Plenty of choices this week. Pick one of the following three options and write a scholarly paragraph. Remember to pay attention to how this relates to biology. Also be sure to comment on at least one of your peers posts.
1. Barbra Streisand revealed in an interview last week that two of her three dogs had been cloned from her late beloved dog, Samantha.
There are plenty of articles about both the interview and the science behind cloning dogs. You only have to read one. Then write a scholarly paragraph. Include a little science in your paragraph, but also I really want to hear your opinion on cloning your dogs. Would you pay $50,000 to clone your dog? Why or why not?
2. NHL and Concussions...a problem for more than just football:
Watch the above video clip about hockey and concussions. This week week, former Chicago Blackhawk, Daniel Carcillo contacted all 31 NHL teams and numerous players in an effort to increase concussion awareness.
You can watch the video above from HBO Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel about concussions and the NHL or read the article from the Chicago Tribune. What do you think? Write a scholarly paragraph summarizing what you learned. Also include your own personal opinion about concussions and sports. Will both the NHL and the NFL eventually disappear due to the risk of concussions?
3. Missing CDC employee... conspiracy or just unfortunate circumstances?
While the CDC claims that Timothy Cunningham did not work with infectious diseases, I can't help but wonder if we are really getting the full story here. Cunningham has been missing since February 12th. Read one of the articles above and write a scholarly paragraph about the story. Also be sure to include your opinion of what happened.
I read the article “Barbra Streisand Cloned Her Dog. Here’s How Much That Costs” where her two dogs, Miss Violet and Miss Scarlet, are clones from her previous pup, Samantha, who passed away in May 2017. Furthermore, the cost to clone a dog is $50,000 and another $1,600 if the owner wants genetic preservation. A genetic preservation is when a veterinarian does a biopsy on the pet to remove tissues and the end result is storing the pet’s genetic information. In addition to genetic preservation, owners can choose whether to clone their pets on a later date. Moreover, to clone a dog their has to be a harvesting of cells whether the dog is alive or after it has died. The process is a veterinarian performs skin punch biopsy on the pet’s abdomen, and then that sends the genetic material to the lab to perform the cloning. Next, scientist remove the nucleus from the eggs harvested from the donor pets, and inserts a skin cell from the dog to be cloned. Although I don’t have a dog, I would not want to clone a dog because the ethical issues towards the dog can really affect them. There are a lot of surgeries being taken in from the dog and whether the dog is alive or not, the personality of the pet cannot be replaced.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you, why clone a dog if it's not even going to have the same personality at all?
DeleteI watched the video about hockey and concussions. In this video, I learned that no matter what kind of head collision you get (Head to head, head to shoulder, head to stick, etc.) Can cause permanent injury that can change your lifestyle. If you damage a neuron in your brain, it can not grow back. Therefore, the more neurons you lose, the more you are at risk for changes in your lifestyle. Things like depression and forgetfulness. As the neuron tissue gets damaged, that it could lead to things like CTE. In my opinion, I believe there are alternative ways to preventing concussions, like more protecting in the head area. And ways in the game that could be changed to prevent head injury. Like in Hockey, sometimes they break out into fights. I noticed instead of the refs breaking up the fight, they encouraged it. I don't know if the fights are part of the game or not, but I think that's another way to receive head trauma. I don't think that both sports will be gone because of the backlash they're getting. Football and Hockey are very popular sports and are a big industry not to mention a big thing in American culture. But I think they should do something to prevent so many players from getting brain injuries
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that people should do something to prevent sports players from getting all those head to head collisions causing many brain injuries.
DeleteI agree with your suggestions towards how head injuries can be prevented. However, how might that influence the player? If more gear is added to them, will it affect their performance in the sport overall? I think that at this rate, with the amount of head injuries currently taking place, there is only so much that can be done before the game itself is declared 'just too dangerous to play'.
DeleteIt is very interesting how the NHL has been taking action for this. They need to do more to prevent head injuries.
DeleteThe brain damage caused is really scary and I think its effects are brushed off too often.
DeleteIt's weird knowing that one bad hit in a sport can change your life forever.
