Mr. Ippolito
AP Biology
7 September 2018
Dance, Amber. “How Altering Plant Microbiomes Could Feed the World and Save Endangered Species.” Science News, 6 Sept. 2018, www.sciencenews.org/article/plant-microbes-crops-food-endangered-species?tgt=nr.
This article covers the functions of microbiomes which could help to protect endangered species. Microbiomes, which are a combination of bacteria and fungus living on a plant, can be either beneficial or negative to the plant they live off of. In some cases the the microbiomes actually help to prevent the species from diseases or from predators, whereas other microbiomes do the exact opposite, poisoning their species and even endangering them. For the healthy, beneficial microbiomes, scientists are beginning to realize that these could aid in the replenishment t of dying species. By inducing photosynthesis and and other important biological functions of the plant, scientist are beginning to discover ways to use these microorganisms and fungi to provide treatment to agricultural crops that are suffering.
Thi This Article has a great significance today because many plants that Human rely in to sustain daily life are struggling to survive. Whether it be harmful microbiomes, predators or draughts, this new treatment with constructive microbiome could potential be the solution to the current agricultural setbacks. For example, the cacao plant, which is the earth's source of chocolate, are being infected by black pod rot, which attacks the plant and causes darkened, rotten areas. When treated with the microbiomes found on healthy cacao, it was discovered that the plants which had been treated suffered the least amount of rotting. Scientist have even gone as far as to hypothesize that biotech companies like AgiBio could revolutionize the agricultural industry.
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ygs Overall, this article is extremely informative and based on very current finding that have true significance in present day agricultural world. The information was presented in way which had a strong basis of fact. It also included diagrams and pictures which were extremely helpful in both understanding and enjoying the article. Despite this though, there were moments when the article became a bit wordy and the experiments were not always clears and became a bit repetitive. Also while the majority of the article delved deeply into the science behind microbiome treatments, towards the middle of the article contained information that was more constant with the biotech companies then the science behind the treatments. The article could have been improved by removing some of the extra, filler information and only providing information that was essential to prevent confusion or disinterest. That being said, the article as a whole did its job in informing its reader of new technological advance which could potential alter the state of the current agricultural market.
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Dance, Amber. “How Altering Plant Microbiomes Could Feed the World and Save Endangered Species.” Science News, 6 Sept. 2018, www.sciencenews.org/article/plant-microbes-crops-food-endangered-species?tgt=nr.
ReplyDeleteI liked how ally summarized the article briefly while still giving enough detail to allow me as the reader to understand the concept the article was centralized around. Additionally, Ally explained the potential impact of the concept in a way that caught my attention, making me know that this could be a prominent concept in the future. And finally, she gave a good critique of the article's structure that cleared up some of misconception I had reading the original article. For example, I was confused when I read about the biotech companies testing when the rest of the article concerned the actual science behind the idea. Ally's comment about that cleared this change in data source up for me.
I think that Ally should have expanded on the points about the AgiBio company. She did not describe what they were actually doing and what their research was, and I think that would have been interesting to read about in her review. Additionally, some of Ally's wording, especially in the last paragraph was a bit awkward and confusing, and I had to read it over a couple of times to understand her point. To fix this, one should review their work at least once to fix those areas and ensure that sentences are clear and concise.
I was in awe at the fact that a microbiome could revolutionize the agricultural industry. I believe that this has the potential to multiply crop yields by a good number. This will affect agriculture around the world, by changing prices and technologies used.
Brian Li
ReplyDeleteMr. Ippolito
AP Biology
7 September 2018
Dance, Amber. “How Altering Plant Microbiomes Could Feed the World and Save Endangered Species.” Science News, 6 Sept. 2018, www.sciencenews.org/article/plant-microbes-crops-food-endangered-species?tgt=nr.
I liked Ally’s introduction, which did a nice job of summarizing the basic premise of the article concisely, while also providing a definition for microbiome, which is the main topic of her article and useful information to a reader. Then she does a great job in capturing the reader's attention by describing that microbiomes had possible uses for aiding agriculture, making it so that the reader would know ‘why’ they should care about the topic at hand. When discussing the relevance, Ally also noted a prominent example about cacao plants from the article, which helped contextualize the experiment she was describing and the real world applications of microbiomes.
I think that Ally could have elaborated a bit more on some of the different issues which scientists are trying to solve, such as conservation of endangered species, that were not related to agriculture. That would aid in showing how the microbiomes could have more applications beyond just strictly the agricultural. Ally also had a few confusing sentences and typos in the second and third paragraphs, which further editing and revising could have improved.
When dealing with the treatment of plants, I never knew that the study of the bacteria and fungi that live on and nearby them could prove to be so effective and beneficial to the aid of plants. Even at such a small level, which is not even visible to the eye, there can be tangible effects. It really made me reconsider the role that the invisible plays in our everyday lives.
