Ebola Evolved Into Deadlier Enemy During the African Epidemic

Maggie McKelvy

11/7/16

AP Bio D Even

Zimmer, Carl. "Ebola Evolved Into Deadlier Enemy During the African Epidemic." The New York Times. The New York Times Company, 3 Nov. 2016. Web. 7 Nov. 2016. <http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/04/science/ebola-evolution-african-epidemic.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fscience&action=click&contentCollection=science®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=10&pgtype=sectionfront&_r=0>.

In 2014, West Africa was struck with the most deadly ebola outbreak in history. The virus claimed over eleven thousand lives, and the ease of the virus’s spreading has been attributed to the area’s mobile population, poor public health systems, and hazardous burial practices. However, two new studies have shown that a genetic mutation may have played a role in the virus’s ability to spread to humans. One team analyzed 1,489 Ebola genomes and traced the virus’s evolution throughout the outbreak. They showed that a mutation, called GPA82V, arose just as the outbreak began to explode in April. According to the article, “The GPA82V mutation alters the gene that directs production of Ebola’s surface proteins, called glycoproteins. The tips of these proteins contact human host cells, opening a passageway by which the virus enters.” The researchers conducted studies on the mutated gene and found that it made the virus much more effective at attacking human cells, but did not improve the attack on bat, dog, or cat cells. This shows that the virus is adapting to its new primary host— humans (Ebola is originally from bats). Another study analyzed 1,610 Ebola genomes and arrived at the same conclusion regarding GPA82V as the first study. This study also found that people infected with the mutated Ebola were much more likely to die than those who were infected with the original disease. Both studies predict a high level of probability of another outbreak of Ebola in the future.

These studies are extremely relevant to society because of the public health crisis that mutated diseases pose to us. People were panicked over the Ebola crisis two years ago, and finding out that the virus is able to mutate and become more deadly will be very distressing to some. It is also tragic for the people of West Africa, who can expect to face another outbreak of the horrific disease in the near future. These discoveries also impact the development of a vaccine for Ebola, a project many researchers have embarked on to save thousands of lives in the region that is affected by the disease and to quell western panic over the recent Ebola outbreak. While it is obviously not a groundbreaking discovery that viruses can mutate, it is quite relevant that Ebola has begun to mutate in favor of infecting humans instead of animals.

Although this article was informative and well written, it would have been nice for the author to explain how a virus becomes mutated. I also would have liked the author to explain the implications of the GPA82V mutation, especially in terms of developing a vaccine for Ebola. Finally, the author could have used examples of other viruses mutating in the past to give the reader an idea of the commonalty of virus mutations and the implications of such a scenario.

Putting Sugary Soda Out of Reach

Alexander Plaza

11/7/16

AP Biology

Mr. Ippolito D Block Even

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/08/well/eat/putting-sugary-soda-out-of-reach.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fhealth&action=click&contentCollection=health&region=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=sectionfront

O'connor, Anahad. "Putting Sugary Soda Out of Reach." The New York Times. The New York Times, 03 Nov. 2016. Web. 07 Nov. 2016.

The article I read, "Putting Sugary Soda Out of Reach.", by Anahad O'connor, discusses  a recent study on University of California San Francisco employees whose consumption of sugary drinks stopped. The institution took all sugary soft drinks away from campus stores and studied the effects on the employees. The study showed a significant drop of soda consumption with all participants. The study comes during a time where many states are considering taxing sugary drinks to discourage people from buying the drinks. The World Health Organization is even urging “countries around the world to impose a tax on sugary drinks, presenting research that showed just a 20 percent increase in soda prices would result in a proportionate reduction in their consumption”. The soda industry is understandably fighting back pointing out that the obesity rate continues to rise even with the decline of sugary drink consumption. The full effects on health of the study are yet to be seen.

This study is a step in the right direction in the fight against obesity. Obesity is a very large problem within this country and the precedent set by the university will most likely spur many other colleges to follow. It will be interesting to see the possible increase in regulation of sugary drinks because taxes and bans may become a reality in the not so distant future. It will affect many citizens within the United States, regardless of health.

Overall, I felt this article did a good job of raising awareness for this topic. The article explains the study well and goes on to describe similar arguments within the subject of sugary drinks. I believe that the article is somewhat misleading since it is published before the full effects of the ban on sugary drinks are found. It would be better to publish this article after the results of the study were determined.

