BIOL367/F10:Class Journal Week 9

Reflection Questions

Margie Doyle

1. There has been an outbreak of cholerae in Haiti in the last week amongst the people already affected by the earthquake. How, specifically, do you think that research like that we are doing this week can contribute to an improvement in publich health? What do you think the barriers are for this research to lead to viable treatments that can reach the people in Haiti?
   • By helping to make the genomic data more accessible to scientists, we allow researchers to focus on their research rather then creating databases. When information is at their fingertips, solutions adn new treatments can be discovered faster and more efficiently. The more inexpensively and efficiently the research may be done, the greater the chances that it can be made available for use in areas of economic strain, such as Haiti.
2. Next week we will be selecting the teams for the class final projects. What qualities do you look for in a good teammate? What are some of the things that make or break a team project?
   • Qualities of a good teammate include reliability, a good work ethic, and a willingness to work with others. Team projects are highly dependent on the compatibility of the group members, as well as individual desires to produce quality work.

Margie Doyle 13:13, 29 October 2010 (EDT)

Richard Brous

• There has been an outbreak of cholerae in Haiti in the last week amongst the people already affected by the earthquake. How, specifically, do you think that research like that we are doing this week can contribute to an improvement in publich health? What do you think the barriers are for this research to lead to viable treatments that can reach the people in Haiti?
  • The Vibrio cholera research between pathogenic and non-pathogenic strains is already providing insight into the following:
    • How the pathogenic strain remains highly contaigous after passing from a human host.
    • How adaptable the pathogenic strain is to survive in different environments.
    • How the pathogenic strain seems to have high mobility when in nutrient poor environments increases survivability.
  • By comparing the two strains further there might be a way to minimize its ability to stay highly contaigious post passing or even to possibly block its ability to survive in specific environments.
  • In regards to likely barriers of research solutions to the people of Haiti:
    • Poverty will likely rank at the top of the list. For pharmacutical companies to develop treatment from research there needs to be profit in it for them. Countries like Haiti and others that suffer from high poverty and unclean living conditions just can't affor to pay. Which is in itself a catch-22 since if they had money...housing, sanitation, medical services, etc. would all be better, minimizing the type of environment where Vibrio cholera would be a risk.
• Next week we will be selecting the teams for the class final projects. What qualities do you look for in a good teammate? What are some of the things that make or break a team project?
  • The qualities I look for in a good teammate are:
    • Understands the subject matter or a particular portion intimately.
    • Highly organized.
    • Flexible availability.
    • Values all opinions, not just their own which leads to easier group decisions.
    • Motiviated to start sooner rather than later.
  • I believe the previous qualities can make a great team but when team members don't embrace them problems will arise.
    • Not being available until the last minute.
    • Unmotivated to do the work thus being carried along by others.
    • Unorganized.
    • Not following through on individual responsibilities (sub-tasks) which would then be combined into the greater project.

Richard Brous 16:41, 30 October 2010 (EDT)

Andrew Forney

• There has been an outbreak of cholerae in Haiti in the last week amongst the people already affected by the earthquake. For example, see the story by Partners in Health. How, specifically, do you think that research like that we are doing this week can contribute to an improvement in public health? What do you think the barriers are for this research to lead to viable treatments that can reach the people in Haiti? I quote G.I. Joe when I say that "knowing is half the battle." Corny children's shows aside, there's some truth to that statement with regards to fighting disease; how does one develop cures and treatment for maladies when they don't already know all that they can about the pathogen? Research like ours on Vibrio Colerae can help dissect the infectious and harmful nature of many viruses by isolating the individual components that contribute to them. Genetic level analysis can betray the weaknesses in these tiny adversaries or yield information crucial to their prevention--especially with regards to mapping genes to their grander functions. As far as barriers to viable treatments for the Haitians, there are two big ones: 1) Cost: this is a very destitute area that is most likely incapable of fielding the funds necessary for more advanced medicine--any substantive cures developed would probably have to be distributed in a pro bono manner. 2) Future Prevention: without access to a stable water source, as the article mentions, the probability of re-occuring infection is high, thus making treatment a mere bandaid solution.

