A habit that I have developed due to the pandemic is going out. Before the pandemic, I never really liked to go out like that. I mainly went out due to me being forced to or having to do something there. However, when the pandemic hit, that is when things changed for me. We were basically not allowed to go anywhere unless necessary. For the first couple of weeks, I felt amazing knowing that I didn’t have to go out anymore. However, as time went on I became bored and really pondered how going outside was like. This was the start of me going out. I no longer wanted to stay inside and began to go out frequently. I went out and actually enjoyed myself. While I may have started to go out and be happy, I noticed something. The more I went out, the more money I spent unfortunately. Even though I spend a little bit of money when I went out, it was for a good cause as I made some pretty amazing memories. An example is when I went go-karting for the first time. I had so much fun doing that and it was something that I have wanted to do since I was a kid. Go-karting came with a hefty price though. I paid $58 to do 3 races which I’d say is worth it. Another example is when I went shopping in Manhattan and bought a lot of stuff for myself.
Author: Kevin Chabla (Page 4 of 8)
The reason why I am using the articles that I chose was that it is something that was involved in the medical field. As a result of this, these particular articles stood out for me. Ever since I was a kid, I knew that I wanted to do something that involved medicine when I was older. My motivation to become something in that area is to save lives. With this in mind, I was extremely interested in the articles I chose as they talk about how surgeons discovered that they could possibly transfer organs from pigs to humans. While it may sound gross, just think about the number of people that are on a waitlist for a certain organ that can be saved. There are countless amounts of people that are waiting for someone generous to donate and unfortunately, a lot of people do not. However, if all goes well with this procedure, this is a major problem that can be solved.
Articles:
Rabin, Roni Caryn. “In a First, Surgeons Attached a Pig Kidney to a Human, and It Worked.” The New York Times, October 20, 2021. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/19/health/kidney-transplant-pig-human.html.
Summary:
Roni Caryn Robin explains in this article how an organ from a pig was attached to a human and how it functions for the first time. Robin explains how they successfully took a kidney from a genetically altered pig and used it on a patient who was brain dead. This is a major event as it could pave the way for other organs to be transferred from different species onto humans. There are over 100,000+ Americans who are on the waiting list for an organ transfer and this discovery could seriously help them out in the long run. The surgeons attached the kidney from the pig to “…blood vessels in the patient’s upper leg, outside the abdomen”. As a result of this, the organ started to produce urine and creatine as a normal functioning kidney would. While this may be a revolutionary discovery, this procedure still has many “…significant medical and regulatory hurdles to overcome”.
The procedure of transferring organs from one species to another is called xenotransplantation. While this recent discovery is a positive one, there is still more to be known. Even though the organ may be functioning now, we still have to think about what could happen later in the future. There might be problems in the future that are currently not present right now. However, the surgeons have observed their work and have seen the organ function normally within a two-day time period. While there is still much work to be done, this procedure will surely be able to save many lives in the future if all goes perfectly well.
Analysis: This article is trustworthy as it was written by Roni Caryn Rabin, a graduate of Columbia University, staff writer for The New York Times, etc. This article is intended for everyone as it relates to health and how doctors are improving and finding new ways to solve certain problems. The procedure would save a tremendous amount of lives as it removes the problem of not having anybody to donate the organ that you need.
Response:
In my opinion, I find this article very useful. It gives us a lot of information about this certain procedure. It tells us what they did, how they did it, and the outcome of the procedure. On top of that, it also gave us background information on xenotransplantation. This article made me think about how incredible it is that there are still so many ways to save people’s lives. It made me feel like as time progresses, the world will have figured out how to resolve many of the problems we have today.
Li, Li. “Surgeons Tested a Pig Kidney Transplant in a Human Patient – and for the First Time, It Worked.” CBS News, CBS Interactive, 20 Oct. 2021, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/pig-kidney-transplant-human-patient/.
Summary:
In this article, Li Cohen explains how surgeons transferred an organ from a pig to a human and how it was not rejected immediately. This procedure was performed on September 25 at New York University and it took the surgeons 2 hours to complete. They took a kidney from a pig that was genetically engineered and placed it in a woman who was brain dead with the consent of her family. According to Cohen, “The kidney was attached to the blood vessels in the donor’s upper leg and kept outside the abdomen, where it was covered with a protective shield, for the duration of the 54-hour study”. Researchers found that this pig kidney acted just like a human one in the sense that it produced normal levels of urine and creatine.
