A New Animal Inspired Technology To Help Insulin Users

By: Anita Osuri

In 2015, 30 million Americans had diabetes. This number seems to grow every day with about 1.5 million Americans being diagnosed each year. Currently, the only way to control diabetes is to inject insulin into the body with a needle. This can cause extreme discomfort and biohazardous needle waste. An alternative to this is the insulin pill, though with the pill comes the obstaclethat the acids in the gastrointestinal tract can possibly break down drugs before they can be absorbed.

However, after one hundred years of researching, scientists from MIT and Harvard have just created S.O.M.A. It stands for Self-Orienting Millimeter-scale Actuator, due to its ability to self inject insulin consistently into the top layer of the stomach lining. What fascinated me greatly about this invention is that it was inspired by the leopard tortoise. The shape of the tortoise is unique, allowing the animal to be upright from any orientation. Scientists used this shape to make the shape of the capsule so that the insulin would always go into the stomach lining and never into other organ systems.

The pill contains a tiny needle made of freeze dried insulin and a leopard tortoise-shaped capsule. The device enters the body through consumption, without any of the previously mentioned needle side effects. Then, when the device reaches the stomach, it will inject the insulin needle into the stomach wall. According to researchers, the stomach does not have pain receptors, to it does not cause any discomfort. Afterwards, the shaft of the needle degrades and the rest of the device harmlessly passes through the digestive system.

In the future, S.O.M.A. will could very well prevent issues of patients not taking their medicine due to unwillingness to use a needle. S.O.M.A. may even be helpful with other injectable medicines such as immunotherapy for cancer patients. In fact, MIT professor Robert Langer states,“We are really hopeful that this new type of capsule could someday help diabetic patients and perhaps anyone who requires therapies that can now only be given by injection or infusion.” Overall, this is just one example of how biotechnology, innovative thinking, teamwork, and research is able to produce such a helpful invention. Remember: we are the future!

Source 

Order Your 2018-19 Yearbook

Getting to Know Ms. Froonjian: 50 Rapidfire Questions

​​By: Eesha Vijayakumar, Priya Thamburaj, and Annie Zhang

Get to know the new current Freshman Biology teacher Ms. Froonjian in this round of #50RapidFireQuestions!

Biotech’s Magical Spring Musical: Cinderella

By: Bridget Corpus

Cinderella, the story of a princess that everyone knows and loves, will be brought to life by A&E in the spring of 2019! This musical will follow the life of a young woman named Ella, who is forced to live with her cruel stepmother and stepsisters. Through the help of a fairy godmother and a little bit of magic, Ella will be transformed for one night to find her Prince Charming. This version is similar to the Broadway production of Cinderella, so there will be a few refreshing and comedic changes from the original movie.

Biotech’s production of Cinderella will be directed and led by a talented group of seniors known as the Creative Team. Ester Teper and Deeksha Kommireddi are the acting directors, Neha Nandiwada is the singing director, and Olivia Pasquale and Nathan Kan are the choreographers. This musical is completely student-led; everything from the props to the scenery to the costumes is created by members of the A&E Club. If you want to help in the preparation of Cinderella, then you are more than welcome to! It’s not only a great service opportunity and a chance for students to get involved at Biotech, but participating in the production of this play will be exciting for all grades.

Mark your calendars! Cinderella will be performed on Friday, March 22 and Saturday, March 23 of 2019. As always, it’s sure to be an amazing musical put on by an equally amazing cast and crew.

Powderpuff 2018

By: Bridget Corpus

Every year, one event many students at Biotech look forward to is Powderpuff! This is a chance for typical roles to switch, as the girls are the ones who play football, and the guys are the ones who cheerlead.

The first game took place on October 19th, where the sophomores played against the seniors. The sophomore class started out strong, and maintained their lead the entire game. Despite the senior cheerleaders trying to hype up the crowd during halftime, the senior team was unable to comeback. The sophomores ended up winning the first Powderpuff game 5-3.

The second game took place on October 26, where the juniors played the freshmen in the Class of 2022’s first Powderpuff experience. Like the sophomores, the juniors started out strong, gaining most of their touchdowns in the first half of the game. The freshmen were unable to keep up, and the juniors eventually won this game 7-1.

On November 1, the juniors faced the sophomores in the Powderpuff championship. The juniors easily scored two touchdowns on two interceptions in the first few minutes of the game. Although still ahead, the juniors were nervous when the score became 3-2 by halftime. During the second half, the sophomores scored another touchdown. However, by the end of the game, the juniors were able to score twice more, and became the Powderpuff champions! The final score was 5-3.

A big thank you to everyone who participated in and helped organize Powderpuff this year. And congratulations to the Class of 2020 for winning it all!