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.
Anabel Maldonado
ReplyDeleteCurrent Event #14
Ippolito C Even
January 29th, 2019
Purdue University. "Researchers race against extinction to uncover tree's cancer-fighting properties: Are we killing the cure?." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 17 January 2019. .
I really enjoyed how Szilvia explained the importance of this discovery. For instance, she clearly stated in her second paragraph, “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.” I did not even think about how a cure for cancer can result in new ways to preserve our planet - while also saving billions of lives. In addition, I thought Szilvia was very successful when explaining the repercussions and obstacles that the victims of cancer face. Although, it seems obvious to us, she was very impactful when explaining the emotional obstacles that patients (and their families) face. Lastly, surprisingly, my favorite part was her critique on the article. Unlike most, she spent most of her time critiquing Purdue University (the writer) by clearly stating the things they succeeded with and could improve upon. I completely agreed with her critique - especially when stating “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.”
Although, her article was very informative, she could improve in some areas. First, when she explained the proteins found in these endangered trees (in China), she only briefly spoke about it. To improve upon this, she could do outside research on this protein and explain how it is relevant to cancer. In addition, this review would have been flawless if she personalized it a tad more. She could do this if she answered questions such as why she chose this topic? Does she want to help make a change? How was she impacted after reading it? Did she hear about this before this review?
Overall, this article was extremely intriguing! I have never heard of this discovery, and I personally was shocked when discovering that there is a possible cure for cancer. In addition, one thing I found very surprising was that this discovery would be helping us medically… but also environmentally! As a result, I am eager to research this more and help make a change!
Cassidy Mullen
ReplyDeleteAP Biology C Even
October 16, 2018
Current Event #14
Purdue University. "Researchers race against extinction to uncover tree's cancer-fighting properties: Are we killing the cure?." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 17 January 2019. .
Szilvia’s first paragraph is very detailed and descriptive. This gives the reader a better understanding of the article. Szilvia not only gives an example of how the trees have cancer fighting properties but actually discussed the details of the chemistry behind it. In her second paragraph, I like how Szilvia explains that studying the relationships between plants and animals could help scientists understand how to cure cancer in humans as well. This gives the reader an idea of why studying these relationships and how these relationships are important to our society today. I like how Silvia commented on the pace of the article and the amount of information the author included because these two things can truly engage or disengage a reader even though the importance of these two aspects are not obvious at first glance. If an article is slow paced and boring then I tend to disengage as a reader.
Szilvia introduces the first paragraph discussing how Chemists in China were experimenting on almost extinct trees and mentions SHP2. Szilvia doesn't fully explain what SHP2, but I think that explaining it would give the reader a better understanding of the effect the tree can have on curing cancer. She also abruptly changes the topic to talk about motivation in her second paragraph. I think that the purpose of the article is not necessary to motivate people because people have been motivated to cure cancer for decades. Becoming a doctor is very difficult because so many people want to do it, so I do not believe that motivation is an issue.
While reading Szilvia’s review I learned about a new and radical way that cancer could possibly be treated. This gives me hope for the future of medicine and for my children eventually. I think that using trees is a very clever and innovative method. This makes me realize that answers can come from so many aspects of life and nature and we know so much less than we think we do.