People Are Now Taking Placebo Pills to Treat Themselves

Jordan Hoang

Mr.Ippolito

AP Biology

19 September 2018

Sifferlin, Alexandra. “People Are Now Taking Placebo Pills to Treat Themselves.” Time, Time, 23 Aug. 2018, http://time.com/5375724/placebo-bill-health-problems/

Placebo treatments- or pills with no active ingredients- have long been trialed in the medical world. In many cases, they have had surprisingly good results. One person named Linda Buonanno, for instance, had severe irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and no medication or diet seemed to be helping her. However, after being given a few doses of a placebo pill through a trial, her symptoms vanished. Subsequently, after the trial had ended and she stopped taking it, “her IBS symptoms came back in full force for several years”. Doctors have hypothesized that the effectiveness of a treatment can be magnified by physiological aspects. Factors such as less stress, a good “bedside manner” (how a doctor treats the patient), and even the color of a pill have been known to increase the benefits of certain medications. In Buonanno case, just believing that the placebo pill had positive effects may have been the reason it was so effective. Scientists have also found that perceiving a condition negatively can intensify the severity of it. This is known as “the nocebo effect”, and is often displayed in those who claim to have intolerance for certain foods.  However, the legitimacy of placebos have been questioned, especially since it hasn’t been an ultimate cure for any disease. But despite this aspect, placebos have been known to improve the conditions of many suffering patients.

I resonate with a lot of points made in this article, which is why I ultimately chose to review it. I believe that how a person feels has astounding effects on their physical condition. I also know that psychological problems such as depression and anxiety have been known to aggravate other illnesses. For me personally, I know that when I am stressed, I tend to get more headaches and stomaches. In this sense, I believe that more placebos should be utilized, or at least tried, in the medical field. Although it might not be the right treatment for a patient, there is no harm in testing it out. Furthermore, like the article mentioned, I believe that more hospitals should “learn how to create an environment more conducive for healing” by targeting the mental health of the patient. Even if many scientists still don’t believe in placebos, I strongly believe that the emotional aspects of treatment can be very important.  

The title of the article really intrigued me and I found the topic to be very captivating. Over time however, the paper began to seem quite repetitive. I also believe it may have felt lengthy because of its lack of visuals. If they had used more pictures, I believe that they could have made the paper more appealing. Additionally, I think they could have organized the article better, possibly by sectioning each topic off with a subheading. This would have made it easier for me to grasp the information in the piece.  Despite its lack of visuals and organization though, I liked how the article had statistics and data to make their points convincing. Giving a lot of personal examples as well further validated the effectiveness of the pills and why more hospitals should take mental health into account.

Giant Trap is Deployed to Catch Plastic Littering the Pacific Ocean

Luke Freeman

Mr. Ippolito

AP Biology - Review #2

9/13/18

Caron, Christina. “Giant Trap Is Deployed to Catch Plastic Littering the Pacific Ocean.” The

New York Times, The New York Times, 9 Sept. 2018,

www.nytimes.com/2018/09/09/science/ocean-cleanup-great-pacific-garbage-patch.html

Christina Caron’s article, published by the New York Times, serves as a great explanation of the methods being tested to solve the ocean debris issue. In it, she describes the primary method: a 2,000 foot trap. Yes, after reading this, one might think that this method would be too simple to be effective, but that is the best part. Twenty million dollars worth of funding for development and research have been sunk into this project from the “Ocean Cleanup”, a nonprofit organization dedicated to fixing this issue. The “Great Pacific Garbage Patch”, as Caron puts it, is, “a gyre of trash between California and Hawaii, comprises an estimated 1.8 trillion pieces of scattered detritus, including at least 87,000 tons of plastic”. If all goes according to plan, by mid-October, this long trap will have been towed 1,400 miles to the garbage patch. Testing has concluded that the current should pull this large trap in a “U” shape through the debris, and with a net hanging ten feet below the surface, it should collect nearly all of the trash. The reader is assured that marine life will not be harmed as they can simply swim underneath. However, Caron does specify that this has not yet been tested on the open ocean, so it is unclear if this will end up being an effective means to “clean half of the garbage patch in just five years”, which is the goal. That being said, many scientists and sponsors of this project are decidedly optimistic, and predict a successful trial run.