DeleteToday I read Time's article "Barbra Streisand Cloned Her Dog. Here’s How Much That Costs." Before reading the article I had to think if I would want to clone my dog (13 years), but I couldn't imagine that any clone of my dog could live up to the lively and sweet dog she is right now. Now the science part of it... scientists remove the nucleus from eggs harvested from the dead or alive pets people want cloned, and insert a skin cell from the dog to be cloned. Then they shock the embryo to start the dividing process. For many of those people who think it would be cool to clone a pet you must weigh the cost in. It is $50,000 to clone a dog and $25,000 to clone a cat. I would never do this. Even though I am very attached to my dog there are so many more things you can do with $50,000; you could buy or adopt a new dog.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, I could never clone a pet of mine. I would hate to see a clone of my pet running around and knowing that it's not really them, if that makes any sense... As for the cost of cloning, what do you think the outrageous price of cloning a human would be since cloning a dog or cat is super expensive?
DeleteI agree, it’s a lot of money
DeleteI read the article from Variety, about Barbra Streisand cloning her dogs. I do not like the idea of the common person being able to clone their pets because it is both expensive, and I think that everyone should deal with loss at least once in their life. Loss is something that if you're not introduced to, it could set your emotions off balance. I love both of my dogs, and I have unfortunately lost dogs in the past, but I would not pay 50k to clone them because it really isn't truly them. I'm not sure if the cloned dogs would look at me the same way my original dogs would but I just wouldn't feel right about recreating my original dogs. But although I don't enjoy the ide of cloning dogs, I do enjoy the idea of the other things science can clone, such as cells and pieces of the body that are crucial to life.
ReplyDeleteI read the article entitled, "Missing CDC employee didn't get the promotion he wanted before he vanished." Timothy Cunningham, an employee for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), recently went missing without a trail to follow. He left all his personal belongings and anything he would need to possibly run away. After receiving news as to why he did not get the promotion he was hoping for, he requested to go home sick and hasn’t been seen since. That same day, on his way home, he made a call to his mom but did not leave a message when she did not answer. This leads me to believe that Timothy may have committed suicide because of the bad news he received earlier that day, and his remains haven’t been found yet. However, the article did not release information regarding why he did not get the promotion, making me question if the CDC is telling us the full story. This is a very unrealistic possibility but the company does seem suspicious in this situation.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if the are in fact hiding something or not telling the full truth. Why would he just disappear like that?
DeleteI read the time article "Barbra Streisand Cloned Her Dog. Here’s How Much That Costs". To clone her beloved dog scientists had to harvest her dead dogs DNA and find a dog to carry it. Basically it works like this: an egg is taken from a doner pet and the nucleus is removed. The dog that is being cloned skin cell is added to that nucleus then given an electric shock to begin the dividing process. This modified embryo is then given to a dog that can carry it to birth. In my opinion I would never do this with my dog. First of all that is a lot of money and second no clone could replace my dog. They said in the article that when you clone something it won't have the same personality so I don't find it worth it. Better to use that money and give a new dog a home through adoption.
ReplyDeleteI agree, I found it cool but I'd rather give another dog a chance for a new life.
DeleteI agree. No amount money would make me want to replace a dog that's gone. Not even Barbra Streisand money.
DeleteFor this week's blog post I read the article “The CDC researcher who mysteriously vanished had recently been passed over for a promotion, police say.” It told the mysterious case of the vanished Centers for Disease Control researcher, Timothy Cunningham. People have gathered together to search for Cunningham and have donated up to 24,000 dollars to help aid in the search. Police have no trace of Timothy and say the case altogether is “extremely unusual” and I don’t blame them. How often do responsible, hard working people like Timothy go missing? It seems like they’re coming to a dead end and I’m wishing the best for his family. I really have no clue on what could’ve happened to Timothy...
ReplyDeleteI also read that and found it very interesting.
