Second Team going through their "walk-through" of the crime scene, discussing what they see prior to identifying and cataloging the physical evidence
Team 2 C block Walk-through

New gene editing technology could correct 89% of genetic defects

Caroline McGrath

10/27/19

Current Event 6

https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/22/health/gene-editing-study-intl-hnk-scli-scn/index.html 

The article New Gene Editing Technology Could Correct 89% of Genetic Defects by Jessie Yeung covers a very intriguing topic that relates back to the building blocks of our species. As most people know, DNA has mutations that lead to devastating and debilitating diseases. In the article Yeung describes a process known as “prime editing”, where it takes CRISPR (a genetic engineering tool that uses a CRISPR sequence of DNA and its associated proteins to edit the base pairs of a gene) to a new level, allowing for the  genetic information to be written directly into the desired gene spot. As Yeung mentions, “About two-thirds of known human genetic variants associated with diseases are single point gene mutations, so gene editing has the potential to correct or reproduce such mutations”. The prime editing combines a new gene with CRISPR to cut the DNA strand and smoothly insert the new genetic information. This process has the opportunity to reverse around 89% of known-causing genetic diseases, including sickle cell anemia. More and more researchers continue to discover and test this new technology, with hopes that it will "provide a potential path for human therapeutic applications”. Yeung closes her article by describing the possible threats of this new technology, including the manipulation of embryos to fit a wanted criteria or a possible new mutation. 

This article is huge for everyone. Everyone knows someone who is struggling from a genetic mutation, whether it be sickle cell anemia or cancer, which is threatening their life, and with this new technology that threat might be able to dissipate. The article discusses about potential usage on embryos, if that is in fact proven to work, it will change the way our species works. One can completely design their baby, although there are certain ethical questions there, it will have a great impact on the future of our society. Overall, the usage of this technology is endless, whether it be solving some of the deadliest diseases, or potential usage for everyday people.

The article overall is very well written. It talks about the gene editing process in a way that gets the point across to someone unfamiliar with the process, while keeping it complex enough to get across the depth of this topic. I also found myself wanting to read more about the topic; because the article provided such good insight into the topic and the potential usage I never found myself bored. One thing I think needed to be better explain was the other diseases it could cure. It mentioned curing 89%, but only specified sickle cell anemia. I think it needed to further clarify other diseases. In order to improve the article, the author needed state what sickle cell anemia was when it mentioned it. It can be inferred that it is a genetic mutation, but it was never explicitly said, which is important for the understanding of the technology.

Lily Jebejian

10/26/19

AP Biology

Current Event #6

Mcneil, Donald G. “Two Strains of Polio Are Gone, but the End of the Disease Is Still Far Off.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 23 Oct. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/10/23/health/polio-strain-eradication.html.

Polio is a disease that has been devastating for hundreds of years. It is particularly harmful to children because it causes permanent paralysis if the child isn’t vaccinated. There are a total of three types of polio: type one, type two, and type three. Type two was declared eliminated in 2015, and just this week type three was declared eliminated as well, leaving only type one as the active virus. The fight against polio has taken longer than expected because of a number of reasons, 

“First, millions of families around the world have not let their children have the drops because of persistent false rumors that the vaccine is a Western plot to sterilize Muslim girls or do other harm. Second, in some countries viruses used in the oral vaccine itself have mutated into a form that can be passed on in diapers and sewage, and can paralyze unvaccinated children. That has contributed to fear of the oral vaccine, even though full vaccination is the only protection against such mutant viruses”(McNeil).

These factors have made the eradication of polio a much slower process than expected. In order to receive full protection children must take an oral and injection vaccination. But recently there have been reports that the weakened virus is mutating and causing harm to unvaccinated children. This outbreak of circulating vaccine-derived polio virus (or cVDPV) has been occuring in 20 countries over the past two years. More children have been paralyzed by cVDPV in the past two years than by type one polio. This poses more problems by creating more harm than it is stopping. In order to fix this doctors and scientists are working to create a less dangerous vaccine and make sure every child receives it. 

