UNIVERSITY OF SAINT LOUIS

Tuguegarao City

SCHOOL OF EDUCATION, ARTS, and SCIENCES

Second Semester
A.Y. 2021-2022

CORRESPONDENCE LEARNING MODULE

SCTS 1013 – Science, Technology and Society

Prepared by:

MARVIN B. BACCAY, MST

MARLY I. CANAPI Ph.D.
CZENDRA COMPARES
Course Instructors

Revised by:

KARL OLIVER C. RICARDO

Course Instructor

Reviewed by:

RENZ MARION C. GAVINO, MP

General Education Area Head

Recommended by:

VENUS I. GUYOS, Ph.D.

Academic Dean

Approved by:

EMMANUEL JAMES P. PATTAGUAN, Ph.D.

Vice President for Academics

SCTS 1013 - Science, Technology and Society | 1

 UNIVERSITY PRAYER

O God, wellspring of goodness and blessings, we give you thanks and praise as one Louisian community. The
graces You incessantly grant upon us and Your divine providence have sustained our beloved University
throughout the years of mission and excellence.

Having been founded by the Congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, we pray that You keep us committed
and dedicated to our mission and identity to serve the Church and the society as we become living witnesses to the
Gospel values proclaimed by Jesus. For if we are steadfast in our good and beautiful mission, our works will bring
success not only to ourselves but also to those whom we are bound to love and serve.

Inspired by St. Louis our Patron Saint, who was filled with a noble spirit that stirred him to love You above all things,
may we also live believing that we are born for a greater purpose and mission as we dwell in Your presence all the
days of our life.

Grant all these supplications through the intercession of

Mother Mary and through Christ our Lord. Amen.

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 CORRESPONDENCE LEARNING MODULE
SCTS 1013: Science, Technology and Society
AY 2021-2022

LESSON 8: Current Topics and Issues in STS

Topics: A. The Nano World
B. Gene Therapy (stem cells)

Learning Outcomes: At the end of this module, you are expected to:

1. Discuss the major impacts (both potential and realized} of nanotechnology on society
2. Analyze the issue through the conceptual STS lenses
3. Critique the issue on its costs and benefits to society
4. Describe gene therapy and its various forms
5. Assess the issue’s potential benefits and detriments to global health

Date Topics Activities or Tasks

The Nano World
November 22-
Read Lessons
24
Start Completion of Learning Task
November 25
Teleconferencing Session
November 26
Complete Quiz Worksheet
November 27

November 29 Read Lessons

– December 1 Continue Completion of Learning Task
December 2 Gene Therapy Teleconferencing Session
December 3 Submission of completed worksheets
December 4 and learning task outputs

LEARNING CONTENT
Introduction:

From the steam engines of the First Industrial Revolution, we had found ways to make all of those
technological advancements more efficient and more portable. Electrical sources have been greatly shrunk to
our familiar triple A- batteries. This undertaking of the technological age from the beginning, catalyzed by the
World Wars and the Space Race, has moved into making technological devices portable yet multi-tasking.
Communication, health and medicine, industry, and others benefitted from these improvements. In that sense,
tube-powered computers of the first part of the 20 th century quickly evolved into our mobile phones and watches
that can do things beyond our imagination. But, technology seems to be unsatisfied yet with this concentration.
With that said, scientists and engineers delved into the world of nanotechnology. With this branch of applied
science, humankind reached a new height capacitating itself to make wonders smaller than cells themselves.
With all of these said, we are going to journey in the Nano World in this topic.

As with health, we all know we have been through a lot to get to the health care of today. Many diseases
are now perceived to be treatable and preventable at the very least. Yet, the deadliest of these diseases source
deeply from our very own fundamental instruction book, the DNA and other genetic materials. But with the
continuous research of our biotechnologists and geneticists, it seems a solution is at hand and that is gene
SCTS 1013 - Science, Technology and Society | 3
therapy. Yet, ethical concerns are raised especially of the development of the infamous Human Genome Project.
What are the ethical and moral issues that must be settled in this debate?

Lesson Proper:

The NANO WORLD

The prefix “nano-” has been ingrained in our minds to mean something diminutive. But can we imagine how
tiny a nanometer is? According to the National Nanotechnology Initiative (2020), to imagine the size of a
nanometer here are some examples.
 A sheet of paper is about 100,000 nanometers
thick
 A strand of human DNA is 2.5 nanometers in
diameter
 There are 25,400,000 nanometers in one inch
 A human hair is approximately 80,000-
100,000 nanometers wide
 A single gold atom is about a third of a
nanometer in diameter
 On a comparative scale, if the diameter of a
marble was one nanometer, the diameter of
the Earth would be about one meter
 One nanometer is about as long as your
fingernail grows in one second
 To introduce the topic of Nanotechnology, we
must first define nanotechnology.
Nanotechnology is manipulation of matter with
at least one dimension sized from 1 to 100
nanometers (National Nanotechnology
Initiative, n.d.).

