Susie Goodell
Mr. Ippolito
Core Biology
4/15/17
Current Events 9
Goldschmidt, Debra. "Florida Releases Experimental Mosquitoes to Fight Zika." CNN. N.p., 20 Apr. 2017. Web. <http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/20/health/florida-mosquito-wolbachia-trial-zika/index.html>.
For this current event, I chose the article "Florida Releases Experimental Mosquitoes to Fight Zika" by Debra Goldschmidt. In this piece, the author discusses the release of 20 thousand mosquitoes in the Florida Keys area on Friday. The mosquitoes do not bite and were injected with Wolbachia bacteria. They were released as a new approach to limiting the spread of the Zika virus by controlling the populations of disease-carrying female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. The trial that will last 12 weeks and twice a week, groups of these Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes will be released at 20 spots in the area. When they are released, scientists hope that the males will mate with the female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. The eggs produced won’t hatch and the reproduction will stop, hopefully leading to a reduced population of the female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes and the viruses they carry. Field trials similar to this one have taken place successfully in places such as Australia, Indonesia, California, Vietnam, Colombia, and Brazil. Another solution mosquito control officials in Florida are looking at is completing a trial with genetically modified male Aedes aegypti mosquitoes made by a British company. They are engineered to pass on a gene to female mosquitoes that causes the offspring to die.
The Zika virus has caused devastating birth defects to the children of pregnant women who get bit by the mosquitoes carrying it. The female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes not only carry the Zika virus, but also Dengue fever and Chikungunya. Andrea Leal, the executive director of the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District, says, “A successful trial with the Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes could mean the availability of a new tool in the fight against the Aedes aegypti mosquito for not only our District, but for Mosquito Control Districts around the country.” If we can find a way to control the Zika virus, we can protect many future lives and maybe we can use a similar technique in the future to prevent the spread of other diseases.
This article is very well-written and informative. The author writes using vocabulary that is easy for anyone to understand. There is also many details of how the mosquitoes released will serve their purpose. The author discusses the threat of zika and makes the potential dangers of it very clear. This article has many positive aspects, however there are a few negatives. The author provided no background information on the origins of the Zika virus and how it spread. If the reader had no prior knowledge of the virus, the article would have been confusing. The author also doesn’t go into detail on the previous field trials of the mosquitoes. She should have provided more information about the Wolbachia bacteria and how the idea to inject the bacteria into mosquitoes was developed. Overall, this article was educational and fascinating to read.
Catherine FAville
ReplyDeleteMR. Ippolito
Current event
I read my students Susie's analysis on the article Florida Releases Experimental Mosquitoes to Fight Zika written by Debra Goldschmidt. In the article it discusses how twenty thousand mosquitoes that had been injected with wolbachia bacteria were released in florida, this was an attempt to try and control the the spreading of the Zika virus. She does a really good job of going into detail when analyzing the article, she goes into vivid detail as to why they decided to releases these mosquitoes and what effect it had on the zika carrying mosquitoes and the environment. She also goes into good detail on what the zika virus does to people, it makes the reasoning for releasing new mosquitoes seem like a efficient way to go about the problem.
However it would have been better for the reader if she went into more of the science behind it, just so we could get a better understanding as to how exactly this works. Also it would have been more beneficial if she went into how scientist discovered that this would work in stopping the spread of the disease. If she added a little more background into the analysis it would have made the reading more informative and give the reader a better understanding.
This reading helped me gain a better knowledge of the zika virus, i haven't been keeping tabs on it so it was kinda a wake call as to where it currently is. This also was interesting bec I thought it was weird how they could just injected a lot of mosquitoes with a new type of bacteria and help the problem at hand. It Also opened my eyes as to the many effects the zika virus has on its victims, it makes it more heartfelt and understanding.
Bailey Barton
ReplyDeleteMr. Ippolito
Biology: Current Event
April 24th 2017
G, Susie. "Bronxville HS Core Biology." "Florida Releases Experimental Mosquitoes to Fight Zika." N.p., 01 Jan. 1970. Web. 24 Apr. 2017.
http://bhscorebio.blogspot.com/2017/04/florida-releases-experimental.html#comment-form
I read Susie Goodell’s recent review on the article "Florida Releases Experimental Mosquitoes to Fight Zika" by Debra Goldschmidt. I found this article to be very informative and interesting. Susie gave a good explanation on the article itself involving specific names and detailed description of trials that are taking place by using experimental mosquitoes. I gained a good understanding on the experiment itself and it’s goal in terms of how it will affect communities struggling with the infection of zika transmitted through mosquitoes.