Smog Chokes Delhi, Leaving Residents 'Cowering by Our Air Purifiers

For Evelyn - 

Evelyn Kluemper

11/8/16

AP Biology C-Odd

Barry, Ellen. "Smog Chokes Delhi, Leaving Residents 'Cowering by Our Air Purifiers'" The New York Times. N.p., 7 Nov. 2016. Web.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/08/world/asia/india-delhi-smog.html

Recently, New Delhi has been experiencing dangerous levels of smog in the air.  The city is home to 20 million residents who are distressed from the high levels of pollutants in the air.  The peak of the smog was the previous weekend, in which the level of concentration of pollutants in the air, or PM 2.5, reached 1,000 micrograms per cubic meter, which is sixteen times what is considered safe by India’s government.  The government has taken action for emergency response, including “a 10-day closure of a power plant and a three-day closure of about 1,800 public schools”.  New Delhi’s airborne pollutants come from burning trash and crops, driving vehicles, and mass construction.

Having spent time this past summer in Beijing, I have seen the impact of smog in major cities.  Developing countries, such as India and China, are likely industrialize at a pace that is too rapid and experience high levels of pollution.  It is difficult for people to breathe and the government works tirelessly to dissipate the smog.

The article was alarming and very interesting to read.  Most of the article were quotations by experts or those living in New Delhi.  Both bring attention to the crisis that New Delhi is in and the severe impact it has on the health of the people.  The article would have been more interesting to list further ways the government can take action to make long-term change.

Lifesaving Cancer Drugs May in Rare Cases Threaten the Heart

Grady, Denise. "Lifesaving Cancer Drugs May in Rare Cases Threaten the Heart." New York Times. N.p., 2 Nov. 2016. Web. 5 Nov. 2016.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/03/health/cancer-drugs-heart-risks.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fscience&action=click&contentCollection=science&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=5&pgtype=sectionfront

The article I choose to review was about how powerful drugs that activate the immune system to fight cancer can, in rare cases, cause heart damage. These drugs, Yervoy, Opdivo, Keytruda and Tecentriq, also known as checkpoint inhibitors, have been found to be the cause of the death of some cancer patients. So far, fewer than 1 percent of patients taking these medicines have developed heart trouble. But in those who do, the damage is often severe, as they provoke the immune system to attack the heart. The risk appears highest when patients take two different checkpoint inhibitors at once. The first checkpoint inhibitor was approved in 2011. The drugs work by unleashing T-cells, a type of white blood cell that kill cancer. Sometimes, the T-cells attack healthy tissue. It is a known fact and doctors have known for years that the drugs can have dangerous side effects. However, the cardiac problems have taken longer to emerge, thus it is a new problem that has just been discovered. The irony is that the drugs, a form of immunotherapy, are considered a huge breakthrough in cancer treatment. Although they do not work for everyone, they have resulted in lasting remissions for many, including people who were expected to die from advanced cancer. In these cardiac problems, through autopsies, it has been found that the patients’ immune systems had attacked their hearts, rejecting them as if they were transplants. Dr. Michael B. Atkins, the deputy director of the Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center in Washington, said that the rapid onset of heart problems was “alarming.” On the other hand, Dr. Atkins thinks that it could be possible to save patients who develop this heart problem by intervening early with powerful drugs to shut down the inflammation. However, these drugs that stop inflammation work by turning off the immune response, which could cancel out any benefit from the checkpoint inhibitors. That would leave patients where they started, with the cancer.

This information about how dangerous these checkpoint drugs can be is very important to not only the medical world but to patients and people all over the world. For the medical world, this new discovery is extremely important as they need to research and find solutions for this alarming problem. In fact, as stated in the article, studies have already started, trying to find the best way to stop this problem. This information is also very important to patients as it is always good to inform yourselves about the drugs that you are taking and what doctors are telling you to do. It is important to realize that nothing and nobody is perfect, just because a person is a doctor doesn’t mean that he is right and just because a drug is said to be revolutionary, doesn’t mean it will work for you. This article shows how most of the time we don’t know much about the drugs we create. Their emergent properties can be disastrous, even fatal in the case of the checkpoint drugs.

