Solanyi Marte
Nagales
English 21003
2/23/2023
NYT Article Summaries
The New York Times has an international reputation, Being one of the most popular among all the nation’s newspapers, receiving more than “30 million unique visitors per month as reported in January 2011” and 112 Pulitzer prizes. Its values consist of independence,integrity, curiosity, respect, collaboration, and excellence. Two examples of the work of the New York Times are “For the First Time, Genetically Modified Trees Have Been Planted in the U.S. Forest” written by Grabriel Popkin on February 16 2023 and “Why Are Scientists So Upset About the First Crispr Babies?” by Gina Kolata and Pam Belluck on December 5 2018. These articles will be discussed for their incredible contribution on clarifying to the public the issues that go beyond morality and power of human creation.
“Growing threats” is the name the public critics have placed for the first time, Genetically Modified trees planted in the U.S. Forest(Popkin and Melton). Written by Grabriel Pokin, this issue was published to the public in a way to bring awareness to the progression of genetically modified organism.The article states that the trees were created by a Illinois company’s researchers using a gene gun method technique that essentially introduces foreign genes into the trees’ chromosomes. Chromosomes are the carrier packaging of DNA. Pokin provides a different view point in that science sees their work as “trying to take over where evolution left off”(Popkin and Melton).Evolution is the process in which a changing environment essentially leads to species change through adaptation. Furtherone, these scientists genetically amplified tobacco plants for them to be more efficient in photosynthesis. For better understanding , photosynthesis produces a toxic byproduct that a plant must dispose of. The issue with this is that they waste energy in doing so. The Illinois researchers introduced genes from pumpkins and green algae to induce tobacco seedlings to produce more sugar with the usage of the toxins byproducts.On one hand, Inefficiencies in photosynthesis as discussed affect how fast trees and other plants grow, and how much carbon dioxide they consume. On the other hand, these new methods of genetic engineering provide a more efficient tree. Considering photosynthesis has profound impacts on the Earth, well managed and understood modification could provide a better evolutionary step in more quality trees.
Gina Kolata and Pam Belluck the author of “Why Are Scientists So Upset About the First Crispr Babies?” bring to the public understanding some of the questions that are being formulated from the development of this technology and the way it is being used. Gene editing contains potential for fixing “dangerous disease-causing mutations and treating some medical conditions”, however, there is much emphasis on the safety and ethics with regards to editing human embryos(Kolata and Belluck). States the author. The goal for Dr. He was to use a gene called CCR₅ to make a protein that allows H.I.V virus infectaction. Using Crispr-Cas9 editing technique to disable the CCR₅ gene in embryos. In other words, to make H.I.V. resistant babies. The problem is that changing the genes in an embryo results in the offspring from these genetically modified children being able to inherit the genes from their parents. More concerns for these babies include, a higher susceptibility to West Nile virus and Japanese encephalitis, dangering circumstances, potential issues in data presented by Dr. He ,clear evidence of mosaicism argued by Dr. Kiran Musunuru. However, the most concerning factor is that Dr. He’s experiment has multiple ethical violations. Including, not explaining to parents all risks, lack of support for legitimate and valuable gene-editing research. As it can be seen this issue goes beyond morality and power of human creation.
Kolata, Gina, and Pam Belluck. “Why Are Scientists so Upset about the First CRISPR Babies?” The New York Times, The New York Times, 5 Dec. 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/05/health/crispr-gene-editing-embryos.html.
Popkin, Gabriel, and Audra Melton. “For the First Time, Genetically Modified Trees Have Been Planted in a U.S. Forest.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 16 Feb. 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/16/science/genetically-modified-trees-living-carbon.html.
