Young Blood May Hold Key to Reversing Aging

Two teams of scientists published their work on Sunday showing that blood from young mice reverses aging in old mice, it makes their muscles and brains younger and stronger. It could lead to treatments for disorders like Alzheimer’s disease and heart disease. Rudolph Tanzi, a professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School, said, “These findings could be a game changer.” Scientists joined old and young mice for a period of five weeks and then examined them. The muscles of the old mice healed about as quickly as those of the young mice, the scientists reported in 2005. In addition, the old mice grew new liver cells at a youthful rate. The experiment indicated that there were compounds in the blood of the young mice that could awaken old stem cells and rejuvenate aging tissue. Amy J. Wagers, a member of Dr. Rando’s team, and an associate professor at Harvard. demonstrated that it could rejuvenate the hearts of old mice. They found that GDF11 revived stem cells in old muscles, making old mice stronger and increasing their endurance. The new blood supply led to the growth of neurons and gave older mice a sharper sense of smell. Scientists hope that it will work on humans too.

This is a revolutionary discovering if it turns out to work on humans. This would affect humans all around the globe and who knows what else it could lead to. If it did work out as planned would it be for the good in the long run though. This is so far away though no one can determine that, but just looking at what they discovered now is absolutely incredible.

This article was very detail oriented, which made it very interesting. Although when stating some findings they used words involving this subject that not the average person would know, only someone with intelligence in this subject would understand what they were talking about and yet they didn’t explain it for the more average readers.

Zimmer, Carl. "Young Blood May Hold Key to Reversing Aging." The New York Times. The New York Times, 04 May 2014. Web. 05 May 2014.

An About-Face on a Risky Transplant

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/29/health/an-about-face-on-a-risky-transplant.html?ref=science&_r=0

                I read the article An About-Face on a Risky Transplant by Lawrence K. Altman. In 2005, the first face transplant was performed on a French woman to much opposition from people who called it an unethical and immoral procedure. Since then, numerous other people have had face transplants to astounding results. The article states that transplants can “ease or erase the grotesque deformities that leave them [the patients] subject to taunts, discrimination, isolation and serious depression.” The face transplant has even helped 4 patients get back to work or school. However, the procedure is still quite risky and expensive. Costing upwards of $300,000 and killing 3 people, one of whom could not bear the grueling rehabilitation from the surgery, it is definitely not an easy procedure. Even though this technology still has quite a few kinks in it, they will eventually be worked out and lead to a better life for facial trauma victims.

                This information affects everyone. Everyone is always at risk for a traumatic accident, be it a car crash or an animal mauling. This technology has and will continue to help those who have faced traumatic accidents. You never know when disaster could strike, and a face transplant could help you get back from it.

                I did not see any issues with this article. I thought it highlighted a very interesting and new technology very well, even including an infographic to assist the reader to understand the procedure. One things that I would like to know is why the Chinese government ended funding for one patient’s rehabilitation drugs. Other than that, the article explained everything else very well and gave insight into similar topics, such as hand and arm transplants.

Scientists Find an 'Earth Twin,' or Maybe a Cousin

Chang, Kenneth. "Scientists Find an ‘Earth Twin,’ or Maybe a Cousin." The New York Times.

            The New York Times, 17 Apr. 2014. Web. 17 Apr. 2014.    

I read The New York Times article “Scientists Find an ‘Earth Twin,’ or Maybe a Cousin” by Kenneth Chang.  On Thursday, astronomers declared that a planet similar to earth has been discovered, named Kepler 186f, about 500 light-years away from our home.  It was discovered in the Kepler planet-finding mission carried out by NASA.  Many factors observed by astronomers highlight the fact that Kepler 186f may possibly be life-sustaining.  Kepler 186f orbits a red dwarf star at a distance that would enable water and oxygen to be present as they are on Earth, making it possible for photosynthesis to occur.  However, the temperature on Kepler 186f could be significantly lower than that of earth, as the red-dwarf star it orbits emits less heat than the sun and Kepler 186f is located slightly farther away from its star than earth is from the sun.  However, scientists believe that the bigger size of Kepler 186f may result in a thicker atmosphere, making it easier for the planet to trap heat.  Because red dwarf stars are among the oldest in the universe, possible organisms on Kepler 186f may have been developing for billions of years.

This event is most important to scientists.  Scientists have been searching for another life-sustaining planet for a very long time, and they may have been successful in finally finding one.  This opens up a huge area of study for scientists, and could inspire scientists to search for more planets like earth.  Who knows, maybe humans might travel to these planets in the future.  This could have an impact on our society in that it would lead to many new discoveries and advances in science.  Because advances in science lead to advances in technology, new discoveries about other planets like Earth could lead to technological improvements.

I thought this article was very well written, and I found it very interesting.  I did not see anything wrong with this article, and I do not have any tips that could help the author improve its writing.  However, I would love to find out more about this topic.  The author mainly focused on the facts about the planet itself, but I would like to learn more about life on these planets.  Overall, I thought the author did a great job writing this article, and I would definitely recommend others to read it.

