Genetic Tests for Autism Can Sometimes Change Lives

Alisa Kanganis

AP Biology

January 31, 2019

Current Event 15

Wright, Jessica. “Genetic Tests for Autism Can Sometimes Change Lives.” Scientific American, 31 Jan. 2019,

www.scientificamerican.com/article/genetic-tests-for-autism-can-sometimes-change-lives/.

For years, Angela questioned if her son was developing normally. Her son, James, was not able to sit up on his own until he was 1 or crawl until he was 18 months old. He was also struggling to breath and could not sleep for periods longer than 20 minutes, but doctors assured her that he was fine. However, when James was four, he was finally diagnosed with autism. Up to this point, James had had five nasal surgeries, the first of which resulted in a complication due to his abnormally low platelet count. He had to be rushed back to the hospital in an ambulance after having a nosebleed that his mother referred to as looking like “someone had been killed in his bed”. This all could have been avoided if genetic testing for autism was available at the time that James was born. Years later, when this testing surfaced, Angela discovered that James had a mutation in the TAF1 gene, which explains his autism and developmental delay; and one in the gene GP9 that causes his low platelet count and led to the complications after surgery. While this screening is expensive, it is slowly becoming more and more affordable, hopefully to the point where it is accessible to all children who appear to be experiencing developmental delays or autism. Clearly, as with James’ case, receiving testing can prevent unexpected complications and have extremely beneficial effects on a child’s development as a whole since the physiological areas impacted by the mutation(s) can be identified.

These recent advancements in genetic screening have a monumental impact on society. According to the CDC, 1 in 6 children have developmental delays and 1 in 59 have autism, so there is obviously a large amount of people who could benefit from this. While it is not a cure, it can help people identify the treatments needed to manage their issues.

This article was not only informative, but very impactful. By following James early life, I was able to understand just how much this genetic testing could have influenced him. Furthermore,the author is very detailed and gives a good description of the accessibility and results of the screening. However, the article does lack an explanation as to how exactly genetic screening works. If the author included this, the article would be very well-rounded and include all the information a person with no background in biology would need to fully understand it.

Orca Calf Offers Hope for a Fading Group in the Pacific Northwest

Clara DeMagalhaes Current Event #14

Fortin, Jacey. “Orca Calf Offers Hope for a Fading Group in the Pacific Northwest.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 17 Jan. 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/17/science/orca-calf-seattle.html

In the Pacific Northwest, there is a pod of orcas that, ever since 2015, has never sired an orca calf that survives to maturity. The population has also been shrinking drastically, now with only 75 members in contrast to having 100 in the mid-90s. This is mostly due to pollution, boat traffic, and depletion of their main food source. Recently, a healthy calf named L124 has been born in that group, discovered by the marine biologist Melisa Pinnow. Although it’s unclear if its a male or a female, researchers who traveled with Pinnow are hoping for the latter because more reproductive-age females are necessary for the group’s survival. Orca groups reside all over the world, and while some are thriving, others are suffering, particularly those near industrial areas. One group near those areas is the Southern Residents, who have to deal with pollution and environmental crises. This group is divided into the J, K, and L pods, and the calf L124 was born to pod L. Recently, the pods seem to be in an upbeat mood, and all three pods even gathered in one area, which is a rare occurrence. Despite this, the festive mood was dull compared to how playful and interactive the orcas were many years ago. However, L124’s birth gives new hope to the researchers and they are waiting to see if this small phenomenon could make a difference. Pinnow advices for people to do several things to help the Southern Residents, such as banning net pens of farmed salmon or simply reducing the amount of salmon consumed.

Orcas are some of the most powerful predators in the world and are incredibly important to the ecosystems where they reside, which is all of the oceans. However, problems such as overfishing and pollution have threatened the survival of many groups. A large reason why every birth in pod L has been either a miscarriage or had the calf die shortly after birth is because of a variety of biochemicals called polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs. These tend to linger in the blubber of female whales, which get onto their offspring and lead to early death. Drastic results can occur if their numbers fall any further, which is why it’s important to act now before the balance of the oceanic ecosystems get disturbed.

