James Apostolatos 2/28/19

Current Event 17     AP Biology

Citation: Sanders, Laura. “How Singing Mice Belt out Duets.” Science News, 28 Feb. 2019, www.sciencenews.org/article/singing-mice-duets-brain-patterns-human-speech.

In Costa Rica, Alston’s singing mouse (Scotinomys teguina) is known to stand and produce a well-timed high pitch ‘song’ to communicate with other mice. This is perhaps to negotiate its territory with other males or notify another mouse. This article discusses a new study revealing how their brains orchestrate these rapid-fire songs. One brain system directs the patterns of notes that make up songs, while it coordinates duets with another mouse. The series of repeating calls are triggered by the brain. In the wild, these song duets between mice are thought to attract mates and stake out territory. One brain system is thought to control the contents of the songs known as the orofacial motor cortex or OMC. This orchestrates the split-second timing needed for the mouse duets according to expert Mr. Long. One experiment showed that when the team cooled the mice’s OMC, slowing those nerve cells’ activity, songs grew longer, suggesting that the brain region normally controls song timing. When they prohibited OMC growth, the mice had trouble singing. This shows the importance of OMC and brain activity for rat communication and vocal performance.

This is important because it is connected to ecology. It discusses a very different form of animal behavior that can give us insight into rat communication in the wild. This is important because it is connected to vocal communication and the role of the brain in rats. The study suggests that this type of singing rat from Costa Rica could give us a brand new insight into the brain by mentioning the orofacial motor cortex, or OMC. The connection with communication to the brain can benefit the study of our own human behavior.  

One strength was its explanation of the ecology aspect and how it cited evidence from a real scientist. They connected it to the brain and the overall importance in society by using an example to back up their claim. The experiment was the mice’s OMC levels being altered. One weakness was its unprofessional tone. Often, the writer would mention something not connected to the topic and I wished it was more scholarly. Also, the paragraph spacing needed work. One way to improve this is to separate the paragraphs into smaller chunks and use a scholarly tone so the reader remains interested.

Why Southeast Asia and Australia’s Coral Reefs Became So Rich in Species

Anton Tarazi

Mr. Ippolito

AP Biology D even

2/28/19

Yin, Steph. “Why Southeast Asia and Australia's Coral Reefs Became So Rich in Species.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 17 Oct. 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/10/17/science/coral-reef-biodiversity.html?rref=collection%2Fcolumn%2Ftrilobites.

In Steph Yin’s New York Times article “Why Southeast Asia and Australia's Coral Reefs Became So Rich in Species”, he discusses the causes of the extreme biodiversity in the Central-Indo Pacific tropical seas. The coral reefs of Southeast Asia and Australia have more biodiversity than any other marine region on Earth, and the reason for this, as Yin explains, is the ancestors of the current creatures that migrated from the Tethys Sea. The Tethys Sea was an ocean during the Mesozoic Era (time of the dinosaurs) that was in the region that is now the East Atlantic. Yin cites a study done by Elizabeth Miller of the University of Arizona that used computer models and data to conclude that the reason for the high biodiversity of the Central-Indo Pacific is “largely because so many old lineages have settled there.” As the tectonic plates shifted eons ago, many different species migrated from the Tethys Sea to the Central-Indo Pacific, shifting the hot spot of marine life. Yin discusses how the reason for the biodiversity of the region is millions of years of fish and coral living there and evolving, yet all this could be destroyed within decades by human activities. He concludes the article with a call to action to protect the biodiversity of the earth.

The topic that Yin discusses in his article is indirectly connected to our society. While the biodiversity of Southeast Asia and Australia’s Coral Reefs certainly does not directly affect our daily lives, the biodiversity of our planet’s ecosystems has an impact on everyone. As Yin states, more than 500 million people depend on coral reefs for food, income, and coastal protection. The health of these reefs is directly related to our wellbeing as a species. If these precious reefs were to collapse due to human activities such as overfishing and pollution, the loss of biodiversity would have catastrophic impacts on the rest of the planet. That is why as humans, it is so important for us to recognize and learn about all the beauty in nature, so we can understand its importance and how to protect it.

