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Biotechnology and Art Blogs

Alexandra Pourzia

Neuroscience Major

6/6/2012

Honors 177

Professor Vesna

Blog One: From One Culture Two Another

My name is Alexandra Pourzia, and I am a fourth year neuroscience student. Although I spend nearly all
my time in south campus currently, my first experience of UCLA was on the north side at YRL. Although I
was ignorant of the divide between north and south (and the ‘two cultures') at the time, I felt very much at
home there. Now, I could not feel more different.

As long as I can remember, I’ve had a
passion for history. Some kids my age
enjoyed watching TV or playing outside:
my sister and I recreated a medieval
fiefdom out of Playmobil people on our
living room floor. When historically
accurate siege equipment or raiment were
missing, we made them ourselves out of
clay or bits of fabric. I joined a local
Shakespeare festival, sewed my own
period costumes, and eagerly collected
books on all my favorite historical
personages. In tenth grade I had the
chance to take a course on European
history, which was also the first advanced placement course I ever took. Despite the challenge, I have
never since then taken a course that was so enjoyable to study for. I went out of my way to do extra
reading, simply because I was interested in the material. That was the reason I came to UCLA for the first
time – to look for primary sources as part of an assignment.

In the years that followed, a change took place
inside of me. As college applications drew nearer, I
simply knew that I was not going to be studying
humanities. Nobody ever told me that I must go
into science, or forced me to choose neuroscience
as my major. But there was a great unspoken
pressure. I cannot recall a single conversation
directly on the subject, but everyone at my high
school knew: you did not major in the humanities.
You had to go into science, because doctors make
money. If you pursued research, you had to get an
MD/PhD because the MD meant more money.
Ironically, ever since my sister and I excelled on
standardized testing on literature and history in
elementary school, we were pushed into accelerated science in middle and high school. Without anyone
outright telling me about it, I was molded into a scientist. And that is what makes me the most uneasy,
looking back: I was so happy the way I was. I adored learning about history; I adored studying literature
and theater. Today, I still feel the same bubble of excitement when I come across a book on 1789, or
when I hear my north campus friends discussing ancient Greece. But it’s subdued. The old passion is
gone. I know less about those topics now than I did when I was 15. And even more frightening is the fact
that I feel like I am unqualified to form new opinions on them: that’s for the north campus majors. For the
writers. Me, I’m just a scientist now.

Images:
1. http://info.biotech-calendar.com/Portals/45279/images/UCLA%20school%20of%20public%20health-
resized-600.JPG
2. http://blog.ctnews.com/tracy/files/2012/01/sculpture-garden-Murphy-ucla.jpg

Blog Two: All Natural ≠ Organic

When I am in Westwood, I make an effort to buy
most of my food from Trader Joe’s, since they
offer many healthy and organic food options.
Although not everything they sell is organic,
they maintain that everything with their own
label on it is ‘sourced from non-genetically
modified ingredients’, which I thought meant
1
GMO-free. This wording is very specific:
apparently it is required, because contaminants
could be present. ‘Organic’ food has to be 100%
free of GMOs, while food that is grown without
GMOs but not verified GMO-free could be
2
contaminated with GMOs. Since Trader Joe’s
brand labeled food is not certified organic, they
have to be careful how they label it.

One problem I encounter at Trader Joe’s and elsewhere is the high price of
organic food. While I think most people recognize the benefits of organic fruits
3
and vegetables (pesticides are linked to Parkinson’s disease ), they are
ridiculously expensive compared to the cheaper non-organic alternatives –
organic foods range from 10-40% more expensive than regular food
4
products. However, a promising trend of increasing organic food production
has been underway in the United States and Europe. Organic food sales in
5
the United States increased by 17% in 2003 alone , and hopefully as they
become more popular prices will eventually decrease.