One thing that the article did well was that it was simple, concise, and easy to understand. The formatting, order of topics, and non complicated language made it so that the reader did not have to have any previous knowledge on this subject in order to know what was going on. However, one thing that I think the author could have done is talk more about why L124 specifically may be a beacon of hope for the survival of this orca pod. As the reader, I was not fully convinced that this particular calf was anything special, or if it was more likely to survive than all of the other calves who died in the past four years. To improve, I suggest that the author could incorporate more information from the researchers regarding the health and wellbeing of L124 and how it was different than the other infant whales.

James Apostolatos                1/25/19

Current Event #14- Review               AP Biology

Citation:
Park, Alice. “What Happens to the CRISPR Twins? Their Lives Will Be Forever Changed.”

Time, Time, 29 Nov. 2018, time.com/5466967/crispr-twins-lives/.

Hyperlink: http://time.com/5466967/crispr-twins-lives/

The first pair of sister twins were born after their genomes were edited while they were embryos, by the genetics tool known as CRISPR.  The twin girls, born in Shenzhen, China, are the subject of scientific and public scrutiny for the use of this CRISPR method. The Chinese researcher’s university denied knowledge of his experiment and said that the lead scientist also denied some uses of CRISPR. Claims stated this was unethical and that there were violations in Chinese laws and regulations. Nearly all international genetics groups have guidelines prohibiting using CRISPR to edit human embryos and implanting them for pregnancy, as the Chinese researcher did. Experts fully support using CRISPR in cells that can’t be passed down from generation to generation, like skin cells or blood cells. Because he altered their genomes when they were embryos, those changes were picked up by every new cell that the embryos made as they continued to divide and develop, eventually forming the twins. So when the girls are ready to have children, their eggs may contain the CRISPR edits that he gave them, and they could pass on their altered genes to their children and all future generations of children in their lineage. The article concentrates more on the implications of having genetically modified twins in the world. Although the use of CRISPR was in the hopes of eliminating the gene coding for HIV, it is still too early to see if the experiments were a success and if the chinese scientists were even allowed considering the “ethics” debate explored in this article.

Having the gene itself is not necessarily a bad thing considering they protect people from getting infected with HIV, but the problem is that scientists aren’t convinced yet that the HIV protection will be the only thing the CRISPR edit did to the twins’ genomes. It’s not clear that CRISPR is as precise as researchers would like it to be. This connects to our current society because it begs the question is CRISPR safe to use, and more importantly, is it moral? Although it's true the purpose is to eliminate damaged DNA sequence prone to HIV and other illnesses, many factors need to be considered. CRISPR may make unintended changes in random parts of the genome, like an autocorrect feature that mistakenly corrects typos to produce an entirely different word. In other cases, it may not make the edits as consistently as needed, so some cells may be edited while others are not, and some cells may even be partially edited. This topic is important because it is connected to genetics and DNA. Recent experiments using CRISPR shows the potential to become a method to cure diseases such as HIV. This also changes the world by introducing genetically engineered twins in the world.

The article did a good job of showing both the pros and cons of using CRISPR on people. The CRISPR approach is relatively new and scientists are still learning about exactly how precise their edits can be, and what some of the potential negative and long term consequences of altering human DNA could be. The pro being that CRISPR might be able to disable a gene involved in helping HIV to enter healthy cells. One improvement is to give more statistical evidence and to be less opinionated. It might be nice to know the context of the use of CRISPR. The writer also could have emphasize more how the twins were treated. He can improve this by adding more details about the actual method, the researchers used to put the CRISPER in the DNA.Were there any immediate side of effects of CRISPR? Finally, they can discuss the public opinion on genetically engineered people.

Charlotte Cagliostro

Ippolito

C Even AP Biology / Current Event #14

1/29/19

Alexander, Kurtis. “Insurance Claims from California's November Wildfires Total $11.4 Billion.” San Francisco Chronicle, Houston Chronicle, 29 Jan. 2019, www.sfchronicle.com/california-wildfires/article/11-4-billion-in-insurance-claims-filed-after-13567670.php.

In Kurtis Alexander’s San Francisco Chronicle article, “Insurance Claims from California's November Wildfires Total $11.4 Billion”, he discusses the recent wildfires that have been burning vast areas of land in California. Alexander notes that one of the most deadly fires, known as the Camp Fire, “killed 86 people and destroyed nearly 14,000 homes in and around the foothill town of Paradise.” Early on in the article, Alexander is able to establish how devastating these fires have been both financially and emotionally for California residents. He goes on to talk about the how insurance agencies have been affected by the fires. He claims that, form the companies’ perspectives, these fires are actually quite typical since wildfires are an annual occurrence in California.

