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The podcast episode starts with a discussion on scar therapy, with the hosts sharing personal experiences and different types of scars. They then discuss common scar therapies, such as allopathic medicine and complementary medicine, including treatments like fat grafting and lasers. The hosts also talk about their own experiences with scar treatments, such as using Accutane and topical creams. They briefly touch on the use of rosehip oil and face masks. The conversation then transitions to discussing dermabrasion as a scar treatment. Towards the end, there is a transition to discussing CRISPR, a gene editing technology with potential applications in medical research and cancer treatment. The hosts mention the discovery of CRISPR in 1987 and its ability to edit genomes for various purposes. They specifically mention using CRISPR to enhance the immune system against tumors. All right. Silence. All right. We should be good. All right. Welcome to our podcast. My name is Meg. I am a chemistry major and I'll be talking about scar therapy. Should we have like a bigger introduction where we say like, welcome to our podcast. Today we'll be just today. Yeah, no, I don't know. I don't know if we just want it. Okay, I could just do it. I think the other groups have like, oh, like, we don't have to go like, as staged as that. We're not like other groups. No, we're not like other groups. But maybe like, at least have a main topic that we discuss. Yeah, we have a way to tie it in. So I know about the treatments first and then the technology next. Okay. Okay. All right. Well, welcome to our podcast. Today we'll be talking about the advancements of medical technology. My name is Meg. We are joined by... My name is Thomas. I'm a bio major. My name is Evan. I am a biomedical sciences major. My name is Sarah and I'm a bio science major. I'm a chemistry pre-med major. Forgot to add that. So we're going to start this off by talking about scar therapy. I'm sure all of us have scars. I have a really big scar down my back. I had surgery when I was 12. And I always wondered how to get rid of my scar. I tried creams and all this stuff like that, but nothing really ever worked. So I decided to research more about scar therapy. So there's different types of scars, hypertrophic scars, keloid scars, atrophic scars. Do you guys have any scars? No, not any that I can think of at the top of my head. However, my brother did have a scar on the side of his body. He had a mole removed from when he was born, kind of like a birthmark. It was just like a circular dark spot underneath his armpit. And my aunt, who's a dermatologist, was able to remove that scar, or remove the mole, I mean. However, the scar was still there for a little while. It's still going away. However, the scar still remains. So it's interesting that you bring up scar treatment. So then it applies to each and every one of our lives. And we figure out what the medical advancements are moving forward. So yeah, talk about those types of scars that... Yeah, so hypertrophic scars usually stay within the original limits of the wound. Keloid scars grow, and they're much darker and red. They can be itchy. Atrophic scars are prevalent with people who have had acne. So they're kind of like sunken skin holes in a way. Contracture scars, like the name sounds, it's like extensive skin loss. And your skin kind of contracts. And that's the type of scar that you get when you burn yourself. And then we have stretch marks. I think most people have stretch marks. So you get that during pregnancy or major weight and gain loss. I have stretch marks on my back from growing so fast. My skin can keep up. Yeah. Okay, I'm going to edit that out. Yeah. Okay. So let's talk about some common scar therapies. There's allopathic medicine, and then there's complementary medicine. Allopathic medicine is more like... Or allopathic? Allopathic. Allopathic. I'm sorry. Allopathic. You are right. Allopathic therapies frequently include prescription medications, topical creams, or surgical methods. There's biomaterials. So this is where fat grafting is included. So fat grafting is a useful method for treating skin stiffness and facial burn scars. Fat transfer has previously been utilized to heal scars and contracture after mastectomy. Then there's lasers. There's ablative and non-ablative lasers. And they eliminate tiny layers of the skin. And ablative lasers are more aggressive than non-ablative lasers. They promote skin tightening. Has anyone ever got any of these treatments? I can't say I have. No. I don't think so. I mean, even though I had acne and that kind of caused scarring a little bit, everything went away. So it never was that severe to the point where I needed any sort of laser treatment or any other scar treatments, like