Although these outbreaks of type one polio are only occurring in Pakistan and Afghanistan, it is crucial to stop the virus because it can spread very easily. Once the virus begins to spread it will be harder to contain, so therefore we have to eradicate it completely while also being cautious of the effects the vaccine may have. In addition to stopping type one polio, we must also be prepared in case type two or three come back, this means having vaccines ready and plans in place so that there isn’t another outbreak.

Overall I thought this article was very informative and interesting to read. But, there were some places I thought could be improved. I felt that at some points more information was necessary in order for the reader to fully understand the concept. One particular point is the origin of cVDPV, which I thought was not fully explained. I also think the addition of more symptoms of polio would have benefitted the article. But overall I thought the article was well done and really got me thinking about this issue. 

“New Books Explore Why Dogs and Humans Have Such a Special Bond.”

Erin Kaye

10/28/19

AP Bio

Current Event #6

Willyard, Cassandra. “New Books Explore Why Dogs and Humans Have Such a Special Bond.” Science News, 18 Oct. 2019, www.sciencenews.org/article/review-dog-is-love-our-dogs-ourselves.

Cassandra Willyard in her article “New Books Explore Why Dogs and Humans Have Such a Special Bond” discusses two new books that were released, Dog is Love by Clive Wynne and Our Dogs, Ourselves by Alexandra Horowitz. Willyard explains the differences in the books. Wynne was skeptical at first if dogs love us but his research reveals that “not only do dogs love us” but their “capacity and desire to connect with humans” makes them unique. The book looks into theories of domestication, genetic and biological research, to explain why dogs are so devoted to humans. Horowitz’s book gives an “overview of the culture of dogdom.” She addresses the light and dark sides of the issues and questions if it is right to look at dogs as our property. Both authors address the breeding problem and the genetic defects that the purebred pool spurns out. Both articles propose changing the ways people treat dogs and laws that deal with dog ownership. Willyard advises the readers to buy the two new books.

The findings in the article could have many effects on our current society. Previously research on dogs was not overly done because of the risk of anthropomorphizing them. However, the more attention and research we do the more people can learn how to properly treat and love their dogs. Dogs are extremely social beings and Willyard addresses how leaving them alone in a house all day is one of the cruelest things we can do to them. From the article, people can learn to be smart dog owners and only own a dog if they can properly care for it. People can also be smart consumers and not pay for purebred breeds which leads to genetic malfunctions and the suffering. The more attention that is placed on dogs, the more help and protection they will get from the law to protect them from mistreatment. The article brings knowledge and attention to this issue.

The opening of the essay could have been improved. The anecdote writing did not flow with the writing consistent with the rest of the article. Even though the author was reviewing the two books she should not have told the audience to grab the books at the end. It made her sound that the only reason for writing the review was to pitch it to the audience and was not the best lasting impression. Instead, she should have told the reader where to find the book online or at their local book store if they wanted. Willyard was successful in addressing the main points in the books. The article was easy to follow and the reader gained a good idea about the two books and the issues.

Humans Have Salamander-like Ability to Regrow Cartilage in Joints

Ava Chiang 

10/17/19

AP Biology 

Current Event Review #5

Duke University Medical Center. “Humans Have Salamander-like Ability to Regrow Cartilage in Joints.” ScienceDaily, ScienceDaily, 9 Oct. 2019, www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/10/191009142852.htm. 

