How Controversial Gene Editing Could Lead To
Groundbreaking Cures
Coke’s Chief Scientist, Who Orchestrated Obesity Research, Is Leaving - NYTimes.com
http://mobile.nytimes.com/blogs/well/2015/11/24/cokes-chief-scientist-who-orchestrated-obesity-research-is-leaving/?emc=edit_th_20151125&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=25414714&referer=
Open Season Is Seen in Gene Editing of Animals - NYTimes.com
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/11/27/us/2015-11-27-us-animal-gene-editing.html?emc=edit_th_20151127&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=25414714&referer=
Many Doctors Unaware of Truvada, Drug for Preventing H.I.V. - NYTimes.com
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/11/26/health/many-doctors-unaware-of-truvada-drug-for-preventing-hiv.html?nlid=25414714&src=recpb&_r=0&referer=
Again, with apologies to Liam or Austin or whomever found the story recently about Truvada....apparently I'm in good company not being up to date on HIV treatment.
Adult Siblings May Hold The Secret To A Happy Life : Shots - Health News : NPR
http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2015/11/26/457236382/your-adult-siblings-may-hold-the-secret-to-a-long-happy-life?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=2052
for Blake & Jensen...(why is Blake always in the middle of everything??)
I read the article about the siblings. I agree with what the author said 100%. Growing up as a triplet you constantly got compared to your siblings. Sure there was sibling rivalry, but my parents always treated us as our own person and very equal. Something that did stick out to me in this article was that he said that him and his brother were very different yet treated equal. I find this very fitting with my siblings and I. We could not be more different. I am an artists and free spirit. My sister is a nursing major and very literal and my brother is very reserved and interested in technology. All of our differences often get compared. The author also said something about how it is important to grow up with siblings. Sure I don't have a huge family, but I think it is important that a child not grow up alone. Many only children do not have siblings to talk to about their problems and keep things from their parents. They also only have their parents as role models and can grow up in a very mature environment which can cause rebellion later in life. I would not trade my experience growing up for the world. Being a triplet has let me approach life in an interesting way but I think we are all closer and happier as siblings now that we are all older. Very interesting read!
ReplyDeleteI really like this article too! I agree that the three of you are very different and have different talents that make you you. I too am looking forward to see how my relationship my siblings evolves as we age and find our place in life.
DeleteI like this article as well. Just like you said I completely agree with you getting constantly compared with your sibling. That part of the article stuck out to me as well because I have a twin brother and we have been going to different schools since high school so many comparisons were made.
DeleteI agree with you that it is very important to grow up with siblings. I think the reason that this is so important is because it teaches you a sense of humility and keeps your feet on the ground. Only children have a greater potential to be extremely spoiled by their parents. Additionally, living with siblings can lead to better skills in teamwork capacities because you have to learn to compromise and consider the wants and needs of other people.
DeleteI completely agree with your assessment of the article and the nature of comparison amongst siblings. However, the process of comparison can foster an atmosphere of competition amongst the children. This comparison to me goes against the nature of siblings. While it its important for a child to form their own identity but at the same time a sense of togetherness amongst the siblings that we enable them to work together to face family problems and illnesses commonly face later in life.
DeleteI thought the Article on Coke was very intriguing. The article truly shows that with money you can do almost anything. It is disappointing too that such predominantly known corporation would try to "bribe" other Universities to publish articles and findings that made them look better/healthier. I dont believe these findings will impact Coke in a major way if at all. Coke is to big of a brand to have this minuscule finding impact sales.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you AJ that these findings will not impact Coke in a big way at all. The brand is to big and to popular. It is just to hard for people to change something they love especially a brand like Coke.
DeleteI agree with Austin and Otis that the Coke article was interesting. Coke tries to cover up the fact that their product was causing obesity by trying to pay off Universities to make their product look healthier. There are way too many facts that drinking Coke leads to obesity. Therefore, people understand the risk behind drinking soda, but they still drink it, so in the end it doesn't really matter what facts we find about Coke, people will still drink it.
DeleteI agree with you Austin the article was very interesting and I was also disappointed that a successful corporation stooped to such as low level to brief people over something that will not really affect the sales. It goes to show the truth of the old axiom "Money is power, power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. This is a problem for objectivity in science which was one of the issues we discussed in class.
