BIOL 294 Writing Assignment #1
A primary article is written by a researcher on new findings on a particular subject. The literate is usually composed of all the information collected from the field and through practice. The documentation should include an introduction, methods, results, discussion, and references. Before being published, the document goes through an extensive process to check for accuracy which includes the peer review process.
Secondary or review articles don’t have to go through the rigorous process of being peer-reviewed. Instead, review articles reference different primary articles that are researching the same topic and consolidate the data in a more manageable format. These articles are best used to better understand a topic and as a compass to the primary sources that will have more information.
The peer review is a rather rigorous and lengthy process. The process begins when a researcher wants to publish their work. They gather all the information they possess on a particular subject; work they have collected through fieldwork and practices. The work is organized in an article format and submitted to a publisher. The publisher then sends the article to the original researcher’s peers. Peers are people who study in the same field, they determine the accuracy and validity of the article and give the publisher either the recommendation that it should or should not be published. The publisher has the ultimate authority over what research articles will be published. This peer review process is very lengthy and usually has a substantial amount of revisions along the way.
From my assessment of the two articles, the Permanent inactivation of Huntington’s disease mutation by personalized alert-specific CRISPR/Cas9 is the primary article. I identified this based on the structure of the article. It has the basic material breakdown needed to qualify as a primary article. For example, the introduction, methods, results, discussion, and references are clearly laid out and identified throughout the journal. Whereas Huntington’s Disease: Mechanisms of Pathogenesis and Therapeutic Strategies would be labeled as the review article. The extensive list of references shows that the authors consolidated quite a bit of data to accurately summarize the material.
BIOL 294 Writing Assignment #2
Reference:
Subbiah, V. et al. Selective RET kinase inhibition for patients with RET-alerted cancers. Annals of oncology: official journal of the European Society for Medical Oncology; https://doi.org/10.1093/annonc/mdy137
BIOL 294 Writing Assignment #3
This case report dives into how the trisomy 21 gene could affect fetuses more as women age. Specifically, in this report, the woman being studied is pregnant with twins. She is of a later maternal age so this is a good subject to study during this case. Since this is a case study there are structures that are identifiers that allow the reader to know that this is a primary article.
The article is broken down into separate sections that follow along with the primary article format. The abstract brings and overall synopsis of what the reader can expect to gain from reading the article. That is followed by the background, this allows the reader to be informed about the historical data involved with the data contained in the article. This allows the reader to be informed as they are reading to bring better comprehension to what the article wants to portray. The next portion is the case presentation and Investigations. In these two portions the article presents what or in this case who will be studied and a quick background on the specific case. The next portion is method or for this article its Treatment. The treatment breaks down what happened during the trial. In the treatment the methods that were chosen to either discover or treat the symptoms is also identified. This article is ended with the discussion. In the discussion the researchers identify what they learned from the research and an overall overview of how the research went.
This article was written on the likely hood of women of a certain age to carry children with Down syndrome. In this article the woman being studied is 38 years old. As the article states a women has a 1 in 173 chance of carrying a child with Down syndrome at that age. This woman was apart of the IVF treatment and found out that she was carrying twins. Both of the twins were diagnosed with a high risk of trisomy 21. This was discovered during multiple prenatal screenings. The screenings progressed from non evasive to more in-depth check ups.
Overall this article is a primary source. It has all the information needed to fall into this category. The information was laid out and very simple to read and comprehend. The research itself was very informative. It describes the risk of trisomy 21 and how it can affect women children who decided to get pregnant later in life.
Reference:
Ong, J. Gosavi, A. Biswas, A. Choolani, M. Trisomy 21 in both fetuses in a DCDA twin pregnancy. BMJ Case Rep 10.1136/bcr-2018-227608(2019)
BIOL 294 Writing Assignment #4
In the Virginia Pilot article, I was able to find that correlated to genetics, it is an old fashion cold case being solved. This article covers how genetic coding and DNA can help identify a suspect in a case. It also indirectly shows that advances in technology and a better understanding of how to decode DNA can help solve unsolved cold cases.