DeleteI read the article “Barbra Streisand Cloned Her Dog. Here’s How Much That Costs”. The article begins with brief background on her two dogs Miss Violet and Miss Scarlett who are clones from her original dog, Samantha, who passed away in May of 2017. It goes onto explain that cloning a dog costs $50000, a lot of dogs, and a lot of surgeries. The next part of the article dives deeper into the science behind the whole process, which quite frankly is a lot for one cloned dog; considering the fact there are more than enough dogs across the globe that are up for adoption. Not to mention that with clone, the original dogs’ personality doesn’t live on. I just think it’s not worth it, when you could get another dog and have a whole new experience, that’s the point right? That you get to raise the dog and thrive in the happiness that it brings with its personality.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. However, I could see why you could want to keep him around as long as possible. I think part of the experience of having a dog is getting to know multiple different dogs throughout your life,not cloning the same one.
DeleteCloning is proving itself to no longer be science fiction. First with Dolly in 1996 and now Barbra Streisand has revealed to the New York Times ⅔ of her dogs are cloned. The beginning of the dog cloning experiments began in South Korea and its success sparked in 2005. However, to conduct such experiments is definitely not cheap or an everyday thing. Cost begins at $1,600 to preserve a pet’s genes then $50,000 to conduct the actual cloning. The process begins with taking genetic samples to fuse it with an egg. After the egg transforms to an embryo, it is transferred to a surrogate for birth. Personally I would not clone my dog or another pet for that matter. Although it’s really cool, I think having experiences with a variety of animals is even better. Also $50,000 leaves me definitely not second guessing my choice to stick with no cloning. However for people who might feel special connections to late-pets this might be a more meaningful and logical investment.
ReplyDeleteI agree. Also, very well put together paragraph.
DeleteI agree. I don't think I could ever pay $50,000 to clone my dog
DeleteI read the article about Timothy Cunningham, the CDC worker that disappeared February 12th. On February 14th Timothy Cunningham went missing after saying he hadn’t felt well that day. He had gotten a promotion denial the same morning as well although the CDC has not spoken on why. Cunningham had been homesick the two days prior to leaving his place of work on the 12th. Other than his coworkers, he had spoken to his sister prior and called his mother after work. This call after work was sent to voicemail and was the last effort to speak with anyone else before going missing. I do not believe this has anything to do with foul play or a secret disease he had been exposed to. He may have just decided to escape for a while due to being unhappy at work. This is a very sad event though, his family has been very worried and started a gofundme page to find Timothy.
ReplyDeleteI agree that he probably went to get away for a while, but what an awfully sad way to leave everything behind even if its not for a long time.
DeleteI read the article about hockey and concussions. It talked about how if you don’t agree with everyone you are looked down upon. It also talked about how concussions have become a big problem in recent years. It also said that a former hockey player suffered multiple concussions which affected his memory. Now they have a charity that helps players with memory loss. This article made me think what could be done if anything to prevent concussions in an active physical sport.
ReplyDeleteThe NFL and NHL have tried very hard to stop concussions, but the sad thing is is that concussions cannot be stopped unless new technology for better helmets or padding comes out.
DeleteI read the article “Barbra Streisand Had Her Beloved Dog Samantha Cloned: Meet Miss Scarlett and Miss Violet,” obviously. I think that there’s nothing wrong with cloning a dog. When the dog I grew up with died, I felt like there was a void, and would have given anything to have him back again, but, part of life is moving on. Now, I have another dog, and I don’t love him any less than I did my other dog. I wouldn’t clone my dog, only because I would want to love another dog who already needs a home, but if someone can’t bare to lose their best friend, go for it. However, in the article “Barbra Streisand Cloned Her Dog. Here’s How Much That Costs,” the article says the though the dog may look the same, they’ll have different personalities, which kind of defeats the purpose of cloning a dog. We fall in love with personalities too, and you would be contradicted by expecting one personality, and receiving another.
ReplyDeleteI love this perspective you took on how we fall in love with different personalities. I didn't even think of it that way!
DeleteI appreciate your take on this saying that you woudnt love the other dog any less, and the way you tied it back to personality rather then looks of the dog.
DeleteI completely agree with you on this! I say, "Go for it!" But, the personality change is what kind of makes the whole thing seem pointless...