Overall, I enjoyed reading Yin’s article. He did a good job of painting a picture of the Central-Indo Pacific and all the different types of fish you would see there, so much more biodiversity than even places like the Carribean. The article is written in simple, unscientific language, with explanations offered for scientific terms such as the Tethys Sea, so it was a clean, easy read. Yin explained how the biodiversity of the region stems from its prehistoric ancestors, but he does not say why this is the case. I felt that a brief discussion about how biodiversity rises over time was missing from his article. If Yin were to include a sentence or two about this, I believe the article would be complete and be very strong because the rest of it was well-written.

Zimmer, Carl. “DNA Gets a New - and Bigger - Genetic Alphabet.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 21 Feb. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/02/21/science/dna-hachimoji-genetic-alphabet.html

In this article, which is written by Carl Zimmer, the author examines the creation of a new genetic alphabet in a scientific breakthrough by chemist Steven A. Benner. Being fascinated by how the four nitrogenous bases of DNA are attracted to each other in order to maintain the double helix shape of the molecule, Benner thought of hypothetical synthetic molecular bases in the 1980s that should theoretically be able to be substituted for the existing four bases (A, T, G, C). Having finally succeeded in this quest by successfully synthesizing these artificial bases, Benner has also seized the opportunity to name his new ‘alphabet for DNA’: Hachimoji. Hatchi is Japanese for eight and moji means letter. Thus, this is the perfect name for Benner’s new, half-synthetic, alphabet for DNA. His discovery would later lead to further investigation into this new field. Most notably, Floyd E. Romesberg, of the Scripps Research Institute in San Diego, managed to create enzymes that were able to successfully duplicate the artificial DNA sequences. And, in 2014, they were able to successfully have bacteria do the same.

This could have potentially very dramatic effects on our society. Given the vast expansion of the DNA sequences as a result of this innovation, this could greatly increase our ability to store data in these molecules. Furthermore, this has partially opened the eyes of scientists looking to find life outside of earth: this discovery has proven that life could exist somewhere in the universe in a different form than we are familiar with here on earth. Thus, this could massively expand our search in an attempt to answer the burning question: “are we alone?”

While this article was very well written there were a few things that they could have changed. I personally thought it should have been laid out more chronologically because it would have made it both less confusing and easier to follow the process that went into completing this discovery. That being said, I think this article touches on a very important discovery, is well sourced and is effective at conveying its intended purpose.

Szilvia Szabó

Mr. Ippolito

AP Biology

February 27th, 2018

“New DNA Tool Predicts Height, Shows Promise for Serious Illness Assessment.” ScienceDaily, ScienceDaily, 4 Oct. 2018, www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/10/181004143856.htm.

For centuries, humans have been observing and learning about their surroundings. We have come so far and grown so much in fields of science and medicine. Nowadays, it is becoming more and more of a reality to be able to predict whether someone will contract a disease and how to prevent that. Michigan State University has created a DNA tool that can predict “height, bone density and even the level of education a person might achieve, purely based on one's genome”. This tool can predict whether someone has the potential to contract a serious disease, such as cancer and heart disease. Michigan State University has been working on this tool for a while and continues to work on its algorithms to strive for perfection.

Advancements in medicine like these are very significant and important for human society as a whole. If we can predict accurately whether or not someone will get cancer or any other sort of disease, we can save so many lives by seeing this disease early and making sure it does not progress into anything life threatening. Cancer is a disease that affects millions of people and all of the advancements we make in order to prevent this disease can help to save and drastically improve the quality of life for millions.

I liked how the author stayed pretty objective throughout the entire piece, but I feel like the author could have presented more background information on the topic, perhaps about what other sorts of inventions are out there that are similar to the one the author describes. Also, I really liked how the author used language that was really simple and to the point, making it easy for the reader to follow without getting caught up in complicated medical and science terms. However, I think it would have been better if the author threw in some more specifics about this new creation and give some more statistics and facts about it.

'Mermaid Tears' Are Killing Our Oceans.

Ella Stupart

Mr. Ippolito C Even

Current Event 17

February 28, 2019

Citation:

“'Mermaid Tears' Are Killing Our Oceans.” Popular Science, 25 Feb. 2019, www.popsci.com/ocean-plastic-pollution-youve-never-heard-of#page-6.

