Blog 19: A Glimpse of Girl Culture

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/eb/BDSM-collar-female-symbol.svg/2000px-BDSM-collar-female-symbol.svg.png

As I scroll through the images of females from a slideshow of Lauren Greenfield's Girl Culture, I notice the different images depicted in each slide. They each have their similarities and differences, but all have one theme in common: female culture in America. Some photos are rather sexual, some are pitiful, and some are a mix of both.

The picture that finally catches my eye is one where a thin lady in a hospital gown has her back turned to a scale with two people, one on each side, holding her. Keeping in mind the visual strategies used to analyze an image, let's delve further.

I found the face of the lady in the middle to be most interesting. Her face seems to be brighter than the rest of the image. Her disheveled, black hair also attracts attention, but her facial expression caught my eyes first. She looks rather tired/stressed with her head slanted one way. When I look at images, the features that stand out the most are the most interesting.

The photographer obviously has a reason to make these features stand out. She may want readers to think about how weight matters to women since the lady is in the picture is being weighed during a hospital checkup as shown by the scale behind her. Ms. Greenfield, the photographer may also want the viewers to see the stress that females are under concerning weight.

Her stance and appearance in the photo seem to emulate Jesus in a white robe. Her white hospital gown, light shining on her, and the positioning of her arms. Perhaps this is to show that being weighed is like the moment of truth, judgement day. The doctor and his assistant are also carefully examining her which can be considered judging her. Ms. Green also centers the thin lady in the photo which emphasizes the thin lady's importance in conveying Ms. Green's message. The contrast between light and shadows also adds to the emphasis. Even the fact that the lady is facing away from the scale supports the idea.

From all this, women appear to fear their body weight or at least show concern toward it. That is part of the American girl culture. Too many stars of popular media provide the ideal image of a female, setting certain standards that society supposedly accepts. In my next blog, I shall explore more of these photos.

Blog 18: Unit 1 Reflection

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-awareness

With the first major assignment done, I feel as if a weight has been lifted off my shoulders yet also worried. Either way, I learned much from these first weeks of college English.

When I first started to blog, I did not fully realize the importance of keeping paragraphs concise. I also learned to my dismay that I tend to overthink a topic which is time inefficient especially if I take almost several hours to think before I actually blog. Sometimes the overthinking is helpful for brainstorming which is what I hope to do with the next assignments. Maybe I could just type a draft full of all my ideas and then edit them rather than edit along the way.

Later, the blogs became geared toward the different sources of media. From this, I learned how to use Google Scholar to search well, scholarly journal articles and also learned how to properly search for usable pictures using the usage rights under search tools.

The next stage of this unit was the bibliography. During this stage, I learned how to cite sources in AMA style. Although different from the MLA I am accustomed to, the information conveyed by both citations styles were similar. These different modes of communications each have their own audiences, purpose, and formats. One skill to be garnered from this is that a wide variety of sources not only shows dedication on the researcher's part, but also provides a more complete image of a topic.

Then, came the actual drafting. After reading the comments on my drafts and seeking advice, I started to realize that nominalizations and passive voice were areas I may need some improvement. Because passive voice can be passively used by me (as shown here), I must be cautious. Another aspect I need to improve upon is the clarity of my writing since I tend to use long sentences. Concise is the key.

With the final project near its due date, I realized that my writing is okay, but not the best. I had to drastically alter my thesis to accommodate this realization. Perhaps clinical techniques undergoing research were not directly meant to be understood by the general public. The complex terms were used to show expertise to the more influential experts. The exchange is between those in the scientific community. Maybe the scientific writers are somewhat aiming at the more educated public.

After I completed my quick reference guide, I felt that I described the cell processes going on in gene therapy in an easy to understand way using analogies. The ideas are also not bad, but maybe I could further elaborate and prioritize what I want to say to maintain a balance of not too wordy, but not too underdeveloped.

When the next project comes, I can hopefully apply my brainstorm then edit technique. This will save more time allowing me to review my project instead of expecting a "hit or miss" project.

If I could sum up all these experiences into a single sentence, it would be: An excellent writer is one who could use conventions and formats to effectively craft a concise yet in depth essay/report/QRG. I still have a long way to go, but hopefully I will improve over time.  

Blog 17: Revised Paragraph

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Magnifying_glass_with_focus_on_paper.png

After learning about nominalizations, passive vs. active voice, and sentence clarity in English class, I will apply them to one of the paragraphs in my quick reference guide draft. This is one of the two supporting paragraphs taken from one of the sections titled "Is Gene Therapy Perfect (Safe) Yet?"

BEFORE:

One blaringly conspicuous report that made many headlines was when Chinese scientists decided to apply gene therapy using the CRISPR/cas9 to alter human embryos. As stated by Rob Stein, the speaker at NPR, “The work was done on 86...embryos that weren't viable, in order to minimize some of the ethical concerns. Only 71 of the embryos survived, and just 28 were successfully edited. But the process also frequently created unintended mutations in the embryos' DNA.”7 This not only crossed the line between being ethical and unethical according to some people, but the less than satisfactory results also placed gene therapy in a controversial position due to its variable success rate based on this one experiment.

