Biology Take Home Assignment Essay, Research Paper
For my take home assignment I took a look at the web sites of the Food and
Drug Administration (http://www.fda.gov) and the National Institute of
Health (http://www.nih.gov). The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is a
government agency whose job is to regulate food, drugs, medical devices
and vaccines. It also regulates Animal Feeds and Drugs, cosmetics and
things that emit radiation like cell phones, microwaves and lasers. The
NIH is not a government agency like the FDA, for it is part of the
Department of the Health and Human Services branch of the government.
While the FDA is mostly concerned with regulations of drugs and food the
NIH does research to help prevent, detect and treat diseases and
disabilities. It does research in its own laboratories and also sponsors
research in universities, medical schools, hospitals and other research
institutions across the country.
Overall I though the web sites were informative with their own
strengths and weakness. I found that the NIH web site was more organized
and easier to find desired information. It had a search feature which was
useful in finding information on the site. It also had clearly labeled
headings, making it even more easier to find needed information. The web
site however was presented a in very bland fashion and seemed to be
targeted at researchers and scientists who usually come for information.
The FDA’s site on the other hand was presented in a more colorful way and
seemed to be directed toward the general public. This maybe because the
FDA is in the news quite often and is more well known, while the NIH is
little known, except among people in the fields of science and medicine.
At the FDA’s site there seemed to be more news items and press releases
than scientific data. It did have good information about current drugs
and even included a small section devoted to kids.
The two sites offered various different types of research. Most of
the research date shown on the FDA’s site had to do with various types of
drugs, foods, treatments and medical devices. It also had consumer
affairs issues such as what brands of foods have been determined by the
FDA to be bad for human consumption and what drugs have potentially
harmful side effects to them. The NIH’s site had a more extensive
research section devoted to scientific research, rather than general
information like the FDA’s. It provided articles from scientific journals
data from laboratory tests and data on tests on laboratory animals and
microorganisms. It also as a specific section devoted to microbiology and
molecular biology.
The FDA’s site discussed more issues than the NIH. One the front
page of the FDA’s site it had articles devoted to recent issues that the
FDA was concerned about. Some of the issues that were being addressed on
the FDA’s site were effects on radiation emitted by cellular phones,
certain health risks associated with silicone breast implants, the
nationwide shortage of the flu vaccine and a more recent issue addressed
by the FDA was trying to remove a harmful ingredient found in many over-
the counter and prescription cold and cough medicines phenylpropanolamine
(PPA). The NIH deals with issues discovered in laboratory research. Some
of the items that I came across was a discovery that people with Common
Masculinizing Disorder also lack adrenaline. This can be useful in
treatment and prevention of such a disorder. Another key discovery that
the NIH made was the discovery that adolescent smoking led to anxiety
disorders in early adulthood. This information can be used in anti-
smoking campaigns.
Neither of the web sites had a specific section devoted to biology,
but both has science sections which contained some things related to
biology. In the FDA’s site most of the science information was contained
in the Science@FDA part of the web page. In that section I found some
interesting items related to human biology. One article said that FDA
researchers discovered that a protein known as CD26, which is present on
the surface of white blood cells influences the chemokines, which direct
the traffic of the immune cells. They found out that CD26 can disable or
activate chemokines. This can be useful in treating certain diseases
where chemokines are important. The NIH’s site covered far more topics
related to biology. It had data from tests on laboratory animals, data
from other lab tests and a section on molecular biology, which was
somewhat interesting. In the molecular biology section, I found that it
had some really neat things on proteins, such as a list of most proteins
found in the human body, complete with their molecular structures and
formulas. It also had information on how the protein is used and how it
effects the body. This could be useful if you were to do a research paper
on proteins.
Overall I liked the two web sites. I found them informative and
interesting. I learned several new things about biology, medicine and
other fields of science. The FDA’s web site had a lot more facts and news
items, while the NIH’s site had more data. I could use both of these site
for future research further into biology.