Bioscience Student Responses 2

Bioscience- Student Responses to Various Science Podcasts
Student
Institutional Affiliation

Response to Supercool by Lorien
The crystallization of liquids into solids is not a myth. It begins with a process known as supercooling, as you explained correctly in your article. Supercooling is the process that describes how liquids maintain their metastable equilibrium even below their freezing point temperatures (Schulli et al., 2010). This is only possible with the absence of a nucleator or seed (impurities) in the liquid that would make it freeze over.
You explained what I believe to be a myth about a lake that freezes over entombing horses that were escaping a fire. The story is told by Jad Abumrad, and Robert Krulwich in their science experiments podcast Radiolab. They host Walter Murch, a cosmology enthusiast who read the story of the horses by author Carl Sagan of France. The story does contain some facts, although I doubt whether they were applicable in the scenario. Whereas the introduction of a seed into a supercooled liquid causes it to crystallize, it is doubtful that the lake lacked any impurities at all. Under ideal conditions, the lake would have frozen over with the horses acting as nucleators. However, it is highly unlikely that that would be the case with all the impurities in the atmosphere.
Response to Antibodies Part 1: CRISPR by Daniel
You chose a podcast on CRISPR, a gene modification system that can edit the genetic codes at specific junctures. Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) works by attaching itself to DNA strands at particular intervals, thus altering their genetic function.

Using this system, scientists can modify the genetic composition of living organisms and take corrective measures.
CRISPR technology is used in the treatment of genetic diseases like mental illnesses, and for research in genetically mutating conditions like cancer. CRISPR acts as bacterial antibodies, the micro-organisms responsible for protecting us from infections. They do this by deciphering into RNA sequences that are capable of targeting specific DNA strands. On reaching the target strand, CRISPR infused RNA can either cut or modify their genetic function (Plumer et al., 2018). Also, you correctly said that some people are opposed to this kind of technology. The argument is that the system is capable of cloning or altering the human DNA cell, and is, therefore, vulnerable to sabotage. Since the system can cut out or rearrange large sections of the human DNA strand, it is thought that CRISPR can trigger certain types of cancers.
Response to “From Tree to Shining Tree” by Cole
You write about the existence of the Wood Wide Web, a network of hair-thin fungal tubes that connect plants. Although many fungi strands are regarded as harmful parasites that cause diseases to plants, it has been discovered that certain fungi are beneficial, helping plants to communicate and trade with each other.
This particular fungus sends the tubular strands called hyphae which combine with the roots of plants to form a mycorrhiza, a complex web of a communication system (Macfarlane, 2016). The mycorrhiza and the plants exist in a symbiotic relationship, where the plants get nutrients from the soil like nitrogen and phosphorus through enzymes contained within the hyphae. The fungi, in turn, obtain food in the form of carbon sugars that the plants form through photosynthesis. The mycorrhiza also serves as a distribution and communication channel, through which plants transfer vital nutrients among themselves and send warnings throughout the network in times of danger. For instance, a tree can warn another tree to raise its immune system in case of an aphids’ attack. A bigger tree could help distribute vital nutrients to younger seedlings trapped under the canopy.

References
Schulli, T.U. Et al. (2010). Experimental explanation of supercooling: Why water does not freeze in the clouds. Retrieved from: http://www.esrf.eu/news/general-old/general-2010/supercoolingPlumer, B., Barclay, E., Belluz, J., & Irfan, U. (2018). A simple guide to CRISPR, one of the biggest science stories of the decade. Retrieved from: https://www.vox.com/2018/7/23/17594864/crispr-cas9-gene-editingMacfarlane, R., (2016). The Secrets of the Wood Wide Web. Retrieved from: https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/the-secrets-of-the-wood-wide-web