Allison Barker
Current Event Review
AP Biology
April 21, 2017
Karimi, Faith, and Ashley Strickland. "Did Neanderthals Self-medicate Long before Pills?"
CNN. Cable News Network, 09 Mar. 2017. Web. 20 Apr. 2017.
The article that I read, “Did Neanderthals Self-Medicate Long Before Pills?” discusses the idea that Neanderthals may have turned to plants to relieve pain. A recent study focusing on the dental plaque of two Neanderthals from Spain and two from Belgium revealed to researchers new information about Neanderthal eating and medicinal habits. While Spanish Neanderthals appear to have been vegetarians, those from Belgium ate meat. However, this was most likely a product of environment, as the Spanish Neanderthals lived in dense forests with no animals, and not a matter of choice. Further, one young Spanish Neanderthal appears to have treated a dental abscess, as well as other symptoms, such as bad diarrhea, by consuming plants such as poplar, which contains the active ingredient of aspirin, and a natural form of the antibiotic penicillin. Alan Cooper, co-author of the study, states that, “Apparently, Neanderthals possessed a good knowledge of medicinal plants and their various anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving properties… The use of antibiotics would be very surprising”(Faith 2017). These findings show that Neanderthals, who have always been known for living simple lives, might have been more complex than previously thought. This new technique of using plaque on the Neanderthals’ teeth to study what Neanderthals ate and how they lived opens up many new areas of research for scientists. One scientist describes, “We figured out that we could obtain bacterial DNA from dental plaque that was calcified on ancient skeletons. This is the first time it has been applied on an extinct species”(Faith 2017). These improvements will allow us to see into the Neanderthal lifestyle.
This development is important because it allows us to gain information about our ancestors, which could be helpful both for historians and for scientists. Many microorganisms found in modern humans are actually shared with Neanderthals, and so learning about the lives of Neanderthals could lead to further insight into the health of people today. These techniques of studying plaque, which were further perfected during this study, can also be extended for other uses, making them extremely helpful to humans.
This article was very informative and easy to understand. If I had to change one thing about it, though, I would format the information a bit differently. I felt that, at times, it was hard to follow the order in which the information was given, and I believe that changing this would make the article even more accessible to readers who may not be interested in science under different circumstances.
Karimi, Faith, and Ashley Strickland. "Did Neanderthals Self-medicate Long before
ReplyDeletePills?"CNN. Cable News Network, 09 Mar. 2017. Web. 20 Apr. 2017.
Ali did a great job on her review of “Did Neanderthals Self-medicate Long before Pills?” by Faith Karimi and Ashley Strickland. I particularly enjoyed Ali’s extensive use of quotations. By including the ideas of Alan Cooper, a co-author of the study, Ali establishes a sense of authority and accuracy in her piece. Quotations add yet another layer of expertise to her review which has made it more than a simple summary. Quotations from leading researchers can add emotion and intrigue to the current investigations making for an even more fascinating review. Her analysis that followed further emphasized the article’s importance and contextualization of the quotes made for a great review. An additional element upon which Ali flourished was in her relevance paragraph. By emphasizing that her article discusses “techniques of studying plaque, which were further perfected during this study, can also be extended for other uses, making them extremely helpful to humans” Ali demonstrates enthusiasm for her topic and engages the reader. A third element Ali did well was in her general sentence/review structure. Ali clearly presented the findings of the study, including necessary quotes for authenticity purposes, and made a review most anyone can understand. Additionally, there were few typos, if any, which made her review professional as well as understandable.
However, Ali did have two areas of her review in which she could improve. Primarily, I would recommend that Ali include more background information on her review. I feel as if her review assumes the reader already knows all about Neanderthals, and as a results fails to define them. In order to fix this problem Ali should add one or two sentences to the beginning of her review explaining the past human ancestors (time in which they lived, where they lived, etc). Additionally, I would encourage Ali to be more specific in her improvement paragraph. Instead of simply discussing that she “would format the information a bit differently” it would have been nice to hear details on exactly how she believes it should be organized. By providing specifics that improvements can more easily be made. To fix this Ali simply needs to add a couple sentences explaining what she means by a different format.
Overall, Ali did a brilliant job of creating a well-written piece that illustrates evidence that our ancestors were more complex and intelligent than previously thought. It was fascinating to realize and learn that aspirin is no recent human discovery, but something neanderthals understood and ate poplar leaves for, which contain similar compounds to remedy their ailments. This article makes me realize human ingenuity has been around for thousands of years and even our ape-like ancestors possessed unparalleled intelligence. This new research is exhilarating as it can help us as humans learn more about ourselves and where we came from. Perhaps these ancient peoples hold knowledge that could fix our problems today. This research provides a gateway to the unknown. However, it is an unknown full of promise and it is our destiny to analyze and discover it in order to make our lives and the earth a better place.