Implications of this are broad and extensive;

from pure sciences like Physics to the greater
direct and obvious connection to mankind like
health and communication. But what could be the
ethical, moral, and ecological problems that could
occur as we continue to use this technology?

https://www.nano.gov/sites/default/files/nanoscale7_0.jpg

I. Potential and Realized Major Impacts of Nanotechnology in the Society

As stated nanotechnology has many uses and could be used in our society. With its direct uses to society,
health seems to be the number one to be given substantial support from this science, for example, surgical
nanobots. Communication and engineering seem to follow in benefit after health. Transfer of information
through nanotubes is being looked into and strong nanomaterials are continuously developed.

SCTS 1013 - Science, Technology and Society | 4

 A. Medicine

https://thumbnails-visually.netdna-ssl.com/15-usages-of-nanotechnology-
in-medicine_56b18834c405a_w900_h800.png

The application of nanotechnology to medicine is called nanomedicine (Freitas,1999). The medical field
has been intrusive to one’s body but nanotechnology is changing the game of medicine. Nanomaterials called
nanoparticles are being used to deliver medicine and RNA vaccine to fundamental parts of the body. These
same nanoparticles are being utilized to diagnose diseases that require extensive examination and they can
even be used in surgery where the standard procedures will be deemed too dangerous. Yet the use for
nanomedicine has not yet peaked.
Many potential ailments are being looked into to be treated like brain tumors (Lalatsa et.al., 2018). These
innovations in medicine have moved the area of nanomedicine to the forefront for the new generation of practice.
The increasing funding and interest in this method have opened a new dilemma, are there any bad
consequences of the use of nanotechnology in the body?

SCTS 1013 - Science, Technology and Society | 5

 B. Environment

https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/3-s2.0-B978012813351400050X-f48-01-9780128133514.jpg

The environment has been one of the main points of the international agreements in the past few years. The
world is beginning to capacitate itself with the dream of using nanotechnology to fix the problem they have
started. More sustainable energy sources and utilization has been developed and continuously improved upon
which lessens the production of air pollutants and to a greater extent, greenhouse gases. Substances that toxify
our rivers and oceans can be remediated now with new nanomaterials. But are all these sustainable to heal our
ailing world?

C. Industry

https://www.foodsafetymagazine.com/fsm/assets/Image/2317NanotechnologyFig1.jpg

SCTS 1013 - Science, Technology and Society | 6

 https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-B9780128135860000043-f04-01-9780128135860.jpg

Nanotechnology is seen as a major driving force to the upgrade of industry. Foods, textiles, cosmetics,
sports, aerospace and vehicle manufacturers, construction, and even the military are starting to look into
nanotechnology as its source of a new and improved market. But do all of these benefits enable only good things
to the society, or darker sides of the technology loom ahead?

II. Issues in the Technology

https://nanotechinfuture.weebly.com/uploads/5/4/1/5/54154865/2360035_orig.png

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 GENE THERAPY

Many inherited ailments are suffered by millions of people.

Even animals cannot escape gene-based diseases. In the early
20th century, under the foundation of evolution and genetics, DNA
has been discovered by Rosalind Franklin but credited largely to
Watson and Crick. This changed the understanding of humans to
their make-up. It has been pointed out that many of the ailments
we suffer result from the mutation of these genetic materials. As
such, our scientists focused on these nanoscopic bio compounds
to find the cure for many diseases. The answer they found is
Gene Therapy. In this module, we are going to learn what gene therapy is and what are its implications to our
social and moral upbringing.

I. What is Gene Therapy?

Gene Therapy is a medical field that focuses on the utilization of the therapeutic delivery of nucleic acids
into a patient's cells as a drug to treat disease (Kaji,2001). It was first developed in 1972 but still with limited
success to humans.

TYPES OF GENE THERAPY

1. Somatic gene therapy: transfer of a section of DNA to any cell of the body that doesn’t produce sperm or
eggs. Effects of gene therapy will not be passed onto the patient’s children.
2. Germline gene therapy: transfer of a section of DNA to cells that produce eggs or sperm. Effects of gene
therapy will be passed onto the patient’s children and subsequent generations.

SCTS 1013 - Science, Technology and Society | 8

 GENE THERAPY TECHNIQUES

1. Gene Augmentation Therapy

This is used to treat diseases caused by a

mutation that stops a gene from producing a functioning
product, such as a protein. This therapy adds DNA
containing a functional version of the lost gene back into
the cell. The new gene produces a functioning product at
sufficient levels to replace the protein that was originally
missing. This is only successful if the effects of the disease
are reversible or have not resulted in lasting damage to the
body. For example, this can be used to treat loss of
functional disorders such as cystic fibrosis by introducing a
functional copy of the gene to correct the disease.