Another issue I encounter at Trader Joe’s is the misleading ‘natural’ label.
This is not confined to one grocery chain: most other grocery stores carry
‘natural’ products as well. The ‘natural’ label is the equivalent of ‘non-
GMO produce’ – meaning contaminant GMOs could still be present in
the food. Pesticides are also allowed to have been used on ‘natural’
6
foods. If a food is ‘natural’, it could still have been treated with
6
pesticides. The label is nowhere near as comprehensive as ‘organic’,
yet somehow its presence lulls us into a sense of safety. I felt
compelled to purchase these foods in the past, because the label
makes them seem healthier. Now I realize it is mostly meaningless.

Works Cited:

1. “Trader Joe’s Customer Updates.”Trader Joe’s. Trader Joe’s, 2012. 15 April 2012.
<http://www.traderjoes.com/about/customer-updates-responses.asp?i=4>
2. “Trader Joe’s and US Supermarkets Claim Impossibility of Going GE-FREE.” Organic
Consumers Association. Fairchild Publications, Inc, n.d. 15 April 2012.
<http://www.organicconsumers.org/gefood/traderjoesge.cfm>
3. Wang, A, et al. “Parkinson’s disease risk from abient exposure to pesticides.” Eur J Epidemiol,
July 2011.

4. Winter, Carl K, Davis, Sarah F. “Organic Foods.” Journal of Food Science, November 2006.
5. Hansen, Nanette. “Organic food sales see healthy growth.” MSNBC.com. CNBC Inc, 2012. 15
April 2012. <http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6638417/>
6. Benson, Jonathan. “Know the difference: ‘Natural’ foods are not organic, often contain GMOs and
other toxins.” Natural News.com. Natural News Network, 2012. 15 April 2012.
<http://www.naturalnews.com/035238_natural_foods_GMOs_organic.html>

Images:
1. http://www.losanjealous.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/tj01a.jpg
2. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ea/USDA_organic_seal.svg/500px-
USDA_organic_seal.svg.png
3. http://img4.realsimple.com/images/food-recipes/tools-products/0813/label-100-natural_300.jpg

Blog Three: UnCultured? How We've Changed

I have always been a lover of animals. However, the
animals may not have felt the same way about me: I used
to catch lizards quite often as a kid, and they probably did
not appreciate me grabbing them and turning them upside
down to see if they had blue bellies. I also used to chase
after butterflies and other insects, and I kept them in
special cages. Although I did my best to research exactly
what food they ate, I would always be devastated when
inevitable a few of my captives would die. Eventually I
realized that with my limited resources, I could not provide
for them the way they needed, and I stopped trying to
capture bugs and critters for my own enjoyment. I’m happy
enough now just to observe them whenever I’m outside.

Strange Culture was a rather frightening film. My instinctive
reaction to hearing about everything that happened to Mr.
Kurtz was just “how could this happen?”. Under that kind of
scrutiny and condemnation, I don’t know how I could have
held up. I think it would have driven me crazy. Although I
could understand if an EMT felt uncomfortable seeing
bacterial cultures lying around a house (I would have
wondered if there was any danger, not on a bioterror level,
but simply because if the plates were not handled correctly
other fungus and bacteria that were harmful could have grown
1
on them ), I think that this definitely speaks to the divide
between art and science, and even the divide between
science and personal life.

During the Enlightenment, philosophical thinkers were expected to be well-
rounded, and people who were not what we would term specialists in science
undertook their own experiments. For example, the famous author Johann
2
Wolfgang von Goethe also studied optics . In the present day, we only trust
scientists to conduct science in the ‘right way’, and we would never expect
anyone to do science in their home (for example, as a hobby or for pleasure),
especially if they were not a scientist by trade.

A portrait of Goethe, who was more proud of his scientific works than his writing

Works
Cited:

1.
“Risks
of
Growing
Bacteria.”
Newton.
Argonne
National
Laboratory,
2012.
22
April
2012.