In her article, “Mermaid Tears’ Are Killing Our Oceans,” Claire Gwinnett talks about nurdles, also referred to as “mermaid tears” and their effect on our oceans. Nurdles are small bits of plastic, ranging from the size of about 1mm to 5mm, which are full of harmful chemicals. They are the building blocks of common plastic items such as reusable water bottles. Their size and the level of polymers which are found in nurdles make them extremely harmful to humans and to sea animals. They emit toxins called persistent organic pollutants which then cover the surface of the sea water. A study done in East  Lothian found large amounts of E.coli, a virus that causes major intestinal issues and sometimes even death, on the surface of the nurdles on all five of the beaches that were tested. It is estimated that 53 billion nurdles have released in the UK by the plastic industry. In attempt to solve the issue, Fidra and The Marine Conservation Society, two organizations dedicated to helping the environment, started the Great Global Nurdle Hunt which is a 10 day search held yearly in February for nurdles on beaches across the world. Since 2012, there have been 1610 beaches searched. Their goal is to help find the source of the problem through determining the concentration of nurdles on beaches all over the world. One of the organizations who participated in the hunt, Staffordshire University’s Microplastic and Forensic Fibre Research Group, estimates 139.8 nurdles per square meter on beaches.

Nurdles are extremely toxic and are harmful to not only the marine life whose oceans they contaminate, but also to humans who spend time on the beaches. Nurdles are so toxic that scientists and citizens who are working with nurdles and searching the beaches are told to wear gloves to prevent the nurdles from making contact with their skin. The plastic industry will continue to produce absurd amounts of waste which will result in an even  larger concentration of nurdles, multiplying the toxins in the ocean and growing the problem even further. If we do not work with organizations to solve this issue, it will only get worse and will start to affect humans.

This article provided great information about nurdles, a subject which I have never heard about before. Gwinnett did a good job of explaining where the nurdles came from and why they are harmful. While the article was overall welldone, I do have a few critiques. In order to improve her article, Gwinnett could have suggested ways that we can reduce the number of nurdles that are in the oceans. She also could have explained exactly what happens if we come in contact with a nurdle and how concerned we should be when going to the beach. Another aspect that was not discussed was how marine animals have been affected so far. I wish a statistic about this was included in the article.

Split-Sex Animals Are Unusual, Yes, but Not as Rare as You'd Think

Charlotte Cagliostro

Ippolito

AP Biology / Current Event #17

2/28/19

Weintraub, Karen. “Split-Sex Animals Are Unusual, Yes, but Not as Rare as You'd Think.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 25 Feb. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/02/25/science/split-sex-gynandromorph.html.

In her New York Times article, “Split-Sex Animals Are Unusual, Yes, but Not as Rare as You’d Think,” Karen Weintraub examines gynandromorphs. These organisms have both male and female characteristics, and are therefore often referred to as being “split-sex.” Weintraub specifically analyzes gynandromorphic butterflies, which contain mosaic coloring patterns that are characteristic of both males and females. She points out that many other animals, such as birds, crabs, and lobsters, also occasionally have gynandromorphic offspring. While it has been widely documented that many “split-sex” organisms exist, it still remains a mystery to scientists how they are created; most experts, however, suspect that gynandromorphs are born due to random genetic error.

In the second part of her article, Weintraub widens her discussion by discussing the importance and potential implications of the study of “split-sex” organisms. She explains that scientists believe that examining these creatures could contribute to research focusing on why certain human diseases, such as metabolic syndrome, autoimmune disease, Alzheimer’s, and obesity, affect one sex more often than the other. Scientists hope that a superior understanding of the role sex plays in the spread of disease will ultimately contribute to better treatment methods.  

I really enjoyed reading Weintraub’s article. She was able to write an incredibly interesting article, while still making it quite informative. Explaining what gynandromorphs are and their importance in the medical field is a challenging feat, but she was able to do it with style and sophistication. I especially loved her discussion of butterflies, which she continually referred back to in order to make her piece easier to understand. She used numerous pictures that showed various gynandromorph butterflies, which helped to illustrate her points on the physical manifestation of such genetic mutations.

F.D.A. Panel Recommends New Depression Treatment

Carey, Benedict. “F.D.A. Panel Recommends New Depression Treatment.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 12 Feb. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/02/12/health/depression-drugs-ketamine.html.

On Tuesday, February 12, 2019, an expert panel recommended the approval by federal regulators of a new drug for depression, specifically aimed at those with suicidal thinking. The drug, a nasal spray, is called Esketamine and is made with the active ingredients of ketamine, a “club drug” popular in the ‘80s and ‘90s. The panel approved of the drug almost unanimously as it’s trial results, while not extensive, proved to be very promising. This drug differs from most of the antidepressants on the market as it is not made from serotonin and offers much hope to those who have not had success with these previous medications.

