In this monthly briefing memo, which you have requested, my colleagues at the International Center and I share information on trends and technologies that will have an impact on education.                                                                                           Sincerely,    Bill Daggett

Biotechnology  

Sometimes When We Touch...  

Scientists at the National University of Singapore are trying to find ways to use body-generated electricity to provide power for — and ultimately transmit data to — remote electronic devices such as PDAs and cell phones. One of the techniques being investigated is to affix a type of ceramic material to the soles of shoes. Such an energy-capture method could generate enough electricity to pass, say, business card information from one person’s PDA to another’s.  

Moreover, the data transfer process could be engineered to pass from one person to another through the touch of a handshake by using the human body’s natural capacity as a conductivity medium. German firm Ident Technology has already developed prototypes that send electrical messages through the skin, for example, to a vehicle’s entry system to unlock the doors or to a drill that will operate only if the operator is wearing safety goggles.     

Source: Will Knight, “Skin Used to Transmit Key Data,” NewScientist.com, August 5, 2004.

http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99996247

Customized Chemotherapy  

Pharmacogenetics is a new field of biotechnology that investigates how an individual’s genes interact with specific medications. Scientists are discovering that, because of variations in the genetic make-ups of individuals, the effectiveness of certain drugs — such as chemotherapy used to combat cancer — can vary widely.  A particular medication may have a positive impact on treatment in one patient, but little or no effect on another. In some cases, the medication may even have a seriously negative impact.   

There are approximately 33,000 types of genes in a human being so the research still has a lot of genetic ground to investigate. But scientists at Washington University are studying specific types of benign cells to discover which are particularly sensitive to what types of chemical treatments — how many are destroyed or not affected by a certain drug. Eventually, scientists will be able to match the most effective and least destructive chemical treatments to a individual’s gene make-up and customize medications to a unique biological blueprint.  

For more information from the Washington University School of Medicine, visit http://medinfo.wustl.edu/  

Source: “New Technique Helps Scientists Reveal Interactions Between Genes and Drugs,” EurekAlert, August 2, 2004.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2004-08/

wuso-nth080204.php

In Search of Healthier French Fries

Around the world, consumers as well as nutritionists are becoming more concerned with obesity as a major health problem. Both groups are demanding healthier foods. In fact, even though French fries remain America ’s most popular side dish, manufacturers report a 10% drop in retail sales of the ubiquitous indulgence in 2003 over 2002. Biotechnology may, however, help provide a remedy. 

Agriscientists have created a genetically altered potato that contains up to 60% more starch and less water. Although more starch should equal more calories, the increased starch content also means less water, greater density, and therefore less oil absorption during cooking,. The result: a theoretically healthier “supersized” order of fries. The lower oil absorption also means less cooking time and therefore reduced energy costs.

Source: Dennis Avery, “Will Blight-Proof Biotech Potatoes Bring Us Lower-Fat Fries?” Center for Global Food Issues, August 1, 2003.

http://www.cgfi.org/materials/articles/2003/

aug_1_03.htm

Information Technology  

Carbon Nanotubes  

Miniaturization is the process of designing digital technologies to be smaller and therefore more efficient. As scientists explore the new frontiers of nanotechnology, devices called nanotubes could replace wires and other connectivity devices used in exceedingly small electronic devices. Nanotubes are tiny tubes made up of rolled sheets of hexagon-shaped carbon atoms that are about 10,000 times thinner than a human hair. Stronger than steel and yet as flexible as plastic, nanotubes conduct energy more effectively than almost any other material. They can be manufactured from plentiful raw materials such as methane gas.  

As technology downsizes, the transistors used on silicon chips in computer circuitry are fast approaching their limits of miniaturization. They can’t be made any smaller. Nanotubes have the potential to allow the manufacture of transistors that could be measured at the atomic level.  Such a breakthrough would allow the miniaturization evolution to continue well beyond its current scale.  

More details can be found on the IBM Research Website:

 http://www.research.ibm.com/topics/popups/serious/

nano/html/nanotubes.html  

For-Profit Hi-Tech University  

What do hi-tech multinationals such as Microsoft Corp., IBM Corp., Oracle Corp. and Unisys Corp. do when faced with a chronic shortage of technology-savvy college graduates to recruit and hire as software designers? They back a new, for-profit venture called Northface University , near Salt Lake City , Utah .  

The school, which opened in January and is accredited by ACICS, offers students a 28-month Bachelor’s degree in computer science, about half the normal time. The intent of this new type of higher education "destination school” is to turn out industry-trained and ready-to-work software designers quickly – to address the growing demand from industry. Northface may not have a Division 1 football team, but it plans on graduating 1,200 specialists a year by 2007. Full tuition for the 28-month program is $60,000.   

Critics say that Northface U. programmers will emerge from the focused and intense course of studies without a well-rounded ability to think critically.  

Visit Northface University on the web at http://www.northface.edu 

Education Trends  

iPods at Duke University  

USA Today reports that Duke University is distributing free Apple iPods to all of its 1650 incoming freshmen this semester. The popular consumer electronics devices – 4 million have been sold since 2001 – have been purchased primarily as portable music players by consumers. The Duke administration, however, sees the iPods being used as mini-computers that can record and download lectures, assignments, and other information from a new web site that the university is creating as part of the experiment. Apple hopes iPods will replace PDAs as portable information devices.  

By the way, an iPod’s 20-gig hard drive can also store 5,000 songs, just in case the students need a break from listening to all those lectures.   

Source: Jefferson Graham, “Duke Passes Out iPods for Educational Use,” USA TODAY, July 21, 2004.  

ACT Results: Good News, Bad News  

The average composite score on this year’s ACT college entrance exam rose for the first time in seven years to 20.9 points.  

The good news: while African-Americans as a group had the lowest average scores, their average scores increased 0.2 points to 17.1; Hispanics held steady at 18.5, but the number of Hispanic test-takers grew by 4%, the most growth of any ethnic group. Test administrators praised the overall increase as significant, given that more students — including many who do not plan to attend college — are taking the test and likely weighing down average scores. The results also showed that the gender gap was narrower: males scored a 21.0 average, the same as last year, while females averaged 20.9, up 0.1  

The bad news: high scores were directly related to family income. Students of all races with family incomes of $100,000-plus scored on average 23.5, while students from families earning under $18,000 scored 18.0. The results also showed that insufficient numbers of students are taking a rigorous core college-prep program of studies and hence many are unprepared for college success. Finally, although the average composite score was up, it remains below the average score of 21.0 from 1997 to 2001.  

More information on the ACT results is available from American College Testing (ACT) at http://www.act.org/  

Data from the International Center/Successful Practices Network’s Bringing Best Practices to Scale initiative shows that successful high schools find ways to provide a rigorous and relevant curriculum to all students using strategies that provide pathways to postsecondary success as well as lifelong learning. 

By the Numbers:  

According to a consumer survey published by the International Food Information Council (IFIC):

o   66% of respondents said they would buy produce that had been genetically modified to protect against insect damage and reduce the need for pesticides.

o   59% felt that biotechnology would benefit them and their families.

o   94% said that they had not avoided biotech food or ingredients in recent months; only one percent had done so.

o   80% said that current labeling requirements about biotech ingredients in food were sufficient; only one percent wanted to see biotech food labeled as such. 

Source: Council for Biotechnology Information, “Consumers See Advantages in Food Developed With Biotechnology, Says Survey,” 2004.

http://www.whybiotech.com/index.asp?id=4360

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