The article “Humans Have Salamander-like Ability to Regrow Cartilage in Joints” published by Science Daily gets its source from Duke Medical Center, a prestigious institute. The researchers of this program had found a way to determine the age of proteins in joints by “using internal molecular clocks integral to amino acids, which convert one form to another with predictable regularity.” This is because newly formed protein in tissues have less amino acid conversions than older proteins. This enabled researchers to “ use sensitive mass spectrometry to identify when key proteins in human cartilage” which they separated into three categories: young, middle-aged, and old. Through this new development, researchers have found out that the age of cartilage differs due to the area its located. The ankle joints are classified as young, the knee joints are middle-aged, and the hip joint are old; which explains why hip injuries are the hardest to recover from. This mechanism for cartilage repair is due to molecules called microRNA that regulates this process. It is found in animals famous for their regenerative abilities such as lizards and zebrafish, but it was only recently that humans are found to have this type of molecules. Lead author and researcher Ming-Feng Hsueh Ph.D. and a professor in the departments of Medicine, Pathology and Orthopedic Surgery at Duke calls this “our 'inner salamander' capacity.”

Osteoporosis is a very common chronic and incurable disease that is a condition in which bones become weak, brittle, and prone to fracture. It is the most common joint disease in the world along with arthritis, tennis elbow, dysplasia, and others. Joint diseases are often chronic and plague many people around the world, both young and old, especially athletes or people who play sports often. Most joint diseases are believed to be incurable but if the researchers at Duke are able to utilize the research and microRNA to create treatments for joint diseases, it would help millions of people around the world. In addition, microRNA molecules and regenerative abilities are present in many other animals including but not limited to salamanders and lizards. Biologists can also look into the genetic similarities between these animals and humans. 

This article was well-written with clear subtopics and many quotes from researchers that are part of this project, adds to its credibility. It also explains the cartilage regrowing ability very well and goes over all the specifics. However, the article doesn’t say why this human ability to regrow cartilage wasn’t discovered before.I don’t know if its because of technology, funding, or lack interest, and I wished the article would have included this. A main topic of this article was the possibility of using microRNA to provide treatments for chronic and incurable joint illnesses such as osteoporosis. Yet again, the article doesn’t go into the details and explain the ways this technology could be applied. This article was very informative and I learned a lot from it but I wished it wouldn't mention some topics then gloss over it.

Tree Planting May Buy More Time to Fight Climate Change than Though

Mariana Apostolatos

Mr. Ippolito

Current Event 5

October 17, 2019

Milius, Susan. “Tree Planting May Buy More Time to Fight Climate Change than Thought.” Science News, 16 Aug. 2019, https://www.sciencenews.org/article/planting-trees-could-buy-more-time-fight-climate-change-thought.

According to a recent article by Susan Milius, planting trees could buy more time to fight climate change than we think. Planting trees on 0.9 billion hectares of land could trap about two-thirds the amount of carbon released by human activities since the start of the Industrial Revolution, a new study finds. This statistic indicates how much tree-friendly land is available for use. As researchers report in the July 5 Science, without knocking down cities or taking over farms or natural grasslands, reforested pieces could add up to new tree cover totaling just about the area of the United States. This new calculation boosts tree planting to a top priority for gaining some time to fight climate change, says coauthor Tom Crowther, an ecologist at ETH Zurich. The study used satellite images to see how densely trees grow naturally in various ecosystems. The analysis revealed space to nourish enough trees to capture some 205 metric gigatons of carbon in about a century. The benefit of tree planting will shrivel if people wait, the researchers warn. Earth’s climate could change enough by 2050 to shrink the places trees can grow by some 223 million hectares if the world keeps emitting greenhouse gases as it does now, the analysis suggests. Ultimately, in the struggle against climate change, planting trees could potentially buy time for climate change. 

Climate change refers to any significant change in the measures of climate lasting for an extended period of time. Global climate change has already had observable effects on the environment. Glaciers have shrunk, ice on rivers and lakes is breaking up earlier, plant and animal ranges have shifted and trees are flowering sooner. Scientists have high confidence that global temperatures will continue to rise for decades to come, largely due to greenhouse gases produced by human activities. Climate change is a phenomenon that is more consequential than we think, and if an activity such as planting trees can buy more time to fight climate change, there is no reason to hesitate on the action. 