DeleteI read the article about how Barbra Streisand had cloned her own dog two times. Her past dog died and before it passed she got cells taken out of her mouth and stomach. Currently the dogs have different personalities but she wants to wait until they’re older to see if they have the same gentleness and seriousness as her last dog. In my opinion this is so different; I personally love dogs, and I love my dogs but I don’t know if I would have them cloned, it wouldn’t feel the same to me. It’s interesting story though and they actually are so identical (the 2 cloned dogs), Barbra had to put sweaters on them right when she got them to tell them apart. But is this really worth it? They don’t have the same personalities and it costs $50000, and what happens when the clones die?
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ReplyDeleteThe article about Barbra Streisand and her cloned dogs relates a lot to biology. In fact, we even talked about Dolly, the sheep who was first used in 1996 to begin cloning. Since Barbra simply cloned her late dog to “keep it around”, I wonder if during the process she ever questioned if it was a bad idea, considering it was very expensive and time consuming. I’m also curious about just how similar the dogs could be, and if her intentions were to make it feel like her old dog, Samantha, was still around. Personally, I wouldn’t take the time and money to clone an old pet, because I wouldn’t want to have an identical copy reminding me that my other pet died, but I understand why Barbra and many others would want to. I’m curious to see if this will be something that will quickly gain popularity in the future, and if more people will feel inspired to clone their pets like Barbra.
I'm also curious to see if more people will clone their pets in the future.
DeleteI'm not sure if I would clone my dog. I feel as if loss is a part of life, and getting a new dog brings such joy to a family to recently lost a loved pet.
DeleteI read the article, “Barbra Streisand Cloned Her Dog. Here’s How Much That Costs”. I am a huge lover of dogs, and animals in general (so much to the point where im a vegetarian), so I naturally chose to read this one. First of all, I have no idea how so many people can afford to clone their pet, when cloning a dog costs $50,000, and a cat costs $25,000. A pet can be cloned while still alive, or after they have passed. A vet performs a biopsy on the animal’s abdomen, then scientists remove the nucleus from the harvested eggs, and insert a skin cell. After this, the new embryos are put into a new “surrogate” pet. I was also surprised by how many dogs are required to make a single clone. The whole time I was reading the article, I kept thinking about how many dogs are in shelters, and are being euthanized because they can’t find homes. I think it’s really selfish to clone your dog, when there are thousands that could possibly be even more similar to your old one, that need homes.
ReplyDeleteI read the article about Timothy Cunningham, a researcher of chronic diseases at the CDC, and his inexplicable disappearance. His whereabouts are yet unknown and the police, according to the article, have no leads. Many factors that may correlate to his disappearance have been tossed around, such as his denial of promotion, and asking neighbors to delete his contact information. What makes the cause of his disappearance all the more ambiguous is the fact that he left ALL of his personal belongings at his house. Unless he's intending on becoming a new man, there's no chance he'll make it on his own. I'm anxious to see what becomes of this, whether he's dead or living in some remote jungle half-way across the globe. Whatever it is, he's in on it, and has done a hell of a job covering up his tracks.
ReplyDeleteI read the article, “ Barbra Streisand Cloned her Dog. Here’s how much that costs.” My family has three dogs and I love them all dearly, so I found the thought of cloning them interesting. I wasn’t exactly sure if I would clone them or not, but when I found out the price, I knew that it wasn’t worth it. To clone a dog, it is $50,000 and to clone a cat, it is $25,000. That is extremely expensive. I could buy at least 50 dogs with that. Even if I was okay with paying that much, I would still wonder if the clone would turn out the exact same as my dog is now and there would probably be a few differences. Overall, cloning is a cool thing, but it is expensive.
ReplyDeleteThe Washington Compost story stated that Tim has been missing for almost a month now and he worked for the CDC. He recently passed up a promotion which is kinda weird, says the CDC. He also had no access to deadly or infectious diseases but there were many spketics on that topic. He did not have the clearance for any top secret info as well. One of the most weird things about this was that everything that you might have taken when you were trying to get away and go somewhere was still at his house. Untouched… I personal think something top secret is going. Maybe he got infected by a virus that could have done some really bad things if it got out into the public. I just have the feeling because for the most part people don't disappear like that with no trail or anything.
ReplyDeleteI read the article, "Barbra Streisand Cloned her Dog. Here's how much that costs." I have one dog that i got not too long ago and i figured how it would be if I cloned my dog? Well, it costs 50 to 250 thousand dollars to clone a dog and I would not clone my dog even if the cost was lower. I think cloning is an interesting topic but I wouldn't do it.