DeleteI read the article about siblings and it was a great read!!! What Robin Marantz Henig said was very true, I can compare it my experiences with my siblings as well to my parents and how they interact with their siblings too. I am the oldest of three, growing up I was labeled as the bossy older sister. But I couldn't help it, I was the oldest and my brother and sister needed guidance. Its not my fault that I am bossy because they simply followed me in the birth order. Each of us have our own label and complete with each other today to please our parents. What I love most about having siblings is that they come to me with their secrets or issues, they trust me. Even though be bicker a lot, they still love me and I love them (most of the time).
ReplyDeleteI like what you said about how your siblings followed you in birth order. I feel the same way with my siblings and how just because i am older they trust me. I didnt really notice how much my siblings looked up to me until i was about a senior in high school. It is really kind of funny to look at and notice, like when i am told that my brother does the same things i do and did when i was younger.
DeleteI have a different viewpoint on this comment most time my younger brother looks up more to my younger sister than myself. He usually asks her for advice on various topics. Even though I am the oldest I don't feel the most impact on the lives of my siblings.
DeleteI read the Article about siblings. It interested my because I have a twin brother. We are fraternal and look and are nothing alike, both physically and personality wise. Like the article said, we get compared often. This created some sibling rivalry through the years. We fought all the time and he always told on me when we were kids but now we have somehow become best friends. I think the article was right when it said that having a sibling could lead to a happier life. It gave me experience in getting past adversities with people in all kinds of relationships. Even though we fought a lot and had a rough childhood, we will always be there for each other no matter what which is something an only child doesn't get the privilege of having.
ReplyDeleteI read the article on Coke as well and this just goes to show that funding for research can have huge impact on the outcome of the research. The research, was admittedly aimed to inadvertently make more money for coca cola. If the research was not funding by coke, instead of focusing on physical activity, they may have focused on sugar and sugar substitute's affect on obesity. Dr Hil even said "I want to help your company avoid the image of being a problem in people’s lives and back to being a company that brings important and fun things to them." She had obvious biases towards coca cola and used the research as marketing tools, not for scientific benefit.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteI read the article about Coke and research that was done for obesity. I found out from this article that the amount that someone donates for research has an impact on how the outcome of that research will turn out. They wanted to prove that obesity was more caused from lack of exercise and not the sugar in the soft drinks. Being a fan of Coke i don't think this article has any chance of hurting the company and will be financial fine down the road.
ReplyDeleteI agree that this report will most likely not have an impact on coke's loyal fan base. It kind of makes you wonder why they would publicly announce their funding of the start up of the Global Energy Balance Network only to have scientists there attempt to guide scientific findings. I think they kind of brought the leak of this one on themselves. With that being said, I would venture to speculate that the Coca-Cola company is not the only one funding this kind of research.
DeleteI read the article about siblings and I loved it simply because I believe it hit the nail on the coffin. I have three older sisters and that's all. The sister that is closes to age with me is the one I might argue with the most simply because she feels as if she is the care taker when it comes down to getting gifts and stuff for my parents. Just like the article said siblings tend to have conflict when the one sibling feels as if she is the one doing the hard work. At the end of the day I do help with the gifts I am just more of last minute and tell my sister to do the shopping. Me and my sister get along though the majority time of the day and any drama that she goes through I do what I can to keep her away. We both know that in the end we have each others back no matter what.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the article about Coke and I am talking about the soda I understand the concern people have that it is causing obesity. But normally people are not eating salads while drinking Coke. They are eating things that also cause obesity. I believe Coke should not get all the blame and that this will pass over and not affect Coke in a bad way but in a good way. Simply because they are advertising the product of Coke. In the article they are proving to us that the product of Coke is not the problem. The article even said, "reports show that Dr. Applebaum and other executives at Coke helped pick the group’s leaders, create its mission statement and design its website".
ReplyDeleteI found the New York Times article about Truvada to be interesting because of the fact that it says that the drug has extremely high success rates in curing drug injectors and gay men with HIV; however, many doctors are unaware that it even exists. This might be partially due to the fact that the maker of the drug Gilead Sciences does not market it as a cure for HIV. (According to the article and the linked article found at http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-02-18/gilead-s-pill-can-stop-hiv-so-why-does-almost-nobody-take-it-.) The pill has been approved since 2004 for people with the virus, but Gilead has not been marketing it as a PrEP, or pre-exposure prophylaxis drug. Some other crazy stats from the article are that some patients have copays of up to $1,300.00 for the drug, and that 42% off all prescriptions for Truvada were filed by women, while 7.4% were filed by men under 25.