the biomaterial as well. Did you ever use any creams? I did. My acne was very bad. I used the Accutane. Oh, yeah. So you got to go on that six-month treatment. And it was very annoying because it made your skin very dry because it takes out all of the ability for your sweat glands to produce sweat. I believe that's how it was. I'm pretty sure Accutane is like an overload of vitamin E. I don't know the specifics with vitamins, but I know that it's more helpful towards anything bacterial. So then it deprives the bacteria living in your skin from the nutrients that they're getting to make the acne kind of grow. So I'm very fortunate that that was a thing. I was on Accutane as well. And when you get off of Accutane, were you prescribed Tretinoin? They were kind of a mix. I mean, I didn't use a topical cream on my face. It was more so like the pill where I took like a pill each day. And then I just had to drink excessive amounts of water. Oh, yeah. Because it would just dry up your skin. So I had to like lotion up a lot. And it was just very annoying. So topical treatments is like I was prescribed. I use Tretinoin and this is a prescription topical treatment. And it kind of acts like a silicone barrier and it can help soften and flatten scars over time. So that's like an example of complementary medicine. There's also rosehip oil that I did some research about. A lot of cosmetic products use rosehip oil because of its regenerating capabilities. It includes vitamin C, which is also known to reduce melanin production. What production? Melanin. Melanin. Okay. Yeah. And lightened hyperpigmented areas. I know melanin is related to the color of your skin. Yeah. If it's like pheomelanin or eumelanin kind of thing. I noticed when I was in middle school, I still use a lot of face masks for no reason. And like after a year of using all these like $5 face masks, my face was so much paler than the rest of my body. What do you mean by face masks? Like at home or at school? No, like at home. Okay. Okay. Because they were popular back then, I guess. It'd be like tightening, lightening. I was like 13 years old. Yeah, meanwhile you're a child. Crazy face masks. Yeah. They're like $4. Anti-aging? Anti-aging at a 13 year old. Yeah. Was it for each mask or like a whole pack of them? I had like a variety pack. And how many masks were in it for the $4? It was like a tube of like a mask. That definitely was not good for you. Oh, no, it wasn't. It comes from a tube. I don't know about that. So yeah, to get where I am right now, I had to go on Accutane. I'm still on Tretinoin. I use all these creams. I do the best I can when it comes to my face. Do you think that experience of using all those face masks irreparably made this damage? Yes, I do think so. I think that is the root core of like all the problems I had later on because then my skin started getting really flaky. Then I was super pale for the longest time. I'm already naturally very pale. And then I just looked like, oh, I just looked sick. Did you notice that at the time when you were using the face mask? No, I didn't. I didn't notice it. So yeah, what else can we talk about? There's also Dermabrasion. Dermabrasion removes the scars of the dermis and superficial dermal layer with this rotating diamond surface wire brush. It basically like rubs the skin, rubs your skin enough so it bleeds and then regenerates in a way in the hope that the regenerated skin has the overall better texture and better appearance. That's an interesting treatment. Yes, that is really interesting. It's interesting to consider treatments as well because each person kind of operates differently. It's not a one size fits all kind of deal. Whereas the best treatment would work for the majority, there's always those extra cases that may not always react the same way once they're exposed to it. That's something interesting to consider in terms of our biology with how we are as people. There's also different treatments. Obviously, one costs more than the other. One takes a longer time. I remember when I took Trinone, it took me like a year to see serious effects, good results. Evan, do you want to talk about CRISPR? What do you mean, Thomas? Thomas, I'm so sorry. That is so ridiculous. I need to cut that out. Okay, hold on. You start. Thomas, would you like to talk about CRISPR? Yeah, I could do that. CRISPR is a new, relatively speaking, gene editing technology that has, in my mind, really, honestly, huge potential to do great things for medical research and anything, agricultural, anything like that. CRISPR itself, you can edit any genome on anything, any cell, any... Hold on, let me restart because I don't like how I'm saying that. It's okay. I'm so sorry for calling you Evan. I'm just so in my head. Maybe you could say, instead of talking about the... This is the transition