• Next week we will be selecting the teams for the class final projects. What qualities do you look for in a good teammate? What are some of the things that make or break a team project?
  • Attractive Qualities: Diligence, patience, and perseverance: It's perfectly understandable for people to get stuck on college level material, which may require outside help or further research; what is less forgivable is a resigned attitude to finding that obstacle's solution. Most problems, with enough elbow grease, can be overcome, and as such, perhaps the quality I look for most is dedication.
  • Lame Qualities: The worst offender in team project disruption is apathy for the task at hand; we go through life, especially college, doing things that we don't necessarily want to knowing that they'll pay off later. What can really kill momentum, though, is a team member who gets hung up on the difficulty, or the time investment, and won't let it go. This tends to only compound the inertia of the task and really hinders progress by harming the group morale.

Andrew Forney 03:06, 30 October 2010 (EDT)

Andrew Herman

1. There has been an outbreak of cholerae in Haiti in the last week amongst the people already affected by the earthquake. For example, see the story by Partners in Health. How, specifically, do you think that research like that we are doing this week can contribute to an improvement in public health? What do you think the barriers are for this research to lead to viable treatments that can reach the people in Haiti? - Efficient and qualitative genomic analysis is the necessary first step to developing effective treatments to combat widespread disease such as V. cholera. Once we can understand on the genomic level why certain diseases become pathogenic and survive, we can then find cures through either genetic alteration of the strain, or creation of environments that resist pathogenic outbreak. These are just a few of the many possible ways in which genomic analysis can lead to future medical treatment on an international scale. Though there are several lifesaving possibilities to this technology, barriers to it widespread implementation do exist. As a wise men once said, money always talks, especially in the research world. But in research, the competition can become all the more hostile for funding, with only government willing to supply necessary resources for basic science, and big business only using it as a means for profit. Thus, one must be careful that this technology does not fall prey to industrialization, much like pharmaceutical's did. Otherwise the poor of the world will never be able to access the benefits of this technology, if and when it is implemented in a health care setting.
2. Next week we will be selecting the teams for the class final projects. What qualities do you look for in a good teammate? What are some of the things that make or break a team project? - A good team member is diligent, a critical thinker, and devotes a quality effort to working with his/her team members. Whereas a poor team member is one who is not devoted to the project, lacking the least bit of interest in the end point of the project. He is also last minute in every phase, and does not communicate well with the rest of the group. The quality of the individual team members is critical to the overall quality of the resulting project, as each and every task makes up a crucial component to the body of work.

Andrew Herman 21:27, 30 October 2010 (EDT)

Jennifer Okonta

1. How, specifically, do you think that research like that we are doing this week can contribute to an improvement in publich health? What do you think the barriers are for this research to lead to viable treatments that can reach the people in Haiti? By doing this research we are allowing more scientists to get information about the genes that are causing different diseases. With this information they will be able to create the different medicine that will be able to attack and kill these genes and help to keep the people healthy and alive. There may be several barriers for this research. One barriers could be accuracy because they have to make sure that the genomic analysis is always correct and right before making a diagnosis. Also money would be an issue because in these poor countries there may not be enough money to do these types of research for every individual so that would be a barrier also.

2.Next week we will be selecting the teams for the class final projects. What qualities do you look for in a good teammate? What are some of the things that make or break a team project? My teammate has to be hard working and independent. They have to be able to get the work done by themselves and also be willing to work in the group along with me. The person should have an optimistic spirit and always try to get their part done no matter how busy their schedule is. I would also like to have a teammate that does not wait to the end to get their part done and tries to finish it early so that if anything happens we can fix it quickly before it is too late. I think that if the teammates all can work together and do equal parts that their will be a great team from that unity but if the teammates do not get along then the team will not work out. There will be more tension there which will cause problems.