AFTER:

One conspicuous report that made many scientific headlines was when Chinese scientists decided to edit human embryos with CRISPR-Cas9. As stated by Rob Stein in an NPR podcast, “The work was done on 86...embryos that weren't viable...to minimize some of the ethical concerns. Only 71 of the embryos survived, and just 28 were successfully edited. But the process also frequently created unintended mutations in the embryos' DNA.”7 Gene therapy finally crossed ethical lines, casting more doubt upon both the scientific community and the general public, with its ability to edit humans before they are born and variable success rate.

I deleted any unnecessary words from the paragraph and quote to further clarify the message being conveyed. For the last sentence, I made gene therapy the main subject in the sentence saying that it stirs up controversy rather than saying how different people interpret this (which would make gene therapy more passive). The different interpretations of this experiment will instead by mentioned in the next section called "GMH's: Genetically Modified Humans. Is This Ethical?" With these ideas in mind, I shall continue editing my rough draft.

Blog 16: Revised QRG

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Page_Under_Construction.png

After a few revisions, this is the revised quick reference guide for gene therapy. It is still under construction.

Link: https://docs.google.com/a/email.arizona.edu/document/d/1OaYgtPf4jt8qMN4Qcqwgz0q_EtSRlLWDhE4aOEfIMBE/edit?usp=sharing

3rd QRG Draft:
Draft: https://docs.google.com/a/email.arizona.edu/document/d/1xoh4XZjR3V6xjAMg1zxJxPh2RQq_aLFK4pey8yKeYSo/edit?usp=sharing

Blog 15: Peer Review and Revised Thesis

https://www.flickr.com/photos/wackyvorlon/8763349786

Today is a Friday, marking the start of the weekend, but weekend in college are not a time of relaxation for me. In class, I was slightly tired, but ready to see what my other classmates did for their quick reference guide drafts. The class exchanged drafts and searched for key components in those drafts such as topic sentence, support/quotes, etc.

The first draft I received was a concise two page draft. As I read through the draft, I wondered if the draft I composed was too long. The paper also had statistics. Maybe I should have included a table or graph into my quick reference guide. Not only that, but the headings for each section was not only bold, but they were also in larger font which I thought was smart on the writer's part.

The second draft I revised was also short. It seemed to be slightly underdeveloped, but still hit the main points that need to be addressed in the quick reference guide. Like the paper before it, it did not seem to utilize all ten sources. I brooded over this for a few seconds and thought that maybe I did not have to explore each of my sources extensively, but to utilize the relevant ones so as to not clog up my quick reference guide with unnecessary fluff.

When I received my paper back, I scanned the underlines and E's on the margins noticing that my paper did in fact seem to follow a PIEIE pattern which reassured me that maybe I was doing something right. Although my draft in the eyes of its reviewers did not seem to have any points of concern or ideas missing, I could not help, but feel as if I could have done much better.

As I read through my thesis statement, I decided to make some adjustments to it. Before it was:
"Several key scientists and writers, both experienced an/or interested in the field of gene therapy have voiced their opinions about scientific breakthroughs or in some cases, even presenting one, disclosing their fears, doubts, excitements, and hopes so that the broader more educated audience, not just people in the scientific community, could understand the miracles gene therapy can perform and the ethical lines that these geneticists have yet to cross."

Now the revised one is: "Gene therapy has stirred up much controversy involving not only those in the scientific community, but the broader more educated audience who may soon be patients to this technique in hospitals. Because of the various sources of media that expert scientists or skilled science editors use, ranging from easy to understand articles to erudite scientific journals, to reveal their discoveries as well as opinions of gene therapy, not everyone has a complete understanding of the miracles gene therapy can perform and the ethical lines that the geneticists have yet to cross and as a result, uncertainty arises which fuels this controversy."

Blog 14: Thoughts on Drafting

https://www.flickr.com/photos/newzgirl/4996442944

The due date for the final quick reference guide assignment is approaching quickly. Time goes by when one is having fun blogging and analyzing rhetorical techniques. Despite finishing the first draft of my quick reference guide having read the Student's Guide, my work is far from over. Today, let's discuss the sections of the Student's Guide book that were helpful and not as helpful.

The parts of the book that were helpful in writing in the quick reference guide genre are "Drafting a Thesis Statement", "Writing Paragraphs in PIE", "Writing Introductions", and "Organizing Information". Considering how the thesis is one of the most important parts of the paper or any writing for that matter, explaining how to come up with one is vital. The book provides a list of questions that help determine the composition/characteristics of the thesis such as "Is it interesting?" (Pg. 49, Student's Guide). As a more visual person, I enjoyed the color scheme provided by the book to show how paragraph be developed which is the PIE. This helps the reader see what the formatting of the different types of sentences should be. Another important aspect of the quick reference guide is whether it could hook an audience effectively or not. This is true for almost an form of writing with a general audience. An interested person would have an easier time comprehending what is being discussed than a bored person. Quick reference guides are organized in several ways. The flow of the headers constitute this. If the order of the headers and/or paragraphs do not follow, then the guide loses some of its purpose, to easily inform the general, somewhat educated audience.