In this case, there were two women that were murdered in their home and the perpetrator escaped without a trace. Well, not entirely without a trace as there was blood found on the scene that did not belong to either woman. While initially, the police were unable to truly identify who the blood belong to, they were able to gather some compelling physical characteristics from the drops of blood. Based on the DNA the police knew that they were looking for a male of African American descent with green eyes and black or brown hair. This is very impressive from a few drops of blood. However, this is obviously not enough information to start a manhunt, so the cases stalled her for 13 years. After running the DNA multiple times over the course of 13 years they were finally able to come to find a match. The DNA identified a man who worked in the New York Department of Corrections. So, what changed in the last 13 years that help the investigators identify the suspected killer in a 13-year-old case? The answer is genetic genealogy.
Genetic genealogy is the family history through biological relationships using DNA test results in combination with other genealogical methods. In this case, the investigators used a website called 23andme. This website along with others allows people to trace back their family history to understand their ethnicity or where their family originated from. While this information is very useful for the consumer, it is also a way that investigative units can track down suspects. By using the DNA found on the scene and placing it in one of the genetic genealogy mapping websites the investigators were able to find their suspect. As the world evolves and more information becomes available online this is information that police units are turning to more often to help solve some cases.
While the method of using genetic genealogy to solve cases both cold and active is becoming more popular across the nation it is not as simple as it seems. One big limiting factor to finding a suspect is the lack of DNA samples in the database. Since the online genealogy databases are on volunteer bases it is possible that the DNA needed is not present. Also, even if there is a familiar match the system is not designed to give a name. The investigators are still required to use the clues they gathered to narrow down possible suspects and eventually locate and identify the person of interest that they are looking for.
While using genetic genealogy is not a foolproof system it is a newer technology that is helping solve a lot of cases. While it has its limitation it can help investigators narrow down the possibilities which is a large part of the battle when solving cases. This article portrays accurately how police units use genetic genealogy websites to help them in their investigative work. I think being transparent with people and showing them the different methods used is important. People should understand that once they put their DNA on these websites to understand their past, they could be allowing themselves to be exposed to unwanted attention in the future. This type of investigative work while usually done with good intentions could be intrusive for some. Understanding how genetic genealogy work is important for all.
Reference:
Sullivan, A. DNA testing leads to arrest of Newport News man in 2009 double-homicide cold case. The Virginian-Pilot(May 2022)
Greytak, E. et al. Genetic genealogy for cold case and active investigations. Forensic Science International 299:103-133 (March 2019)
BIOL 294 Writing Assignment #5
From a very young age I have always had two qualities that I think help me standout from others; my desire to help others and my willingness to serve. These two qualities have helped guide me to my interest to eventually perusing a career as a Physician Assistant. I have had the unique opportunity to travel the world and through my life experience I continue to find my way back to helping and serving others.
When I graduate high school, I was unsure what I wanted to do later in life, so I delayed my entry to college and decided to serve my country. I spent 10 years serving the country in the United States Navy. This experience really fed my desire to serve and help others that are less fortunate than me. In my time in the miliary I was fortunate enough to fly onboard a MH-53E helicopter. During this time, I was able to assist others in needs during many natural diesters, supplying a multitude of items to include water, food, and shelter. These were very long days with little sleep and time spent away from families, but the satisfaction of providing for those in need is unmatched and really fueled my passion for helping others.
While I was serving in the military my job was never directly in the medical field, but I was able to volunteer with the medical team to gain experience. In my volunteer work I was able to assist the team during the Covid-19 outbreak. During this time, I assisted in enforcing policies and was able to spearhead providing the vaccination for sailors as it became available. This experience assisted me in building the leadership qualities needed to work in the medical field. I also learned the importance of patient-provider relationships. Understanding how to communicate to patients helps clearly and accurately promote education as well a newfound comprehension needed, especially during the time with the new vaccination.
The addition of a new family while serving in the military helped me understand how to prioritize task to ensure that I can get all my work done in a timely manner. I learned early on that I wanted to have a degree in biology, so I begin taking class online while serving on active duty. Since I started school, I received increased responsibility in the military and got married and welcomed my first child. All these things cumulating at once seemed to be very daunting but being dedicated to reaching goals and setting realistic expectation allowed me to continue to peruse my degree while concurrently have a family and serving my country.
While life comes with its many challenges, I think there are lessons to be learned in every experience. In life I have encountered many challenges, all of which have shaped me to be the person I am today. I think being able to realistically reflect on my life experiences and continuing to draw on them to avoid making similar mistakes is important. My life has always been leading me to becoming a health care professional, and I would love to have the opportunity to peruse that dream at this university.