Science, Technology, and Society
This domain connects biological knowledge to real applications and decisions: biotechnology tools, public health, bioethics, regulation, and how evidence informs policy. Items ask you to evaluate applications and reason about risk rather than to recall brand names.
Biotechnology Tools and Uses
- Recombinant DNA relies on restriction enzymes and DNA ligase with plasmid vectors; PCR amplifies DNA; gel electrophoresis separates fragments by size; CRISPR-Cas9 edits specific sequences guided by RNA.
- Applications include gene therapy, transgenic crops, cloning, stem cell research, forensic DNA typing, and pharmacogenomics.
- Herd immunity thresholds rise with R₀; vaccine types include inactivated, live attenuated, subunit, and mRNA platforms.
Ethics, Regulation, and Risk
- Informed consent and genetic privacy matter; in the United States, GINA limits use of genetic information in health insurance and employment decisions.
- Oversight is split: FDA for drugs and devices, EPA for pesticides, USDA for agricultural biotechnology.
- Risk assessment combines hazard, exposure, and dose–response. Absolute risk communicates more than relative risk.
- Scientific evidence informs policy alongside economic, legal, and ethical considerations.
Worked Example
A hospital reports rising antibiotic resistance. Reasoning: the antibiotic is a selective pressure; resistant variants already present survive, reproduce, and pass genes on vertically or horizontally via plasmids. This is directional selection, not a mutation caused by the drug and not the body "getting used to" it. Interventions follow from the mechanism: stewardship, completing prescribed courses, and infection control to reduce transmission of resistant strains.
Traps
- Lamarckian phrasing: bacteria did not develop resistance in order to survive.
- Claiming a technology is "proven safe" - the accurate statement is that current evidence shows no demonstrated harm.
- Quoting a relative risk increase without the baseline absolute risk.
- Treating a scientific finding as the sole basis for a policy decision.