This article was very well written and informative. It was very easy to read and follow, even providing images of a map of the planet’s potential to support new forests avoids cities, farmlands and natural grasslands to rate the remaining land as likely to support low to high canopy cover. All of the information was introduced in chronological order and the author was very straight-foward and to the point. However, I felt that the article was lacking some information that could have helped deepen a reader’s understanding. The article was very short and I wished the author went more in depth about the negative effects of climate change and why it is a huge issue in today’s world. Overall, the article was easy to understand, engaging, and not too long, keeping the information relevant and to the point.  

“A Precision Drug for Prostate Cancer May Slow the Disease's Spread.”

Olivia Conniff

Mr. Ippolito

Current Event 5

October 17, 2019

Bates, Sofie. “A Precision Drug for Prostate Cancer May Slow the Disease's Spread.” Science News, 15 Oct. 2019, www.sciencenews.org/article/prostate-cancer-drug-olaparib-slow-spread.

For my fifth current event, I chose to read the article, “A Precision Drug for Prostate Cancer May Slow the Disease’s Spread”, written by Sofie Bates. Bates described a drug, known as olaparib, that has been used to treat ovarian and breast cancer, that has now been proven to be able to drastically slow the progression of prostate cancer in men. Evidence was cited from a study that was done to test the effectiveness of olaparib on men with genetic mutations in the genes most commonly associated with ovarian and breast cancer, BRCA1, BRCA2 and ATM. In men that were given olaparib, the prostate cancer spread much more slowly than those who took the standard medication, and after a year, 22% of the men who took olaparib, their cancer had stopped spreading all together, compared to the 13.5% of men on the standard medication. The tumors of the men on olaparib were shrinking, and is buying patients much more time, although it is not yet understood how it will affect overall survival. Olaparib is a PARP inhibitor, meaning it blocks the PARP enzyme, which repairs areas of broken DNA just to the level that allows cancer cells to thrive.

According to the American Cancer Society, 1 in 9 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime, making it the second most common type of cancer in American men, second only to skin cancer. While it is treatable by surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy, these methods do not always succeed. About 30,000 men in the U.S. die each year from prostate cancer. The great thing about olaparib, is that it can be tailored to the specific patient’s genetic makeup, making it more likely to succeed in treating the disease. “My hope is that we’re going to be doing more and more research to better personalize care for the individual patient,” says Maha Hussain, an oncologist at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago who presented the findings at the oncology meeting. Hopefully this treatment will change the future of prostate cancer and the way it is treated.

Overall, this article was extremely well-written and informative. Bates described the study done on olaparib in clear terms, making it easy to understand. She also explained the complexity of the different genes, BRCA1, BRCA2 and ATM, and how they play into the medication in terms that anyone could understand, so not to confuse the reader. She went to explain the results of the study in clear statistics and furthermore, gave background information on the disease itself. This made the article very compelling to read. Bates could have strengthened the article by including more insight and quotes from experts on the subject, but overall it was excellent, easy to read, and extremely insightful about the future of prostate cancer treatment.

Organoids Offer Clues to How Brains are Made in Humans and Chimpanzees

Rory Christian

Mr. Ippolito

Current Event 5

October 16, 2019

Sanders, Laura. “Organoids Offer Clues to How Brains Are Made in Humans and Chimpanzees.” Science News, 16 Oct. 2019, www.sciencenews.org/article/organoids-brains-human-chimpanzee-development.   

It has been recently discovered that "brainlike blobs" can reveal similarities and differences among primate brain development. More technically defined as cerebral organoids, these three dimensional clumps of cells are used to replicate the complexity of an organ and can provide insight into early brain development in humans and chimpanzees. To make these cerebral organoids from chimpanzees, cells were first extracted from the blood a typical blood draw. White blood cells in these vials were then programmed to become stem cells and finally arranged into blobs of brain cells. "From that, we get something that really looks a lot like the early brain," says Gray Camp, a stem cell biologist at the Institute of Molecular and Clinical Ophthalmology Basel in Switzerland. After examining the human and chimpanzee organoids, there was no obvious difference in the appearance. However, a look at how the genes behaved in the two organoids, and how it changed over time, sparked interest in the scientists. For one, chimpanzee organoids and nerve cells appeared to mature faster than the human ones. Although it has always been known that humans take longer to develop when compared to other species, this comparison especially emphasized it. The alignment of the different growth times allowed the scientists to explore the genes that behaved differently for each species and the difference in DNA usage. It was found that some stretches of DNA are missing in people, but present in chimpanzees. Areas of the chimpanzee that contained these stretches, were ready to act on certain proteins that allowed for a faster development rate.