Although the article was very informative I found it hard to follow. One thing I would change is the adding additional background on the mosquitoes, possibly a comparison between those who are made for experimental purposes and those infecting others with the zika virus. I say this because it was difficult to remember by name which mosquito was which.
I enjoyed this article review because it involves strives towards improving worldwide health issues caused by factors, such as insects, that are difficult to control/manipulate. I found the methods very interesting in creating a new breed of mosquito to cause infertility which will eventually stop all reproduction of mosquitoes containing the zika virus, if successful. As well as learning about the experiment aspect I also was educated on the effect on the communities struggling with zika and how they could benefit.
Luke R edman
ReplyDeleteMr.Ippolito
Biology 10H
April 25th 2017
G, Susie. "Bronxville HS Core Biology." "Florida Releases Experimental Mosquitoes to Fight Zika." N.p., 01 Jan. 1970. Web. 24 Apr. 2017.
http://bhscorebio.blogspot.com/2017/04/florida-releases-experimental.html#comment-form
I read Susie Goodell’s review on the article titled “Florida Releases Experimental Mosquitoes to Fight Zika.” In the article, written by Debra Goldschmidt, there are trials of new experimental mosquitoes that were injected with the Wolbachia bacteria in order to fight Zika. Some things that I enjoyed about Susie’s review was how specific she was with the numbers in her review. She included the numbers necessary to fully grasp the scale of the test. She also explained the background of the Zika virus, and how it spreads and what it does to humans, more specifically women. This is good because if the reader had no knowledge of the Zika virus prior to the review, then they could be caught up to speed on the disease. She also includes other countries that have tried the same method of stopping the disease, such as Brazil and Columbia. There were some things that Susie could improve upon as well. She could have gone into more detail in what the Wolbachia bacteria was, and if it had any other effects than what it is intended for. Another error was that it was slightly hard to follow, with the facts jumbled a bit, but this might have been a personal problem. I enjoyed the article because it was very specific on the numbers, which gave me an insight to the growing problem that Zika causes. Overall, I enjoyed reading Susie’s review and look forward to others.
Alyssa Lee
ReplyDeleteMr. Ippolito
Biology 10H
1 May 2017
Goldschmidt, Debra. "Florida Releases Experimental Mosquitoes to Fight Zika." CNN. N.p., 20 Apr. 2017. Web.
I decided to evaluate my classmate Susie’s review of the article “Florida Releases Experimental Mosquitoes to Fight Zika” by Debra Goldschmidt. The article discusses the release of mosquitoes in Florida that were injected with Wolbachia bacteria, which seems to prevent the birth of offspring of Zika-carrying mosquitoes, preventing further spread of the deadly virus. Susie’s review was exceptionally well-written- for example, her description of the process by which the mosquitoes will limit the population of the Zika carrier mosquitoes was not only detailed and informative, but it also stated the facts briefly and concisely, making it a fascinating read. Susie states, “The eggs produced won’t hatch and the reproduction will stop, hopefully leading to a reduced population of the… mosquitoes and the viruses they carry.” Her use of colloquial language and listing the logical steps by which the experiment will be carried out make it simpler for the readers to understand the process. Susie also highlighted the importance of such an experiment very well in that she describes the consequences of the Zika virus as well as the impact the experiment will have on the world (assuming that it succeeds in its original purpose). Susie comments, “The Zika virus has caused devastating birth defects to the children of pregnant women… we can protect many future lives and… use a similar technique in the future to prevent the spread of other diseases.” Susie’s analysis of the worldwide future benefits of the Zika in using a “similar technique” in the future was also thought-provoking. Susie also executed her critique of the article well- she accurately pinpoints every aspect of the article that was lacking, and does so efficiently. She states, “The author provided no background information… If the reader had no prior knowledge of the virus, the article would have been confusing.” She describes cause and effect of this drawback as well, stating that without prior knowledge of Zika, the “article would have been confusing”.
