PA#10: A Paragraph from your Research Project
Due: Tuesday at 5 PM on the blog. We'll be looking at some of them on Wednesday in class.
By now, you should have done enough research to write your research essay.
As a comment to this blog entry, write any body paragraph. Make sure to include evidence from sources to support your assertions. Also include the necessary parenthetical citations in MLA style.
Erin Fannin
ReplyDeleteAs the science of genetic engineering develops the idea that diseases could be in essence deleted from genetic make-up so that that person would never suffer from certain illnesses is a very palatable idea. However, Steinbock points out in her paper on designer babies that with this type of genetic technology would come the possibility of codding other “non-disease traits” that could enhance a child (1294), and that to obtain this genetic enhancement parents would be willing to pay huge amounts of money (1295). The rich could code their children to be stronger and smarter and those with less money wouldn’t be able to afford to enhance their children and thus they wouldn’t have the same advantages.
Disease has always been a problem since the beginning of time. From the black plague to ebola, mankind has gone to extremes to avoid catching these terrible diseases. However, with the rise of genetic engineering, new diseases can result from tampering with genes. Not just viruses, but hereditary diseases as well or worse yet, we could accidentally genetically modify helpful genes out of our lives. Jeremy Gruber the president of the Council for Responsible Genetics says that, “we need to be extra cautious about any procedure that changes an embryo's genes. . . . Such procedures could unintentionally cause new, unforeseen genetic abnormalities or accidentally eliminate positive traits.”(Smith, “Designer Babies”). Eliminating these helpful genes could prove to be disastrous to mankind by terminating our adaptive genes. And our ability to adapt rapidly to various situations makes us the most superior species on earth. Furthermore, genetic research is something that we do not fully comprehend yet and as Dr. Maggie Pearce professor at Stanford University Medical School explains, “Right now it is simply too hard to fix someone's broken genes. And it's even harder to change someone's DNA in a way that the "cured" DNA can be passed on to the next generation.” (“Understanding Genetics”). Although the work of scientists trying to eradicate the world of disease is admirable, it just doesn’t seem possible yet. Not only that, but further research must be halted because playing around with genes is like altering the blueprints to a building, one small change can have a huge collapse. For example, Pearce explains the double sided sword of the CCR5 gene. A gene that if modified by genetic engineering could result in an increase in the number of people with AIDS. “some people are more likely to be infected by West Nile Virus because of a DNA difference in their CCR5 gene. But this same difference makes them resistant to HIV and getting AIDS.” (“Understanding Genetics”).
ReplyDeleteThe Chernobyl Disaster is known as as the most serious accident in the history of the nuclear power industry (Chernobyl nuclear accident). This dark day occurred on April 26,1986, when one of the four reactors failed. Thus, releasing massive amounts of radioactive material into the environment (Chernobyl). First responders utilized helicopter to pour sand and Boron on to the plant. The sand was used to stop the fire and from radioactive material spreading and the Boron was used to prevent any nuclear reactions that might occur. This horrible event resulted in 28 instantaneous deaths and an additional 106 workers suffering from acute radiation sickness.(Chernobyl power plant accident). This devastated the surrounding areas and people. It not only harmed the individuals aiding the cause but people and children who lived in the area. It caused harm that would last for years to come after the event.
ReplyDeleteJon Griggs
ReplyDeletePA # 10
Doping in baseball has become a major black eye for the sport known as America’s past time. Players using performance-enhancing drugs have a negative impact on the sport by creating negative role models in the sport and continue to hinder the reputation of the game. Fans are losing interest and respect for these players, and baseball has “seemed to simply fall out of the national conversation (unless the conversation happens to be about steroids, that is).” (Mahler, Is the game over?). Players that were once considered to be some of the most dangerous hitters in the game are not even being considered to be elected to the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame. This past year, not a single player from the last 20 years was voted into the hall of fame because of the wide speculation of steroid use associated with the players (Mahler). Baseball must start taking a stronger stance on the punishments for players testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs. This would discourage future doping in the sport, and at least give an attempt to gain the respect back from fans.
The extinction of animals in the Brazilian Amazon rain forest, has grown exponentially in the past years. Vast areas of rainforest were felled for cattle pasture and soy farms, drowned for dams, dug up for minerals, and bulldozed for towns and colonization projects. At the same time, the proliferation of roads opened previously inaccessible forests to settlement by poor farmers, illegal logging, and land speculators. All of this has accounted for a loss of forest that is greater than 200 football fields alone in Brazil. Brazils rainforest accounts for 40,000 plant species 3,000 freshwater fish species more than 370 types of reptiles, and many different mammals. All of these animals are being moved and harmed by the deforestation of the Brazilian rainforest.