where you say, transitioning from physical effects, let's look at the more molecular genetic components. So, Thomas, would you like to talk about CRISPR? You could do that. Okay. So, Meg, it was really awesome how you talked about all the physical aspects of how scar treatments are towards applying to the skin. Now, Thomas, can you talk to us right now about the molecular genetic components where you go into depth on your topic of CRISPR? Yeah, of course. CRISPR is a new, relatively speaking, gene editing technology that, honestly, has great potential for medical research and other aspects as well. CRISPR... CRISPR was initially discovered in bacterial cells as an active immune system against viruses, and that was in 1987, and wasn't really fully able for human tests and research and stuff until around 2012. With that, you can edit any genome that you want. So, for one of my topics that I discussed and researched was cancer. Cancer, as we all know, is noblano, and using CRISPR, you can edit the T cells in your body for an active immune system—that's what they are—and you can increase your immunity to tumors through this CRISPR gene editing technology. So, through that, they saw that there was—let me read it—a loss of friend leukemia integration one transcription factor in those T cells increased your immunity to tumors. Now, something like this is still very much in the research phase, but, you know, somewhere down the line, this could really come in handy in saving people's lives. So, what was your thought process into discussing CRISPR treatments? Um, honestly, I've always had an interest in genetics itself, and, I mean, I hate to be sad, but my mother has cancer, so I wanted to do some research on it to give her a better outlook, I guess. What other—aside from cancer, are there any other treatments that CRISPR can be used towards, not treatments, or applications, I mean? Honestly, the potential is limitless. I've done research for sickle cell anemia. They tested on, like, actual people and saw decent results, come on par with already current research, or, like, current treatments for sickle cell. And then, I like the idea that you could use it to manipulate your crops. Say, if you're in an area that has loose soil, you can input something that makes the roots dig deeper, or stronger, or something like that. There's really no bounds to this. And is it still safe to eat the food? Like, what— Yeah, yeah. You apply it to all these crops? That has always been a concern for a lot of people, but, really, there's nothing different. You're not adding chemicals. You're changing it on a genetic level. It's still doing everything else. They're all separate working components that come together to form this machine that is the plant. So, if you're just changing the root, that's not going to alter anything else. I see. It's interesting how, like, working with food supply is very important, since, like, we have a growing population, and therefore, like, we want to make sure we have enough food for everyone in the world. So, it's important how it's going to be applied to, like, not only the research field, but also agricultural aspects. Like, you have farmers who are producing all these crops that they can sell for profit, but at the same time, you at least get the food out there to other parts of the globe. So, yeah, I think that's really important. One more piece of cool, fun fact that I know is, right here at UB, my genetics professor, his research is genetically modifying plants to be better at photosynthesis, which is a really cool topic. Yeah. More so, like, just absorbing more sunlight or just, like, Yeah. I mean, I don't know, like, the specific specifics, but just from, like, what I've heard from taking his class, that's what he's talking about. That's really interesting how that works. It's interesting, too, when you mentioned beta or sickle cell anemia, because I'm also taking a genetics course at the moment. It was, like, biomedical genetics, and my teacher really goes into depth about sickle cell anemia, about how you can talk about the molecular component, where, like, how gene transcription works, and that whenever you have certain failures with the production of that mRNA or that protein, then it can really damage it not only on that cellular level, but in multiple cells, and then tissue, and then entire organs. Yeah, it's a huge chain reaction. It is. Domino effect, I would say. Yeah. Of course. So, like, we want to find a way to transition, or? Yes, to you or Sarah. Or, no, CRISPR. Okay, CRISPR, medical advancement, AI. I think that's a better shift. Yeah, I'm thinking about, like, how do we shift it? I don't want to be, like, all right, done with Thomas, talk about me now. Okay, Thomas, anyways. Let's get out of here. I don't know. I just don't know the right way