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∞To Infinity & Beyond...∞

1/29/2018

nuary 11, 2018 with Dr. Timothy Melvin

Infinity, a topic not many would want to talk about since, well, it could go on forever.

In this café we were introduced to and were able to explore the many things infinity is related to. We were lucky to have Dr. Timothy Melvin,
a professor from SRJC as our guide for going beyond...

We started with a brief history of the concept of infinity begin recognized first by Zeno of Elea ,Greek philosopher of South Italy, who was born in 490 BC. He designated this small character, “ℵ” which is a Hebrew letter pronounced alef to represent the concept of something being infinite- as in having no end. John Wallis, an English mathematician in 1657,crafted the current symbol - something similar to a sideways figure * that again has no end to it.

Now on to the concept of infinity- an easy example is to think of counting numbers - it starts at one and keeps on going and going. Dr. Melvin demonstrated this idea by discussing the continuum, a hypothesis originally suggested by Georg Cantor. He was born in March 3, 1845 in St. Petersburg, Russia and died January 6, 1918. He went to Humboldt University of Berlin and wrote 5 books in his lifetime that relate to math and science. Infinity, a topic not many would want to talk about since, well, it could go on forever. In this café we were introduced to and were able to explore the many things infinity is related to. We were lucky to have Dr. Timothy Melvin, a professor from SRJC as our guide for going beyond...

We started with a brief history of the concept of infinity begin recognized first by Zeno of Elea ,Greek philosopher of South Italy, who was born in 490 BC. He designated this small character, “ℵ” which is a Hebrew letter pronounced alef to represent the concept of something being infinite- as in having no end. John Wallis, an English mathematician in 1657,crafted the current symbol - something similar to a sideways figure * that again has no end to it.

Now on to the concept of infinity- an easy example is to think of counting numbers - it starts at one and keeps on going and going. Dr. Melvin demonstrated this idea by discussing the continuum, a hypothesis originally suggested by Georg Cantor. He was born in March 3, 1845 in St. Petersburg, Russia and died January 6, 1918. He went to Humboldt University of Berlin and wrote 5 books in his lifetime that relate to math and science.

His proposal stated that there will not be an infinite set with a cardinal number, between the small set of infinite integers ℵ0 and the large set of infinite real numbers “c” (the continuum). ℵ1=c
During the café we followed along as Dr. Melvin explained the classic diagonal math grid that has now become Canto’ theorem- The set of counting numbers is less than the size of the real numbers.

After having a snack of delicious Infinity looped pretzels, the after cafe began with a series of problems to solve to help our minds think in a more infinite way. A good place to start was with definitions and notations of set theory ( for those of us with distance-diagonal or not- from mathematics class). Then we worked some set problems-( put link to assignment here) where we worked on the cardinality of set and compared that to power set to see what similarities we might find. More fun was in store for the second set of problems where we explored infinite sets to see if we might find a paradox or two. There were some students and adults that embraced this moment to explore ideas and have mathematical conversations with someone that could help make sense of it-and a few that got a bit lost - but we all were challenged to think and explore in new ways.

The crowd was small but enthusiastic with about 35 attendees, but as Judy Barcelon, STEM Coordinator commented-” we saw new faces tonight - they asked good questions about black holes and transcendental numbers and almost everyone stayed for the after cafe !”
Dr Melvin has been teaching in the Mathematics department at SRJC for the past 5 years and before that in Washington and Montana. His list of scheduled classes ranges from Elementary Statistics to the Nature of Mathematics with a true passion for linear and abstract algebra. He welcomes the chance to discuss the philosophy and foundation of mathematics and can be reached at tmelvin@santarosa.edu

Submitted by Melissa V and edited by Judy B- Piner High STEAM club.

After Café attendees--working hard and chomping on pretzels !

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crspr technology-crunches our DNA!

1/21/2018

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DNA Technology- CRISPR Cafe November 9, 2017

The central dogma is one of the many fundamental concepts all teenagers in high school are encouraged to learn. It states that the information to make proteins is encoded by DNA and this information is relayed by an intermediate molecule called RNA. Harold Marin, a local high school and junior college graduate that now works at UCSF, enlightened us on the current state of affairs with DNA technology. He began by showing glowing bunnies that had been genetically engineered- Now, how can that be real? For those that did not know - genetic modification is not only done to food, but also to other organisms - case in point- these bunnies! Scientists now have the molecular tools to cut and paste specific gene sequences from one organism to another. With the bunnies, a pGLO plasmid (from a fluorescent jellyfish) is used to genetically modify them to glow.
As described by Mr. Marin, CRISPR technology involves an RNA guide and Cas9, which is a protein that acts like scissors to modify gene sequences. He explained that the CRISPR project began when scientists found repeating codes in bacterial DNA. After studying these sequences they realized that it matched the codes of bacterial viruses called bacteriophages. They called these repeating codes of DNA CRISPR (for Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats). They also found that these DNA codes associated with scissor-like proteins in the bacteria which they called Cas (for CRISPR-Associated proteins). Now why would bacteria carry virus DNA? The answer is that during a viral infection, the bacteria uses the CRISPR to recognize the foreign material and “cut” it out. This is an example of a very rudimentary bacterial immune system. By manipulating the properties of the Cas9 protein, scientists were able to apply it to other areas of biological research.
When CRISPR and Cas9 work together they can scan and break the double stranded DNA, which then opens the door to insert a new DNA code within this break. As the cell repairs the broken strand, it will read the new code as its own and make that new protein that was inserted. After Harold explained the basic function of this technology he went on to discuss the work he does- which involves putting the CRISPR guide into human cells with Cas9 in order to “cut out” their genes one-by-one and compare to a control group. However, the work he does can go beyond gene editing on a cellular level. With this technology, scientists have been successful in manipulating genes in human embryos. Due to ethical issues, however, the embryos are not allowed to develop beyond day 14.
Cas9 can also be reengineered to repress or activate it gene expression. In the world of genetics, Cas9 is one protein out of many. One of the questions brought up during the after cafe focused on the ethics involved when using this technology?. As teenagers it is our job to know how this science is applied because it will continue to be part of our future. Mr. Marin signed off with a challenge for the next generation to understand, apply and appreciate this new technology and to avoid creating a society such as that seen in the movie GATTACA.

Submitted by Lindsey Tah
Piner High STEAM club president

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After the CAfe !

∞To Infinity & Beyond...∞

crspr technology-crunches our DNA!

Judy Barcelon

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