Various Ways in Which Science is Being Applied Currently (Term Paper Sample)

Contemporary Application of Science
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The process of Science is a way of creating knowledge about the universe and developing new ideas that illuminate the world around us. Those ideas are initially provisional, but as they cycle through the process of science and are tested severally in different ways, we become increasingly confident in them. The contemporary applications of Science are those that are occurring currently and we can all relate to them. They are several of them.
Firstly, science has been applied in the food sector – ensuring food security in the world. The challenge is evident the world has to produce sufficient food to sustain its people. This is despite having limited land, water, climatic changes among other factors. For this reason, food science has to be applied. The previous discoveries have to be fully implemented while new ones be sought. This has to be done in line with conserving the environment – the level of greenhouse ought to be sharply reduced.
Crop improvement through breeding has been a huge success of agriculture. Much of the increased yields in most developing countries has been attributed to the use of improved varieties of the crop. Use of new crop varieties can lead to a win-win situation in terms of environment and harvest (Jean Baptiste HABYARIMANA, 2014). A good example is conventional breeding that has been used to develop a drought-resistant wheat. This one goes a long way in solving the food security problem.
Genomic techniques such as assisted breeding help reduce elements in chance plant breeding. This has led to the development of a more disease-resistant cassava that is now supplied to most countries in East and Central Africa. Often crops are attacked by disease, pesticides and weeds. It's up to science to ensure that the attacks are minimized. Protection of crops from pesticides has made a significant increase in production over the years. However, losses have occurred as a result of pesticides. All the same, a well-managed use of conventional pesticides must continue to play a major role in curbing pests and diseases.
Biotechnology involves the application of science and technology. This has been a huge boost in agricultural development. Biotechniques involve ways in which living organisms are used to modify or make a new product. The conventional biotechniques are well accepted. Fermentation for alcohol production is essential in the production of alcoholic beverages. Modern bio techniques change the genetic code of living organisms through a process known as genetic modification. This process is common in industries for the creation of enzymes. Breeding of plants and animals involves biotechnology – better yields and characteristics are achieved.
Science has contributed a lot to medical science. Various cures, medical tools such as food supplements and anti-cancer have all been attributed to science. Research in health care through applications of science has led to a healthier population, a more active population, increased life expectancy and quality of life and reduced pressure on health workers and budget. This goes a long way in realizing benefits of having a healthy population such as better economic performance and high living standards.
Medical science has led to better protection. Needless to say, protection is way better than cure in that it is also cost effective. Biology and chemistry have been used extensively in exploring new ways of keeping diseases and illnesses at bay. For instance, for heart diseases and stroke, a basic blood test that monitors the peril of blood clots and is being used for prevention. Also, energy saving microscope technology has produced new perceptions into how viruses behave inside living cells. This has led to better vaccines for using in birds against bird flu and also control of illness with a potential to evolve to a serious hazard to humans.
Efficient detection is also achieved through biotechnologies. The detection is very helpful in combatting illnesses at their preliminary stages. It is not only helpful to patients but also to the health care departments in relieving strain. For breast cancer, a technique (laser based) that examines abnormalities in order to check the malign tissues. This eliminates the need to extract the tissue samples by a needle. In the detection of osteoporosis, bio-medics have developed a technique that enables disease of brittle bone to be detected before the patients suffer a painful fracture.
In treatment, science is widely applied. Gene therapy is a modern technique. It mainly uses microscopic carbon tubes to safely penetrate human cells and deliver DNA molecules that are modified. This greatly aids cancer treatment. Use of safe infrared lasers to mimic ionizing radiation leads to better DNA damage repair. They are used to learn how radiotherapy can be improved to kill normal cells and also treat cancer. Use of implants assists in improving the quality of life. Scientists have discovered bonding agents that are efficient. The agents bond between the bone and the metal, and with neutrons at ISIS their efficacy on stresses. This leads to better inherent characteristics.
Creation of vaccines is a major application of science. Medical experts and scientists often require a period of about fifteen years to finalize on a vaccine for it to become public and effective. Other vaccines, however, such as the flu vaccine are developed on an annual basis. The two modern methods of manufacturing vaccines are the use of mammalian cells and the investigational methods of using plant, insect cells or bacteria cultures. Some of this methods are still being actively tested in laboratories ("Vaccine Supplement - Posttest", 2006).
The cell base manufacturing process uses cells from mammals to culture the influenza virus for the production of the vaccine. Different sources of mammalian cells are used by pharmaceutical companies. Its advantages include ability to increase vaccine production with ease, ability to produce the vaccine faster and reduced ability of the virus culture mutating during manufacturing. Its disadvantage is mainly the high cost of manufacturing. Alternatively, the investigational manufacturing systems have a higher yield of the antigen. Nonetheless, there may be potential contamination of a vaccine by plant or bacterial viruses that may be present in the plant or bacterial material used to manufacture these vaccines.
Moreover, science has revolutionized the transport industry. The 21st century is that of car and truck dependency. This comes with increased dependency on fuel. Not surprisingly, though, driverless vehicles have emerged. This increase the mobility for the marginal groups in the society such as the elderly and people with disabilities. However, the evolution has a lot of safety factors to consider. This makes it a social constraint rather than a technological one. Scientists are also researching on the use of the driverless technology in airplanes. This would, however, raise so many safety considerations. Hence using it for cargo planes would be the most appropriate. A similar potential exists for maritime transportation as the recent decades have seen automation considerably reduce the crews required to man ships.
Scientists have also attempted to create alternative modes of transport that use no fuels using appropriate technology (Jansuwan & Chen, 2015). These alternatives are more likely to complement the existing ones rather than completely replace them. For instance, a much faster train that uses magnetic levitation has been manufactured. The train has no friction apart from air friction. Consequently, it provides a suitable al...