The only part that did not provide much help as the other portions of the book is the "Writing Conclusions". Although the conclusion plays an important role in a paper, the information provided seems to fit more so a research paper rather than a quick reference guide although some guidelines do match such as the "look forward" portion. Seeing that five sample quick reference guides did not summarize their ideas in the end, a traditional conclusion is not really needed.

Overall, the book provided many helpful tips to refine my draft, but in order to fully refine a draft, it must be viewed and critiqued through others.

Blog 13: Practice Quoting

Before I start jumping into my Quick Reference Guide, I need to learn how to quote effectively since quotes not only capture the original intent of the author, but some quotes are written with such finesse and accuracy that they basically speak for themselves sometimes with the help of introductory phrases and analyses. I scroll through each of my sources in search two quotes, but they can't be any quotes. They have to be "the quotes". I finally found two sufficient quotes that meet the criteria and set to work. Here is the product:

Different colors were used to denominate different aspects of the paragraph:

• Yellow denotes the signal phrases.
• Pink denotes my establishment of these people's authority in the field
• Green denotes the contextualization
• Blue denotes any steps taken to modify the original quotes

This skill will prove to be beneficial as the Reference Guide Assignment draws near.

Blog 12: QRG's: the Genre

https://www.flickr.com/photos/programwitch/9901297485/

After an exhilarating week of learning about different genres and analyzing them in English class, we have yet one more genre to analyze: the simple yet informative quick reference guide. Although it may not be as comprehensive as a textbook, it describe and organizes a topic in such a way that almost everyone could follow it which is quite amazing. Now it is time for the analyzing to begin!

The first thing to notice notice about all the example articles is that all of them have several paragraphs which have bold headings above them which delve briefly into each each aspect of the topic helping the audience establish a basic understanding without overloading them on information. The word choice is not as complex which further helps readers connect to/understand the material. Most of them also have at least one picture. Although they generally follow a similar format, authors choose to modify them slightly to fit their topic.

Some authors choose to use questions as headers for some of the sections, guiding the less informed readers through the thought process. A few also number the headers as if to list the key points like with the Puerto Rico bankruptcy article which not only breaks up the monotony of letters, but also creates an informal, familiar format that the audience is accustomed to in at least some time in their lives such as in shopping lists. These additions not only make the guides unique, but also help convey their purpose.

The overarching purpose of these quick reference guides is to provide a concise summary, highlighting key aspects of the topic being covered. Because the information is shortened, it becomes more accessible to a wider range of people. The headings also allow the information to be organized and categorized so the readers understand the flow of the argument and thus could better grasp the issue. 

As for the intended audience, they seem to be people who have some knowledge of the information provided in the quick reference guide, but its range is not limited to merely experts. Although each topic covered in the guides are different, they tend to lean towards the general audience such as students. This is indicated by the brief sentences and hyperlinks which provide further information if needed, but also shows where the author retrieved his/her sources adding to his/her ethos. Several guides also define terms. To help the audience visualize the topics, quick reference guides also include visuals.

Not all guides extensively use pictures, but they all include at least one. Some may serve to "hook" readers such as the one in the Puerto Rico bankruptcy article. Others use pictures of social media posts or enlarge print for quotes taken from social media. When appropriate, multiple pictures are uses such as the stem cell and Sochi Olympics quick reference guides.

Quick reference guides prove to be helpful resources. The as I search for resources online, I should keep these in mind.

Reflection
As I read other blogs about QRGs, I started to realize the underlying complexity within a presumably simple quick reference guide. After reading Davis' blog, I saw that these QRGs not only served its readers, but also served the author whether it be conveying his/her ideas or bolstering his/her credibility. The idea that conventions not only meant formatting, but the actual details that people tend to overlook came to while reading Michael B's blog and was reinforced by Davis' blog and vice versa. This includes sentence structure, spacing, grammar usage, etc. From Massimo's blog, I was able to see a different perspective of the QRGs which makes me question my own previous analysis about it having a deeper purpose. Perhaps the real purpose of the article lies somewhere in the middle. The author is not necessarily trying to persuade his/her audience, but is trying to increase his/her ability to inform people by establishing credibility.

https://docs.google.com/a/email.arizona.edu/document/d/1ApV3yFeoP7d1ZHinF0jcmQPKLL8xUa95HDIc3GHWlO8/edit?usp=sharing

Blog 11: Cluster of Gene Therapy Controversy

After spending a few days searching for sources, I finally have enough to start the pre-writing process with a cluster diagram. As I sit down and start working on it on Google Drawing, I start to see why it is called cluster.

As a fan of colors, the different aspects of the blog are in different colored bubbles:

• Blue are the key groups involved in the controversy.
• Orange are the major speakers or writers in those groups.
• Red are the different types of media used to convey their ideas.
• Green are their opinions or what they are saying about the controversy.
• Lighter yellow are the ideologies and values held by these people.

The lines represent connections between the bubbles meaning that if media workers is connected to Nicholas Wade then he is a media worker which is a broad term for article writer in this cluster map. Despite its sinuous pathways, one could match each person to his/her group, method of conveying thoughts, opinions, and ideologies by following the lines.

