Theme What If?
The idea of the “Enzyme Machine” relates to this year’s theme of “What If?” because many people have dreamed and imagined of being able to eat certain kinds of foods that usually cause them indigestion and be totally normal afterward. People have been asking themselves questions such as, “What if I could eat that without vomiting or getting heartburn?” or “What if that food wouldn’t give me excessive gas or constipation?” The symptoms of indigestion, such as acid reflux, bloating, and heartburn can be caused because a person doesn’t have the enzyme necessary to break down a certain kind of food, like lactose. Using the Enzyme Machine, many people’s dreams of tasting food they have always had indigestion to before will become reality.
Viability
Today, indigestion is common and one of the main causes of indigestion is the lack of stomach acids, which are vital in the production of enzymes. Without enzymes such as protein enzymes, the food that those certain kind of enzymes break down will not be able break down, causing problems in the body known as the symptoms of indigestion. Since so many people around the world aren’t able to enjoy and be nourished by types of food, we decided to create a machine with artificial enzymes that break down the types of food for people, so that when people who normally have indigestion to the food eat it, the body will easily receive the food with no problems. Unfortunately, the process of making artificial enzymes for the machine is not feasible for students because it takes very expensive parts and artificial genetic material to achieve making these rare molecules that make up enzymes. Enzymes are made up of amino acids, which are proteins. However, these hundreds of amino acids have to be put in a certain order and shape in order to create a certain enzyme. Although the actual machine cannot be made in a school environment, the exact details and prototype can be made.
Creativity and Innovation
This idea of an Enzyme Machine is very creative. This machine is a unique innovation to enzyme supplements because enzyme supplements are not always guaranteed to be effective for everyone and it can be very tiring to have to think about taking a pill every time you eat a certain type of food. The Enzyme Machine solves the problems presented by enzyme supplements because it will definitely guarantee that indigestion will stop if the indigestion is caused by the lack of amino acids, and therefore enzymes. In addition, with the broken down food from the Enzyme Machine already incorporated into food products such as cheese or milk, anybody with indigestion can live a normal life of shopping and eating without having to always take the enzyme pills. In this machine, there will be different compartments for certain enzymes and the food can enter one according to the labeled compartments. When the enzymes in the compartments have broken down the food, the food will be released and stored in another chamber as it waits to be collected. This machine can be sold to food production businesses and even to houses where making homemade food is common. This machine will be revolutionary in the eating habits of people around the world and will be the starting point for solving other dietary problems in the future.
Cross-Cutting Concept Integration
The concept we aim to integrate into the research is “System and System Models.” According to the NGSS Cross-Cutting Concepts website, this concept includes, “A system (that) is an organized group of related objects or components; models can be used for understanding and predicting the behavior of systems.” For future research, it will be necessary to study more in depth the specific way enzymes work as a system of the body so that we can take the enzymes and put in the system of a machine to operate the same way. Then we will take our knowledge of enzymes and build a model of the machine that will be able to answer any questions asked about how the machine behaves and functions. We will be able to define the limits and boundaries of the machine and highlight the important components of the machine.
Another concept is “Stability and Change” where, “For both designed and natural systems, conditions that affect stability and factors that control rates of change are critical elements to consider and understand.” We must also research the environment in which certain enzymes operate (such as the temperature and acidity level) to understand what we must keep in mind as we model the machine. We aim to make our machine as stable and reliable as possible. In addition, we must research statistics that prove that indigestion is common and that because of this, the Enzyme Machine will be very influential in the modern world. For example, in 2014 according to healthline.com, 15% to 30% of the United States' population had GERD, or acid reflux. Acid reflux is an indigestion symptom caused by the lack of amino acids, and therefore certain enzymes. These are the two main concepts we will keep in mind as we conduct formal research.
Cited Sources
Brain, Marshall. “How Cells Work.” HowStuffWorks Science, HowStuffWorks, 28 June 2018, science.howstuffworks.com/life/cellular-microscopic/cell2.htm.
“Indigestion: Symptoms, Causes, Remedies, and Treatment.” WebMD, WebMD, www.webmd.com/heartburn-gerd/indigestion#1.
“GERD: Facts, Statistics, and You.” Healthline, Healthline Media, www.healthline.com/health/gerd/facts-statistics-infographic#1v.