Alexander’s topic (wildfires) is somewhat relevant to today’s audience. It definitely resonates with individuals living in California or on the west coast. However, the topic fails to connect with a larger audience. People in other countries or even on the east coast do not encounter wildfires and the devastation that comes with them, so they are not as invested in the issue. It is important to note how wildfires are one sign of climate change that will only continue to worsen as the planet continues to warm; therefore, it is important for individuals to be aware.

I really enjoyed Alexander’s article. I thought he was able to construct a very interesting, yet informative piece that truly spoke to the impact of the California wildfires. He was able to write in a very clear and concise manner that almost anyone could read, allowing him to reach a larger audience. However, I wish Alexander could have incorporated some more scientific data and statistics into his article. I believe that there is a lack of substance in his work that made it a more surface-level discussion of the fires.

“A New 3-D Printed 'Sponge' Sops up Excess Chemo Drugs"

Layla Brinster

1/28/19

Current Event #14 Review

Citation:

Landhuis, Esther. “A New 3-D Printed 'Sponge' Sops up Excess Chemo Drugs.” Science News, 15 Jan. 2019, www.sciencenews.org/article/new-3d-printed-sponge-sops-excess-chemo-cancer-drugs.

Esther Landhuis, in her  “A New 3-D Printed 'Sponge' Sops up Excess Chemo Drugs” describes how scientists have created a 3-D printed sponge to absorb the excess drugs associated with chemotherapy in cancer patients. Scientists got the idea for the sponge from similar procedures used to remove plaque from arteries and were inspired to mimic this technique to treat glioblastomas. Normally, when chemotherapy is used on cancer patients, the drug attacks all areas of the body, causing harmful side effects. The sponge is inserted into a vein a few centimeters away from the infusion site of the chemotherapy drug. The aim of this sponge is to lessen these side effects through the absorbent sponge. That way, the chemotherapy treatment is contained more and does not spread as much. Tested on pigs, since their vein size is close to humans, the sponge has proven to absorb up to 40% of the excess drug. Although the sponge has not been tested on humans yet, there are plans to run trials in the near future.

This topic is extremely relevant to society and what we are learning in class. We have just finished learning about mitosis and cell division, how cancer occurs, and treatments for it, such as chemotherapy. We also learned that chemotherapy tends to attack the entire body, causing harmful side effects as it stops cell division. Thus, a study about lessening the effects of chemotherapy fits with what we have studied. Furthermore, these techniques can help treat multiple cancers and potentially save many lives if it proves to be successful in humans. Every day we are developing new ways and ideas to treat and prevent cancer.

Overall, this article was very well written and easy to understand. The points were concise and clear. The 3-D sponge was described very nicely and simply for an average reader to comprehend. Furthermore, the experiments being done on pigs with the sponge were also very comprehensive. However, the chronologically of the article posed some problems. To improve the article, I would suggest introducing the sponge and the inspiration behind it (glioblastoma, heart procedures) in the beginning, to paint a clearer picture. Then, I would talk about the trails on pigs and what exactly the sponge accomplishes. All in all, this article was extremely eye-opening and encouraging to learn how new innovations and research is being done to lessen the effects of cancer.

"Lack of Sleep is Tied to Increase in Two Alzheimer's Proteins"

Ally Bruno

Mr. Ippolito

AP Biology

29 January 2019

Cunningham, Aimee. “Lack of Sleep Is Tied to Increases in Two Alzheimer's Proteins.” Science News, 24 Jan. 2019, www.sciencenews.org/article/lack-sleep-tied-increases-two-alzheimers-proteins-brain?tgt=nr.

Aimee Cunningham, author of “Lack of Sleep Is Tied to Increases in Two Alzheimer's Proteins”, discuss two proteins that are found in the human brain and have links to Alzheimer's disease. She first delves into the cerebrospinal fluid that are affected during sleep and the way sleeping flushes and cleanses the brain of these harmful proteins. She then goes on into advocate for early intervention for insomnia and other sleep disorders, which could decrease the risk of Alzheimer’s disease as a person ages. She then compares the dangerous of both the Tau and A-Beta and ultimately deems the tau protein more dangerous as far neurodegenerative diseases.