After looking at two other students' cluster diagrams, I learned that different tricks could be used to ease the reading of a cluster map. I realized that I could have used these techniques also. Arrick used bends in his lines so as to prevent them from cutting into bubbles which would have been helpful in a highly clustered map. Other than that and the boxes, his set up and mine are similar as both are made in Google Drawing. Katie used a different website called Coggle and constructed a map which had a unique appearance and used specific details in her diagram as opposed to mine which seems a bit too simplistic. Maybe I might even consider using Coggle just for fun or if I hope to plan a paper.

I used to use these maps in middle school, but dropped the process due to time constraints, but being a visual person I like to see my ideas laid out. As a result of time constraints, I tend to use maps or diagrams to brainstorm ideas rather than organize them with the circle map being my favorite for brainstorming. All in all, I am not a huge fan of cluster diagramming to organize my ideas.

Blog 10: Draft No. 2 Annotated Bibliography in AMA Style

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hospital#/media/File:Flag_of_the_Red_Cross.svg

1.) 2015 WWIF Gene Editing, Gene Therapy, and the Eye as a Gateway [Video]. https://www. youtube.com/watch?v=Q-QFIX1S8kc. Published June 4, 2015. Accessed September 9, 2015.

Annotation: In this video of a conference, the overall claims made by the speakers indicate that gene therapy is undoubtedly making progress yet has barriers which it must overcome before being integrated into healthcare.This is supported through a question and answer method in which a moderator asks questions about its history, place in business, etc. and the doctors or scientists in the panel respond. The purpose is to inform the audience who are mostly composed of scientists and researchers in the field. The way that this is done is formal and structured, but since it is on Youtube, allows a broader audience to watch. This willed be used to discuss the ethical boundaries that exist when dealing with gene modification.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/betsyweber/1316435421/

2.) Bernardes de Jesus B, Vera E, Schneeberger K, et al. Telomerase gene therapy in adult and old mice delays aging and increases longevity without increasing cancer. EMBO Molecular Medicine. 2012;4(8): 691-704. doi: 10.1002/emmm.201200245

Annotation: A research article titled, "Telomerase gene therapy in adult and old mice delays aging and increases longevity without increasing cancer" (2012), Maria A. Blasco and her colleagues suggest that gene therapy can be applied to repair the tips of chromosomes thus extending life expectancy promoting the use of vectors to repair genes. They support their thesis by providing results from an experiment conducted on mice to show that their life spans were greater than those of untreated mice which proved to be successful. Their purpose is to show their audience that gene therapy is a viable option. They do so in a formal, scientific format to show credibility with the discerning scientific community. This article will bolster the idea that gene therapy has many applications that are beneficial.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-proverb

3.) Bersenev A. Tweets [Twitter Page]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/cells_nnm. Published March 2008. Accessed September 4, 2015.

Annotation: A twitter feed with no particular title by Alexey Bersenev (created in 2008), claims that gene therapy has a bright future yet is still in its youth so it has its setbacks. He develops his thesis through a series of tweets backed up by laboratory results from other scientific/general articles which show mostly advances in gene therapy technology as it becomes more applicable to more parts of the human body, but also includes any failures as to create a more balanced view of the issue. His main purpose is to inform possible readers, primarily who have a fundamental understanding of this process, of the progress of gene therapy maybe even to vie for its feasibility. He does so in an informal manner allowing the general audience along with his well educated peers to understand the applications. His tweets will be used as either for or against gene therapy since he seems to provide evidence from both sides.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/raul2010/289857602

4.) Cooper-White, M. Scientists Genetically Modify Human Embryos For First Time. Are We Facing A New Era of Eugenics? Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/24/embryo-genomes-edited-first-time_n_7127640.html. Published April 24, 2015. Accessed September 9, 2015.

Annotation: A Huffington Post article called "Scientists Genetically Modify Human Embryos For First Time. Are We Facing A New Era of Eugenics?" by Macrina Copper-White suggests that gene editing becomes even more complicated and controversial when used on embryos despite its possible benefits. To substantiate her claim, she information from accredited scientific review sites that introduce the technique and state its ethical issues. She seems to just be informing her audience about the implications, but may be warning her readers that gene therapy is still young, needing further testing before it could be used in hospitals. The word choice may make the article geared toward readers who have knowledge of cells, but could be considered for the general with its informal format. This will be used to provide information on common fears about the future of gene therapy and might be used in conjunction with any other articles/sources mentioning the uncertainty surrounding gene therapy.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Scissors.svg

5.) Maron DF. Controversial Gene-Editing Approach Gains Ground. Scientific America. http://www.sci entificamerican.com/article/controversial-gene-editing-approach-gains-ground/. Published April 23, 2015. Accessed September 3, 2015.