ReplyDeleteI also thought that the Coca-Cola article was pretty interesting. It is kind of crazy to think about the amount of money that is put into trying to prove a product is not harmful to the consumer. (Especially when the task is trying to convince people through scientific research that Coke has a shred of benefit to your health.) The article talks pretty extensively about evidence that was found in emails that were obtained by the Associated Press, but never really explained how the emails were acquired which seemed kind of shady in its own right. With that being said, this is a good example of how company funding in the scientific enterprise can be a major conflict of interest for the public's wellbeing. The article stated that Coke spent $1.5 million last year to support the Global Energy Balance Network, which it was apparently influential in setting up, in its quest to shift public attention away from sugary drinks and towards a lack of physical activity. While that is a ton of money, the company had a net income of 7.1 billion dollars last year alone, so that leads to the questions of how dedicated they really were to influencing Dr. Hill's scientific findings, and who else they could potentially be funding. (http://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/ko/financials) I do not really think that these findings will hurt Coke's loyal customer base.
After reading the article on Coke i would agree with what some of the other students said. The research proves that Coke is not the exact cause, many other factors go into obesity not just if you're drinking Coke or not. The company will not be affected financially, one because its a multi-billion dollar company and two because Coke can be an addiction.. just like tobacco companies won't suffer based off the Truth ad campaigns.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with everything Ian said, coke will not slow down sales and the amount of product being consumed just because research says coke can lead to obesity. Everyone knows how bad coke or soda is for you but most of us continue to drink it because it is good. Obesity is caused by so many different factors, i know people who say they are eating healthy because they dont drink soda, yet they continue to get fatter because they eat junk food all day, soda is not solely the problem.....
DeleteI read the article on the gene therapy using CISPR. There seems to be a big argument on the ethics of toying with the human genome. To me this is ridiculous scientists are not toying with the human genome they are making minute changes to rid a person of a debilitating disease.
ReplyDeleteI read the article about siblings and wow is it accurate. My sisters and I are all known for different characteristics but we all get along great. When we're all in especially good moods, it is like our own private party that anyone would kill to watch. Although I do not see the sibling rivalry anymore, I can still see it in my mom and her siblings. When my grandmother got sick, my mother and aunt took on the role as caretakers and felt that they were not being helped enough by my uncle. So although I'm not seeing the sibling rivalry within my siblings, I do see it in others.
ReplyDeleteI read the article about siblings, me and my younger brother are exact opposites in almost every way. there is a 6 year difference between us so while i was growing up he was always to little to tag along. As i got older we drifted apart due to me getting into things i should have not been getting into. He began to hate me but always cared for me as his big brother. over the last year or so we have began to talk more and more as i am doing better but there will always be 10 years or so where i just was not there for him. i always demanded the attention through sports and getting in trouble, so my brother always was viewed as the shy quite safe one, there is definitely sibling rivalry in my family but as we grow older we are beggining to be friends.
ReplyDeleteI read the article about siblings, me and my younger brother are exact opposites in almost every way. there is a 6 year difference between us so while i was growing up he was always to little to tag along. As i got older we drifted apart due to me getting into things i should have not been getting into. He began to hate me but always cared for me as his big brother. over the last year or so we have began to talk more and more as i am doing better but there will always be 10 years or so where i just was not there for him. i always demanded the attention through sports and getting in trouble, so my brother always was viewed as the shy quite safe one, there is definitely sibling rivalry in my family but as we grow older we are beggining to be friends.
ReplyDeleteThe article I read was, the "Adult Sibling May Hold The Secret To A Long Happy Life." This article stood out to me, because growing up being the baby of seven, its interesting to see how true this article stands to be true to my own life. It was very easy to relate to. From the part of knowing exactly how to irritate each other to how we are now, all grown up and being able to relate to each other and have fun together. The part I found to very interesting was the fact that I was, "the younger sibling gains cognitively by imitating the older." Being the baby, and my oldest sibling being 12 years older then me, and my sibling closest in age to me having special needs I feel as if i matured a lot earlier then most people due to my siblings. I really enjoyed this article!
ReplyDeleteDamn the baby of seven! That is impressive and I agree with you because I am the baby of four and I thought that was a lot. We definitely got under each other skins and we still do every now and then to joke around with each other. But that is what makes our relationship great especially since we are older.