ReplyDeleteI read this article to and im not against it or for it. I think its just a waste of money but if you want to do it, go for it.
DeleteI read the article about the man that suddenly disappeared and cannot be found. In this article it explains that Timothy Cunningham, a CDC worker, vanished out of thin air. Before his disappearance, he contacted his mother and that was the last contact he had ever made. Some people say he botched flu vaccinations and that lead him to go away, but I believe it is something much different. It said that he was denied a very important promotion and because of this denial I think he committed suicide with no belongings in his possession.
ReplyDeleteGreat insight Nick! I llike how you used text evidence.
DeleteThis week, I read the article “Barbra Streisand Cloned Her Dog. For $50,000, You Can Clone Yours” I think there would be lots of controversy about cloning pets, but personally I would be skeptical to clone my pet. Not only does this process cost $50,000 to clone a dog, I would still be concerned about the outcome. Researchers in a South Korean lab that have successfully cloned animals even said that the clone of your pet, won’t be exact replicas of your pet, which is understandable, because it would be pretty hard to make an exact clone of a pet. Also, this procedure might not even be completely safe or guaranteed because once scientists put the genetics into the surrogate, they just have to hope that the surrogate will give birth. There is also a significant percentage for miscarriages of about 60%. Overall I think that while this process would be interesting to try and see if you can actually clone your pets, it might not be worth the risk, especially if you are paying $50,000 for something that only has a 33%-40% success rate.
ReplyDeleteI read the article about Barbara cloning her dog, and I found it really interesting and kind of want to know more on why she did this. She now has three dogs, the original and two clones. I also find it interesting that the dogs all have same exact genetics but different personalities.
ReplyDeleteI read the article about the cloned dogs. I find it very interesting how people will spend $50,000 cloning their dog and $25,000 cloning their cat instead of spending around $500 adopting an animal. I don't understand how Barbra Streisand spent over $100,000 cloning her dog so she can have two exact clones of her deceased dog. I find it very interesting and funny how she has to dress her two dogs in different sweaters because she can't tell the difference between them. If I had that much money and was able to clone my animals I would chose not to. I would rather adopt or buy a new dog.
ReplyDeleteI read the article "Barbra Streisand clones her dog. The artical talked about how Barbra cloned her deceased dog and had two clones made. To make a clone is an expensive (50 to 250 thousand) and time consuming project. If I was given the chance to clone a pet I dont belive I would it takes away from whats specail about the original.I wonder what effect cloning will have in our future.
ReplyDeleteI found this interesting to go through all that trouble to get the exact same dog that you had before
DeleteI read an article about Barbra Streisand cloning her dog. I found it interesting how much a person would pay to clone their dog or cat even though it most likely won't have the same personality. It was also interesting to learn that South Korea has cloned hundreds of dogs which are all just sitting in cages which is very cruel. I think people need to first worry about all the animals in shelters who need help rather than spending thousands of dollars to clone one.
ReplyDeleteI read the article, "Barbra Stresand Cloned her Dog. Here's how much that costs." I do not think that there is actually anything wrong with cloning a dog. It may be expensive but, if that is how you choose to spend you money, do it, if it is what makes you happy. I personally wouldn't do it, just because it doesn't bring the personality back with it. If I wanted another dog like the one I had, I would just buy the same breed. But, the personality wouldn't be the same with cloning. It is also very interesting how they manage to clone the dog as well and how they take a cell and grow it basically.
ReplyDeleteI read the article about Barbra Streisand's clone dogs and I was very intrigued. The most interesting thing to me is the type of cells they had to use since they only needed mouth and stomach cells to clone two entire dogs. What is it about these two types of cells that allows scientist to clone organisms? I would have to say that I would not want to clone my dog for two reasons: first I'm not paying $50,000 when I can get a puppy in need of a home for a lot less from a shelter, secondly I would just think of how this dog wasn't my first dog and would probably confuse my old dog for the clone. I feel it's a question on moral views but personally I think I'd rather remember my dog when she passes not replace her with clone her.