Annotation: An article from Scientific America titled "Controversial Gene-Editing Approach Gains Ground" (2015) by Dina Fine Maron, argues that despite being morally sketchy, snipping out pieces of faulty mitochondrial DNA could possible be beneficial. Maron substantiates her argument by discussing the importance of mitochondria then introducing a method that can prevent defects from occurring in future generations of children that simply prevents defected DNA from being passed on. Her purpose is to persuade her audience of ordinary readers or even scientific readers to accept this new method despite its controversy. The author does incorporate biological jargon, but crafts her article in such a way that the average reader could understand the gist of the article to connect with the general audience or those who do not feel strongly either way about this. This article will be used to introduce the idea of gene therapy and provide the pro-gene therapy information needed to compose a balanced paper.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/soflasun/6261112692

6.) Rojahn SY. When Will Gene Therapy Come to the U.S?. MIT Technology Review. http://www.tech nologyreview.com/news/519071/when-will-gene-therapy-come-to-the-us/. Published September 30,2013. Accessed September 4, 2015.

Annotation: In an social media post in MIT Technology Review titled "When Will Gene Therapy Come to the U.S." (2013), the author, Susan Young Rojahn suggests that soon, some gene therapy techniques may be legalized in the United States. She bolsters her thesis by gathering information from a research and opinions from researchers to reach a plausible prediction that the use of gene therapy to treat diseases will soon be made available. She is more so trying to persuade the general audience who are in the middle of the controversy that gene therapy is imminent. She does this by using facts and figures from her findings to allow her "middle-of-the-road audience" to better visualize the situation. This article provides a counterbalance to the articles that say gene therapy still needs work, but does so by expanding the perception of gene therapy which is useful for a pro view of the topic.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:National_Public_Radio_logo.svg

7.) Stein, R. Critics Lash Out At Chinese Scientists Who Edited DNA In Human Embryos [Radio Broadcast]. National Public Radio. http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2015/ 04/23 /4016558 18/critics-lash-out-at-chinese-scientists-who-edited-dna-in-human-embryos. Published April 23, 2015. Accessed September 9, 2015.

Annotation: In an NPR radio broadcast, Rob Stein claims implies that gene therapy is not perfect and possesses some inadvertent issues both physically and ethically. He uses sound generalizations and logic combined with the results from an experiment to say that this method is still variable in its success and could even have side effects. The purpose here is more to caution the general audience mostly those who are eager for gene therapy to go into hospitals. This is another source that will add to the cons side. The information it provides will go into an ethical section of a paper.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ban_sign.png 

8.) Wade, N. Scientists Seek Ban on Method of Editing Human Genome. The New York Times. http:// www.nytimes.com/2015/03/20/science/biologists-call-for-halt-to-gene-editing-technique-in-humans.html?&_r=0. Published March 19, 2015. Accessed September 9, 2015.

Annotation: In an article in the New York Times titled "Scientists Seek Ban on Method of Editing Human Genome", Nicholas Wade claims that gene editing may be expanding too fast and should not be probed further until it is safer to do so. He uses uses quotes from researchers that have credibility in the field to support his claim with many of the researchers included saying that they agree with the moratorium. Wade is persuading his readers to agree with this measure. To appeal to the masses, he writes his article in an informal way while defining any technical terms related to gene therapy. The source's information seems fitting for a con section of a paper.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_science_and_technology#/media/File:Libr0310.jpg

9.) Wirth T, Parker N, Yla-Herttuala S. History of gene therapy. Science Direct. 2013; 525(2):162-169. doi: 10.1016/j.gene.2013.03.137

Annotation: A research article titled "History of Gene Therapy" (2013) by Thomas Wirth, Nigel Parker, and Seppo Yla-Herttuala claims gene therapy is constantly improving throughout history despite being met with moral opposition They support their thesis by chronologically stating significant milestones in gene therapy up until the article was published followed by the ethical issues involved. Their purpose is geared toward persuading an educated audience who is preferably an expert in gene therapy that their analysis is correct. They convey this information in a formal manner to connect to other scientists so that these scientists may refer to this article. The scholarly source's information will probably fit into the background information or history of gene therapy section of a paper.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/hairylunch/9307842361

10.) Zimmer C. Editing Human Embryos: So This Happened. National Geographic. http://phenomena.nati onalgeographic.com/2015/04/22/editing-human-embryos-so-this-happened/. Published April 22, 2015. Accessed September 3, 2015.

Annotation: In a National Geographic article titled "Editing Human Embryos: So This Happened", Carl Zimmer asserts that gene therapy has improved over the years, but still needs to be studied further before it could be applied to healthcare. Zimmer supports his thesis by presenting a historical perspective of gene therapy then moving forward in time to today where some research has yielded failed results while others were successful meaning that the use of this still has room for improvement. His purpose is to inform a wide range of people from anti-gene therapy to pro-gene therapy. He conveys his information in an understandable way as to include the general audience and placing it in scientific context to connect with proponents of all sides, but tends to lean a bit more toward the pro side. Information of this article goes well mostly on the pro side of gene therapy as he seems to have hope for it and also provides information for a historical perspective in the research paper.