to transition from CRISPR. I think CRISPR to AI is easier than CRISPR. Maybe we could talk about, like, how you're, like, since I asked or talked about the sickle cell anemia aspect, you're, like, well, now that we talk about the chain reaction, let's consider how, like, going more to broad. Well, I could talk about one of the main drawbacks for the treatment for my sickle cell is the cost. So I could just, like, mention that again briefly, and then you could segue us that way. Cost? I could say, like, maybe, like, with the whole domino effect thing, you're, like, you could say, like, oh, I remember you were saying, even though I never said anything yet, like, you have something about organs with eyes. Talk about your topic a bit more, maybe. Yeah. Like that kind of thing? No? Okay. That went too much. All right. Because I don't really have anything about costs. That's just one thing I have. I also have stuff on technology. Because, like, when I talk about the technology aspect, I can either, like, segue it towards Sarah, or we can find a way to go from you to Sarah. I could talk about... Then I go last. One of CRISPR's biggest downsides are off-target effects. So I could just get into it. And then there's this... It's CRISPR analytics. It's this, like, program that does stuff for you, making it easier to research. Oh, perfect. And then we could be, like... And then... No, I think Sarah can butt in and be, like, oh, like... No, I think you should go, and then Evan, and then I feel like I should wrap up everything. Because mine has, like... It's, like, technology where you guys all use it, and then we can just wrap up all your topics with mine. Okay. All right. So then how do we go from CRISPR to eyes? Yes. That's the problem. CRISPR, speaking of crisp, are your eyes crisp? That's maybe, but that's also, like, corny. No, yeah. But I'm thinking, what if Jay likes the corniness? Because he definitely wants it to be funny. It's not funny at all. Well, corny is funny to me, because it's just... That's too cringe for me. I'm sorry. We could... No, I could do it. I could be, like... Speaking of CRISPR... I'd have to step out. I'd take one for the team. No, I'm going to take one for the team. I'm going to take one for the team. Okay, I'm going to do it right now. Okay, I'm, like, way too loud. Did you see that? That's crazy. All right, well, speaking of CRISPR, let's talk about crisp eyes. Anyway, no, not crisp, crisp sight, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. Did you want to, like, say, like, want to go into your topic about... Yeah, I'm going to go. Okay. I can't. Okay, hold on. Okay, well, speaking of CRISPR, let's talk about crisp eyesight. Evan, would you like to take it away? Yeah, absolutely. So, my topic today is I'm going to be discussing macular degeneration. So, macular degeneration is an eye disease that is the leading cause of blindness in an aging population. So, the whole thing around this is that you can have blind spots in your eyes, and they can be automatically corrected by vision, but there's some cases where it can't do so as much. So, you have, like, a dark black spot right in the middle of your central vision where you really can't escape that, and you can only see what's around in that peripheral vision, like at the corner of your eye or at the top of your view, anything of that sort. So, this whole thing is based on a structure called the macula, which is in the back of your eye. It's, like, right along the retina. It's very small. And then when that kind of degenerates, and then there's these soft deposits that kind of form called drusen, and that kind of leads to clouding up that vision and losing that sensory input into your eyesight. So, kind of shifting gears a little bit, I'll talk about some of the technology that's involved into diagnosing macular degeneration, aside from the fact that you can't see correctly. So, there's molecular components where you have mass spectrometry involved as the technology. So, you have blood tests in which you can test to find these molecules that are within the concentrations of your blood. And you go in and you have a... It's not in the script. So, I just had to think about this again. Yeah, yeah. So, is there any way you could get macular degeneration by looking at the sun? No, no, you can't. It's more of, like, a genetic component where it's, like, family history of the disease, as well as shifting gears to, like, environmental components where it's not just, like, looking at the sun, but it's, like, more of a long-term thing. Like, it could be diet-related where you have, like, less fatty acids in your system, which will transition to, like, finding, like, acyl carnitines or C-reactive proteins or even 25-hydroxyvitamin D with the whole mass spectrometry thing where it goes in and tries to confirm