ReplyDeleteThalidomide originated in Western Germany where it was marketed as a tranquilizer and given to ease anxiety. The drug was then prescribed to pregnant women suffering from morning sickness to alleviate their symptoms. Although the manufacturers claimed to have ran tests that yielded no indications the drug would lead to such horrendous ramifications, there were more than “2000 thalidomide damaged babies… born in West Germany alone since 1959” (Hecht 58). The results of receiving thalidomide in the first trimester varied from external abnormalities to internal abnormalities, the most common and distinguishing defect being the absence or obvious malformation of appendages (Hecht 158). While it was noted that the children suffering from thalidomide syndrome had no mental impairment, basic mobility and ability to grasp was difficult (Franklin 525). Quality of life for these children and their families was significantly affected in a negative way.
ReplyDeleteFranklin, A. White. "Thalidomide Babies: British Paediatric Association Memorandum." British medical journal 2.5303 (1962): 522-24.
DeleteHecht, Frederick. "The Thalidomide Babies." The Journal of pediatrics 61.1 (1962): 158-59.
David Herbawi
ReplyDeleteThe forests surrounding the reactors absorbed the brunt of the radiation. Tree canopies naturally filter atmospheric pollutants in the environment and they intercepted the majority of radiation. The canopies absorbed between 60 and 90 percent of the initial radiocaesium, which resulted in lethal doses for the trees within a seven kilometer radius of the explosion. The dead trees turned a reddish-brown, leading to the area near the reactor being named the Red forest, one of the most visible indicators of how toxic the environment was (Chernobyl Forum Expert Group, 55-56). Foliar absorption was the primary source of contamination for the first 2-4 years, but as time went by and the radiation settled in the soil, trees began to absorb it through their roots. This lead to the contamination of the tree’s internal parts, which couldn’t be washed away from rainfall or by losing leaves and contributed to the forest’s long term contamination (Smith and Beresford, 142).
In 1969, the Supreme Court wrote, “If the First Amendment means anything, it means that a State has no business telling a man, sitting alone in his house, what books he may read or what films he may watch.” However, in 1982, the public discovered child sexual abuse and the trauma endured by its victims. Since then, the Supreme Court made child pornography an exception to the First Amendment. The issue of child pornography didn't capture the federal law enforcement's attention until the mid-nineties when the internet—specifically, chat-rooms—exposed various subsections of pedophiles. Some produced and distributed images, some were looking to obtain such images, and still others were on the prowl for children that they could exploit. According to Philip Jenkins, professor of History at Baylor University, chat-rooms have sparked a “bandit culture” where self-proclaimed “Loli fans” are unified by their forbidden pleasures (Jenkins, Beyond Tolerance). The trouble with these websites is that even though it can be easily accessed, terminating it is nearly impossible. In order to make online transactions, users take advantage of proxies that help make the participants involved virtually unidentifiable.
ReplyDeleteIn the World War I, many advance science and technologies had been applied into the war when the conflict between the countries became more intense. And the chemical weapons, at first as a hand grenade containing a relatively mild tear gas, had been developed and procured by France at 1912 (a history of chemical and biological weapons, Edward M, 30), In that turbulent period which full of imperialism, the governments of countries were laid the emphasis on the power and colony rather than the national. In order to dominate the world, chemical weapons, as a tool, were born and developed by many countries during that period for the demand of war. In other words, the birth of chemical weapons is because of the specific world situation.
ReplyDeleteAs described by Carnagey and Anderson, the world has entered its “third era” of video gaming (1995-current). Graphics were revolutionized, online multiplayer games became more common, and FPS (first-person shooting) games became increasingly dominating within game franchises (Ferguson 78: 311). Strategic games such as chess become obsolete when players are now able to roam a city, interact with other characters, and do adrenaline-rushing missions in games like “GTA: San Andreas”. Players can customize the main character, giving him tattoos, making him muscular, increasing his sex appeal, and much more. This is to say that the availability of things that an individual could do as an adolescent were less than what could be done within the game, thus why many people prefer to live in their imaginary gaming world (where they can become hubristic) over living in reality (where they have to go to school and face all sort of situations which take them out of their comfort zone). And as the gap between reality and gaming diminished, the two would overlap, leading to detrimental consequences no one had foreseen.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteSymptoms that come from concussions can last for days, or even weeks. Fatigue, headaches and the loss of consciousness are the first signs of a concussion. Studies have shown that concussed players suffer from depression. Some players have many concentration and memory problems due to the effects that come from concussions. Concussions can cause people to have a ringing volume in their ears, vomiting or nausea. Many players who develop concussions decide to avoid revealing that they have a concussion, which can be very deadly. Players should see a doctor within two days if the player continues to show signs of having a concussion. However, there are many universities and scientists that are on the search to find a way to permanently take away any chance of delivering or receiving a concussion. Harvard University has been developing research, as well as many scientists, to finding a solution to stop concussions. According to many surgeons, scientists, doctors and scientific research, football and boxing concussions have led to a high number of brain injuries and diseases in professional athletes.