All citations in AMA Style

Blog 9: Annotated Bibliography Draft 1

https://www.flickr.com/photos/betsyweber/1316435421/

Bernardes de Jesus B, Vera E, Schneeberger K, et al. Telomerase gene therapy in adult and old mice delays aging and increases longevity without increasing cancer. EMBO Molecular Medicine. 2012;4(8): 691-704. doi: 10.1002/emmm.201200245

Annotation: A research article titled, "Telomerase gene therapy in adult and old mice delays aging and increases longevity without increasing cancer" (2012), Maria A. Blasco and her colleagues suggest that gene therapy can be applied to repair the tips of chromosomes thus extending life expectancy promoting the use of vectors to repair genes. They support their thesis by providing results from an experiment conducted on mice to show that their life spans were greater than those of untreated mice which proved to be successful. Their purpose is to show their audience that gene therapy is a viable option. They do so in a formal, scientific format to show credibility with the discerning scientific community. I might use this to show a concrete example of gene therapy since many sites generally say it helps repair DNA, but does not go deeper into the how or where.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/mkhmarketing/8540535352

Bersenev A. Tweets [Twitter Page]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/cells_nnm. Published March 2008. Accessed September 4, 2015.

Annotation: A twitter feed with no particular title by Alexey Bersenev (created in 2008), claims that gene therapy has a bright future yet is still in its youth so it has its setbacks. He develops his thesis through a series of tweets backed up by laboratory results from other scientific/general articles which show mostly advances in gene therapy technology as it becomes more applicable to more parts of the human body, but also includes any failures as to create a more balanced view of the issue. His main purpose is to inform possible readers, primarily who have a fundamental understanding of this process, of the progress of gene therapy maybe even to vie for its feasibility. He does so in an informal manner allowing the general audience along with his well educated peers to understand the applications. If he constantly updates his twitter, I could use this page to check if there are any updates to the gene therapy controversy so that I could incorporate this into a history/pro/con portion of my paper.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Scissors.svg

Maron DF. Controversial Gene-Editing Approach Gains Ground. Scientific America. http://www.sci entificamerican.com/article/controversial-gene-editing-approach-gains-ground/. Published April 23, 2015. Accessed September 3, 2015.

Annotation: An article from Scientific America titled "Controversial Gene-Editing Approach Gains Ground" (2015) by Dina Fine Maron, argues that despite being morally sketchy, snipping out pieces of faulty mitochondrial DNA could possible be beneficial. Maron substantiates her argument by discussing the importance of mitochondria then introducing a method that can prevent defects from occurring in future generations of children that simply prevents defected DNA from being passed on. Her purpose is to persuade her audience of ordinary readers or even scientific readers to accept this new method despite its controversy. The author does incorporate biological jargon, but crafts her article in such a way that the average reader could understand the gist of the article to connect with the general audience or those who do not feel strongly either way about this. I could obviously use this to argue for gene therapy and like the first source, show a concrete example of how gene therapy could benefit people.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/soflasun/6261112692

Rojahn SY. When Will Gene Therapy Come to the U.S?. MIT Technology Review. http://www.tech nologyreview.com/news/519071/when-will-gene-therapy-come-to-the-us/. Published September 30,2013. Accessed September 4, 2015.

Annotation: In an social media post in MIT Technology Review titled "When Will Gene Therapy Come to the U.S." (2013), the author, Susan Young Rojahn suggests that soon, some gene therapy techniques may be legalized in the United States. She bolsters her thesis by gathering information from a research and opinions from researchers to reach a plausible prediction that the use of gene therapy to treat diseases will soon be made available. She is more so trying to persuade the general audience who are in the middle of the controversy that gene therapy is imminent. She does this by using facts and figures from her findings to allow her "middle-of-the-road audience" to better visualize the situation. I could use this to introduce other methods of gene therapy aside from the CRISPR method that are gaining ground in research broadening the scope so that gene therapy is not just one method, but is a general term for various methods with different success rates.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_science_and_technology#/media/File:Libr0310.jpg

Wirth T, Parker N, Yla-Herttuala S. History of gene therapy. Science Direct. 2013; 525(2):162-169. doi: 10.1016/j.gene.2013.03.137

Annotation: A research article titled "History of Gene Therapy" (2013) by Thomas Wirth, Nigel Parker, and Seppo Yla-Herttuala claims gene therapy is constantly improving throughout history despite being met with moral opposition They support their thesis by chronologically stating significant milestones in gene therapy up until the article was published followed by the ethical issues involved. Their purpose is geared toward persuading an educated audience who is preferably an expert in gene therapy that their analysis is correct. They convey this information in a formal manner to connect to other scientists so that these scientists may refer to this article. I could use this to place gene therapy into a historical context, documenting its course and noting the improvements made up until today.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embryo_transfer#/media/File:Embryo,_8_cells.jpg

Zimmer C. Editing Human Embryos: So This Happened. National Geographic. http://phenomena.nati onalgeographic.com/2015/04/22/editing-human-embryos-so-this-happened/. Published April 22, 2015. Accessed September 3, 2015.

Annotation: In a National Geographic article titled "Editing Human Embryos: So This Happened", Carl Zimmer asserts that gene therapy has improved over the years, but still needs to be studied further before it could be applied to healthcare. Zimmer supports his thesis by presenting a historical perspective of gene therapy then moving forward in time to today where some research has yielded failed results while others were successful meaning that the use of this still has room for improvement. His purpose is to inform a wide range of people from anti-gene therapy to pro-gene therapy. He conveys his information in an understandable way as to include the general audience and placing it in scientific context to connect with proponents of all sides, but tends to lean a bit more toward the pro side. Some parts of this could be used to argue against gene therapy, but should be used more so to say that gene therapy has some way to go until it can reach hospitals.

