Capture,
Transfer, Utilize and Ultimately,
lose both energy and nutrients.
Nutritional Impact of Biodiversity
 Biodiversity is a vital element of a human
being’s nutrition – WHO
 Biodiversity is a major factor that
contributes to sustainable food production
for human beings.
 Access to a sufficiency of a nutritious
variety of food is a fundamental determinant
of health.
Nutrition and Biodiversity
 The ecosystem w/food production as an
ecosystem service
 The species in the ecosystem; and
 The generic diversity w/in species
o Nutritional composition (varieties,
cultivars, breed) affects
micronutrient availability in the
diet.
o Healthy local diets (nutrients
intake, high biodiversity levels)
o Enhanced food production affect
biodiversity, impact global
nutritional status & human health.
o Habitat simplification as a function
of environmental receptivity to ill
health (WHO, 2007)
Health, Biology, and Biodiversity
Basic Needs- Basic needs of living organisms such as
air, water, food, and habitat are provided by its
environment.
Environmental Hazards
• PHYSICAL
• Pollution,
• Toxic chemicals, and
• Food contaminants
• SOCIAL
• Dangerous work,
• Poor housing conditions,
• Urban sprawl, and
• Poverty
 • UNSAFE DRINKING WATER AND According to experts, climate change could also have
POOR SANITATION AND HYGIENE a serious impact on human health and could
deteriorate farming system and reduce nutrients in
• Schistosomiasis, some foods.
• Diarrhea, Many of the issues at the intersection of health and
• Cholera, the environment have to do with managing benefits
and risks.
• Meningitis, and
• Pesticides play an important role in
• Gastritis increasing crop yields, but they can also
pose hazards to human health and
Did you know? In 2015, approximately 350,000
environment.
children under the age of five (mostly in the
developing world) died from diarrheal diseases • Energy production and use help sustain
related to unsafe drinking water, and approximately human life, but can also pose hazards to
1.8 billion people used drinking water contaminated human health and environment.
with feces.
• No issue demands greater care in balancing
ENVIRONMENT-RELATED ILLNESSES benefits and risks than global warming.
• Parkinson’s disease • Managing benefits and risks also raises
social justice concerns.
• Heart disease
VULNERABLE SUBPOPULATION
• Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
 Is a group with an increased susceptibility to
• Asthma, diabetes
the adverse effects of an environmental risk
• Obesity factor, due to their age, genetics, health
status, or some other conditions.
• Cancer  Various public health strategies pit the rights
of individuals against the good of society,
• Occupational injuries,
such as mandatory treatment, vaccination, or
• Dysentery diagnostic testing; isolation and quarantine;
and disease surveillance.
• Arthritis,  Human rights issues also come up with
• Malaria, and research on environmental health that
involves human subject.
• Depression  Since the late 1990s , some pesticide
companies have tested their products on
Activities that promote health and extend human
human subjects to gather data to submit to
life could have adverse environmental effects:
the government for regulatory purposes.
• Food production causes environmental  Mitigating plan and a workable plan of
damage from pesticides and fertilizers action should be studied in order to not
compromise biodiversity, while at the same
• Soil salinization time, promote good health among the
society.
• Waste produced by livestock

• Carbon emissions from food manufacturing

and transportation

• Deforestation

• Overfishing