Although Susie’s review was extremely well written, there are some areas that could be improved. For example, I believe that deeper analysis of the effects of the Wolbachia bacteria are necessary because I was not sure as to what the bacteria specifically does that prevents the mosquitoes from reproducing, where ultimately “eggs produced won’t hatch”. In other words, further information was needed as to what factor caused this certain type of bacteria to be chosen versus another type. Another possible area of improvement would be an explanation as to the aspects of conditions of the other countries mentioned that allowed them to successfully carry out the experiment, as Susie states that “Field trials similar to this one have taken place successfully in places such as Australia, Indonesia, California, Vietnam, Colombia, and Brazil”. For example, was there a common thread between these countries’ climates or seasons that made this experiment possible? This would have been helpful to me as a reader because it would allow me to analyze the possible causes of the results of the experiment with other countries to see if there is a large possibility for failure during this trial of the experiment in the U.S.
From reading Susie’s review, I learned that although many of us do not worry about Zika anymore, it is still a very prominent issue in society today. I was also surprised as to how fast science today advances to impact large social issues such as this one. I chose to read this article because I found it interesting that such a perceivably “outdated” topic could resurface once again, This article and review have changed my perception of the world in that I now see that Zika is still an important issue worldwide today, even if I am personally unaffected by this deadly virus.
My classmate, Susie, wrote about an article that sheds light on Florida realizing experimental mosquitoes to fight Zika. The first thing that really caught my eye was that these mosquitoes will help to reduce the population size of mosquitoes. I have learned in the past that if you limit, or take away any level of the food chain, the ecosystem goes crazy. However, the article informed that they will not cause any stress on the environment as there is over 3000 species of mosquitoes. The fact that Aedes Aegypti mosquitoes are the animal that kill the most humans, is shocking to me. This was due to it spreading a lot of terrible diseases. I underestimated that a bug could be as harmful. Finally, the fact that scientist can alter a mosquitoes DNA, which will sterilise them is really cool to me.
ReplyDeleteReading this article was very easy and very informative, as Susie included a lot of quotes which really helped to convey her points. However, I wish she included some more background information. I had to watch the articles video to verify that the removal of this species won't cause havoc on the environment. Lastly, I wish she would expand upon what the bacteria does, and how exactly it does it. Overall, it was a very well written article.
Finally, reading this article made me realise that Zika is still a major problem in the world today, even the USA. Zika has not really been in the public eye as much, which let me forget about it. Going forward, I will make sure to read up on the process of curing Zika virus.
Olivia Conniff
ReplyDeleteMr. Ippolito
Biology
9/13/18
G, Susie. "Bronxville HS Core Biology." "Florida Releases Experimental Mosquitoes to Fight Zika." N.p., 01 Jan. 1970. Web. 24 Sept. 2018.
http://bhscorebio.blogspot.com/2017/04/florida-releases-experimental.html#comment-form
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this article review. I thought Susie Goodell did a great job summarizing the original article as well as explaining it in her own words and reviewing it. I really like how she included several quotes. It made the purpose of the article a lot easier to understand. For example after explaining how the female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes have affected people with the diseases they carry, she included the quote, “Andrea Leal, the executive director of the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District, says, ‘A successful trial with the Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes could mean the availability of a new tool in the fight against the Aedes aegypti mosquito for not only our District, but for Mosquito Control Districts around the country.’” Furthermore, Susie did an exceptional job of explaining the experiment being conducted. She wrote, “The mosquitoes do not bite and were injected with Wolbachia bacteria. They were released as a new approach to limiting the spread of the Zika virus by controlling the populations of disease-carrying female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. The trial that will last 12 weeks and twice a week, groups of these Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes will be released at 20 spots in the area.” She explained clearly when, where, and how this experiment would be taking place. Finally, in her review Susie used flowing, yet easy to understand, language. I was able to follow the writing easily while still feeling like I had a good understanding of what the article was about.
While the review was very well written there were a few minor things I thought could be improved. I was a bit confused about what the Wolbachia bacteria actually did. I think if the actual purpose of the Wolbachia bacteria was better explained, I may have understood more. Susie wrote, “The mosquitoes do not bite and were injected with Wolbachia bacteria. They were released as a new approach to limiting the spread of the Zika virus by controlling the populations of disease-carrying female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes.” The bacteria was introduced but not really explained, which if explained I think may have made the experiment a lot clearer. Also, I think there was not enough background information included. Someone who is not very familiar with the Zika virus may have been confused because there was not a lot of information about it besides, “The Zika virus has caused devastating birth defects to the children of pregnant women who get bit by the mosquitoes carrying it.” More background information about the Zika virus certainly would improve the review.
From reading this article review I learned a great deal about how the Zika virus has affected many places around the world, which I was not totally aware of. This will cause me to stay updated and current with the news of the Zika virus and how it is affecting the world. Overall, I feel that this article was very informing and enjoyable to read.