<http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/mole00/mole00253.htm>

2.
“Johann
Wolfgang
von
Goethe.”
Wikipedia.
Wikimedia
Foundation,
n.d.
22
April
2012.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goethe>

Images:

1.
http://msnbcmedia4.msn.com/j/MSNBC/Components/Photo/_new/pb-110602-ecoli-culture-7a.grid-
6x2.jpg

2.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0e/Goethe_%28Stieler_1828%29.jpg/486

px-‐Goethe_%28Stieler_1828%29.jpg

Blog four: Self, Meet Body

I was fascinated by Noa’s exhibition. I think she achieved her
goal of making us more aware of the everyday things we take
for granted. The oversized coffee, pollen, and sugar
reminded me of the beauty inherent in the things we
consume every day, and of the beauty of the natural world
that we remove them from. I feel compelled to live a less
wasteful life after seeing her work, especially the pollen grain.
The honey was transformed into something otherworldly and
beautiful as it interacted with the pollen – I think it speaks
volumes about how interconnected everything in the natural
world is, and how much we ought to work to preserve that
balance, even at the expense of what is convenient for us as humans. Also, the dust bunny project was
extremely fun to be able to touch and walk around in. It definitely brought back memories of my
childhood, when everything seemed so vast and there was so much to explore.

In researching a connection between medicine and art, I was able to find an exhibit that evokes a similar
sense of awareness of something we all take for granted at one time or another: the human body. The
‘Body Worlds’ project (1), which has traveled worldwide, is an exhibit of over 200 human bodies and body
parts. Utilizing a process called ‘Plastination’(2), the Body Worlds team is able to perfectly preserve either
whole bodies, individual organs, or individual organ
systems such as the entire lymphatic circulation in a clear
material that leaves them totally visible. The result is
intended to be educational – to make us both appreciate
our bodies and understand how they are put together.
Medical terminology is used throughout, and detail is of
paramount importance (3).

I was lucky enough to see this exhibit when it was on
display at the California Science Center, and it definitely is
an achievement of both science and art. The bodies are not
just displayed in rows: they are deliberately posed and
grouped together. I remember a group of three bodies: a
man, woman, and child, with only their blood vessels
suspended in plastic. They were positioned in a family
scene, with the man carrying the child on his shoulders and
the woman holding his hand.

It was eery how alien the blood vessels seemed as part of a scene from everyday life: one which they
probably enacted numerous times as a part of the human bodies they used to inhabit. I left the show
feeling both a sense of awe and gratitude for my own body and for the gift of life that allowed me to
inhabit it, but also with a lingering sense of my own mortality. I highly recommend this show to everyone
in our class. It is an unforgettable experience, and I think it is a great example of how science can work
with art to create a lasting impact in our lives.

Works
Cited:

1.
“Questions
and
Answers.”
Body
Worlds.com.
n.d.
28
April

2012.

<http://www.bodyworlds.com/en/exhibitions/questions_answers.html>

2.
“Plastination.”
Wikipedia.
Wikimedia
Foundation,
n.d.
28
April
2012.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plastination>

3.
Williams,
Kevin.
“The
science
exhibit
‘Body
Worlds’
has
generated
controversy
every
stop
of
its
tour

for
being
too
realistic,
even
gross.
But
we’ve
seen
it,
and
we
think
it’s
amazing.
So
have
no
fear.”

Chicago
Tribune.
Chicago
Tribune,
2012.
29
April
2012.<
http://www.chicagotribune.com/chi-
0502180429feb18,0,6732236.story>

Images:
1. http://s1.hubimg.com/u/1217168_f520.jpg
2. http://image64.webshots.com/164/0/31/91/543703191THpxLH_ph.jpg

Blog Five: Why the War Against Gray?

When I first saw the picture of Kathy Brew’s “in-between” hair as I
walked into the exhibition room, I did not know what I was looking at. It
seemed eerily beautiful: a mix of white and copper, with the contrast
making the copper seem like fire. When I realized it was hair, I thought
it must have been made that way on purpose. Little did I know that it
was the evidence of a struggle the artist had been dealing with since
her early twenties.

Although she mentioned dealing with stigma
against her age, and I have heard enough
stories about how difficult it can be to be treated
“normally” if one looks above a certain age to
believe it, I feel like my generation is less
conscious of age than most. We are used to
people retiring later: our parents, the baby
boomers, are still working. Activists groups have
been formed to promote the shedding of the
stigma against the aged.