This issue of humans poluting the water has been one since the dawn of the modern era. Anything dumped into a waterway likely will end up in the ocean, which then gets picked up in the currents and accumulated, forming this massive garbage patch. For scale and an explanation of the currents effect on this plastic, I have linked a relevant picture computer generated image at the end of this article (see bottom). This island of floating plastic has serious environmental concerns, as marine life often gets ensnared in the plastic or swallows bits and pieces, which is hazardous to their health. A study published in “The Telegraph”, a British newspaper, found that, “more than a million seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals every year by ingestion and entanglement,” which is in part due to the inability of most plastics to biodegrade. Some small fragments of plastic can end up in our seafood. This in turn causes the digestion of unwanted chemicals. Overall, this is a worldwide problem which needs to be solved, and I think this trap method is our best bet.

While reading Caron’s article, I found myself very captivated. Not only does she do an excellent job of setting up the context, she also goes in depth into the techniques and proposed plan of action of the “Ocean Cleanup” project. Her small paragraphs also serve to keep the points of interest quick, and concise, while keeping the article itself moving. Yet, she does miss some key points which is a clear flaw in the article, that being Caron neglects to mention the significance and environmental impact the garbage patch actually has. After reading this article, I had to look up some of the statistics on marine life death, as well as what that means for humans. Other than that, Caron’s article does serve its purpose in explaining the trap technique, but more explanation of the garbage patch itself would have elevated it to the next level.

Garbage Patch Image:

https://liveicomgrshot.blob.core.windows.net/occfiles/UploadedImages/News/75c25774-e0ad-4df1-a7e4-826727a942d0.jpg

New Brain Process Responsible for Long Term Stress Identified

Andrew Goldbaum CE1 9/13/18 C Even

Velasco, Emily. “New Brain Process Responsible for Long Term Stress Identified.” Neuroscience News, NeuroscienceNews.com, 13 Sept. 2018, neurosciencenews.com/long-term-stress-process-9862/.

Researchers at Semmelweis University of Budapest, the Swedish Karolinska Institute, Yale, and the Medical University of Vienna discovered a new brain process responsible for delayed stress and the long-term effects of stress: What’s already known is that a specific group of neurons triggers two processes in the hypothalamus (region involved in homeostasis, sleep, and emotions). Both processes occur almost immediately after stress and are short lasting, one ultimately releasing hormones in the blood from the adrenal glands, the other an immediate neural attachment to the prefrontal cortex (a behavioral moderation “center”). This international team has discovered a more delayed and long-lasting response coming from the same group of neurons responsible for the first two. Ciliary Neurotrophic Factor, a molecule crucial for nervous system development and maintenance, diffuses in brain fluid as it approaches stress neurons. Since diffusion in the brain fluid is slow compared that in blood, CNTF lingers in the fluid and approaches the stress center for a long time, keeping the prefrontal cortex alert. These findings are the missing piece of the puzzle of stress response: now that the nervous system aspect of long-term responses to consistent environmental threats is elucidated and since molecular pathways were introduced in this research that can be drug targets for pharmacologists, an opportunity has opened  to treat problems associated with long-term stress, such as PTSD, consistent acute stress, chronic stress and burnout.

