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If the current agricultural, economic, social, and political practices go unchecked, our world will be in trouble. I chose this picture which shows a dry and dull area with almost no signs of life. We, as humans, have to improve upon our actions in order to preserve our world. There have been signs for years that we are destroying our planet, and it seems as though nothing has been done about it. If we don't make significant changes soon, we might not be able to survive on Earth in a number of years.

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I believe that one of the most influential chemicals in the world, which is derived from plants, is Taxol. Taxol, also known as Paclitaxel, comes from the bark of the Pacific Yew Tree and is used to treat various types of cancer, such as breast, lung, and ovarian cancer.  Since 1962, when the first studies of this chemical were started, until today, Taxol has made a huge impact on people's lives. It has been FDA approved for the treatment of breast and ovarian cancer and at one point it was even the best selling cancer drug ever manufactured.

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A computer-
generated model of a Taxol molecule. Courtesy of NCI. 1991.

Paclitaxel, the most well-known natural-source cancer drug in the United States, is derived from the bark of the Pacific yew tree ( Taxus brevifolia) and is used in the treatment of breast, lung, and ovarian cancer, as well as Kaposi's sarcoma.

1962 Samples of the Pacific yew's bark were first collected in 1962 by researchers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) who were under contract to NCI to find natural products that might cure cancer. Two years later, Dr. Monroe E. Wall, Dr. Mansukh Wani, and colleagues at the Research Triangle Institute's Natural Product Laboratory in Research Triangle Park, NC, discovered that extracts from this bark contained cytotoxic activity. In 1965, additional samples of bark were collected and sent to Dr. Wall's group for identification and purification of the extract's most active component. It took the researchers at the Research Triangle Institute several years to isolate paclitaxel in its pure form, but once they did, NCI assigned the compound an NSC number and testing began to identify paclitaxel's biological action.

1977 It was not until 1977, when NCI was able to confirm antitumor activity in the mouse melanoma B16 model, that paclitaxel, also known by its trade name, Taxol, was selected as a candidate for clinical development. Activity was also observed in animal models against MX-1 mammary, LX-1 lung, and CX-1 colon tumors.

Also during that year, Dr. Susan Horwitz, Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, was given a grant by NCI to study Taxol's mechanism of action. Dr. Horwitz proved to be a good candidate to study Taxol, in part because of her interest in naturally occurring small molecules and their use in treating cancer. ¹

Dr. Horwitz found that Taxol was able to bind to a cell's microtubule assembly and slow cell division and growth by stabilizing the microtubules, preventing shrinkage and therefore blocking the segregation of the chromosomes. ²

Because of difficulties harvesting Taxol and because of the complexities involved in synthesizing the compound, development toward the clinic was slow. The drug, however, showed effectiveness against mammary tumors and ovarian cancer, pushing researchers to find a means of isolating large quantities for clinical use. The first company to achieve large-scale production of Taxol was Polysciences, Inc. Clinical trials became possible when a method was derived to extract a precursor of Taxol, 10-deacetyl-baccatin III, from the common yew Taxus baccata (which many people have in their gardens). The precursor was then converted by chemical synthesis to Taxol. Currently, a cell culture method developed by Phyton Catalytic is used by Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) to produce the drug. ³

Taxol posed other challenges, too. It was difficult to formulate into a delivery system acceptable for human use. Initial activity was observed with bulk drug suspended in solution. Although Taxol was soluble in 75% polyethylene glycol, repeated testing using this formula against both B16 and P388 tumors produced inferior results. When the drug was formulated in an ethanol, cremophor, and saline solution (ratio 5:5:90) to a concentration of 0.3 to 0.6 mg/mL, the intraperitoneal activity was preserved at the initial levels. Preclinical toxic effects were most evident in tissues with a high cell turnover, such as hematopoietic, lymphatic, gastrointestinal, and reproductive tissues.