ReplyDeleteDance, Amber. “How Altering Plant Microbiomes Could Feed the World and Save Endangered Species.” Science News, 6 Sept. 2018, www.sciencenews.org/article/plant-microbes-crops-food-endangered-species?tgt=nr.
I liked how Ally was able to succinctly and accurately summarize the main points of the article. Specifically, certain sentences were particularly well crafted and effective at this, for example: “In some cases the microbiomes actually help to prevent the species from diseases or from predators, whereas other microbiomes do the exact opposite, poisoning their species and even endangering them.” Sentences like these were particularly effective at conveying the information in a quick but also clear manner. Furthermore, I also thought that her choice of the article was very interesting and relevant to our world today as it pertains to agriculture, an essential practice to human survival. Lastly, I also liked how she mentioned the commercial aspect of this discovery by discussing a company known as “AgiBio”. Potential successful commercialization of these processes could result in the large-scale implementation of these practices that could see huge benefits for the human population. As we all know, capitalist incentives can help spur large numbers of people to action especially when combined with an attractive profit motive.
What I think Ally could have improved on in her current event article was to include a bit more details about the potential challenges facing the commercialization of these practices. Some questions I asked were “What potential challenges could inhibit AgiBio’s ability to commercialize this process?” among others. Another thing that I felt Ally could have improved on was stressing the potential benefits of introducing microbiomes to agricultural practices. Seeing how there was an and dramatic improvement of the quality of cocoa plants, these microbiomes could help significantly reduce agricultural waste and make plants less vulnerable to destruction.
The thing that amazed me the most about this article and Ally’s review was its potential impacts on agriculture. Hypothetically, if we are able to reproduce and control these microbiomes, it could have an immense impact on our crop yields and agricultural production as fewer plants would be vulnerable to certain changes. This, in turn, would increase earth’s overall agricultural output, potentially partially addressing the issue of world hunger.
Emily Perry
ReplyDeleteMr. Ippolito
AP Biology
September 8, 2018
Dance, Amber. “How Altering Plant Microbiomes Could Feed the World and Save Endangered Species.” Science News, 6 Sept. 2018, www.sciencenews.org/article/plant-microbes-crops-food-endangered-species?tgt=nr.
Ally did a great job at summarizing the article in a way that was clear and easy to understand. In the first paragraph, she covered the main points of the article without going into too much detail. I also liked Ally’s critique of the article, in which she said that the article was a bit wordy and confusing. It is definitely important for the authors of science articles, who have spent time researching the topic they are writing about and who already have a good understanding of the topic, to make sure that their audience can understand what they are writing. Finally, I liked that Ally included an example in the second paragraph of microbiomes helping cacao plants avoid rotting. I thought this example was very helpful for understanding the effect of microbiomes and contributed to her explanation of the significance of microbiomes to our society.
One thing Ally could have improved on was grammar and sentence flow. Some of the sentences in the second paragraph were a little difficult to understand. She can fix this by reading over her writing a once or twice before submitting it. Another thing I would have liked to hear more about was the harmful effects of microbiomes, which was mentioned in the first paragraph. I wish she had included an example of this in her current event review to address the possible drawbacks of microbiomes.
I was amazed at how the microbiomes could help agriculture by treating plants that are suffering. This could help scientists to balance out agricultural setbacks, such as droughts, with constructive microbiomes. I learned that microbiomes could have a tremendous effect on the agricultural industry by changing the current methods of producing crops.
Emily Perry
ReplyDeleteMr. Ippolito
AP Biology
September 8, 2018
Dance, Amber. “How Altering Plant Microbiomes Could Feed the World and Save Endangered Species.” Science News, 6 Sept. 2018, www.sciencenews.org/article/plant-microbes-crops-food-endangered-species?tgt=nr.
Ally did a great job at summarizing the article in a way that was clear and easy to understand. In the first paragraph, she covered the main points of the article without going into too much detail. I also liked Ally’s critique of the article, in which she said that the article was a bit wordy and confusing. It is definitely important for the authors of science articles, who have spent time researching the topic they are writing about and who already have a good understanding of the topic, to make sure that their audience can understand what they are writing. Finally, I liked that Ally included an example in the second paragraph of microbiomes helping cacao plants avoid rotting. I thought this example was very helpful for understanding the effect of microbiomes and contributed to her explanation of the significance of microbiomes to our society.
One thing Ally could have improved on was grammar and sentence flow. Some of the sentences in the second paragraph were a little difficult to understand. She can fix this by reading over her writing a once or twice before submitting it. Another thing I would have liked to hear more about was the harmful effects of microbiomes, which was mentioned in the first paragraph. I wish she had included an example of this in her current event review to address the possible drawbacks of microbiomes.
I was amazed at how the microbiomes could help agriculture by treating plants that are suffering. This could help scientists to balance out agricultural setbacks, such as droughts, with constructive microbiomes. I learned that microbiomes could have a tremendous effect on the agricultural industry by changing the current methods of producing crops.