Jennifer Okonta 12:28, 31 October 2010 (EDT)

Salomon Garcia

1. There has been an outbreak of cholerae in Haiti in the last week amongst the people already affected by the earthquake. For example, see the story by Partners in Health. How, specifically, do you think that research like that we are doing this week can contribute to an improvement in publich health? What do you think the barriers are for this research to lead to viable treatments that can reach the people in Haiti?---- Our research can help in the understanding of the Vibrio Choleraebacteria better. With this understanding scientists can find better ways in order to attack the bacteria. I think some of the barriers that exist are economical ones since Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the world, richer countries don't put much emphasis in finding ways since it not occurring closer to home.
2. Next week we will be selecting the teams for the class final projects. What qualities do you look for in a good teammate? What are some of the things that make or break a team project? ---- For teammates I look in a person that is accessible and that is willing to work hard and put time in the completion of the assignment. Some of the things that make a team project include working as a team together with enough time to produce what is expected of us.

Salomon Garcia Valencia 21:42, 31 October 2010 (EDT)

Zeb Russo

1. There has been an outbreak of cholerae in Haiti in the last week amongst the people already affected by the earthquake. For example, see the story by Partners in Health. How, specifically, do you think that research like that we are doing this week can contribute to an improvement in publich health? What do you think the barriers are for this research to lead to viable treatments that can reach the people in Haiti? - In researching the differences in gene expression between non-pathogenic and pathogenic V. cholerae we can learn how to turn off the pathogenic parts and render the bacteria impotent. The biggest barrier in this research is figuring out what all the genes do in the organism themselves and how they respond to environmental pressure. The difference in errors between the 2009 data and the 2010 data was drastic on simply the number of genes found. Continuing this work is crucial.
2. Next week we will be selecting the teams for the class final projects. What qualities do you look for in a good teammate? What are some of the things that make or break a team project? - I would look for someone who does the work they say they will do, and does it by the due date. Someone who is a team player will help a lot. A team that doesn't work well together in terms of personality can break a project. So can an unbalanced team that is strong in some areas but weak in others, a well balanced team helps complete a project successfully.

Zeb Russo 23:56, 31 October 2010 (EDT)

Evan Montz

1. There has been an outbreak of cholerae in Haiti in the last week amongst the people already affected by the earthquake. For example, see the story by Partners in Health. How, specifically, do you think that research like that we are doing this week can contribute to an improvement in publich health? What do you think the barriers are for this research to lead to viable treatments that can reach the people in Haiti? -- I believe that if the specific genes in the bacterium that are associated with the pathogenicity can be identified, then hopefully scientists will find a way to target these genes in order to create more effective treatment. It seems to me that a barrier to this might be the frequent changes associated with these genes in the databases. As we found in our work, the data from two years ago differed greatly from from the present set. Perhaps the data needs to become a bit more solidified before this could become a reality.
2. Next week we will be selecting the teams for the class final projects. What qualities do you look for in a good teammate? What are some of the things that make or break a team project?-- I tend to look for a partner that is serious and enjoys what they are doing, and at the same time is easy to get along with. I think that flexibility and agreeability is key within successful teams. I believe that if everyone in the group isn't flexible and willing to consider the ideas of others, this can definitely break a team project.

Evan Montz 01:25, 1 November 2010 (EDT)

Claudia Campos

1. There has been an outbreak of cholerae in Haiti in the last week amongst the people already affected by the earthquake. For example, see the story by Partners in Health. How, specifically, do you think that research like that we are doing this week can contribute to an improvement in publich health? What do you think the barriers are for this research to lead to viable treatments that can reach the people in Haiti? This research involves knowing pathways and specific information about genes, so the genes of cholera can be studied to gain an understanding of it and hopefully develop treatments and vaccines. Problems could be encountered in that the gene ontologies change often as seen in this weeks assignment. Keeping up with the gene ontology would require constant research that could get expensive, which is something that Haiti can't afford and would require donations of time, money, research, and pharmaceuticals.
2. Next week we will be selecting the teams for the class final projects. What qualities do you look for in a good teammate? What are some of the things that make or break a team project? A good teammate is someone who's willing to help and learn. By that I mean that he or she will voice ideas and give insight to his or her expertise and at the same time be willing to hear other's input. A bad teammate would be someone who tries to take complete charge and leaves the other group members in the dark. A bad teammate could also be someone who completely is slacking and uninterested.

Claudia Campos 01:58, 1 November 2010 (EDT)