An About-Face on a Risky Transplant

CHEM-IH                                                                                                   Morgan Frayne

Current Events QTR 4                                                                                      4/29/14

Facial transplants are risky business. The procedure is complicated and so much can go wrong during the surgery. One team removes the face and underlying tissues from a donor, while a second team removes the damaged portions of the recipient’s face. Bone, if needed, is attached first. Then four major arteries and veins, two on each side of the upper neck, are attached as quickly as possible. Once blood flows to nourish the new face, surgeons can take more time to stitch nerves, muscles, other soft tissues and finally the skin. As the graft heals and nerves regenerate, rehabilitation to relearn speaking and other tasks begins; monitoring for rejection lasts a lifetime. The entire procedure and rehabilitation process is tedious and requires a lot of patience and effort with both the patients and the doctors. The surgery has no yet been perfected, and is still relatively new. The first face transplant was performed in France in 2005, and it is said that the surgeons didn’t follow ethical or legal guidelines.

I think that this article informing people on facial transplants is very important to others because anyone can be born with a mutated face, or have a serious trauma that disfigures their face. Either way it’s important to know about things like these because it may affect us and those around us. I think its important to have general knowledge of something like this so that you can have a base to learn off of if it was necessary to know about this for something that’s happened to you or someone you know.

I think that this article was very detailed and certainly gave me an insight into a risky surgery like this. I had no idea that facial transplants were as new as they are, and now that I do I am able to have an opinion on this topic. One thing is that I didn’t really like the way that the author of this article organized his ideas. When it came to the section of the article that informed the reader on the surgeon’s job and the physical procedure, I had to pause because the author made it a little tough to follow the logistics of the surgery.  Regardless I still think this article was splendid and I’m undeniably glad that I read it.

Altman, Lawrence K. "An About-Face on a Risky Transplant." The New York Times. The New York Times, 28 Apr. 2014. Web. 29 Apr. 2014.

In Land That Values Ivory, Wild Elephants Find a Safe Haven

Jacobs, Andrew. "In Land That Values Ivory, Wild Elephants Find a Safe Haven." The New York Times. The New York Times, 25 Apr. 2014. Web. 26 Apr. 2014. <http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/26/world/asia/in-land-that-values-ivory-wild-elephants-find-a-safe-haven.html?ref=science&_r=0>.


I read the article “In Land That Values Ivory, Wild Elephants Find a Safe Haven,” by Andrew Jacobs. In this article the issue of mass slaughter of elephants is expressed. Over the past decades the number of elephants in the world has almost doubled thanks to people having a bugger role in the protection of these animals. Recently however, studies have shown that in China, a place known for needing ivory, may have the perfect place to shelter elephants. In southwest China forests provide protection for the elephants with plenty of food and less hunting. The one problem facing these areas is the loss of habitat, and resources. The elephants that now have less food will wander to farmers plantations and steal food. These issues are currently being addressed with authorities all over China.

Although the decrease in elephant population may induce sadness into our lives it has no real and direct effect, these crops being eaten could be some that are grown for trade. Therefore, areas such as the U.S may end up affected by these elephants in China. This article can also open our eyes to the environmental concerns we should have and be able to save animals habitats not just elephants.

I think the writer of the article did a great job summarizing this huge worldwide problem into a relatively simple to read article. However, I do not think the vocabulary in this article was really 9th grade level, so I had to look up a few words but other than that a very nicely written and educational article to read.

Brain Control in a Flash of Light

           I read the New York Times article, "Brain Control in a Flash of Light." Scientist Karl Deisseroth developed a fiber optic system, or a system of threads used to transmit data, to trigger activity inside the brain of a live mouse. This is a major advancement in the field of optogenics, which is "the most revolutionary thing that has happened in neuroscience in the past couple of decades" according to scientist Cori Bargmann. Scientists hope that his will further advance this field and lead to revolutionizing discoveries.

            This development could have a large impact on humanity. From here, scientists could use this fiber optic system to manipulate and change the brains of humans. After this would be accomplished, it would be possible to attempt to cure diseases or disabilities within the brain. This is a fascinating discovery and is a large leap forward in neuroscience.

            I thought that this article was quite well written. I thought that he did a great job of explaining the field of optogenics and giving an update on what is happening in that field today. This was a very well written and informative article.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/22/science/mind-control-in-a-flash-of-light.html?_r=0 

Harmful affects of bullying

This article is about how according to research the harmful social, mental, and physical health of childhood bullying are still shown even 40 years later. “Just over a quarter of children in the study (28%) had been bullied occasionally, and 15% bullied frequently.” These individuals who were occasionally bullied were more likely to have poorer health at age 50 according to research. And the individuals who were bullied frequently have an increased risk of depression, or suicidal thoughts. “Programs to stop bullying are extremely important, but we also need to focus our efforts on early intervention to prevent potential problems persisting into adolescence and adulthood."

This affects us today because the more adults out there who were bullied during their childhood are at higher risk of something like depression, or even a suicidal thought. This research just shows it is even more important to not bully anybody ever. Something done to you as a child could determine your health at age 50.

I thought this article was very interesting. I knew that childhood bullying could affect your health as an adult, but I didn’t know it was to this extent. I enjoyed learning about this, and hope by reading this article people will become more aware of what they are doing.  

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/04/140417212510.htm