1984 In 1984, NCI began phase I clinical trials of Taxol against a number of cancer types. Demand for Taxol spiked in 1989 after investigators at Johns Hopkins reported that the drug produced partial or complete responses in 30% of patients with advanced ovarian cancer. ⁴

1992–present In December 1992, the FDA approved Taxol for the treatment for ovarian cancer. Researchers also tested the effectiveness of Taxol as a treatment for advanced breast cancer. Subsequent clinical trials found that the drug was effective against this disease, and, in 1994, the FDA approved Taxol for use against breast cancer. ⁴

Clinical trials to test Taxol against other types of cancer and in combination with other therapies are currently in progress.

To date, Taxol is the best-selling cancer drug ever manufactured. Annual sales of the drug peaked in 2000, reaching $1.6 billion. ⁵

Taxol
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"The chemical structure of Taxol is unique and it looked extremely interesting to me, so I said yes, please send me 10 milligrams. Within a month we knew that we had a very interesting molecule that was doing something to cells, which no one else had seen occur with a small molecule. It was very exciting."

—Susan Horwitz, Ph.D. ¹

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A computer- generated model of a Taxol molecule. Courtesy of NCI. 1991. Paclitaxel, the most well-known natural-source cancer drug in the United States, is derived from the bark of the Pacific yew tree ( Taxus brevifolia) and is used in the treatment of breast, lung, and ovarian cancer, as well as Kaposi's sarcoma.

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Steam-powered tractors were an invention during the third agricultural revolution which were vehicles powered by a steam engine. I believe that there were many inventions during this time that helped catapult the nations into a global society, but steam-powered tractors were one of the biggest causes. These tractors were used to loosen parts of crops, transport crops and materials, and to plough. With the invention of these steam tractors, farming could be done even faster and easier than before and farmers could save money by using the steam power instead of gas. I believe that the invention of steam-powered tractors was an important step in the process of growing and improving farm work in society.

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The diagram that I chose shows a couple of major practices that began during the Neolithic Revolution. I chose this diagram because I like that it shows how each impact of one practice results in causing something else to happen. This chart specifically shows how social classes began and how you can trace the causes back to the Neolithic Revolution and things such as farming. This impact still affects our society today all around the world and I believe that this impact is maybe more on the negative side (for someone who is in a lower social class), but I also believe that our society would not have advanced as much without it.

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The Tropical Rainforest is a biome that is in danger for multiple reasons. One of the main factors for this is deforestation; thousands of trees are cut down in order to build things such as cattle pastures. Another reason is that there are many poachers who hunt and kill the natural wildlife of the rainforest in order to make a profit. There are people who tear down even more trees in order to build dams and use the wood to make things like furniture. Mining is also a danger as the harsh chemicals and sediments that wash into the rivers kill many fish. Overall, the Tropical Rainforest is in danger and has been for a while. We need to try to do our best to help protect what is left of the rainforest and everything that lives inside of it.

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The website that I chose provides pictures and names of the different types of plants that are native to Georgia. There are pages worth of examples and it allows the readers to actually see what the different types of land plants look like. It lists examples of Bryophytes, Pteridophytes, Gymnosperms, and Angiosperms that are all native to Georgia. This website is very informative and allows readers to expand their knowledge of Georgia's native land plants.

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Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center - The University of Texas at Austin

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Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center focused on protecting and preserving North America's native plants through native plant lists and image galleries, conservation, education, natural landscapes, seed collection - Millennium Seed Bank (MSB) Project, preserving and restoring native communities, spreading awareness on invasive species and gardening to attract wildlife.

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The video that I linked, although it is a video for kids, made it easier for me to understand the process of photosynthesis. I chose this video because I liked that it uses animations to help explain this process. I found it to be very easy to understand and it provided a lot of information. It explained not only how photosynthesis works, but also why it is so important for our planet. I believe this video shows a good summary and simple explanation of the process of photosynthesis and can be helpful to anyone who may be struggling to understand this process.

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Photosynthesis | Educational Video for Kids

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The picture that I chose is showing the process of photosynthesis. While there are other ways that plants play a role in our society, such as providing food for humans and animals, I believe that photosynthesis plays the largest role. Plants take in carbon dioxide and release oxygen which is essential to life and helps support all living things on Earth. Plants also provide us with materials to make clothes, medicine, and even give shelter for wildlife. Without plants in our society and ecosystem, it would not take long for the Earth to go downhill and become unsuitable for life.