the presence of these molecules where it just looks for functional groups of the molecules, as well as the molecular weight of it all. So, like, speaking of the eclipse that we had not too long ago, so, obviously, the media told us not to look at the eclipse for too long with just a raw set of eyes. So, if it's not macular degeneration, what is it? Do we just, like, burn our eyes off? Burning your retinas. I would say probably burning your retinas and then your rods and cones, I would probably say, because, like, we've all probably had this before where you, like, look directly at the sun and then, like, you look away and you see flashes of red and green, maybe some blue in there, and then you seem to can't make it go away. I always thought that was just me, but it seems like it's the same thing. No, that was a universal experience. Yeah. Especially, like, in the snow, too. Like, you ever, like, go skiing or something like that, and, like, the sun shines in the snow, but then it reflects everywhere. Yeah, you're getting multiple angles of that sunlight now from top and bottom. Or same as, like, if you're on the ocean. Yeah. Definitely. Yeah. I feel that much more, I think, when I'm on the water. It's just, like, a huge magnifying glass. Yeah. Where it just intensifies it and you're like, ah, my poor blue eyes. My poor baby blue eyes. They can't take it. Can't, like, blue eyes, like, take in more light versus brown? Oh, I don't know. But my eyes definitely hurt every time the sun is out. Yes. The lighter your eyes are, the more sensitive they are to the sun. I'm horrible, horrible when it comes to the sun. That makes sense to an extent. I mean, I think I can confirm that. I haven't had any of your troubles. Yeah. My poor baby blue eyes, like, sensitive. Yeah. Yeah. And then just one more thing I'll discuss, too, is, like, looking at the physical nature of it all, where, like, you can confirm, like, how your organ or your structures of your eyes are also being damaged as well. We kind of take in, like, MRIs or even, like, these tomography-based techniques that go in, and they take detailed pictures of your structures. Like, where you can see, like, they're thinning up, or there's, like, a separation between membranes, such as, like, retinal pigment, epithelium, and Brook's membrane, but I won't go into that too much. And then you can see, like, that soft drusen also forming in that process as well. One thing I mentioned, which is a really cool one, you ever see, like, pictures of, like, dots moving in a specific direction? Oh, yeah, yeah. Where it's, like, a black screen, you have white dots, and they move, like, left or they move right. And then they're, like, is it going left or is it going right? So there's one study that's been done that's tested that whole thing to test the differences in how we perceive motion in, like, macular degeneration patients versus controls. And you have these movements, like, left and right, you have the dots moving counterclockwise and clockwise, and then inwards and outwards. And it was very similar between the two, because even though you have a dark spot where you're, like, oh, I can't see these dots, you can still see everything else in your peripheral vision. But it's still very limited. Yeah. Because of the fact that there's a blind spot. So enough about macular degeneration. Let's transition to more technology-based. Wait, wait, wait, I deleted the document accidentally. You deleted the document? Yeah. How should we transition this better? Because I'm, like, oh, technology. Okay, to wrap up. I could talk about my CRISPR stuff while she's going through. Like, I could just add that on. I feel like we already moved on from your topic, but I don't want to, like, butt in. We could do, like... You could probably butt in, like, in case, like, or even you, in case you're like, oh, maybe this compares to my topic somehow. I don't know. Maybe. Do you have treatments? No, I just talked about technology. Because it's, like... We could be, like, well, speaking about, like, advancements in technology, a really cool advancement is the implementation of AI. Right? We could do that. Yeah, we can. Okay. Evan, do you want to do that? Because Evan... Oh, my God. Thomas, do you want to do that? No, I think Evan's got it. No, we... He did one, and I did one. Oh, but I don't want to do one. You... Group participation. It's the team game. There's no I. There's no I. There's no me, guys. There's no me. No, you have to be, like... Okay, okay. All right, well, yeah, speaking of... Or I could just do it. We could say, like, thank you, Evan, for talking about the technology for Mac. Yeah. A really cool new technological advancement is AI. Sarah, do you want to take it away? Oh, it's so cringe. I know it's cringe. I know it's cringe. You have to power through for me