2. Gene Inhibition Therapy

Suitable for the treatment of

infectious diseases, cancer, and inherited
disease caused by inappropriate gene
activity. The aim is to introduce a gene
whose product either: inhibits the
expression of another gene or interferes
with the activity of the product of another
gene. The basis of this therapy is to
eliminate the activity of a gene that
encourages the growth of disease-
related cells. For example, cancer is
sometimes the result of the over-activation of an oncogene (a gene that stimulates cell growth). So, by
eliminating the activity of that oncogene through gene inhibition therapy, it is possible to prevent further cell
growth and stop cancer in its tracks.

3. The killing of Specific Cells

Suitable for diseases such as cancer that can be

treated by destroying certain groups of cells. The
aim is to insert DNA into a diseased cell that
causes that cell to die. This can be achieved in
one of two ways:first, the inserted DNA contains
a “suicide” gene that produces a highly toxic
product that kills the diseased cell. Second, the
inserted DNA causes the expression of a protein
that marks the cells so that the diseased cells are
attacked by the body’s natural immune system.
And lastly, It is essential with this method that the
inserted DNA is targeted appropriately to avoid
the death of cells that are functioning normally.

SCTS 1013 - Science, Technology and Society | 9

 https://www.yourgenome.org/facts/what-is-gene-therapy

II. Challenges of gene therapy

1. Delivering the gene to the right place and switching it on:

 the new gene must reach the right cell
 delivering a gene into the wrong cell would be inefficient and could also cause health problems for the
patient
 even once the right cell has been targeted the gene has to be turned on
 cells sometimes obstruct this process by shutting down genes that are showing unusual activity.
2. Avoiding the immune response:
 The role of the immune system is to fight off intruders.
 Sometimes new genes introduced by gene therapy are considered potentially-harmful intruders.
 This can spark an immune response in the patient, that could be harmful to them.
 Scientists, therefore, have the challenge of finding a way to deliver genes without the immune system
‘noticing’.
 This is usually by using vectors that are less likely to trigger an immune response.
3. Making sure the new gene doesn’t disrupt the function of other genes:
 Ideally, a new gene introduced by gene therapy will integrate itself into the genome of the patient
and continue working for the rest of their lives.
 There is a risk that the new gene will insert itself into the path of another gene, disrupting its
activity.
SCTS 1013 - Science, Technology and Society | 10
  This could have damaging effects, for example, if it interferes with an important gene involved in
regulating cell division, it could result in cancer.
4. The cost of gene therapy:
 Many genetic disorders that can be targeted with gene therapy are extremely rare.
 Gene therapy therefore often requires an individual, case-by-case approach. This may be effective,
but may also be very expensive.

III. Ethical Debate on Gene Therapy

Chance to cure inherited diseases Can affect the future generation

(Germline Therapy) (Germline Therapy) without their
consent

Remove the need of physically

and mentally exhausting therapies High cost
like radiation and chemotherapy

Finally cure deadliest of diseases Blurry line between good and bad
like cancer gene editing

IV. Gene Therapy in the current events

o Gene Therapy in the Philippines offers genetic diagnoses, management, and genetic
counseling to families. Clinical genetics services are rendered at the Philippine General
Hospital (PGH) Department of Pediatrics.
o The new method for deploying the genetic snipping tool directly into target cells is a big step
towards more effective, safer and cheaper gene therapy with treatment potential for multiple
genetic disorders.
o Lead researcher, Associate Professor Ravi Shukla, said MOFs, which are versatile and
biocompatible nanomaterials, were a promising alternative to existing viral methods for
delivering the gene editing tool CRISPR/Cas9.
o Awarded the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, CRISPR/Cas9, is widely acknowledged as a
breakthrough in genetic editing for its ability to remove and replace defective DNA, however
the biggest challenge remains effectively delivering it to cells.
o There are currently just 13 approved methods in trial globally and all rely on viral therapies,
an approach which is both extremely costly and has associated health risks.
o The latest findings build on previous work by the team who developed a proof of concept for
the delivery model late last year.
o As of now, they will work to further test this technology for its application in targeting several
other disease-causing genes.

End of Lesson Proper

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REFERENCES

Textbooks

Aldea, K, Caronan H.P, and Candido, M.B. (2018). Science, Technology and Society (OBE Ready).
Mandaluyong City, Philippines: Book Atbp. Publishing Corp.

Serafica, J.P., Pawilen, G., Caslib Jr., B.N., and Alata, E.J. (2018). Science, Technology and Society. Quezon
City, Philippines: Rex Book Store, Inc. (RBSI)

Quinto, E.J. and Nieva, A. (2019). Science, Technology and Society. Quezon City, Philippines: C & E Publishing,
Inc.

Online Resources

Robert A. Freitas Jr., Nanomedicine, Volume I: Basic Capabilities, Landes Bioscience, Georgetown, TX,
1999; http://www.nanomedicine.com/NMI.htm

What is gene therapy? Retrieved from https://www.yourgenome.org/facts/what-is-gene-therapy

Current Events of Gene Therapy. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedaily.com/

SCTS 1013 - Science, Technology and Society | 12