DeleteI read the article about siblings and thought it was very interesting. I have three younger siblings and then an older sister from my dads first marriage. Growing up I didn't seem my older sister a lot, but have also lived with my three younger siblings. For awhile my older sister and I went through a rough stage where we fought a lot and could never really get along. Ive never really had any issues with my other siblings. I used to enjoy annoying them because that just something older sisters do, but now that we are older we get along great. I don't seem my siblings and I having any problems in the future when it comes to taking care of our parents. We have always been best friends and I hope we will remain that way.
ReplyDeleteI read the article about the siblings and it really hit home to me. I am the oldest, having 2 younger sisters and a younger brother. They always tease me about how im the favorite child but in all reality I feel, and think they would agree as well, that my parents treat us all equally. Also, having dealt with a death in the family, there is always the question of how the family will react, some grieve extremely different than others and it can ultimately bring your family closer or it can tear you family apart almost. We are lucky to have been brought closer and were all there for each other when we felt the most down and I think that it was because of how close we were before it all happened. To this day we still pick on each other a little bit but we have also grown up to be able to actually talk about everything that is going on with our lives. Siblings will always be a pain at times but I know that in the end we would do anything for each other.
ReplyDeleteI agree with simply because I am also the youngest child. It is funny how I get teased as being the one that is a little more spoiled than my older sisters. When in fact I am treated just like all my older sisters and in fact I think they are more spoiled than me.
DeleteAfter reading the article on gene editing it is insane how far science has come in such a short amount of time. With the technology of CRISPR we now have the capability to easily change, delete or replace genes in plants or animals including humans. This is huge in science because we can now re write the human genome and genetically modify human beings to get rid of genetic diseases such as sickle-cell, HIV, schizophrenia and autism. These advancements in science are amazing but fallen into the wrong hands this technology could be scary, super human army's or genetically modified creatures, sci-fi movies could come to life.
ReplyDeleteI read the article about how Coke funded a professor/ Scientists to produce date that would turn the blame for increased numbers of obesity from the sugared drinks to the decline of physical activity in today's. One of the companies top scientists has resigned after the exposure of emails between Coca- cola and a scientist in charge of a research group for obesity suggesting the fixation of evidence that would decrease the pressure on the soda company caused by their responsibility for increased obesity. This is a huge problem for objectivity in science if scientists can be this easily corrupted into viewing scientific data through a preset lens that requires them to make preset conclusion regardless of the actual data. The university had no objections to the funding of Coca-Cola but the did object at the suggestion at looking at the data with the requirement of making a bias conclusion. According to the article a quote from the University of Colorado School of Medicine "“The school of medicine does not prohibit faculty members from communicating with governmental, for-profit or nonprofit entities that provide funding for initiatives intended to improve individual and public health,” the university said. “The school does expect such efforts to be hypothesis-driven and designed to answer questions and not to advance a specific point of view.” This problem will continue to happen as long as their are multinational wealthy corporations with their own agenda's and scientists willing to be corrupted by money and overlook the ethical and objective requirement of science.
ReplyDeleteYou did a very good job explaining the article. I agree with what you said about this issue always continuing to happen as long as there are wealthy corporations with there own agenda. I think there should be more regulations on research to make sure nobody benefiting or being harmed from it are influencing the results.
DeleteI also read the article about the treatment drug for preventing HIV which is the predecessor disease for AIDS. According to the article "Even though taking a daily pill can protect almost completely against getting H.I.V., a third of primary care doctors and nurses in the United States have never heard of it, federal health officials said this week." This is an amazingly surprising fact due to the recent attention given to HIV by the public. The drug is very effective as a preventive treatment for the disease. The article continues "Truvada is currently the only antiretroviral drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration for PrEP, but its maker, Gilead Sciences, does not advertise it for that purpose. The C.D.C. calculated that about 25 percent of all healthy gay men, 20 percent of all healthy drug injectors and about 0.4 percent of all healthy heterosexual women would benefit from being on the drug; the gay men because they have an infected partner or have unprotected sex with multiple partners, the drug injectors because they share syringes and the women because they have partners who inject drugs or are bisexual. There are an estimated 45,000 new H.I.V. infections in the United States each year." This is wear the media can have a positive role in the communication of new research to the public nevertheless there should be this big of a knowledge disconnect between the medical researchers and the practicing doctors of the medical community. It is also interesting that the producing company is not advertising the drug both for the moral and ethical benefits but also for the potential to make a tremendous profit from their research as Tommy said in a earlier post some of the patients made a copay of $1,300.
