In the article “Study finds shark fins & meat contain high level of neurotoxins linked to Alzheimer's disease”, this article explained how there were high concentrations of toxins in the fins and muscle in 10 different species of sharks. In a new study at the University of Miami scientists found that those toxins are linked to neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer's and ALS. This was discovered when fin and muscle tissue samples of the sharks found that there are concentrations of two toxins-mercury and BMAA (β-N-methylamino-L-alanine). These substances pose a threat to human health alone and an even higher risk together. Neil Hammerschlag, a research assistant professor at the UM Rosenstiel school explained, “Since sharks are predators, living higher up on the food web, their tissues tend to accumulate and concentrate toxins,which may not only pose a threat to shark health, but also put the human consumers of shark parts at risk.”
About 16 % of the world's shark species are threatened with extinction, but now that we understand how consuming shark aparts may be harmful the shark population may be saved. Although consuming sharks could harm people, the outcome is positive because these toxins are saving a overfished species. But many people could see this discovery as negative because it could ruin their favorite food or bring them out of their line of work.
Overall I thought that this article was well written I still think there are some ways the author could have improved his/her writing. The first way that the author could have improved the article was if he/she included his/her name because it is impossible for someone to correctly credit the text. Also I think the the author was a little biased, because he/she only talked about the positive effects for sharks after finding the toxins. But besides those issues I think that this article was easy to follow and I learned a lot about this worldwide problem.
Citations:
"Study Finds Shark Fins & Meat Contain High Levels of Neurotoxins Linked to Alzheimer's Disease." Study Finds Shark Fins & Meat Contain High Levels of Neurotoxins Linked to Alzheimer's Disease. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Nov. 2016.
"Study Finds Shark Fins & Meat Contain High Levels of Neurotoxins Linked to Alzheimer's Disease." Study Finds Shark Fins & Meat Contain High Levels of Neurotoxins Linked to Alzheimer's Disease. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Nov. 2016.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.biologynews.net/archives/2016/08/29/study_finds_shark_fins_meat_contain_high_levels_of_neurotoxins_linked_to_alzheimers_disease.html
My fellow classmate Caitlin wrote a very good article about, "Study finds shark fins and meat contain high levels of neurotoxins linked to Alzheimer's disease." This article is mainly about how there are toxins in the fins and muscles in 10 different species of sharks. In this review, I thought that Caitlin did a fine job with a few things. One thing that is solid about her article is that she talked about where this research is being taken place. I always like it when somebody states where this research is taking place because it makes the study much more valid and credible. Another thing that I liked about her review is how she included a valuable statistic in regard to the world's shark species threat of extinction. Because of this, I understand the article much better and what this research is really all about. Also, the story is more clear because of this statistic. Finally, the other thing that I liked about Caitlin's review is that she included a very good quote from an assistant research professor at the University of Miami which makes the review much more understandable. In all of the previous reviews that I have commented on, I have not really seen quotes in those reviews. That is what makes her review stand out from the other reviews that I read and because she included a quote from a credible person, at least there is some perspective and valuable insight.
While Caitlin's review is really good, there are a few flaws. One is that Caitlin did not state the author and so, it makes the research a little bit less credible. I know that it is not Caitlin's fault because the author did not include their name and that is bad. Perhaps, this is not the best article to be reviewing because for all I know, this could have been a random person who has no knowledge in this certain area or even went to the site where this research is taking place. At least, Caitlin told us why she could not state the author and I think that it is a valid reason. To fix this problem, I think that before you read an article, always look to see if the author's name is on the article. Furthermore, the second flaw is that her summary was not long enough and was very short. As an example, she could have explained to us in more detail about the two substances that could have an impact on human health. To fix this flaw, she could at least have one or two more sentences explaining to us what these two substances do and how can they impact human health. If she had done that, I would have understood this review a little bit better.
Overall, I learned a good amount of information and now my knowledge on sharks is much better than what it was before reading this article. One main thing that I learned from this article is that 16% of the world's shark species are threatened with extinction. Before reading this review, I thought that the world's shark species could never be threatened with extinction so that was shocking for me to find out about that fact. Because of this astonishing fact, I hope that more people are more aware of this statistic and hopefully, we can solve this problem because if sharks become extinct, then our society can start to have problems and we already have enough problems to deal with. Therefore, scientists must come up with a solution to defeat this problem. Overall, I thought that Caitlin's review was thought provoking and well written and I hope that more people can read this review.
ReplyDeleteIn the current event written by my colleague Caitlin Mooney she made some very good points. One of the aspects she did well is that she used a quote to support her argument. Without a quote to tie the article to your essay you distance yourself from the source making your essay less powerful. Another thing she did well is she listed why she believes these toxins are a good thing. By doing this she connects her argument into the heart of her research. If she did not do this her argument would have less weight. She also took the author's bias into consideration which is normally hard to do. This shows that she really analysed the article which makes her current event more credible. She tried to look at things without bias which is good.
Even though Caitlin did a very good job with her current event there is still some improvements to be made. When she was talking about how sharks are close to being endangered she could have gone in more detail about what species are endangered and how severely. This would have been interesting and could move the reader more. She could have also tried to avoid ending a paragraph with a quote because a quote without an explanation is less valuable to your argument.
This current even taught me more about how the hunt of sharks will be stopped. I chose this current event because I had recently watched a Gordon Ramsay documentary on the poaching of sharks and I wanted to learn more about it. This current event changed my point of view because I thought that there was no health downsides to eating shark and i was wrong.