As a result of this procedure, it gives people hope. This type of procedure is not new, but, it is known to fail. Humans have antibodies that make the transferring of pig organs to humans impossible. However, they used a pig that was genetically engineered so that our antibodies wouldn’t reject it and it managed to work. This is a big step in resolving the lack of donors issue as it would essentially provide an alternative to our organs.
Analysis: Li Cohen is a journalist, social media producer for CBS News, and has written articles for numerous different websites. This article is trustworthy as she has her work published on various different reliable websites like MSN, Yahoo, CBS, etc. This article was intended for everyone as it provides a possible solution and information for a problem that is very serious. It also gives a glimmer of hope to those who are in need of organs as this could seriously help them out.
Response: In my opinion, this article is very important is it brings light on a topic that is not talked about enough. My only question is how much time needs to pass for this procedure to be called a success. If this does manage to pass all guidelines and become a success, the amount of people that will be filled with joy as a result of this is unimaginable.
Roberts, Michelle. “US Surgeons Test Pig Kidney Transplant in a Human.” BBC News, BBC, 21 Oct. 2021, https://www.bbc.com/news/health-58993696.
Summary:
Michelle Roberts explains how this newly discovered process is a huge step when it comes to helping those who are waiting for an organ donor. In this article, Roberts talks about a two-hour operation that took place at the New York University Langone Health medical centre. Surgeons took a kidney from a pig and transferred it onto a human who was brain dead and had no chance of recovering. However, whenever a pig organ is transferred onto a human, the human body sees the organ as something foreign and ends up rejecting it. For this reason, Scientists used genetically modified pigs for this procedure so that the body would let the kidney function normally.
After the transfer was done, the surgeons observed the kidney for two and a half days to see what the results where. After multiple tests and checks, they found that the kidney started functioning normally and acted just like a human kidney. According to Dr. Montgomery, ” …about 40% of patients who are waiting for a transplant die before they receive one”. If this procedure turns out to be a success, the amount of lives that would be impacted in a positive light is astronomical.
Analysis:
This article was written by Michelle Roberts and made this article for everyone. Roberts is a health editor/senior broadcast journalist at BBC News. She is a qualified doctor and has over 20 years of experience in news, health journalism, publishing and copywriting. She has attended multiple schools such as the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, University of the Arts London, Harlow College and University of London. This article was made for everyone to read as this information could seriously help you or someone you know. It also shows you how we are improving health wise.
Response:
In my opinion, I truly think this article is important as it gives us hope that people who need organ donors won’t have to be stuck on a waitlist anymore. Instead of relying on a kind person to save their life, they can rely on a genetically modified pig to give them the organ they need. The only question I have is what are the side effects that come with having an organ transferred from an animal to a human? Will the side effects kick in soon or later on in the future?
How to Create a World Where No One Dies Waiting for a … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgBnYr0_FRk.
Summary:
Organ supply is an issue that has drastically increased as time has progressed. In the United States, there are over 115,000 people on a waitlist to get the organ that they need. Each day there are 92 people who transplants that take place. This issue is so severe that in some parts of China, there are people willing to go to the black market in order to purchase an organ. Thanks to gene editing technology, we have made progress to end this issue. Pig organs are the main focus of this solution. Pigs are used since some have organs that share the same size and physiology as us. While in college, Luhan Yang used a tool called CRISPR which is used to change DNA. After doing work using the tool, she was reached out by physicians at Mass General Hospital to see if they could potentially use CRIPSR to solve the organ shortage crisis.
After hundreds of trials, they managed to produce Laika, a genetically modified pig. It was the first pig to be born without PERV, a deadly virus that can be transmitted into humans. This pig is seen as the first crucial step in demonstrating safe xenotransplantation. As time progressed, they have now created more than 30 pigs without the deadly virus. Laika is the beginning of tackling the massive issue that is organ shortage and can be seen as a symbol for solving many other current issues.
Analysis:
This video is very trustworthy as TED is known to be an amazing source for information on a certain topic. This video was intended for everyone to see since it is showing us how we can save countless amounts of lives through gene editing technology. This video gives us information on xenotransplantation and the issues that arose while trying to perfect it. Luhan Yang provides a detailed story on how she got to where she is now and what inspired her to tackle the organ shortage issue. It also shows how Luhan Yang and her team managed to solve these issues and how this is the first of many issues that will be solved.
Response:
In my opinion, I found this TED Talk to be very inspirational. It makes me believe that over time, many of the issues we currently have will be solved leading to a greater future. Not only is this video inspirational, it is also very informative. It made me understand how this whole process occurred and how they use certain tools to solve this issue. A question I have for Luhan Yang would be is, what else is there to do to completely make this process 100% safe, or what are the next steps?
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