Alzheimer's is a degenerative disease that affects 5.5 million people, causing memory loss and other symptoms, that in its later stages rendering it victims incapable of expression or comprehension. Any information that could be used in early intervention in this terminal illness is extremely important and useful for doctors and scientists around the world. The control of sleep-related illnesses is much more easily acceptable than ever before and if doctors are able to suppress the harmful proteins in any way, this would be an enormous step for Alzheimer’s treatment.

In reviewing this article, I believe that Cunningham did not place enough emphasis on the relevance of her research. She did not include any information, statistical or otherwise about the effects of Alzheimer's disease in the United States or the millions of people around the world who are also suffering. If she would have included this information, the research the article included would have seemed more dramatic and significant in terms of scientific discoveries today. In spite of this though, Cunningham produced a thoughtful and informative response on the lesser known side of a ruthless degenerative diseases, with a perfect balance between data analysis and explanations suitable for all audiences.

Andrew Goldbaum 1/27/18 Current Event 14 C Even

“Artificial Intelligence Can Detect Alzheimer's in Brain Scans Six Years Before Diagnosis.” Neuroscience News, Neuroscience News, UCSF, 4 Jan. 2019, neurosciencenews.com/ai-alzheimers-detection-10427/.

Can artificial intelligence - a field specializing in teaching computers to learn from its experiences and use human-like cognition to solve problems - detect the progression of Alzheimer’s Disease years before the final diagnosis is made? New research has indicated that this is a very real possibility. For some context,  drugs have emerged in recent years to curb the progression of Alzheimer’s disease, but they are usually useless. This is because final diagnoses are made for Alzheimer’s after enough neurons have died to make the disease irreversible, and the drugs only work when Alzheimer’s is still early in its progression. To combat this problem, neurologists have attempted to interpret PET (Positron Emission Tomography) scans. These scans can isolate a specific molecule - say glucose - and display changes in their levels throughout the brain. Glucose levels are important to note for Alzheimer’s disease because the disease is characterized by dying neurons; and when neurons die, they stop using high levels of glucose to carry out life processes. Therefore, the fix is simple: catch glucose changes throughout the brain early enough in the Alzheimer’s progression for the drugs to still be effective, and death rates from the disease will plummet. However, this is the difference between “difficult” and “simple”: experts in the field already know how to interpret data to detect tiny changes in the point of interest of a disease - say the early development of a tiny tumor - but glucose changes are often so subtle and slow-progressing in Alzheimer’s that these experts may not see that mild glucose losses here and there are part of the overall early onset of a disease. However, by feeding vast quantities of PET scan data of patients who eventually developed either the disease, mild neurological impairment, or no symptoms to an artificial intelligence algorithm; it has learned to distinguish the subtle glucose changes that lead to Alzheimer’s from those that don’t with astounding accuracy: 92% accuracy in one set and 98% in the other, six years before the final Alzheimer’s diagnosis.

PET scans are already an extremely powerful technology: I intern for a psychiatric institute - The Amen Clinic - in New York City, and it uses this scan to detect blood flow levels to specific parts of the brain in order to determine if someone has ADHD, Cranial Cervical Syndrome (CCS) and epilepsy, autism, among other conditions. The psychiatrist I intern for already knows how to properly examine this data, diagnose the condition, and offer a highly specific treatment to alleviate much of said condition with high levels of accuracy. However, something I noticed is that the types of patients who come into this clinic tend to have the same few conditions: predominantly ADHD, CCS, and sometimes autism. If the diverse types of biological molecules PET scans can examine (from glucose levels to blood levels, etc.) can be augmented with the cognitive powers of deep learning AI algorithms, early onset diagnoses of a much wider range of diseases is within reach. Therefore, the entire arsenal of available treatments can be tailored for someone’s specific problem before it ever becomes that problematic.

This article was well-written because it clarified not just the new development in the field, but why exactly it was necessary: not only did the article discuss how AI can identify the slower, widespread changes that humans can’t identify; but it described everything from why glucose is used in the PET scans to the main gist of what the scans do to where the current treatments for Alzheimer’s are applied and their setbacks… The only explanation I found to be lacking, however, was that for the AI: the article should have stated whether it used supervised or unsupervised learning and if there are future applications of this kind of algorithm besides Alzheimer’s detection.