Since it is no longer a given what our role in the world is (hunter or gatherer in a tribe) and agriculture and technology have given us more free time to stress over self esteem and achievement of some spiritual purpose, and since there is so much competition, fluctuation, and choice with regards to one’s job, hobbies, finance and relationships; life may be easier and more cushy than it was for our caveman ancestors, but it is also significantly more complicated and arbitrary. Therefore, despite more comfort and less threat of death, we now live an environment conducive to dysfunctional levels of long-term stress. We are a gift of natural selection, but for an environment that mainly existed millions of years ago. Due to a more humane, human-run world, natural selection no longer occurs, so we will have to find artificial selection methods for preferable traits. This, thus far, has produced CRISPR-CAS9 and other gene editing techniques, but even this is in vain if the brain is still a complicated frontier: if we did not even know about where and how this stress response occurs, then how could we have possibly targeted and replaced the genes responsible with healthy ones? Because of this, any elucidation of brain function such as this is not just novel for treatment, but for the artificial selection and improvement of our species in decades to come.

Overall, this is a very well-written summary of these new findings that is both easy to understand and substantive: it described the broad reason for a slower response, molecular diffusion in the brain being slower than in blood, without going into too much detail about advanced topics, such as the specific pathway of neurons and action potentials as well as what triggers these specific molecules. It also clearly elucidates the role and importance of this finding: new molecular mechanisms found and knowledge of how long term stress begins in the nervous system. However, to more clearly explain what leads to the difference in this mechanism from the same neurons, insight should be provided into what triggers the release of the molecule by those neurons.

The Very Hot, Very Hungry Caterpillar

Charlotte Cagliostro

Current Event #1

AP Biology             

9/14/18

Citation:

Yong, Ed. “The Very Hot, Very Hungry Caterpillar.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 30 Aug. 2018, www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/08/climate-change-insects-crops/568978/.

“The Very Hot, Very Hungry Caterpillar”

Author: Ed Yong

In his article, Ed Yong describes the effects of climate change on insects. He shares the results of research conducted by two scientists, Curtis Deutsch and Joshua Tewksbury, which show that as the global temperature increases, insects will adopt new behaviors, which will lead to a significant decrease in the annual global crop yield. Insects will adopt a new eating routine because, at higher temperatures, they burn calories at a faster rate, so they will need to eat more in order to survive. This increased feeding on crops will significantly lower the world’s crop yield. The two scientists estimate that for every degree Celsius in which the globe warms, the portion of crops lost to insects will increase anywhere from 10 to 25 percent. Additionally, the increased temperature will result in dangerous conditions for plants; Deutsch and Tewksbury have concluded that the global warming will reduce crop yields by roughly five percentage points per degree of warming, not even including the insects' behavior. Factoring in both the increased insect appetite and the higher global temperatures, farmers’ crop yields could drop significantly in the future, which would have numerous repercussions, which would be most severe in impoverished communities and households.

The information presented in this article affects the lives of everyone on Earth. As the planet warms, farming crops will become much more challenging. For example, if the global temperature rises two degrees Celsius, a farmer who originally plants 100 tons of grain per hectare would likely only be able to harvest 84 tons. As it becomes more difficult to grow and harvest important crops like maize, rice and wheat, crop prices will rise, which will limit the number of household able to purchase the crops. This price increase will most directly impact the poor.

This article was constructed quite well; the evidence was presented in an understanding and informative way. Yong provided many facts and statistics found in the research conducted by Deutsch and Tewksbury, which served supported the article’s main argument. He also provided new perspectives from other scientists. These other researchers had different views regarding the degree that climate change would affect insect behavior and crop yield. However, Yong was able to integrate all of these different perspectives into his piece, which created a less biased narrative. Yong was able to develop a persuasive article, which makes the reader think about the future of our planet.

Parasitic Vines That Feed on Parasitic Wasps That Feed on Trees

Clara DeMagalhaes    

Current Event Article #1

AP Biology             

9/10/18

Citation:

Greenwood, Veronique. “Parasitic Vines That Feed on Parasitic Wasps That Feed on Trees.”
The New York Times, The New York Times, 30 Aug. 2018,
www.nytimes.com/2018/08/30/science/parasitic-vines-wasps.html?rref=collection%2Fcolumn%2Ftrilobites.