to get in the video. Yeah, it's acting. I was an actor once. Boom. Boom. I'm not going to lie. I think our first recording was better. Yeah, it was more natural. Yeah. I mean, at least we told her that. So then, like, she's like... Maybe feels bad. Yeah, I know. I feel like this one's a lot more, like, structured now. I don't like it. It doesn't really flow smoothly. Yeah, I felt like we flowed a lot better. No. Now we're thinking about it. It's too hard on our heads. It's fine, as long as we get it done. And we'll edit it. It'll be fine. She never heard the first recording, so she doesn't know. That's true. This could be, like, the best thing ever. Put this in, like, the end credits. Maybe she'll feel bad. Yeah. Thank you. Okay. I forgot. Oh, thank you, Evan, for talking about... I talk about myself a third person. Thank you, Evan. Speaking of technology... Oh, okay. AI now. All right. Thank you, Evan, for that talk on macular degenerous... Degeneration. Degeneration. Okay, say it again, say it again. It's not generous. Degenerous. Degenerous. Macular degenerous. Degeneration. Degeneration. Denerace. Jesus Christ, guys. That was confusing. It's all in my head, bro. It's all in my head. I'm so scared. There you go. Keep going. All right. Thanks, Evan, on that talk on macular degeneration. One of the newest things, I think, in medical treatments is AI. Sarah, if you would like to take it away. Imagine a time when doctors had to rely on looking at us and performing numerous tests to determine what was going on within our bodies. It took a long time, and they occasionally couldn't find it out. Can I start that over? Yeah. I don't know what you're saying. I want you to make it more natural, where you're like, yeah, absolutely. With the AI, we talk about this, we talk about that. Do not read it. When you read it as a script, it sounds scripted. So that's where I want to make sure that you do well in your part as well. Like definitely take points from what you have written. Exactly. But I wouldn't read right off of it. All right. Yeah, absolutely, Thomas. Um, some of the ways are doctors for a while could... Don't worry about it. It's okay. We could cut things out. Don't worry about it. Just make it natural. Don't overthink it. Just like, I mean, it's easy for me to say, but at the same time, like, you did research on it. So you have an idea in the back of your head about, like, how you're going to go and talk about it. Just, like, mention, like, the most important points, and then mention, like, a little bit. You don't have to hit every single bullet, but it's very important to just, like, mention, like, what is this and what does it do? And then kind of back and forth. And then we'll cut in and mention some different aspects of our life. Like you mentioned telemedicine. I could cut in and talk about, like, oh, I'm diabetic. I have, um, I have, like, video appointments with my nurse practitioner about my thing. And then Thomas and Matt can talk about their things. So yeah, take it away, Sarah. Absolutely, Thomas. Um, I can add in with AI. It's a super smart computer that can... It's okay. We're gonna, we'll edit it anyway. So if you mess up, no worries. I'm sorry. No, it's just really tiny, the text, so that's why I'm, like, struggling. My eyesight is bad, okay? Oh, okay, okay. Um, okay, absolutely, Thomas. AI is like having a super smart computer that can learn from a wealth of medical data. This computer can detect problems that even the greatest doctors could overlook. Um, one of the major I would mention is telemedicine. It's a revolutionary approach to healthcare. It makes it more affordable and it's really cost effective. Telemedicine enables patients and healthcare practitioners to communicate remotely through technology such as video calls and messaging. Evan, I remember you once told me that you had an appointment online. I did, I did. So I'm a type 1 diabetic, and because I go to Buffalo for school and I live back in Rochester, it's very hard to make those appointments when I'm there, presently, in the moment, because then I'd have to drive an hour and a half back and forth. Well, an hour and a half there, an hour and a half back, roughly, so that I could be present for the appointment. So what they made really cool recently is that they've incorporated Zoom appointments, and that allows me to be present there and mention everything that's been going on about my health in the meantime where, um, being present is just not as, um, well in that sense, I guess. It's not easily accessible. It's not easily accessible, absolutely. I mean, I still, I still, like, make my co-pays and everything of that sort. So basically, I still talk about them about, like, how my insulin levels have been, how my blood sugar levels have been, what are some changes in my health with exercise