However, ageism remains a serious issue for many older
people, to such an extent that geropsychologists have begun
speaking out in order to help their patients, whose mental health
1
can be badly affected by ageist treatment. In response to
ageism, several anti-ageism movements and groups have been
founded - one of the most well-known of these is the Gray
Panthers, which was founded in 1970 by Maggie Kuhn after she
2
was forced to retire at the age of 65. This group and others like
it view age as a natural occurance that should be embraced
rather than stigmatized – which seems obvious to me, but
apparently this is not the case for many. Such beliefs have also
inspired some unique lines of products such as Boom! for
women, which are meant to bring out the natural age and
beauty of the user, rather than attempt to "hide" or prevent the
3
signs of aging. Personally I think it is ridiculous to be prejudiced
against the aged, because it implies a disgust for one’s own future and therefore oneself. It seems
ridiculous: nobody can escape ageing; where does an ageist individual think him or herself will be in thirty
or fifty years? I am glad that a movement towards embracing and accepting age exists.

Works
Cited:

1. “Gray
Panthers.”
Wikipedia.
Wikimedia
Foundation,
n.d.
13
May
2012.

<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gray_Panthers#Ageism>

2. Dittmann, Melissa. “Fighting ageism.” American Psychological Association. American
Psychological Association, 2012. 13 May 2012.
<http://www.apa.org/monitor/may03/fighting.aspx>

3. “Boom! By Cindy Joseph.” Boom! By Cindy Joseph, 2012. 13 May 2012.
<http://www.boombycindyjoseph.com/intro>

Images:

1.
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5020/5591059506_3bbb194c71.jpg

2.
http://vivmag.com/vivsays/files/2010/11/Cindy-‐Boom-‐231x300.jpg

Blog Six: Alan Turing and Morphogenesis

Alan Turing proposed, based purely on logical reasoning, that pattern formation in nature involved an
‘activating’ substance and an ‘inhibiting’ substance. The repetition of activator and inhibitor could create
1
patterns such as stripes. Previously, developmental biologists were puzzled by pattern formation
because they could not explain it using the linear models that were the extent of their knowledge at the
time. Turing proposed a nonlinear model by introducing diffusion as the generator of instability in the
2
model, instead of being a byproduct of the model. The implications of Turing’s mechanism were
astounding: he predicted the mode of action of the Hox genes in Drosophila, which result in the patterning
3
of the embryo’s body segments.

The Hox genes induce patterning by activating
Segmentation in Drosophila: body plan organized by genes transcription of their unique set of genes while
repressing others not related to their segment.
They in turn are regulated by patterning genes
(gap, pair-rule, or segment polarity genes), which
follow Turing’s proposed model very closely.
These patterning genes are induced by high or low
concentrations of maternal proteins in the embryo,
which was formed from the maternal egg and
paternal sperm. For example, high concentrations
of maternal protein induce the expression of Bicoid
and Hunchback, while inhibiting Giant and
Kruppel. The concentration of these
“morphogens”, as Turing first called them, lead to
the formation of a pattern – segment two of the fly
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embryo.

Pair rule genes in Drosophila: alternating segments

Works
Cited:

1. Hughes,
Virginia.
“Alan
Turing’s
60-‐Year-‐Old
Prediction
About
Patterns
in
Nature
Proved
True.“

Smithsonian.com.
The
Smithsonian
Institution,
21
Feb
2012.
Web.
20
May
2012.

<http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/science/2012/02/alan-‐turing-‐predicted-‐natures-‐stripes-‐and-‐
patterns/>

2. Reinitz, John. “Pattern formation.” Nature. Feb 2012.
3. “Hox gene.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc, n.d. 20 May 2012.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hox_gene>

Images:

1. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/da/Hoxgenesoffruitfly.svg/400px-
Hoxgenesoffruitfly.svg.png
2. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/73/Gap_ene_expression.png
3. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b9/Even-
skipped_fushi_tarazu.svg/203px-Even-skipped_fushi_tarazu.svg.png

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