ReplyDeleteI read the article about the missing CDC worker Timothy Cunningham.People believe that messed up vaccines that caused him to dissapear. Another belief is that he is being held hostage for top secret intel but that is pointless because he doesn't have access to anything of the sort. I personally believe that he committed suicide because he was denied a promotion
ReplyDeleteThe article I chose to read was “Missing CDC employee was trying to help others” I found the article really interesting how he just disappeared. I’ve watched pretty much all of Shane Dawson’s conspiracy theories, so I definitely believe in (some) conspiracy theories. Timothy was a very powerful person, who was a part of a team working on cures for Ebola and Zika. He didn’t get a promotion- yet he was named Atlanta Business Chronicle’s 40 under 40. If I were his boss, I’d promote him for getting on that list. I feel like we aren't getting the full truth from the government and I’d be curious to know where he is, and if he is safe. No one leaves with ALL their belongings still at home, something definitely must have happened to him.
ReplyDeleteI read the first article about how Barbra Streisand cloned her dog into two other dogs and I thought that it was weird that in the picture "Miss Violet" looked much darker than "Miss Scarlet". This made me question am I just seeing something or is it possible to not have every trait be left to DNA? or did she only have time to give one a bath? Anyway the article was about how she cloned her dogs. Will people be one day cloning children?
ReplyDeleteI also think that it is really weird to clone animals and i also think it is weird that even thought they had the same DNA one looked different and darker.
DeleteI watched the video about CTE and the NHL. I didn't understand why they don't admit that the hits cause long term brain damage. It is very obvious and I believe there needs to be a change. But I'm not alone, many other NHL legends agree. I have come in contact with this issue last year when i received a concussion during one of my games. But AHAI, thankfully, is very strict about head contact and the kid who hit me was suspended. I believe that the NHL should be more like this to keep their players safe.
ReplyDeleteI read the article about Barbra who cloned her dog. It was interesting to see how much someone would pay to clone a dog or cat even though its up to $50,000. Personally I would not want to clone my dog because as the cloned dog grows up it most likely won't be the same as the original.
ReplyDeleteI read the article "Barbra Streisand Had Her Beloved Dog Samantha Cloned: Meet Miss Scarlett and Miss Violet" its really interesting to see that she paid a lot of money and that they were able to clone the dog with just cells from her mouth and stomach. I was also reading the comments and I agree that she can do what she wants with her money and if she wants to clone her dogs she should be able to.
ReplyDeleteI read the article about the NHL and concussions. This article talked about how now more players are coming out and saying that they have suffered multiple concussions and that hey can cause post career struggles. One thing that I found odd is they said that play the game or there is someone younger and hungrier waiting to play, this shows that a lot of rookie players don't know the issue with concussions.
ReplyDeleteI read the article on Amelia Earhart and her bones. They found bones on an Pacific Island that researchers think are hers. We found this with new technology made in the 20th century.This has been a mystery since 1937. So this would be a huge breakthrough if this came out to be true. It could also be believed to have actually been 1 out of 11 people on a ship that sunk.
ReplyDeleteThe death of Steve Montador in 2015 triggered an investigation into the NHL and how its players are being lossed to CTE- a brain injury caused by extensive concussions. The hard hits that an average hockey player sustains is enough to cause permanent brain damage. People are calling for fights and hits to the head- intentional or accidental- to be banned. I think that we shouldn’t ban hits or fights because it’s an important part of the game, the NHL should work on helmets and other protection so that the hits to the head can be less damaging.
ReplyDeleteAs an individual, I would consider cloning any of my pets, if it meant that I could leave the pet’s legacy behind as they pass. If my pet was in good condition, and was not harmed, I believe that this could be a good way to ease the pain of losing a pet. In Barbara streisand’s case, two of her dogs were cloned from her original dog, Samantha. Barbara took cells from her mouth and stomach to make her two other dogs. Cloning dogs started when “South Korean researchers announced that they had cloned a dog for the first time in 2005, after almost three years of work and more than 1,000 eggs.” However, cloning is highly expensive and can cost up to $50,00. This means that not everyone can clone pets which is unfortunate for some of the population who would be interested.
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