Reflection: After reading the blog posts of Kat and Spencer, I saw that although the topics of their controversies relative to mine is slightly different, the information or format of the bibliographies are very similar. Kat's sources were cited similarly to my sources both being in AMA format although some small nuances set them apart such as what information was included. For example, her's internet source citation used the phrase "available at" which I did not use. This could be due to using different editions of the AMA or different websites with slightly different formats. Just the fact that her bibliography formatting reassures me that I am using the correct format for my blog. As for Spencer's blog, it seems to be formatted in CSE style which is used by biologists. This style seemed strikingly similar to the AMA style, but the information is just oriented differently. Both of them made me realize that I needed to emphasize my use of the articles which will be applied in the next bibliography. As discussed in class, people in the United States want to value intellectual property which is the reason for the citations. The different styles seem to serve the purpose of separating article genres from each other, yet still contain almost the same information. The fact that different citation styles are used did not surprise me, but the fact that there was even more for each discipline did.

All citations in AMA Style 10th edition from University of Illinois

(Annotation formats from pages 211 to 213 in A Students Guide to First-Year Writing 36th Edition)

Blog 8: Evaluation of Social Media Sources

https://www.flickr.com/photos/keiya/3255575238

The creator of this twitter page is undoubtedly a credible person in the field of genetic medicine. Alexey Bersenev himself is the director of a cell therapy research lab and has obtained his degrees in Moscow, but managed to work in the most prestigious hospitals such as Yale-New Haven Hospital and one in the University of Pennsylvania to name a few which was taken off his linkedin.

He is not usually in the place in which his tweets take place, but he does conduct gene therapy research, but does not seem to mention them in his tweets. As for whether or not he is involved in the research he mentions in his tweets, the answer is no.

Bersenev has about 3,215 followers that mostly consist of people related to the life sciences or health professions. Some of them are doctorates, researchers, entrepreneurs who are interested science, and the list continues. Mostly his followers who are researchers tend to have more institutional credibility as they conduct research in different universities such as Michigan and even one from Harvard.

He does use links to websites to back up his tweets. Some of the websites are regular websites such as periodicals while some come from actual research journals. Overall his information is accurate since his tweets are usually introductions or is a very brief snippet of the web page that is linked.

As for tweeting about gene therapy, he usually does this about once a day or every few days, but in a more specific context by stating what enzymes are involved in the process rather than just tweeting "gene therapy". The new tweets just convey discoveries in the order that they were noticed by Bersenev which roughly follows chronological order adding further information about discoveries in gene therapy research.

The account was made in March 2008 making it about seven years old.

Considering his position as director of gene therapy research, he seems quite credible and would be expected to know which articles are relevant as well as accurate.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/redondoself/3352831265

The poster of this social media message is Susan Young Rojahn who is a biomedical editor for the website MIT Technology Review. She does have an impressive resume in linkedin.com with her work in Stanford and Berkeley.

She is not in the place that she is posting about and was not involved in major events concerning gene therapy, but more so reported new findings. She may have done some research in genes when she was in Berkeley, but it is not emphasized as much as her writing career.

On her twitter, many of her followers seem to be either in the biological professions or in writing professions. Among these include doctors, researchers, CEOs, and editors of well-known magazines which show that she is a respectable person in the field of science.

Through the hyperlinks she includes in her articles, one could verify some of her claims. These hyperlinks usually lead to reputable science journals, but some lead to other articles in the MIT Technology Review and other social media websites,the latter being less common.

As one scrolls through her list of posts, one notices that she seems to have stopped posting since last year. She posts about topics concerning gene editing and gene therapy from time to time and like Bersenev, posts here articles in chronological order in which the experiments were posted. Her more updated posts just expand on the utility of gene therapy with other diseases.

Her account here was created roughly three years ago.

Since Rojahn has experience in the biomedical and writing fields, one could trust her to cite appropriate sources and provide fairly accurate information in her posts.

Blog 7: Evaluation of Scholarly Sources

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1878_Adams_Monumental_Illustrated_Panorama_of_History_-_Geographicus_-_WorldHistory-adams-1871.jpg

After looking through many articles on a regular google search, now I need more academic sources to provide an even deeper and hopefully or almost certainly more credible insight onto the topic of gene therapy which is more than just snipping genes.

The purpose of History of Gene Therapy is to give a historical record of this process over time and how it has developed. Unlike the general source articles, this one talks about the use of viruses as a means of injecting DNA into a human cell.

The article is published in Finland and submitted to sciencedirect.com which houses over 2,500 journals which have free access to the public. Apparently it goes through a revising process because underneath the footnotes about the authors are accepted and made available dates in addition to a small banner called crossmark saying that it has been reviewed.

Almost all of the sources the authors cited were previous research articles concerning genetic engineering and/or nucleases. Each one of the sources has a corresponding number which acts as an in text citation when placed in the research article.

The authors of this article are Thomas Wirth, Nigel Parker, and Seppo Yla-Herttuala who all seem to have experience in the field of molecular biology and therapies as indicated by the footnotes under their names.