Connor Barrett
ReplyDelete4/21/17
AP Bio
Current Event
Karimi, Faith, and Ashley Strickland. "Did Neanderthals Self-medicate Long before Pills?"
CNN. Cable News Network, 09 Mar. 2017. Web. 20 Apr. 2017.
Allison Barker’s review of "Did Neanderthals Self-medicate Long before Pills?" was very well written. Allison does a good job summarizing what the article says and the ways in which Neanderthals Self medicated. There were several quotes that she included that were important and integrated well. I also found her paragraph on her own views to be interesting and informative.
If I were to give Allison advice I would say she should elaborate on her own views because they were very interesting. She could also spend a little more time evaluating the original author’s writing style.
This topic is very interesting and not something I knew anything about prior to reading the summary. I chose to read this because the title caught my eye. Because I had no knowledge on the topic before I did not have an opinion in the beginning, but I certainly do now.
Ali’s review of “Did Neanderthals Self-Medicate Long Before Pills?” was a very interesting review. First of all, it really helped that she stated where the neanderthals dental plaques as it gave me a better idea of where this species lived. In addition, the fact that she had a lot of details about what types of illnesses the plants cured aided me in understanding this topic better and gave me some additional information about it. Finally, Ali did a really good job on going even further into the topic and putting in a quote from Alan Cooper, the co-author of the study.
ReplyDeleteAlthough this review was well written, one way it could have been made better is that Ali could have expanded more on how the neanderthals came to use these plants, was it trial and error? So by adding a few sentences about this topic, she could have been even more thorough. Moreover, I would have added another quote to the review so we could get even more detail about this study, especially if it was from someone who actually examined the neanderthals, which could really catch people’s attention.
Overall, this review was captivating and thorough. I had never heard about this new finding, so I was intrigued when I read Ali’s review. Thus, learning about this was very enlightening and taught me many new things. Reading this review made me realize that we are not the only ones who are smart enough to take care of ourselves.
Evelyn Kluemper
ReplyDelete5/1/17
AP Biology
Karimi, Faith, and Ashley Strickland. "Did Neanderthals Self-medicate Long before Pills?"
CNN. Cable News Network, 09 Mar. 2017. Web. 20 Apr. 2017.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/09/health/neanderthal-self-medicate-spain-belgium/
Ali’s review of “Did Neanderthals Self-medicate Long Before Pills” by Faith Karimi and Ashley Strickland is an interesting read. She uses a quotation by Alan Cooper, the co-author of the study involving the dental plaque of Neanderthals. Ali summarizes the article well and describes how the Neanderthals self-medicated with the intake of poplar to treat a dental abscess. The critique of the article that Ali provides is honest. She explains how if the article were formatted differently, it would be more intriguing to readers that are not particularly interested in science.
The review would have more depth if Ali were to have some context about Neanderthals. I would advise her to briefly describe how the Neanderthals behaved and lived. The review would also be better if there was more examples of how Neanderthals self-medicated, as poplar is the only instance that Ali describes.
This article is interesting, especially since I had little knowledge of how Neanderthals lived, excluding what I have learned in history class. I am excited to see if this information can be used in modern-day medicine, or if it is even used at all. However, I have learned that Neanderthals are more advanced thinkers than I had previously thought.
Ali’s review of the article "Did Neanderthals Self-medicate Long before Pills?" was very well done. Her summary was clear and concise, while still providing a depth of information about this topic. She also did a great job expressing her own opinion and critique of the article. Her well articulated stance showed she really absorbed the information and considered the authors work. Finally, I thought Ali did an exemplary job including direct quotes from the article. This gave her readers a better sense of the author's voice and added some additional credibility. For example, “Alan Cooper, co-author of the study, states that, “Apparently, Neanderthals possessed a good knowledge of medicinal plants and their various anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving properties… The use of antibiotics would be very surprising.”
ReplyDeleteOverall Sarah did a good job, but she still could improve a few areas. For example, she could have provided more information regarding the background on Neanderthals. Also she could have expanded on her critique of the author's article and explained how they could improve.
I was very interested in Ali’s review and the article she cited. I had no knowledge about this topic before, so it was interesting to learn more about the new discoveries.
Allison’s review of the article "Did Neanderthals Self-medicate Long before Pills?" was generally well written. First, her summary was concise and two the point. Second, her incorporation of quotes gave a sense of the article’s tone. Third, adding her own perspective gave an interesting element to the review.
ReplyDeleteThere were a few aspects Allison could have improved. First, she could have added some context regarding Neanderthal behavior. Second, he could have expanded her analysis of the author and article as a whole.
Ali’s review was quite informative. I had no prior knowledge of the topic and am now decently informed on the issue.