This development is significant in the world of neuroscience and even evolution. Understanding how and why our brain differs from species that we are closely related to, is important in the development of science and brain development. "Studies of organoids hold promise, particularly for their ability to reveal developmental processes that would otherwise be hidden, such as the brain's earliest days as it develops in the womb," says Paola Arlotta, a neurobiologist at Harvard University. Although the "brain blobs" are only approximations of the real thing, they allow researches to compare and contrast the brain of humans with that of our closest primate.

This article was well written and informative and the summary overall was detailed and descriptive. I specifically enjoyed how engaging the article was; this was partly due to its excellent organization and clarity. There were, however, a few aspects that could be improved upon. The author included a descriptive summary of how the cerebral organoids were made from chimpanzees; however, they failed to describe how this was accomplished with the human ones. Although it is known that they are made from stem cells, I would have liked more of a description of this process. Finally, I was a little bit underwhelmed by the conclusion and results of the article. I would have liked to have seen a more detailed analysis of the findings and even a stronger conclusion. Overall, I found this article very compelling and excited for the future of neuroscience.

“Implanted Memories Teach Birds a Song.”

Amanda Troy 

AP Biology 

Mr. Ippolito 

10/6/19 

UT Southwestern Medical Center. “Implanted Memories Teach Birds a Song.” ScienceDaily,    

ScienceDaily, 3 Oct. 2019, www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/10/191003141557.htm.

This article discusses a study involving song birds held at UT Southwestern which shows that memories can be implanted in the brain to teach vocalizations-without any lessons from the parent. Many of the aspects of vocal learning remains a mystery. Scientists have been wondering: how does the brain encode the memories needed to imitate our parents’ speech? And can scientists intervene when the process goes amiss? Dr. Todd Roberts, a neuroscientist with UT Southwestern’s O’Donnell Brain Institute stated, “This is the first time we have confirmed brain regions that encode behavioral-goal memories -- those memories that guide us when we want to imitate anything from speech to learning the piano," (UT Southwestern Medical Center, pg 1). The scientists activated a circuit of neurons through optogenetics, a new tool that uses light to monitor and control brain activity. The researchers used Zebra finches since they share many of the human stages of vocal development. Early in life, the birds hear their fathers sing, eventually memorizing the notes. They learn to replicate the behavior after practicing a countless number of times. The birds used the memories that the team encoded to learn syllabus of their song, with the duration of each note corresponding to the amount of time the light kept the neurons active. The findings break new ground on establishing how behavioral-goal memories are created and their special role in learning vocalizations. Dr. Roberts said, "It has been hard to study these kinds of memories in the lab because we haven't known where they're encoded," (UT Southwestern Medical Center, pg 2). These answers were found, however, in the testing connections between sensory motor areas of the brain. Researchers used Optogenetics to manipulate neuron activity in the NIf brain region and to control the information it sends to the HVC, the part of the brain implicated in learning from auditory experience. Besides documenting the NIf's role in forming syllable-specific memories, Dr. Roberts' team found that these memories were being stored elsewhere in the brain following their formation. Scientists showed this by cutting the communication between the NIf and HVC at different points of the learning process: Zebra finches that had already formed the memory could still perform the song, however,  those that were tutored after the neural communication was cut failed to copy the song. Dr. Roberts stated that his lab will observe other brain regions that hold different information to the HVC to hopefully gain a better understanding of how additional properties of behavioral-goal memories are created. 

