“This Mutant Crayfish Clones Itself, and It's Taking Over Europe"

Sarah Goodell

Mr. Ippolito

AP Bio: Current Event Review

12 February, 2018

Current Event #16

Zimmer, Carl. “This Mutant Crayfish Clones Itself, and It's Taking Over Europe.” The New York

    Times, The New York Times, 5 Feb. 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/02/05/science/mutant-crayfish-clones-europe.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fscience&action=click&contentCollection=science®ion=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=8&pgtype=sectionfront&mtrref=www.nytimes.com&gwh=BB4B6A66ABFC062AC1C1619A95BF2F9B&gwt=pay.

This week, I read the article titled “This Mutant Crayfish Clones Itself, and It's Taking Over Europe” by The New York Times author Carl Zimmer. In this article, Zimmer discusses how these six-inch-long marbled crayfish are miraculously able to clone themselves, thanks to a mutation 25 years ago which also gave rise to their species. In 2003, scientists confirmed that these crayfish did have the ability to clone themselves. They tested this theory by sequencing small bits of DNA from the animals, noticing that they were very similar to another type of crayfish native to North and Central America. Dr. Frank Lyko, a biologist at the German Cancer Research Center, sequenced the genomes of 15 other specimens, which allowed him a clearer look at the origins of the marbled crayfish. As Zimmer writes, “...instead of reproducing sexually, the first marbled crayfish was able to induce her own eggs to start dividing into embryos. The offspring, all females, inherited identical copies of her three sets of chromosomes. They were clones.” Therefore, Dr. Lyko discovered that these animals originally evolved as a result of a mutation when two slough crayfish mated, creating only female offspring.

Although this topic is not one that brings up an issue that needs to be dealt with, Zimmer’s article is relevant because he discusses one of the wonders of the natural world. His article brings up the idea that life is ever-changing and as humans, we can never predict what will truly occur. The fact that these crayfish are able to duplicate without male counterparts and developed because of one mutation in a few offspring demonstrates the miracles of life. The natural world is also still much of a mystery to humans because we have very little way of knowing if this new species of crayfish will survive for another 100,000 years or for only another 100 years. This topic is important to learn about because it emphasizes the idea that there is always more to discover and it is critical for us to understand as much as possible about our changing world.

Zimmer did a great job writing this article; however, he can improve upon a few points in the future. Firstly, Zimmer provided his audience with a chronological summary of events over the past 30 years, beginning with the discovery of this new species of crayfish and ending with the most recent study on these animals. Although Zimmer included a couple quotes from Dr. Lyko, he can try discussing more studies and expanding on how these scientists performed their studies, research, and tests to discover more about these animals and their incredible ability. Overall, Zimmer did a great job writing a thorough, yet understandable article for his diverse audience, but could include more detail about the specific studies in his next works.