Szilvia Szabó
Mr. Ippolito
AP Biology
November 21st, 2018
“Scientists Develop Blood Test That Spots Tumor-Derived DNA in People With Early-Stage
Cancers - 08/16/2017.” Is There Really Any Benefit to Multivitamins?, 16 Aug. 2017,
Doctors have been trying to find the cure for cancer for as long as anyone could remember. Part of the problem is that there is no one cause, no one determining factor or characteristic of cancer that we can use to find a cure. However, scientists at Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center have developed a relatively accurate test to find out early whether or not someone has cancer. “Overall, the scientists were able to detect 86 of 138 (62 percent) stage I and II cancers.” This test specifically is able to distinguish between abnormal, cancer mutated DNA and regular non threatening, altered DNA. Sometimes, cells divide and something goes wrong resulting in a mutated cell to form. Unless this cell starts to rapidly divide, there is no reason for it to be threatening. However, it does interfere with cancer tests because the DNA from altered, but not cancerous, cells looks like DNA from cancerous cells. But, by combing through all of the possibly cancerous mutations in the affected individuals’ genes, these scientists were able to come up with this blood test that brings us one step closer to saving more lives.
Almost any advancement made in the medical field should be deemed important by everyone, especially advances in cancer detecting technology. Cancer continues to be one of the top ten leading causes of death in the United States. After decades, even centuries of research, not a single scientist has been able to come up with a definitive cure for cancer. So, a blood test such as this one is a great progression towards finding a cure. At the very least, this test has the potential to save and preserve many lives.
I think that this article was really well written and gave a really informative summary of the scientific research done at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center. I think that the author did a really nice job of making this kind of information understandable to a larger audience. However, I feel like the author could have added more specific facts in his article and maybe given some context or background information about cancer screening tests such as this one. It would have been helpful to be given a better sense of where we stand with our cancer screening blood tests and see how this one compares. Overall, this article was really well written and informative on a fairly important and interesting topic.
Gaby Laval
ReplyDeleteMr. Ippolito
Current Event 10
11/28/18
Scientists Develop Blood Test That Spots Tumor-Derived DNA in People With Early-Stage
Cancers - 08/16/2017.” Is There Really Any Benefit to Multivitamins?, 16 Aug. 2017,
www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/scientists_develop_blood_test_that_spots_tumor_derived_dna_in_people_with_early_stage_cancers.
Szilvia did a very good job reviewing this interesting cancer-related article. There were certain parts of her writing that stuck out in a positive sense. Firstly, she explained why cancer is so hard to cure. This sets the scene and provides context for why this invention is so important. Additionally, she explains the uses and the importance of this blood test. She writes a very descriptive paragraph about the implications of the blood test. Lastly, she gives a good critique of the article, saying "I feel like the author could have added more specific facts in his article and maybe given some context or background information about cancer screening tests such as this one." She raises a good point here about areas for the author to improve.
There are some aspects of this review where Szilvia could improve. She could give a better description of what the test itself is and how it works. This would help the reader have a better understanding of what the subject of the article is. Finally, when Szilvia says "t would have been helpful to be given a better sense of where we stand with our cancer screening blood tests and see how this one compares", she could use this as an opportunity to provide some information about this topic herself.
Cancer research is a very heavily funded subject in the modern era. These advancements are very excited for everyone; to see progressions in this technology is definitely a step in the right direction. There's a very profound significance in these blood tests for finding cancer early and stopping it before it spreads.
Anabel Maldonado
ReplyDeleteIppolito C Even
Current Event #10
December 2nd, 2018
“Scientists Develop Blood Test That Spots Tumor-Derived DNA in People With Early-Stage
Cancers - 08/16/2017.” Is There Really Any Benefit to Multivitamins?, 16 Aug. 2017, www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/scientists_develop_blood_test_that_spots_tumor_derived_dna_in_people_with_early_stage_cancers.
There are several things that I think Szilvia explained well. I think her critique of “Scientists Develop Blood Test That Spots Tumor-Derived DNA in People With Early-Stage Cancers” was very accurate. I really enjoyed her introduction to this topic. She illustrated its importance and purpose of the article in a simple and clear way - as she states “Doctors have been trying to find the cure for cancer for as long as anyone could remember... developed a relatively accurate test to find out early whether or not someone has cancer.” Another thing I really liked was her explanation about how they develop the test. She clearly explained how the test differentiated abnormal and normal cells, then studied the cell’s role, cycle and structure. Lastly, I think she really thrived when speaking about the impact this topic has in our lives. Most classmates write about the climate or evolution - which is completely okay - yet she spoke about something new. She states “After decades, even centuries of research, not a single scientist has been able to come up with a definitive cure for cancer. So, a blood test such as this one is a great progression towards finding a cure. At the very least, this test has the potential to save and preserve many lives.” Personally, her response to this topic is one of the best I have read this year! She clearly states the importance this has on our society, but also the impact for our future.
Although Szilvia’s review was very impressive, there is some room for improvement. There were several grammatical errors that could easily be fixed. For instance, “However, it does interfere with cancer tests because the DNA from altered, but not cancerous, cells looks like DNA from cancerous cells. But, by combing through all of the possibly cancerous mutations in the affected individuals’ genes, these scientists were able to come up with this blood test that brings us one step closer to saving more lives.” These two sentences were a bit confusing for me to understand because there were many commas and run-ons. In addition, if she personalized her writing a bit more, this review would have been perfect! In order to do so, she could have included answers to questions such as: Why did I choose this article? Did I know about this blood test before reading?
One thing that I was very impressed by was how Szilvia related the information she had just learned to her audience. When she explained the importance this has on our society and future, I was truly intrigued. Many people in my family are in medicine, yet I have never truly read about this discovery. Szilvia’ review not only gave me something to talk about with family, I know am intrigued to read more about this and help make a difference.