Overall this article was well written and interesting. The author had a great flow to the article and a thorough explanation of the consequences of the checkpoint drugs. In addition, a great asset to her article were the numerous quotes and reference to various doctors she put in. These gave the readers many different opinions and details about this problem, so that they could formulate their own opinion about the topic. However, one weakness of the article is that it failed to state what exactly the checkpoint drugs are made out of and how they are created. Although it did state that the first one was approved in 2011, it did not elaborate on the subject. To make this article better I would add a paragraph that elaborates on the checkpoint drugs. On the whole, this article taught me about something I had no idea about and helped me gain a new perspective on the consequences of using drugs.

City dolphins get a boost from better protection and cleaner waters by Sarah Zielinski

Zielinski, Sarah. "City Dolphins Get a Boost from Better Protection and Cleaner Waters." Science News. N.p., 03 Nov. 2016. Web. 04 Nov. 2016.

The bottlenose dolphin, a common-type of aquatic mammal, is a highly intelligent creature. Fascinatingly these intelligent animals have learned to adapt into living alongside our ever increasingly industrialized world. In particular the bottlenose dolphins  of the Port River estuary near Adelaide, Australia can be seen swimming and frolicing alongside power stations, factories, and other signs of human habitation. Although a fascinating observation, this has not always been the case. Even since European settlement in 1857 bottlenose dolphins have become increasingly rare. According to the article, “For much of the 20th century, there were no dolphin sightings in the inner estuary” and as industry increased dolphin populations have decreased. However, there is new hope as conservation efforts have allowed the previously uninhabitable estuary to turn back into a habitable one. “The future of these dolphins would appear to be as secure as any population of any species can be in this era of climate change,” says the study’s lead author, Mike Bossley of Whale and Dolphin Conservation Australasia in Port Adelaide, who has studied the area’s dolphins for 25 years. As the city of Adelaide grew, Port River grew to become an unfriendly place for marine wildlife. As people cleared away the marshes and mangroves and replaced them with factories and pruned sewage into the estuary, the ecosystem was severely disrupted. As a matter of fact from 1940 to 1980 there was not even one single dolphin sighting indicating that the mammals took quite a hit. In addition to population, the dolphins faced many threats when entering the Port River including boat strikes, infections, entanglement with nets and other marine trash and even deliberate attacks. In an effort to help end these problems or at least lessen them the Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary established by law in 2005. This law set aside a small patch of river for the resident dolphin population and established resources for public education about the dolphins. And over the last few decades, this law has been working and water quality has improved as some of the least environmentally friendly activities (sulfuric acid production, salt evaporation and coal-fired power production) have ended or at least decreased in prevalence.

This article, although seemingly about just one small group of dolphins all the way in Australia, has an environmental significance that stretches all the way to here in America. The actions taken by Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary and the emphasis on teaching the public about the environment are all broad discoveries that impact the scientific community. We can all now realize, from this article, that “knowledge is power”, especially in regard to the conservation of dolphins, and even more broadly, our planet. As people learn more, the more they care. Even here in Bronxville this is evident For example, the Bronx River project I am investigating is not just experiments, but instead has become a teaching opportunity and learning opportunity to the community. Already we have traveled to the fifth grade classrooms and taught them about  what and why they should care about the water quality of the river. It is paramount that we inform the public so they can take proper action, in whatever the cause, and truly make a difference. This seemingly random article is in reality a lesson about how we should treat global warming as well. Even now many doubt its reality. However, if one knows the facts and figures there is no way to dispute it. Thus, if we can educated those disbelievers we may have a planet that is finally moving toward a better solution for the warming climate.

The author of this article, Sarah Zielinski, overall wrote a wonderful piece. In particular, Zielinski did an excellent job presenting her information in a clear and comprehensible way. She provided a great deal of background and even the history of the city of Adelaide that all helped enhance her article and intrigue even the not so science-minded individual. In addition, her citation of statistics and studies was very impressive. Her citation of the aforementioned gave her credibility and demonstrated her knowledge as well as intrigue in the topic. However, there were a few things on which Zielinski could improve. For example, I felt as if I was reading a scientific paper while reading this article. And, well this style is preferable for an article being published in the journal Nature, I feel this sort of style fell short in the journalistic area of appealing to everyone, even those not experienced in the specific situation. Additionally, I think Zielinski could have elaborated more on why this discovery of the beneficial sanctuary's public education efforts is so important to the world. Essentially Zielinski seemed to simply state the facts, and although she did this well she failed to write a proper article that was more interesting than just the simply findings, to read.

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