Oliver Evison
McNeil, Donald G. "A Way to Brew Morphine Raises Concerns Over Regulation." The New York Times. The New York Times, 18 May 2015. Web. 21 May 2015.
The article, “A Way to Brew Morphine Raises Concerns Over Regulations,” by Donald G. McNeil Jr., is about how their is a new way to breed morphine a painkiller drug, and the substance used to refine heroin. Before, the only way to breed this painkiller was through the opium poppy, commonly found in Afghanistan, Laos, and Myanmar. However, with new and recent discovery, it will be possible to breed this drug through yeast genetically modified to turn sugar into morphine. Yeast cells produce the pigment betaxanthin, which researchers used to identify key enzymes in the production of benzylisoquinoline alkaloids, the metabolites in the poppy plant that could lead to morphine, antibiotics and other pharmaceutical agents. Although, this could serve a huge loss to the battle against drugs like heroin, a spokesperson for the D.E.A. said that, “His agency does not perceive any imminent threat, because no modified yeast strain is available yet.”
This article is very significant. This could change the whole spectrum of drug control and enforcement. With a new way to make heroin, the battle against drugs will become even harder for law enforcement around the world. Heroin will be easier smuggled, and just harder to control.
McNeil did a very good job with this article. He stated the facts,and brought in many outside sources to make his argument better. I wish he would have used some statistics about morphine and the opium poppy though. It would have made his argument even stronger.
Core Chemistry
ReplyDeleteMr. Ippolito
I reviewed Oliver’s critique of the article, "A Way to Brew Morphine Raises Concerns Over Regulation" by Donald McNeil. I thought his critique was really good for a few reasons. First of all, his summary was very thorough in details on the process of making morphine, which was helpful for me because I didn’t know much about the drug. Also, I thought it was good that he included a quote in his summary because it provides more evidence and justifies where the sources of information are coming from. Lastly, his critique of the article included a positive point and a negative point, which is important when reviewing a piece of writing because you don’t want to just downgrade it. While his critique was really well done, some minor adjustments could have been made to improve it. For example, although his quote was really good, he forgot to analyze it and explain its relation to the topic. Especially if the quote is long and confusing, it’s extremely important to explain it, and his lack of analysis weakened his summary paragraph. Some editing in grammar would have also improved the overall critique, as some parts were confusing without the necessary comma. In total, his review was really good and I was particularly impressed with his description of producing morphine. He seemed to understand the process well and it made his review seem much more professional and well written.
McNeil, Donald G. "A Way to Brew Morphine Raises Concerns Over Regulation." The New York Times. The New York Times, 18 May 2015. Web. 21 May 2015.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/19/health/a-way-to-brew-morphine-raises-concerns-over-regulation.html?ref=science&_r=0
Oliver’s article on the breeding of morphine was well written and very informative. I liked how Oliver used specific facts and statistics. He also included a quote from an expert which helps back up his argument and provide more information for the reader. I also liked how Oliver explained how this is relevant to the world and smuggling. Although I learned a lot from Oliver’s article, there are some ares that he could improve on. Oliver did a nice job of adding a quote, however he did not clearly explain the quote after. It would also be helpful if Oliver gave more background of this topic and explained how it is specifically relevant in the united states. I thought it was interesting that this new development will make the drug harder to control and the battle harder to fight.
McNeil, Donald G. "A Way to Brew Morphine Raises Concerns Over Regulation." The New York Times. The New York Times, 18 May 2015. Web. 21 May 2015.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/19/health/a-way-to-brew-morphine-raises-concerns-over-regulation.html?ref=science&_r=0
Oliver’s article on the breeding of morphine was well written and very informative. I liked how Oliver used specific facts and statistics throughout his review. He also included a quote from an expert which helps back up his argument and provide more information for the reader. This made the reader able to draw in more information because they are interested. I also liked how Oliver explained how this is relevant to the world and smuggling. Although I learned a lot from Oliver’s article, there are some ares that he could improve on. Oliver did a nice job of adding a quote, however he did not clearly explain the quote after. This could give the reader a lot of knowledge It would also be helpful if Oliver gave more background of this topic and explained how it is specifically relevant in the united states. I thought it was interesting that this new development will make the drug harder to control and the battle harder to fight. Oliver showed that he knew this topic well.