and diet, stuff like that. The only thing that they just can't do is take my blood pressure, or they can't actually check my blood sugar on the spot, or my weight, or all the important stuff. Speaking of blood sugar, um, sometimes I have to take care of my grandfather where I just have to go check up on him because he used to smoke a lot, so now he has a lot of lung health issues. Um, but the doctor gave us a blood sugar kit where I just have to poke his finger and take his blood, and then I can measure it myself, which kind of helps me, um, I guess, know his blood pressure, blood sugar. Is he diabetic? Yes. Okay, yeah. But, um, it also helps me, like, you know, know what to give him his food, or if he has too much sugar or too little. I see. Um. I think that kit was, like, really helpful that, you know, again, more accessible, like, through technology that we were able to get that. Yeah. I don't think back then we would have been able to. Yeah. That's what I really like about it nowadays, because, I mean, even with blood sugar kits, like, you can poke your finger, take a little sample, put it on a strip, and then it will tell you your blood sugar, which it needs to be, like, between 70 and 100 or 120, depending on the person. But, uh, another cool thing, like, with recently is that I don't have to do that as much anymore. So I have a little monitor at my arm where I can actually not have to poke my finger, and I have this little BlackBerry thing. Oh, cool. That's, like, really neat. And it actually checks my sugar every five minutes. How does it? It's still, it's, like, really high right now, because I ate before this. But, um, it's, but I have to take some insulin very shortly as well. But long term, if I don't treat it as well, then I get, like, symptoms like extreme tiredness. Like, I feel like I don't want to do anything. Yeah. Or I'll be, like, really thirsty as well. But then when it's low, like, I'll be shaking, or I'll be, like, really, really hungry. So it's, it's important how technology's gone a long way, because I don't, like, my parents are, like, telling me how diabetics in their day and age didn't really have this as accessible, but it was just becoming a new thing. So, yeah, that's important. Saving lives. Exactly. Exactly. I like how everything is so much more accessible. I remember as a kid, I would sit in the doctor's office for, like, two hours minimum. Average experience in a doctor's office. You know what I loved when you had to miss a school day for it? So true. I would sit in the office, and I remember you'd have to, like, this whole day had to be planned out. Literally. My mom had to take off from work. We had to, like, schedule the appointment. You had to call. You had to confirm this, that. Then you go in there. And then it's a whole waiting. And I just, maybe it felt longer because I was a kid. No, it wasn't all day. I think it was long, because I remember I would read all these books, and still, I would still be sitting in that office. And then, now, I go to the doctor's office, and I'm in and out. And I like that. I also like that therapy could be online. Yeah, I thought so. It's just like a Zoom therapy session. Oh, oh, I'm thinking of something different. Sorry, not physically. Yeah, yeah. I watch a lot of Kofi Ko. He's my jumping jack. I watch a lot of Kofi Ko, and he sponsors Better Health. Better Health is a company where you schedule a therapy appointment through Zoom online. And I think that's really helpful to not have to go out of your way and go to an office. You could just be in the comforts of your own bed and talk to somebody when you need to. Definitely. Anything else that you wanted to talk about with your topic? Say about AI and its diagnosis. Oh, yeah. You can talk about how you even look up stuff online. It mentions all the diseases that you have. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I thought that was kind of funny, so I just wanted to talk about that. How would I bring it up? Just say even AI or Google kind of helps out, where you're like, oh, I have symptom A, B, and C, and then it lists out the corresponding things that you could have. Yeah. Talk about how AI can diagnose you and how one time you were sick, and you searched it up, and it said that you're going to die tomorrow. Yeah. Okay. Adding on to MAG, a few weeks ago, I was really sick, and I couldn't make it to a few classes. But I did not feel like going to the doctor's office, nor calling. So what I did was, I went on my phone, and I typed in my symptoms. Very sick. But once I searched it up, Google gave me a lot of diseases, including cancer, that I had. And I feel like that's a universal experience. Once I had like a lump on my back, and they were like, yep, it's a tumor. Yeah, it's over. You've got three, too. Yeah, you've got three. Luckily, you