The idea of the “Enzyme Machine” relates to this year’s theme of “What If?” because many people have dreamed and imagined of being able to eat certain kinds of foods that usually cause them indigestion and be totally normal afterward. People have been asking themselves questions such as, “What if I could eat that without vomiting or getting heartburn?” or “What if that food wouldn’t give me excessive gas or constipation?” The symptoms of indigestion, such as acid reflux, bloating, and heartburn can be caused because a person doesn’t have the enzyme necessary to break down a certain kind of food, like lactose. Using the Enzyme Machine, many people’s dreams of tasting food they have always had indigestion to before will become reality.
Viability
Today, indigestion is common and one of the main causes of indigestion is the lack of stomach acids, which are vital in the production of enzymes. Without enzymes such as protein enzymes, the food that those certain kind of enzymes break down will not be able break down, causing problems in the body known as the symptoms of indigestion. Since so many people around the world aren’t able to enjoy and be nourished by types of food, we decided to create a machine with artificial enzymes that break down the types of food for people, so that when people who normally have indigestion to the food eat it, the body will easily receive the food with no problems. Unfortunately, the process of making artificial enzymes for the machine is not feasible for students because it takes very expensive parts and artificial genetic material to achieve making these rare molecules that make up enzymes. Enzymes are made up of amino acids, which are proteins. However, these hundreds of amino acids have to be put in a certain order and shape in order to create a certain enzyme. Although the actual machine cannot be made in a school environment, the exact details and prototype can be made.
Creativity and Innovation
This idea of an Enzyme Machine is very creative. This machine is a unique innovation to enzyme supplements because enzyme supplements are not always guaranteed to be effective for everyone and it can be very tiring to have to think about taking a pill every time you eat a certain type of food. The Enzyme Machine solves the problems presented by enzyme supplements because it will definitely guarantee that indigestion will stop if the indigestion is caused by the lack of amino acids, and therefore enzymes. In addition, with the broken down food from the Enzyme Machine already incorporated into food products such as cheese or milk, anybody with indigestion can live a normal life of shopping and eating without having to always take the enzyme pills. In this machine, there will be different compartments for certain enzymes and the food can enter one according to the labeled compartments. When the enzymes in the compartments have broken down the food, the food will be released and stored in another chamber as it waits to be collected. This machine can be sold to food production businesses and even to houses where making homemade food is common. This machine will be revolutionary in the eating habits of people around the world and will be the starting point for solving other dietary problems in the future.
Cross-Cutting Concept Integration
The concept we aim to integrate into the research is “System and System Models.” According to the NGSS Cross-Cutting Concepts website, this concept includes, “A system (that) is an organized group of related objects or components; models can be used for understanding and predicting the behavior of systems.” For future research, it will be necessary to study more in depth the specific way enzymes work as a system of the body so that we can take the enzymes and put in the system of a machine to operate the same way. Then we will take our knowledge of enzymes and build a model of the machine that will be able to answer any questions asked about how the machine behaves and functions. We will be able to define the limits and boundaries of the machine and highlight the important components of the machine.
Another concept is “Stability and Change” where, “For both designed and natural systems, conditions that affect stability and factors that control rates of change are critical elements to consider and understand.” We must also research the environment in which certain enzymes operate (such as the temperature and acidity level) to understand what we must keep in mind as we model the machine. We aim to make our machine as stable and reliable as possible. In addition, we must research statistics that prove that indigestion is common and that because of this, the Enzyme Machine will be very influential in the modern world. For example, in 2014 according to healthline.com, 15% to 30% of the United States' population had GERD, or acid reflux. Acid reflux is an indigestion symptom caused by the lack of amino acids, and therefore certain enzymes. These are the two main concepts we will keep in mind as we conduct formal research.
Cited Sources
Brain, Marshall. “How Cells Work.” HowStuffWorks Science, HowStuffWorks, 28 June 2018, science.howstuffworks.com/life/cellular-microscopic/cell2.htm.
“Indigestion: Symptoms, Causes, Remedies, and Treatment.” WebMD, WebMD, www.webmd.com/heartburn-gerd/indigestion#1.
“GERD: Facts, Statistics, and You.” Healthline, Healthline Media, www.healthline.com/health/gerd/facts-statistics-infographic#1v.