ReplyDeleteI also read the article on siblings. My situation is a little bit different. The first six years of my life I was an only child, then I added a brother and sister. Ten years later I added another brother and sister. 4 years after that I added two more brothers and another sister. All of these additions have kept me in the middle. Three of my siblings are younger and three are older. I have ad to adapt and identify three different times in my life and they have all shaped me in a certain way to how I am now. I have had to be the big brother and I have also been the annoying little brother. It is truly a blessing.
ReplyDeleteI found that the sibling article was very interesting. I have two siblings myself a younger brother age 14 and a younger sister age 16, I thought the discussion of the siblings being compared to one another by their parents. This is also the case for me. I have usually the "smart" and usually moderately outspoken. My sister is the musically inclined one and athlete. My younger brother is the complete opposite of me he is the troublemaker and quiet one. We are treated equally but it is very interesting to see the differences among us. Another interesting aspect of the article was the point about conflicting siblings caused problems for adult relationships later in life because I often argue with my younger brother, I think this is a focus to the issue of heredity vs. environment,This could also be related to the variation among species referred to in the Evolution book.
ReplyDeleteI read the article "How Controversial Gene Editing Could Lead to Groundbreaking Cures ", the article was about a new breakdown in the study of DNA called CRISPR, that allows doctors to physically removed part or wholes of harmful plants and animals. According to the article the new treatment could revolutionize the treatment of diseases such as "Sickle-cell anemia, HIV, schizophrenia and autism -- essentially, anything involving bad DNA is now fair game.". This new treatment while it has shown some signs of early success in plants and animals is extremely controversial because it give dangerous powers to the medical professionals and scientists that could put the future of the human race at stake if it got into the wrong hands. According to the article " Or, as one bioethicist told The Huffington Post last week, comparing what CRISPR can do to earlier attempts at genetic manipulation, “We used to have a butter knife, now we’ve got a scalpel.” It is for this reason that more test are needed and more research needs to be conducted before trial on human. We looking at the history of eugenics and the ability to manipulate the characteristics of human DNA, we go back to the Nazi experiments done under the reign of Hitler. This is not the only use of eugenics though we have use eugenics in selective breeding programs we use in livestock, and dogs. This is an interesting story to keep up with a new data is uncovered.
ReplyDeleteI also read "Open Season Is Seen in Gene Editing of Animals". the article was similar to the other one gene manipulation expect this one focused more on the genetic modification of animals to promote beneficial features that are helpful for both the animals and the humans. For example the with two calves biologist altered part of their DNA in order to prevent them from growing horns. Thus the cows are able to be saved from the painful procedure of dehorning. This is just one of the many examples we will see in the genetic editing of animals and its impact on human's ranging from their diet to the treatment of diseases. According to the article " But with the federal government’s approval last week of a fast-growing salmon as the first genetically altered animal Americans can eat, a menagerie of gene-edited animals is already being raised on farms and in laboratories around the world — some designed for food, some to fight disease, some, perhaps, as pets. ... Just this week, researchers reported having edited mosquitoes so that they will no longer carry the parasite that causes malaria. " Still there are both risks and benefits for the practice of gene editing because it is so simple as the name imply the danger would be great if they technolgy were to be misused. As as article states the current question is no along would we allow the use of these practices but will we. The technology and science is now here. Today is the time for these decisions to be made.
ReplyDeleteI also read "Open Season Is Seen in Gene Editing of Animals". the article was similar to the other one gene manipulation expect this one focused more on the genetic modification of animals to promote beneficial features that are helpful for both the animals and the humans. For example the with two calves biologist altered part of their DNA in order to prevent them from growing horns. Thus the cows are able to be saved from the painful procedure of dehorning. This is just one of the many examples we will see in the genetic editing of animals and its impact on human's ranging from their diet to the treatment of diseases. According to the article " But with the federal government’s approval last week of a fast-growing salmon as the first genetically altered animal Americans can eat, a menagerie of gene-edited animals is already being raised on farms and in laboratories around the world — some designed for food, some to fight disease, some, perhaps, as pets. ... Just this week, researchers reported having edited mosquitoes so that they will no longer carry the parasite that causes malaria. " Still there are both risks and benefits for the practice of gene editing because it is so simple as the name imply the danger would be great if they technolgy were to be misused. As as article states the current question is no along would we allow the use of these practices but will we. The technology and science is now here. Today is the time for these decisions to be made.
ReplyDeleteI am not a fan of gene editing. Granted it could lead to reduction of disease but, who for us to say that scientist can play God. For me there is too many ethical issues.
ReplyDelete