didn't search on Bing. Oh, I didn't know that. When you go on the first time on your phone, you're just new to it, so you're just like, let me just diagnose myself. It's kind of scary, because Google kind of gives you background information that makes it seem like you actually have the disease, which I was really scared the first time that I did it. I ended up just taking a probiotic, and I was fine. I did not listen to Google. But after that, I did make an appointment with a doctor through telemedicine, which was really helpful. They just asked me what I had, and they told me like, you know, you might have a fever or the flu. Just get some rest, drink water. And that was pretty much it. I also heard that AI has the capability of pulling up your whole record and determining what you might possibly have. Instead of having a doctor, so a human, look through your whole record, you have AI scan through everything, and then hypothesize what you possibly could have based on your history. I've actually never heard of that exactly. Has that actually been a thing, or is it like... It's not a thing, but... Or like you're thinking hypothetical. Yeah, no, this has been... It's in the works. I know it's in the works. Okay, okay. It hasn't been like fully implemented yet. Like Google, it takes the history of every possible disease, but I heard that AI has the capability in the future to look through like your whole patient's history. So that's really cool. Making the medical professional's job easier. I think there could be pros and cons with AI looking through your whole history. Yeah. I feel like eventually it'll get to the point where it'll be like there's an actual person talking to you. However, I don't want to lose that human touch where the personality's lost. Like the idea of being a person. And technology, you just definitely know that it's not real. Like I mean, it's real. Like someone actually crafted the code that goes into making sure you get easy responses like with Siri. It's like someone actually talking to you. And now they're working on the intonation aspects of the speech where instead of saying like, there was a bus that went by and we went to school. But then you now go like, there was a bus that went by and now I went to school. Where you kind of have the ups and downs later on where it's like there's an actual person talking to you. So it's cool in a sense, but really scary. Because I don't want technology to absolutely dominate our society. Well, exactly. Technology is cool because it makes everything easier. But at the end of the day, it's making everything easier, better. Because I feel like some people lose the connections. They lose conversation skills, social skills. I can see it with pre-caters. And I remember when I used to go to the park, the park was filled with kids, overflowing with kids. And now I'll drive by the park and there's no one there. Yeah. Have you realized that? Or is it just me? I have noticed that a little bit more. I mean, parents and kids will still go to the park, but not as much. Of course, but it's not as much because nowadays it's just easier to put a kid in front of the screen. And not have to worry about them. And not worry about them. That's what I kind of agree with nowadays. That's like the sad part of technology. I feel like my parents have done that to me to an extent. But now I'm like, where's that human experience where the parents are doing something with the kids? Not saying my parents are bad parents, but yeah. But then they kind of complain about the child or why they act out when it's technology. It's what they're seeing on their tablets or phones. I saw a thing somewhere. It was probably TikTok, which, you know, technology. That a lot of what we're talking about is due to a loss of a third space. So you have your home and you have your work. One and two. Your third space is your park, the pool. Oh, your space. Something you can go to to relax. Like your happy place. Yeah, not like a grocery store or something like that. And that's being used by technology. And people aren't going to these places. They would rather stay at home. Yeah. Yeah, I do notice that. And I kind of start to diverge from that a little bit because I do find myself in that aspect where I'm going to the store. I'm going to work. I'm going home. But then just like the other day, I'm like, let's go to the art museum. And I have like a membership at the Albright-Knox earlier. So I'll go there like on my own sometimes. And I'll just be in my own place. Not have to do with anyone. Not that interaction. Take some you time. Exactly. Because mental health is absolutely important in my life. So in all, technology is cool, but there's always downsides. So thank you for listening to our podcast. This is Meg. This is Thomas. This is Evan. This is Sarah. Thank you.