This study is of much importance as it provides eye opening clues regarding where to look in the human brain to better comprehend autism and other conditions that affect language. Nevertheless, this recent discovery is extremely notable because it introduces new paths of research to find more brain circuits that influence other aspects of vocalization, including pitch and sound order. Dr. Roberts says that if we figure out the other pathways, we could hypothetically teach a bird to sing its song without any interactions from its father. However, Dr. Roberts notes that we're a long way from being able to do that. By mapping the neural processes involved as birds learn mating songs, scientists hope to someday use that knowledge to target particular speech genes that are disrupted in patients with autism or other neurodevelopmental conditions. 

A weakness of this article is the order of information. While the article had separate sections for each topic, the information in each section were a bit repetitive at times, mixing the more general information with the more complex. An improvement that can be made is to have the article to begin with broader information about the background of song birds’ processes of vocal learning and then continue to get more complex and detailed, without having to repeat the same general information again. A strength in this article is that it thoroughly described the complexity to the aspects of the research. It discussed the scientific background of processes of vocal learning in songbirds, a complex concept to understand. I also appreciated how the article connected this study to the positive impact it will have on our society, as this research will lead to more insight on neurological disorders. 

Maryam Shanechi Designs Machines to Read Minds

Eve Sullivan
AP Biology
10/7/19
Current Event 4

Temming, Maria. “Maryam Shanechi Designs Machines to Read Minds.” Science News, 2 Oct. 2019, www.sciencenews.org/article/maryam-shanechi-sn-10-scientists-to-watch.

The article “Maryam Shanechi Designs Machines to Read Minds” explains the relevance of a fascinating new study by neuroscientist Maryam Shanechi. The study primarily revolved around the utilization of a brain-machine interface to stimulate cells and thus alter one’s mood. A brain-machine interface is essentially a device that translates neuronal signals into commands, which can control hardware such as a robotic arm. These interfaces have given humans a limited ability to control robotic limbs for almost twenty years. With Shanechi’s specially-designed brain-machine interface, however, she can track individual nerve firings with much more accuracy. Her new system was tested on a group of monkeys, and it was discovered that the new interface could predict their motions with significantly greater precision than the old ones. After this breakthrough, Shanechi continued to create new algorithms to turn thoughts into motions. One study has already proven the usefulness of the improved brain-machine interfaces; after studying people’s brain activity for several days, a computer algorithm was able to use nerve cell firings to predict their moods with the correct results. These algorithms have the potential to help millions of people in the future by detecting their mood and finding out how to change it. 

Shanechi’s discoveries could have an enormous impact on our modern society. Mental manipulation by the brain-machine interfaces would allow for improved treatment for patients with psychiatric disorders by guiding them into healthier mental states. The device would seamlessly analyze a patient’s symptoms and alter them for the better. Psychiatric disorders impact a great number of people in the United States; over 40 million people suffer from anxiety, which is 18.1% of the country’s population. 6.7% of adults in the United States have depression. With the new technology being currently developed, anyone impacted by these disorders could receive treatment as opposed to the few people who currently respond to existing therapies. Shanechi said, “what I really enjoy is to see a mathematical concept making its way toward making a difference in people’s lives.” If her device works as expected, Shanechi may accomplish her goal and improve the lives of millions of people. 

Maria Temming’s article was successful at conveying the importance of this topic and bringing to light the potential for Shanenchi’s new discovery. The writing was both formal and analytical, which helped to develop a thoughtful vision of the future. It was also very detailed and provided the background and results for several experiments. However, I feel it could be improved by explaining brain-machine interfaces in more depth and talking more about possible negative aspects of the technology. Though the article focused on many of the positive effects of the machine, it did not go into the “mind-control” aspects many are concerned about. The article also included a lot about Shanechi’s personal life, but I think adding more information regarding the technology would have been a better portrayal of the paper’s primary focus. Overall, however, it did an excellent job of explaining the potential for an exciting new scientific development.

Student Video Contest