Major Depressive Disorder is one of the most common mental illnesses our world faces. As a result of this, 11-13 of every 100,000 Americans commit suicide, a rate that has increased 24% in the past twenty years. It is critical that our country reduces these numbers by any means possible, and the Esketamine treatment may have the potential to do so. While there are many depression treatments already on the market, many people have tested several with no results. Thus, the new medicine may help save the millions of people attempting suicide each year or experiencing severe depression each year.

I felt that Carey’s article was written extremely well. He thoroughly explained the history and the theoretical future of the treatment in a way that could be easily comprehended. Additionally, I loved how he included a quote from a woman who had struggled with severe depression and the failure of treatments explaining how she was excited to try the new drug. I felt that the article could have been improved by including a personal story of how one person the treatment was tested on responded to it. I would have also liked to know a more specific statistic about how successful the treatment was in clinical trials.

Officials Hope to Change Minds amid 'Exquisitely Contagious' Measles Outbreak

Anna Normand

Mr. Ippolito

AP Biology

13 February 2019

Watt, Nick. “Officials Hope to Change Minds amid 'Exquisitely Contagious' Measles Outbreak.” CNN, Cable News Network, 13 Feb. 2019, www.cnn.com/2019/02/13/health/measles-washington-oregon/index.html.

The article “Officials Hope to Change Minds amid ‘Exquisitely Contagious’ Measles Outbreak” discusses a new measles outbreak in the Pacific Northwest, due to lack of vaccinations. The outbreak is occuring in Clark County, Washington, where less than 85% of kindergarteners are up to date on their required vaccinations. In order to ensure herd immunity, at least 95% of the population must be vaccinated to protect those who are too young or too weak to be vaccinated. Measles is a deadly and extremely contagious disease, but was eliminated from the United States in 2000; however, the article states that “travelers with measles continue to bring the disease into the US. Measles can spread when it reaches a community in the US where people are unvaccinated.”The disease is especially dangerous for children, as the disease kills 2 out of every 1,000 children infected. So far in Clark County, where the outbreak began in January, there have been 58 infections, and the governor has declared a state of emergency.

I thought this article was extremely relevant in the face of the anti-vaccination movement that is popular in some communities in the US. While many decline vaccinations for religious or health reasons, a growing number are refusing to vaccinate their children based on inaccurate information. One reason cited, that the vaccinations cause autism, was based on an experiment done by a doctor who was later disbarred, and his findings debunked. It has been proven that vaccines do not cause autism, but inaccurate information has led to decision-making which not only affects individuals, but also affects those who are vulnerable to the measles due to age or health concerns, exposing them to an illness which could potentially be deadly. Vaccinations are not an individual choice, but one which affects whole communities.

Overall I thought this article was well-written and informative. The author described context for the contemporary history of measles, describing modern outbreaks and how they occured, which provided excellent context. However, I thought that a history of measles before vaccines might be helpful to inform the reader of the vaccine’s effectiveness. I also thought that the author could have provided more information on why people choose not to vaccinate their children, especially about those who make that choice based on false claims about the vaccine. Overall, this article helped me learn a lot more about measles and vaccines in general.

Here's What Fracking Can Do to Your Health

Caitlin Mooney

Mr. Ippolito

2/12/19

Current Event 16

McDonnell, Tim. "Here's What Fracking Can Do to Your Health." Mother Jones. N.p., 16 Dec. 2018. Web. Feb. 12, 2019. http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2018/12/heres-what-fracking-can-do-your-health

The article “Here’s What Fracking Can Do To Your Health” by Tim Mcdonnell, explains the problems fracking can cause the environment and humans. Fracking or hydraulic fracturing is the process of drilling into the earth to extract natural gasses. Although this seems to be an easy alternative of oil, many dangerous chemicals like hydrochloric acid and ethylene glycol are being pumped into the earth, while methane and benzene are being released into the air on these sites. Even after the wastewater is contained, there have been many reports of spills. A Colorado study counted 77 fracking wastewater spills that impacted groundwater supplies. Of those groundwater supplies, 90% of them were contaminated with benzene. Not only can groundwater be contaminated but so can drinking water. This happens when the cement casing cracks or leaks, which happens to 2%-50% of fracking wells. according to studies (that the author did not list). Overall this author is trying to spread awareness about the negative aspects of fracking.