Clara DeMagalhaes Current Event #13

Sengupta, Somini. “Global Warming is Helping to Wipe Out Coffee in the Wild.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 16 Jan. 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/16/climate/climate-change-coffee.html

In his article, Somini Sengupta discusses how global warming hinders the growth of coffee in areas where the plant is grown. While searching for rare varieties of coffee in the wild, British botanist Aaron Davis discovered that 60% of the world’s 124 coffee species are at risk of extinction in the wild due to deforestation and climate change. The main issue with this is that wild types of coffee could have genes needed for our manually cultivated varieties to survive in a climate that keeps getting warmer and drier, and those genes won’t be available if those species die out. This is especially important to farmers who depend on coffee to make their living, both to ensure that they thrive financially and so that they can start their day. Though the wild plants can be preserved in seed banks and nationally protected forests, half of them aren’t held in seed banks and a third don’t grow in the protected forests. To find out more about the risks wild coffee plants face, Davis used a barometer in a test. He found that wild arabica, the most vital coffee bean, was highly vulnerable to climate change effects, and if global warming continues, it may become extinct. Losing species like these is not only detrimental to people who need them, but it also means that there is less food, shelter, and diversity in an ecosystem. However, another kind of coffee plant known as stenophylla was found by Davis and is currently being tested on.

Much of the human population depends on coffee in order to function on a day to day basis. If the plant’s existence were to be in danger, then many people’s lives would be severely impacted negatively. On top of that, like the article said, the extinction of any wild coffee species would affect the ecosystem. It would disturb the balance of the region, eliminate diversity, and impact every other species that depends on coffee for food or shelter, which in turn affects every other species. The loss of gene diversity also cuts off potential research opportunities.

One thing that the article did well was that it was simple, concise, and easy to understand. The formatting, order of topics, and non complicated language made it so that the reader did not have to have any previous knowledge on this subject in order to know what was going on. However, one thing that I think the author could have done was include knowledge from other botanists instead of just Davis. This way, the reader could hear what multiple experts think about the subject at hand and understand better how crucial it is. It also makes the information found in the article much more credible.

Szilvia Szabó

Mr. Ippolito

AP Biology

January 18th, 2019

Purdue University. "Researchers race against extinction to uncover tree's cancer-fighting properties: Are we killing the cure?." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 17 January 2019. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/01/190117115906.htm>.

Chemists in China were experimenting on an almost extinct species of trees, called abies beshanzuensis, to look for possible treatments of diabetes and obesity. However, in the process of playing around with the trees’ molecules, they discovered that this kind of tree has cancer fighting properties. Organic chemist at Perdue University, Mingji Dai, alongside Zhong-Yin Zhang, a professor of medical chemistry also at Perdue University, found that one of the synthetic versions of the tree’s molecules constructed by Dai and his team is a selective inhibitor of the protein SHP2. SHP2 is one of the proteins most commonly targeted in treating cancer. It is one of a hand full of specific proteins that help cancer spread, so by stopping SHP2, we can slow cancer from spreading.

Several hundreds of thousands of people die from cancer in the US alone, so any sort of advancement in regards to cancer can save so many lives. This new compound has the potential to drastically improve the quality of life for countless people and save their loved ones from seeing them suffer. Additionally, I feel like this should serve as motivation for people to want to better preserve our planet and the other organisms that inhabit it. The cure to a disease could be right under our noses and we don’t know it. We could be unknowingly letting much needed cures and treatments slip out of our hands.

Overall, I felt that the author of this article did a really good job at presenting the information in a clear and coherent way so that the average person could understand it. They did not use any overly technical medical terms and simplified the findings of the experiments conducted. I also thought that the author did a really nice job of guiding the reader through the information. The organization structure was thought out very nicely and was very fluid. However, I wish the author included more information about what these scientists did exactly to get this information. For example, I was somewhat confused when the author wrote, “With help from chemical biologists at the Scripps Research Institute in Florida, the team went fishing -- in a pond full of proteins.” I think that if the author was more clear about the procedures, it would have been a bit easier to understand. But, I do believe that this author did a really nice job of simplifying the information without it being too dry and educating the public on this advancement.

Charlotte Cagliostro

Ippolito

C Even AP Biology / Current Event #13

1/18/19

Pierre-Louis, Kendra. “Ocean Warming Is Accelerating Faster Than Thought, New Research Finds.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 10 Jan. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/01/10/climate/ocean-warming-climate-change.html.

