SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Three main technologies that have changed our lives for the past decades are:

1) X-rays and its application

2) Wireless communication technology
3) Structure of DNA
X-rays

X-rays can be used

1) to image internal body structures such as broken bones of arms or legs, without having to perform surgery

2) used to kill cancer cells

Wireless COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

Wireless communication is the transfer of information between two or more points that are not connected
by electrical conductors (wires).

Wireless technology is used in

1) mobile phone: Wireless phones use radio waves to enable their users to make phone calls from many
locations worldwide.

2) Global Positioning System (GPS): allows drivers of cars and trucks, captains of boats and ships, and
pilots of aircraft to ascertain their location anywhere on earth.

3) Cordless computer peripherals: the cordless mouse is a common example; keyboards and printers can also
be linked to a computer via wireless

4) Home-entertainment-system control boxes: the VCR control and the TV channel control are the most
common examples; some hi-fi sound systems and FM broadcast receivers also use this technology

5) Satellite television: allows viewers in almost any location to select from hundreds of channels
6) Wireless LANs or local area networks: provide flexibility and reliability for business computer users.
DNA

DNA stands for deoxyribonucleic acid and is the building block of all organisms.

DNA technology has been used in

1) Genetic engineering to transfer genes from one organism to another and produce commercially important
products such as proteins, food etc.

2) Forensics to solve many mysteries of crimes.

3) History and anthropology to find relatedness of organisms.

4) Information storage by using DNA ability to code information.

Information about a person's DNA can be useful for forensic science. Genetic fingerprinting was invented in
1985 by Sir Alec Jeffreys at the University of Leicester. It uses some of the small differences between the
DNA from different people to make a picture rather like a barcode. If enough parts of the DNA are tested, it
is very unlikely that two identical DNA fingerprints would belong to two different people. This makes the
method very useful for matching samples found at the scene of a crime to people suspected of committing
the crime.

Knowing the human DNA profile raises some ethical questions, but many consider this knowledge to be of
benefit:

 Improved genetic testing

 Location of genes that might be linked to increased chances of inheriting a disease
 New gene therapy treatments
 New knowledge of how humans have evolved
 Personalised medicines