Parasitic Vines That Feed on Parasitic Wasps That Feed on Trees

Author: Veronique Greenwood

Lately, scientists have been studying the existence of a parasitic type of vine that feeds on a parasitic
wasp, which in turn feeds on an oak tree. The oak leaf gall wasp is a parasite that uses oak leaves to make
galls, or swollen bits of plant tissue, which is where a wasp larva resides. The young wasps grow by
consuming the nutrients provided by the plant. However, in one area scientists found vines, called
parasitic love vines, that wove among the trees and the galls. The vines were usually growing into the
galls, and when the scientists dissected the infested plant tissue, many of them had the body of an adult
wasp. The researchers deduced that the vines interfered with how the nutrition was transferred to the
growing wasp, allowing the insect to grow to adulthood but not be able to leave. As for the state of the
trees themselves, gall-forming wasps typically have negative effects on them, such as causing them to
produce less acorns. But the trees that serve as the host for the oak leaf gall wasp and the love vines
were flourishing just fine and there was no decrease in acorn production.

Parasitic plants and insects have been studied for many years so far, but this is the first time anyone
has found a parasitic plant that feeds on another parasite, which in turn feeds on a plant. So far,
scientists don’t know how common this occurrence is, but they want to investigate it further. I believe
that this could be beneficial to society because if they do find more parasites using other parasites as
hosts, then organisms like the love vine could be used to control things in the same position as the
wasps. For example, if a type of insect was using an important crop as a host and was severely
damaging it, then people could use plants like the love vine to get them under control without causing
harm to the crop. The plant controlling the other parasite won’t stick around when its food source gets
depleted, and will die off when it is no longer needed.

The article as a whole was very interesting and presented its information clearly. It was fast paced and
got straight to the point while providing enough background information for the reader to fully
understand. It also included pictures that showed what the wasps and the galls they made looked like.
That being said, one of its drawbacks was that it fails to highlight the importance of this discovery or
say what the researchers wanted to do next other than looking to see how common this kind of thing is.
As a result, the existence of this type of relationship seems more “cool” than it does “significant”,
and the reader isn’t too sure what researching more instances of this will accomplish for us or for the
ecosystem. In order to improve, I’d suggest adding in what the scientists think they could do with this
knowledge and how it could benefit the human race or the rest of the world. If they said this, then the
readers could be more invested in further discoveries concerning this topic.

Scientists are Retooling Bacteria to Cure Disease

Layla Brinster

Current Event #1

AP Biology

8/7/18

Scientists are Retooling Bacteria to Cure Disease

By Carl Zimmer

In years past, bacteria has been used by scientists to create antibiotics and help cure diseases, making an industrial impact and introducing new cures. However, recently, researchers at Synlogic, a company interested in developing synthetic biotic medicines, have started to investigate the effect bacteria and microbiomes. Researchers have developed a bacterial concoction aimed at treating phenylketonuria or PKU, a rare genetic disease. People who have PKU are unable to breakdown the amino acid phenylalanine, found in cheese, meat, and high amounts of protein. Since the body is unable to breakdown phenylalanine, the acid builds up in the blood causing delayed development, psychiatric problems, and disabilities. The past treatment for PKU is a low protein diet and alternate sources of nutrition. However, the bacteria in the Synlogic treatment is designed to breakdown the phenylalanine, initiating a different and more effective treatment for PKU. Researches took harmless strains of E. Coli and genetically engineered it to break down the phenylalanine once it entered the gut, an area with low oxygen levels, and rid the body of the amino acid through excretion. Before testing people with PKU, Synlogic tested their microbe on people without PKU who then reported lower levels of phenylalanine after ingesting high amounts of protein. The next step in Synlogic’s clinical trial is to test their microbiomes in patients with PKU, and they hope to have positive results within the a year. Additionally, scientists are looking to use synthetic biology in different areas of scientific study. Synthetic biology holds the capacity to be at the forefront of many breakthroughs in the future.