In Kendra Pierre-Louis’ New York Times article, “Ocean Warming Is Accelerating Faster Than Thought, New Research Finds,” she focuses on the ocean’s role in climate change. Pierre-Louis explains how the ocean absorbs much of the heat energy entering earth’s atmosphere, and without its presence, the rising temperatures would be much more obvious on land. For centuries, the ocean has served to maintain earth’s climate and keep it suitable for human life, but if no action is taken to combat global warming, the adverse effects of climate change will be catastrophic in future years. Pierre-Louis writes that “the surging water temperatures are already killing off marine ecosystems, raising sea levels and making hurricanes more destructive. As the oceans continue to warm, those effects will become more catastrophic, scientists say.” One problem that has already emerged is the rising sea level; coastal communities will soon suffer the consequences. The ocean’s increased temperature has and will continue to hurt marine organisms As it gets hotter and hotter, aquatic species will have a difficult time adapting to the environment; many organisms will be have to relocate and thousands will perish.

The subject matter of Pierre-Louis’ article is incredibly relevant. Climate change will shape society on a global scale for years and years to come. It is incredibly important for individuals to be aware of the consequences of global warming and how they will manifest. Citizens should be educated on how the effects of climate change will impact their lives and future generations. The effects of global warming will only worsen. For example, Pierre-Louis writes that “more powerful storms like Hurricane Harvey in 2017 and Hurricane Florence in 2018 will become more common, and coastlines around the world will flood more frequently. Coral reefs, whose fish populations are sources of food for hundreds of millions of people, will come under increasing stress.”

I enjoyed reading Pierre-Louis’ article. She wrote a compelling and informative piece on a relevant topic that will most definitely shape the century. One thing that I wish she included in her article was a call to action for her readers. I wish she had finished off her piece trying to motivate and incite her audience, possibly just to be more aware on climate or even to take political action.

Interesting and rigorous courses offered by Columbia University for high school students in the metropolitan area. If interested apply on line. Science teachers will be happy to write you a recommendation for this competitive program.

A Protein in Mosquito Eggshells Could Be the Insects' Achilles' Heel

Anna Normand

AP Biology

Mr. Ippolito

10 January 2018

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/protein-mosquito-eggshells-could-be-insect-achilles-heel?tgt=nr

A protein in mosquito eggshells could be the insects’ Achilles’ heel

The scientific article I read this week was concerned with a protein which scientists have recently discovered to be an important aspect of the reproduction of mosquitoes. Mosquitoes, though they are not dangerous on their own, act as vectors for extremely dangerous diseases such as malaria, zika, dengue, and west nile virus. Because of this potential for infection, scientists have been working on a way to reduce the mosquito populations who spread these diseases and therefore reduce the frequency of these diseases. The study found that a certain protein, Eggshell Organizing Factor 1, which is found in the eggshells of mosquito eggs, is vital to the survival of the embryos within the eggshell. In fact, the researchers found that almost none of the embryos within eggshells that lacked the EOF1 protein survived into larvae, suggesting that the protein is essential to the development of the embryo. EOF1 is produced only by the species Aedes, Anopheles, and Culex, all of which are vectors for extremely deadly and widespread diseases. If this protein could be disabled through genetic engineering, it would be an effective way to control the populations of certain mosquito species.

Scientists hope to use this information to genetically engineer genes to control the populations of dangerous species of mosquito. Mosquitos transmit some of the deadliest viruses in the world, and because of their mobility and the size of their population, there is endless opportunity for them to spread disease. If a way can be found to control the populations of disease-spreading mosquitoes, we may be able to prevent the spreading of these diseases further. This would halt the progression of deadly diseases and save many lives, especially in areas where the disease is difficult to treat due to lack of resources or materials. While in western countries we may think of mosquitoes as simply a nuisance, the fact is that diseases which are treatable here can be deadly in countries with less resources, leading to a prevalence of these diseases among those in less developed countries. This new discovery could help to end the higher prevalence of these diseases in certain areas.

Overall, I thought that this article provided an interesting insight into a possible solution to a huge problem in our society. Though the article was short, I thought that it provided sufficient evidence of the claim it was making, and made the implications of their discovery very clear. I do think that the writer could have spoken more on how this technique may be used in the future, as well as its possible effect on those affected by mosquito-transmitted diseases.