In this article, Mcdonnell informs the reader about the dangers of fracking to our everyday society. Because of broken fracking wells methane can get into people's drinking water, even though methane is nontoxic if too much is consumed at high concentrations it will cause death by asphyxiation (when not enough oxygen gets into your lungs). Broken wells also result in flammable faucets nearby fracking sites. Another negative effect on fracking is air pollution near the wells. This has a negative impact on people because some airborne air pollutants like the ones found in one Colorado study are an endocrine disrupter and mess up fetal and early childhood development. Also, some airborne pollutants cause respiratory and cardiovascular disease.

I thought this article was well written and Mcdonnell did a good job explaining the possible reasons fracking can be harmful to someone’s health. But to make this article better I think that Mcdonnell could have listed the studies that found certain information he talked about instead of just saying, many studies found that (information). Also, I think that Mcdonnell could have told the reader more specifics on the process of fracking. But besides those issues, I think that this article was easy to follow and I learned a lot about this nationwide problem. Hopefully, articles like these will be able to raise awareness about the dangers of fracking so production can be stopped before more wells are created.

Opportunity Rover - Current Event

Christopher Hutchins

Mr. Ippolito - Current Event 15

2/5/19

Chang, Kenneth. “'This Could Be the End' for NASA's Mars Opportunity Rover.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 25 Jan. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/01/25/science/mars-opportunity-rover.html.

As we enter the month of February, we may also be entering the end of a long journey. NASA’s Opportunity Rover is beginning to give signs of its death. The rover, which has lasted on Mars far longer than expected, became quiet after a giant storm of dust covered its solar panels in June. NASA continues to send signals, waiting for a response, but there are thousands of possibilities that lead to an end with the mission. Opportunity outlasted its projected life by 5,081 Mars days. Unfortunately, its partner, Spirit, disconnected in 2009, but 10 years later, Opportunity keeps rolling. At the last transmitted signal, Opportunity had been researching the gully, of what may have been waterflow. The rover was descending to the bottom, to find and examine the sediments.

This article is not extremely relevant to our understanding of the world today. It is just an alert about the impending death of the Opportunity rover. Although, by raising awareness to other space projects such as the Opportunity rover which has helped us have a much greater understanding of Mars, there becomes a public knowledge of the scapecraft and the work it is doing for the benefit of science and the origin of our planet. In the near future, when Earth becomes uninhabitable, we will need to find a new home, or face extinction. Having a stronger understanding of the planets around us will help us in the future.

After reading this article, I was very pleased with the structure, and the resources incorporated into the read. This article is separated by images. The writing of the article was slightly casual, which was effective to someone who may have previous knowledge of the mission, but to those learning about it for the first time, this may have been a mistake by the author. Other than readjusting the language to a broader target audience, this article was very well written and is important for people to educate themselves on.

DNA from Extinct Red Wolves Lives on in Some Mysterious Texas Coyotes

Michael Grieco

AP Biology

Current Event 15

29 January 2019

Saey, Tina Hesman. “DNA from Extinct Red Wolves Lives on in Some Mysterious Texas

Coyotes.” Science News, 4 Feb. 2019,

<www.sciencenews.org/article/dna-extinct-red-wolves-lives-some-mysterious-texas-coyo

tes?tgt=nr.>

Tina Hesman Saey’s article is about the recent discovery of DNA in red-coated canids, a
species of wolves. This species that lives on Galveston Island in Texas has DNA of the red
wolves, a species declared extinct in 1980 only in the wild. Ron Wooten, a wildlife biologist
studying this sent DNA samples to Bridgett vonHoldt at Princeton. The red wolves had still
been surviving in a captive breeding program, and DNA unique to this species was found in the
DNA of the red-coated candids. After discovering this, vonHoldt has taken a second look into
preserving biodiversity, and she says that to preserve biodiversity, we have to protect genetic
diversity, not just species. Both vonHoldt and Wooten agree that this is a large breakthrough in
the genetic world and that this should encourage many to gear their conservation efforts toward
“preserving genetic diversity within common species,” allowing species with a large influence in
ecosystems to be able to adapt to new environments.

This article made me look at conservation biology through a new lens. I thought that the best
way to preserve biodiversity was by protecting rare and endangered species. But after reading this
article, I realized that one aspect just as important was to preserve genetic diversity within species.
Wolves have a large presence around the globe, and by preserving biodiversity within the many
species of wolves, they can adapt to a changing environment more easily.

