Biodiversity and

Health Society
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 Biodiversity
• “Biological diversity”
• “The measure of the
number of species on
the planet or in a specified
area (Clarke, 2013).
• “The variation of living things making the world
beautiful and exciting place to live (Cunningham &
Cunningham, 2013).
• A sum total of all different species of animals,
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plants, fungi, and microbial organisms living on

earth and the variety of habitats in which they live.
 Biodiversity at Different Levels
• Genetic Diversity
▫ Genetic differences within a single population and
among geographically separate populations
• Species Diversity
▫ All different species or kinds of organisms on our
planet
• Ecosystem Diversity
▫ The variety of interactions within and among
Earth’s different ecosystems
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 Species by the Numbers
• According to Census of Marine Life:
▫ 8.7 million total number of estimated species on
Earth
 6.5 million species on land
 2.2 million species in oceans
• There are still millions yet to be classified and
named (National Geographic Society).
• Insect and other vertebrates make up more than
half of the known species.
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 https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/number-of-described-
species?country=Fishes~Insects~Reptiles~Mammals~Birds~Amphibians~Corals~Molluscs~Crustaceans~Arachnids
Species by the Numbers
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https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/ecologically-megadiverse-countries-of-the-world.html
Philippines – Megadiverse Country
 Philippines – Megadiverse Country
• Contains two-thirds of the earth’s biodiversity
and between 70% and 80% of the world’s plant
and animal species.
• Ranks fifth (5th) in the number of plant species
and maintains 5% of the world’s flora.
• More than 9,250 vernacular plants (33% of
which are endemic).
• There are 612 species of birds of which, 194 are
endemic.
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• 111 amphibian species and 270 reptile species

live here.
 Importance of Biodiversity
• Biodiversity boosts ecosystem productivity
where each species, no matter how small, all
have an important role to play.
▫ A larger number of plant species means a greater
variety of crops
▫ Greater species diversity ensures natural
sustainability for all life forms
▫ Healthy ecosystems can better withstand and
recover from a variety of disasters
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 Importance of Biodiversity
• A healthy biodiversity provides a number of
natural services for everyone:
Ecosystem services, such as: Biological resources, such as:
*Protection of water resources *Food
*Soil formation and protection *Medicinal resources and pharmaceutical
*Nutrient storage and recycling drugs
*Pollution breakdown and *Wood products
absorption *Ornamental plants
*Contribution to climate stability *Breeding stocks, population reservoirs
*Maintenance of ecosystem *Future resources
*Recovery from unpredictable *Diversity in genes, species and ecosystems
events
Social benefits, such as:
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*Research, education and monitoring

*Recreation and tourism
*Cultural values
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https://www.un.org/en/observances/biological-diversity-day
 GMO
• Or genetically modified organism, is a plant,
animal, microorganism or other organism whose
genetic makeup has been modified in a
laboratory using genetic engineering or
transgenic technology.
• This creates combinations of plant, animal, bacterial
and virus genes that do not occur in nature or
through traditional crossbreeding.
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 GMO
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https://sphweb.bumc.bu.edu/otlt/MPH-Modules/PH/GMOs/GMOs3.html?fbclid=IwAR2i10JtMWe8Z704dG07a5y7kCTKzvhfCQ_1KlKKwTVv1cujquKHfvQMLe0
 GMO’s Impact to Biodiversity
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https://ib.bioninja.com.au/standard-level/topic-3-genetics/35-genetic-modification-and/gmo-debate.html
 Gene Therapy
• Involves altering the genes inside your
body’s cells in an effort to treat or stop
disease.
• A medical approach that treats or prevents
disease by correcting the underlying genetic
problem.
• Replaces a faulty gene or adds a new gene in
an attempt to cure disease or improve your
body’s ability to fight disease.
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▫ It holds promise for treating a wide range of

diseases, such as cancer, cystic fibrosis, heart
disease, diabetes, hemophilia, and AIDS.
 Gene Therapy: How It Works?
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 Types of Gene Therapy
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.

Germline Gene
Therapy
• Transfer of a section
of DNA to cells that
produce eggs or
sperm.
• Effects of gene
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therapy will be
passed onto the
patient’s children
and subsequent
generations.
 Gene Therapy Techniques
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 Problems with Gene Therapy
• Short Lived
▫ Hard to rapidly integrate therapeutic DNA into genome and
rapidly dividing of cells prevent gene therapy from long time
▫ Would have multiple rounds
• Immune Response
▫ New things introduced leads to immune response
▫ Increased response when a repeat offender enters
• Viral Vector
▫ Patient could have toxic, immune, inflammatory response
▫ Also may cause disease once inside
• Multigene Disorders
▫ Heart disease, high blood pressure, Alzheimer’s, arthritis and
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diabetes are hard to treat because you need to introduce more

than one gene
▫ May induce a tumor if integrated in a tumor suppressor gene
because of insertional mutagenesis
 Information Age
▫ Johannes Gutenberg, a German who was responsible for shaping the nature of the
society by establishing the first form of spreading information known as the
Gutenberg Principle.
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 Information Age
▫ According to Stacy (2008), the development of
internet in our world, changed two major
expansions:
▫ First, uploading and downloading of different forms
of media, such as image, videos and audios, were now
possible through internet access.
▫ Second, spreading and publishing of information
were now much easy because of different tools.
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 Information Age

What can you say about the use of social

media nowadays?
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 Nanotechnology
• Also shortened to nanotech, is the use of matter on
an atomic, molecular, and supramolecular scale for
industrial purposes
• A field of research and innovation concerned with
building ‘things’ – generally, materials and devices
– on the scale of atoms and molecules.
• It involves characterization, design, and production of
structures, devices, and systems with unique
properties by fine tuning the physical, chemical,
mechanical, and optical properties of materials at the
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nanoscale (Department of Science and Technology,

2015).
 Nanotechnology
• A nanometer is one-billionth of a meter (0.000000001 m
or 1×10−9 m): ten times the diameter of a hydrogen atom.
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https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6982820/
 Nanotechnology
• Richard Feynman introduce the concept of
nanotechnology in 1959…described a vision of using
machines to construct smaller machines and down to
the molecular level.
• Norio Taniguchi, a Japanese scientist was the first
to use and define the term “nanotechnology” in 1974
as: “nanotechnology mainly consists of the processing
of separation, consolidation, and deformation of
materials by one atom or one molecule”
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 Nanotechnology of the Past
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 What Can Nanotechnology Do?
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https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128135860000043
 Nanotechnology in the Philippines
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https://ebrary.net/230705/engineering/philippine_roadmap_nanotechnology_2017_2022
 Do not forget to read your
module for the other
information about our topics.
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