Their intended audience are any people who have some knowledge of biology at the cellular and molecular level with some degree of chemistry so the range is greater. This could be understood by a person with an above average intellect, but the article does use some esoteric terms as well as many abbreviates which they briefly described in the beginning.

One could find this by accessing Web of Science through the University of Arizona library and typing "gene therapy" into the search bar. Then, refine the search to 2013 and 2014 publications and the article should be 9 on the list.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ajc1/10085714333

This next article applies gene therapy to a specific situation in which it could possibility prove to be useful.

The purpose of this article is to show that gene therapy can be applied to lengthen the ends of telomeres so that they wear out less easily. This is done by injecting viruses that inject TERT (telomerase reverse transcriptase) into body cells so that TERT could lengthen the telomeres possibly extending life expectancies which makes one wonder if this article is promoting gene therapy.

This article is published in EMBO press which is peer-reviewed scientific journal. The research itself is conducted in Spain. This article probably went through a reviewing process before it could be published.

As for its sources, the article does not use many quotes, but does include many in text citations utilizing the last names of the author's of their sources which all seem to be other research articles.

Then there are the authors who are Bruno Bernardes de Jesus, Elsa Vera, Kerstin Schneeberger, Agueda M. Tejera, Eduard Ayuso, Fatima Bosch, and Maria A. Blasco (hyperlink en espanol) all of whom are involved in molecular biology and medicine.

Their intended audience seems to be more people who are well versed in viruses, telomeres, and gene therapy which includes mostly biologists and some research doctors. The authors define the main terms, but not others which may hinder a non-science knowledgeable person's ability to comprehend the fine details.

This could be found on the EMBO website through the University of Arizona or through a simple Google Scholar search for "gene therapy" and limiting the scope to 2012 publications on the left hand side.

Blog 6: Evaluation of General Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crista

Everyone has those days when they are working then all of a sudden they say, "Whew I am so tired." or "I definitely need more energy." At the cellular level, the mitochondria "produce" this energy that cells need in order to survive through cellular respiration. This article delves into TALENS which is an enzyme that can snip a faulty piece of mitochondrial DNA in an egg to prevent any adverse effects of that DNA piece possibly saving many generations of children from have genetic diseases. This may sound wonderful, but not enough people know how to use the technique and it has not been approved.

At first glance, the URL is http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/controversial-gene-editing-approach-gains-ground/ which has a .com at the end. This ending implies that the website is for commercial use and is very common in the internet, but one must be a bit wary as sometimes a .com sites are variable in credibility.

The author is Dina Fine Maron who is a health and medicine editor. What lends her even more credibility is her Masters in Public Health from John Hopkins University which shows that she is well versed in the terms surrounding the medical field.

One has to assume that the article was last updated on April 23, 2015 which is quite recent. No other dates are present other than this publishing date. There are working links to other websites which indicates that this article is not too outdated.

The aim of the article is mostly to inform, but one could say that it leans toward supporting gene therapy by stating that the process is simple and not providing any cases in which the process went awry.

The only graphic/image is one of a hand holding DNA probably showing that DNA is essential for life and is precious.

As mentioned previously, the author seems to be leaning toward the positives of using TALENs yet is careful not to sound too hopeful. If the viewers believe the information to be true, then the researchers working on TALENs might benefit since the government seems to be its primary barrier. The information can be verified online from other sources such as Nature.

The article does have a few internal hyperlinks some leading to research journals and others leading to other articles on the website. The article itself does have a few in text citations to reputable sources such as Nature.

https://pixabay.com/en/stem-cell-sphere-163711/

This article takes a similar view of gene therapy, but mentions a different yet functionally similar method. Instead of mentioning TALEN, this one mentions CRISPR which also removes disfunctional piece of DNA. The problem with the study mentioned here is that the researchers used human embryos as opposed to mice used in the TALEN research which caused a stir of controversy and to make matters worse, the results were sub par. CRISPR worked in less than half of the embryos.

The URL yet again is a .com, but this time, we see National Geographic in the title of the website which lends it some credibility.

The author is Carl Zimmer who is an avid writer of science related works. He graduated from Yale which at face value seems credible, but majored in English. He received many awards and recognition. One may say his repertoire of science is on the weak side, but he seems to have a passion for writing about it which offsets this drawback. Overall, he seems credible.

The article was last updated on April 23, 2015 which is still recent and the fact that the links still work show that this is definitely not outdated. The links are mostly hyperlinks that lead to other websites where he Zimmer might have derived his information.

The purpose is more to inform although like the last article, there is a hint of bias which is balanced out by realizations made by the author. The bias is more toward promoting gene therapy.

There are images of other articles and even the author in addition to the main picture in the article shown above. They image above illustrates an embryo to give the reader an idea of what it looks like or just because it relates to the article. The other images may just encourage the reader to read other articles associated with the images.

The article is well balanced yet is more pro-gene therapy as shown by Zimmer's optimism toward gene therapy improving in the future. He does mention some pitfalls too, but the majority was focused on research advancements. The researchers again profit if views deem this to be true. The authors claims are verifiable online.

The hyerlinks embedded in the article do lead the reader to other sources that contain more information concerning this gene slicing process.