This article gives a very brief overview of this study that allowed me to gain a basic
understanding of what it was about. However, this article lacked the depth that could have given
the reader the full comprehension of what the study was and the techniques used in it. If the author
had included this information, I believe I would be more interested and been able to understand it
better.

A Silver Bullet Against the Brain-Eating Amoeba?

Cassidy Mullen

Ippolito C Even

Current Event  #15

February 4th, 2019

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/14/health/brain-eating-amoeba-silver.html

The title and subtitle if this article is very captivating, it made me want to know more about the anti-seizure drugs that stop microbes from feeing on brain tissue.  This article describes small silver particles that may have the ability to stop a lethal microbe called Naegleria fowleri which feeds on brain tissue after invading through the sinuses of a human. Research published in the Journal of Chemical Neuroscience indicated that binding seizure medicines to silver might spare human cells while still killing the amoebae. Dr. Anwar acknowledges that this discovery is exciting but that it is still in the early phases of discovery. It is being tested on small crickets, cockroaches and mice.  

Infections with brain-eating amoebae almost always result in death, and since 1962 only four of the 143 victims in the United States have survived According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Over 50% of these cases have occured in Texas and Florida where the microscopic organisms live because they thrive in warm waters. Patients usually recieve antimycobacterial drugs that have many severe side effects because it's challenging to find drugs that will access the right region of the brain.  “It’s an important first step in coming up with possible treatments for a very difficult-to-treat condition,” said Dr. Paul Sax.

I think that Emily Baumgaertner does an excellent job writing this article. She describes the new discovery in a captivating way while still providing the reader with all of the details necessary to understand this new concept. Baumgartner incorporates quotes into this Global health article to help support her claims and uses comparisons and real-life scenarios to explain why this topic is relevant to society. If one thing could be improved, I think that she could have delved further into the biological detail and what the future might look like because of this discovery.

We Need to Talk about Intestinal Worms.

Anabel Maldonado

Ippolito C Even

Current Event #15

February 5th, 2019

Agler, Ellen, and Mojie Crigler. “We Need to Talk about Intestinal Worms.” Scientific American Blog Network, 29 Jan. 2019, blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/we-need-to-talk-about-intestinal-worms/.

The article “We Need to Talk about Intestinal Worms.” talks about parasites that are planting themselves along human’s intestines. These “worms” (parasites) cause physical and cognitive growth problems. In order to help prevent this dilemma from growing, in 1909, Rockefeller donated 32 shares to help explore health problems such as these in more depth - this organization was called the Rockefeller Sanitary Commission for the Eradication of Hookworm Disease (RSC). This organization resulted in new discoveries and inventions that located and removed the worms. However, to continue to spread awareness the organization has organized TED talks and presentations. In addition to spreading awareness, new inventions have been presented. For instance, according to Agler and Crigler, there are new drugs such as “albendazole and mebendazole can disrupt adult hookworms’ metabolism and reproduction, most often with little to no side effects in the host.” As time passes, the numbers are decreasing… but their are still 1.5 billion people in impoverished areas who are suffering. This number will increase, if our society does not help prevent new hygiene problems from developing in these areas - because they are a main factor that helps these worms develop.

This article is very relevant in our society. Agler and Crigler stated, “In 2019, people infected with hookworm are likely to be among the 1.5 billion most impoverished people in the world.” Luckily, most of us live with a privilege to even have the ability to fix a problem such as this one. All of us  could help minimize this disease by raising awareness or donating to impoverished places such as these. If this disease were not as significant, people would not be facing illnesses. In addition, the upcoming generation would be able to use the money that they were saving for a cure, on education for their children. Our “small bubble” needs to recognize that in places such as Africa, people are facing diseases because of their lack of clean water, money, plumbing and much more.

Personally, this was not the most impressive written current event. I think, both Agler and Crigler jumped from topic to topic. I was very lost and confused in certain parts of the article. For instance, they state “Siblings and neighbors, exposed to a smaller pool of parasites, also benefited. Years later, Kremer and Miguel followed up with participants from their original study and found that those who had been dewormed were earning more money.” I think if the writers were to organize their thoughts in similar categories, the reader would be as confused. For instance, they could start their article BRIEFLY and CLEARLY explaining what the disease is, then going into more depth. However, they were somewhat successful! They created a feeling of guilt and determination in the audience. By including detailed numbers of victims, the reader feels determined to spread awareness and help solve this problem!