Horgan Seminar Blog

“Clustered regularly interspaced palindromic repeats”, or CRISPR, are sequences found in bacterial genomes that indicate previous viral attacks. CRISPR and Cas proteins allow bacteria to recognize and disarm future invading viruses [1] . In gene editing, the CRISPR-Cas9 system allows scientists to cut DNA to alter gene expression which treats genetic diseases such as sickle cell anemia and cystic fibrosis. In my Cellular and Molecular Biology course, I conducted a CRISPR virtual reality (VR) lab. The purpose of the simulation was to use CRISPR techniques to correct the mutated DNA and cure the individual of sickle cell disease [2] . The simulation began with the affected individual showing the symptoms of extreme pain, paleness, yellow eyes, and weakness. The simulation zoomed into the body starting with the tissue and entering through the bone. The blood vessels were seen and inside, some red blood cells were traveling throughout the vessel. Turning my head, there was a build-up of s...

Green Lies Stacy Shang As the COVID-19 pandemic barrelled onward and the world grappled with an invisible enemy that refused to retreat, a parallel narrative began to unfold—one that emphasized cleanliness as a form of control. Washing hands, sanitizing groceries, and disinfecting every surface in sight became the new rituals of safety. Amidst this heightened awareness, another transformation was quietly taking root. Just as our digital footprints grew deeper, so too did we become aware of the profound carbon footprints we were leaving behind. It seemed logical: a clean home should extend to a clean planet. Eager to do my part, I ventured into the realm of eco-friendly and zero-waste living. However, this journey led me to an unexpected crossroad where idealism met reality—where my quest for environmental stewardship collided head-on with the cunning strategies of greenwashing. This experience mirrored the broader skepticism and distrust discussed in FD Flam's "Question Author...

Jia Chen Professor John Horgan HST-401 01/23/2024 How Did ‘Science’ Ruin Science?     Could you imagine the publication of a single scientific finding able to ruin 16 years of scientific research? The spoiler named beta-amyloid was reported by a journal article published in Nature in 2006 ——“A specific amyloid-β [beta-amyloid] protein assembly in the brain impairs memory.” According to the definition of disruptiveness provided by Russell Funk and his coworkers (Flam, 2023), the study which had been cited in over 22000 papers (Pelc, 2022) is definitely disruptive and had a huge impact on Alzheimer's research. However, in August 2021, an investigation by Science was undergone after receiving Matthew Schrag’s whistleblowing with his suspicions on image tampering of Sylvain Lesné’s experimental data. As a result, hundreds of images in Sylvain Lesné’s papers were confirmed with apparent alteration and duplication including those used for proving the famous discovery of beta-amyloid...

 Sarah Geiselhart “You know, the Democrats created the idea of global warming to try and demonize the Republicans…” If this sounds like a conspiracy theory, that’s because it is. This and other choice tidbits of misinformation are all that seem to come out of my father’s mouth since he discovered YouTube. One day it’s “Dr. X told me masks don’t work,” and the next “Dr. Y said the COVID vaccine is made from aborted fetal cells.” If a statement fits his favored politician’s agenda and is uttered by someone with a hint of a scientific background, it’s cemented in his mind as the truth – regardless of how outlandish it may seem. When my father first started spouting these “revelations” I had assumed he was anti-science and accused him of such. He denied this with great offense. After all, how could he be anti-science if all his information comes from scientists? According to Yale law and psychology professor Daniel Kahan, Americans (like my father) are not anti-science and pl...

  Nicole Assante Professor Horgan HST 401 – A 1 Jan. 2024 What’s the Fascination with the Dark Things? Modern day news outlets are infamous for flooding the headlines with morbid and dark stories. Nestled at the bottom of news websites, one can find possibly pleasant articles to read. Looking back at news in 2023, the ones that held headlines pertained to war, politics, economists. Most of which were not pleasant articles to read. But why is modern news so dark? There cannot be only bad things happening around the world, although it seems that there are. What is it about negative information that keeps humans in a chokehold with the news. Contrarily, I can say that when scouring news websites, the most interesting news comes from the maybe not so good stories. However, the constant flooding of negative information does have a negative effect on my own mental health. On average, there are about 2 to 3 million news articles published every day . According to a study b...

  Brisnid Pardo The Truth About Science is That There Really is No Truth at All Picture yourself as one of Earth’s earliest humans; you live in a world with no civilization, no societies, no language, and no information about how things work. How would you explain what actions you take to survive? Humans, for the most part, are logical thinkers and most often feel the need to make sense of the world around them. Our perception of reality has played a significant role in shaping our society. Take the concept of time, for instance. Timekeeping devices have been traced back to as early as 1500BC when Ancient Egyptians used sundials. Ancient Romans created an eight-day week that included a day dedicated to buying/selling items, this is described by Kenneth Grattan, a professor of scientific instrumentation at the University of London. Fast forward a bit to 1883, where the US national standard time was adopted to allow for railroads to maintain consistent schedules. From as far back...

  Jack Harrington Professor Horgan HST-401 24 January 2024 Is Science Dying? In an age dominated by technology and new discoveries it is absurd to claim science could be approaching its untimely end. Innovations in various domains of science continue to further our understanding of the world and space around us. However, there are individuals who possess a distrust of these advancements. These feelings run beyond the general public and even extend as far as the scientific community itself. Misconceptions about science can be tied to a variety of sources. General lack of knowledge on a topic, misunderstanding discussed topics, political affiliations, and even groupthink. It is hard to definitively locate the main source of this issue. Flam attributes the general mistrust of science to the ability to find uniformed scientists on both sides of divisive problems. For example, we can observe the scientific discussion surrounding global warming. Scientists are divided about the severity....

  Matthew Feroz Is It OK to Be Wrong? In my own opinion, there is no magic trick for weight loss. If you consume more calories than your necessary daily maintenance, you will gain weight and if you consume less calories than your daily maintenance you will lose weight and yes there are other factors involved but fundamentally this concept is true. This concept is something that I have tried many times to explain to an acquaintance of mine. This specific person will agree with my statements yet continually break the fundamental rule that I put before them and not understand why they are not losing weight. Rather, this person will chew their food and spit it out, drink tea herbal teas infused with diuretics, and pay for expensive meal replacement programs. As an old saying goes, you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make them drink. Let’s reel it in though, I’m not an expert on the matter and the only way that I can prove that I am correct is through using research that has be...

  A i d a n M u n o z   P r o f e s s o r H o rgan   HST 401-A – Seminar in Science Writing   24 Jan 2024   Shadows of the Past: The Scientific Paradox As with every movie and video game series, hardly any sequel can top the caliber of the original. And yet, they continue to gain praise, recognition, and acclaim, maybe even more notable than their predecessors. This is the problem the scientific community is beginning to face. What happens when the overbearing shadows of past discoveries make modern breakthroughs seem minute? What happens to our world when those creative juices that crafted our story come to an end and we deem the secrets of the world “all figured out”? I find that this becomes a prominent point of discussion when, according to a journal from Nature, “disruptive scientific findings” have been on an extremely noticeable decline since 1945. As to be expected, scientists took this finding to be a slight blow to their hard work and careers, as...