Synlogic’s new approach by genetically engineering bacteria and microbes for treatment is just one of the many ways science is evolving through the generations. According to Tal Danino, a scientist at Columbia University, “anywhere there are bacteria in the body is an opportunity to engineer them to do something else.” This quote represents how much science is advancing and using bacteria in the bodies to do so, aided by the development of new technology. Engineering microbiomes has the potential to be, and is, even more effective than using drugs. As experimenting with bacteria continues to grow, more treatments will be discovered, expanding the area of research potential. Overtime, science and research have impacted society and introduced new cures and treatments, and will continue to do so. Many years ago, typical vaccines were just being discovered, and today we receive them regularly. Because science continually to advances, it changes society and improves people’s lives tremendously.

The information in the article was presented in chronological order, which made it comprehensible and easy to follow. The disease and treatments of PKU were thoroughly explained and well thought out. Although the introduction was catching, it started somewhat in the middle of things. I understand how starting an article in the middle of the action is a literary techniqu; however, I do not think it is necessary for an informative piece about research and science. In my opinion, I would have started an article by introducing the disease and existing treatments, then explain the process and stages of research. A strength of the article was gathering data and quotes from multiple sources, which backs and proves the research. The article was mostly focused on how synthetic biology and manipulating bacteria can help cure PKU, but at the very end it explained a little bit about how it could be used in other areas of study. Connecting the use of microbiomes outside PKU is useful because it supplies context and the next steps of study. Overall, the article was very educative and enjoyable.

Citation:

Zimmer, Carl. “Scientists Are Retooling Bacteria to Cure Disease.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 4 Sept. 2018

Article Link

How Altering Plant Microbiomes Could Feed the World and Save Endangered Species

Ally Bruno

Mr. Ippolito

AP Biology

7 September 2018

  Dance, Amber. “How Altering Plant Microbiomes Could Feed the World and Save Endangered Species.” Science News, 6 Sept. 2018, www.sciencenews.org/article/plant-microbes-crops-food-endangered-species?tgt=nr.

This article covers the functions of microbiomes which could help to protect endangered species. Microbiomes, which are a combination of bacteria and fungus living on a plant, can be either beneficial or negative to the plant they live off of. In some cases the the microbiomes actually help to prevent the species from diseases or from predators, whereas other microbiomes do the exact opposite, poisoning their species and even endangering them. For the healthy, beneficial microbiomes, scientists are beginning to realize that these could aid in the replenishment t of dying species. By inducing photosynthesis and and other important biological functions of the plant, scientist are beginning to discover ways to use these microorganisms and fungi to provide treatment to agricultural crops that are suffering.

Thi     This Article has a great significance today because many plants that Human rely in to sustain daily life are struggling to survive. Whether it be harmful microbiomes, predators or draughts, this new treatment with constructive microbiome could potential be the solution to the current agricultural setbacks. For example, the cacao plant, which is the earth's source of chocolate,  are being infected by black pod rot, which attacks the plant and causes darkened, rotten areas. When treated with the microbiomes found on healthy cacao, it was discovered that the plants which had been treated suffered the least amount of rotting. Scientist have even gone as far as to hypothesize that biotech companies like AgiBio could revolutionize the agricultural industry.

usa    

ygs    Overall, this article is extremely informative and based on very current finding that have true significance in present day agricultural world. The information was presented in way which had a strong basis of fact. It also included diagrams and pictures which were extremely helpful in both understanding and enjoying the article. Despite this though, there were moments when the article became a bit wordy and the experiments were not always clears and became a bit repetitive. Also while the majority of the  article delved deeply into the science behind microbiome treatments, towards the middle of the article contained information that was more constant with the biotech companies then the science behind the treatments. The article could have been improved by removing some of the extra, filler information and only providing information that was essential to prevent confusion or disinterest. That being said, the article as a whole did its job in informing its reader of new technological advance which could potential alter the state of the current  agricultural market. 

           

     

H

JD

tsj

yg