This article describes a new “road
map” of the DNA strand that was recently discovered. This previously dismissed
bit of DNA plays an essential role in controlling the behavior of cells,
tissues and even organs. This finding is important to the well being of humans,
caused by the tiny gene switches. The “junk” part of the DNA, which does not
contain actual genes containing instructions for proteins, was discovered to
have a complex system that controls the genes. This structure showed scientists
that every little thing can change how tall you are, how immune to disease you
are and even help discover what can cause and stop cancer. The cancer part of
this research is by far the most important because of the amount of people
currently struggling in dealing with the many diagnoses. The new “map” is helping doctors find more
efficient ways to stop the cancerous cells by providing information as to where
it is needed.
This
affects human life mainly in the cancer research department. Scientists have
been struggling to find cures to cancer, and until now, there have been a
number of cancer types that could not be stopped as easily. With the help of
this DNA research, drugs can be improved and put into the locations that best
suit that person’s diagnosis.
I thought this article was very well written because of how
easy it was to follow what they were talking about. When reading about a
science topic that one is not familiar with, it is sometimes hard to understand
what it being discussed. But in this article, the information is comprehendible
by readers whom don not necessarily have a lot of knowledge about a topic like
DNA.
Kolata, Gina. "Far From ‘Junk,’
DNA Dark Matter Proves Crucial to Health." The New York Times. The
New York Times, 06 Sept. 2012. Web. 10 Sept. 2012.
.
Posted for G. Diaz
5 comments:
I thought Gabby did a great job reviewing the article “Far From ‘Junk,’ DNA Dark Matter Proves Crucial to Health.” In her review, she included important information about the “junk DNA” and did a great job explaining the effect that the gene switches have on our visible characteristics. Additionally, she does a good job explaining how the dark matter pertains to cancer, and describing the benefits that the findings about gene switches have on the seemingly unrelated disease. Gabby included information from the article, and also was able to draw from that information and apply it to the world. I thought that her analysis of the information was good.
Although there were several positive components to her review, there were a few things that I thought were missing from her article. I did not understand how the research on DNA switches would be helpful towards developing drugs and ensure that they are “put into the right locations,” as I don’t think there are many drugs that require being put into the right place, and don’t understand how learning more about DNA switches could help us do that. I also think that she could improve the summary by adding information about the programming and methods they used to develop this research.
I learned a lot from reading Gabby’s article, and found it very interesting. One very important piece of information I realized while reading the review was that science is always developing, and ideas that were once perceived as true (that 99% of our DNA isn’t used), can quickly be questioned, re-evaluated, and proven to be false.
After reading Gabby’s article review of “Far from Junk, DNA Dark Matter Proves Crucial to Health” I think she did a great job at giving her overview of the key points and sharing her ideas. One aspect I thought she excelled at was giving the overall review. I was very impressed with how she made such a difficult topic easy to understand. She went into good detail about why the DNA was once thought as useless and why now they are seen as important. Secondly, I thought she did a good job at showing how this new research is helping people today make advancements in cancer technology and drugs. This can be very important because cancer is almost becoming a common thing. Lastly, I loved how she explained that switching the gene can possibly make our appearance change. This is just a really interesting concept that can in the future possibly do amazing things.
One of the things I didn’t understand in the review is how “providing information to where it is needed” will help stop cancer. She was kind of vague when in came to how they can stop cancer. Gabby could have also went into more detail about how they create the drugs that can tap into your genes. I just wasn’t sure how that is possible and would have wanted to know more.
The most interesting thing about this article that I learned, as said before, is that scientists may be able to use this discovery to control appearances. Who knows where this science can take us!
Jimmy Purdy
Maxim Izotov
Comment on G. Diaz’s post “Far from ‘Junk.’”
Gabby did a lot of things well when reviewing this article. One in particular was that she explained why this discovery was import to humans. This engaged me in the article because I understood that this is important to me. Another thing Gabby did well was that she emphasized the most important part about this research, cancer. This was essential to the review because it gave me a better idea to how this study was linked to other studies. Last but not least, I found it very great that Gabby expressed her point of view on the article, since I could relate to the fact that when reading about a science topic you are not familiar with, it is hard to understand what exactly is being discussed.
Even though it was a great review, one thing she could have worked on would be that she could have talked about the “road map” a bit more, since I was not very clear about what it was exactly. Another thing Gabby could improve would be to discuss how exactly the information that the doctors found could help in the study of cancer, since all the review said was that drugs can be improved and put in more accurately. However how would that work exactly? How would the medication change?
Finally, the most appealing piece of information from this article to me would be that this study can help cure cancer. I find that amazing because after all these years scientists keep working to find a cure and here they are. Although, in my opinion, more work needs to be done in the research because it seems to me that the ‘Junk’ part of the DNA has even more to it than just instructions for proteins.
Gabby did a wonderful job on this review. It was special that she even chose this topic to write about because of the worldwide concern about this disease. I enjoyed how she simply wrote this review. It was also very well concise. I also liked how she discussed a possible solution to the problem of treating cancer. Lastly, I thought she did a great job in describing the process of simple DNA mapping. It was detailed but not too detailed.
I think that this review could have been improved by discussing how this affects both and animals. Also, I would have further enjoyed if she explained more about the detail of the research and the geographic affects of cancer throughout the world.
All in all, this was a wonderful paper about a very concerning subject for the health of humanity and the ecosystem since it affects everyone psychologically and physically.
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