KFC's Pink Bucket Breast Cancer Campaign: Critics Have It Wrong

http://www.dailyfinance.com/story/company-news/kfcs-pink-buckets-have-some-breast-cancer-advocates-seeing-red/19454524/

• From April 5 to May 30 of this year, fast-food chain KFC is conducting “Buckets for the Cure," a national campaign to raise money for breast cancer and increase awareness of the disease.
• Both KFC and Susan G. Komen for the Cure, have both drawn sharp criticism from numerous media outlets and breast cancer advocacy groups.
• As part of its promotion, KFC created a pink fried chicken bucket that's printed with the names of breast cancer survivors and victims. For each special bucket it sells, the chain promises to donate 50 cents to Komen.
• The Washington Post's critique is only one angle in a multipronged attack: The program's other detractors have excoriated KFC for everything from promoting animal cruelty to exploiting breast cancer.
• Breast Cancer Action has gone a step further accusing KFC of "pinkwashing," which it says occurs "when a company purports to care about breast cancer by promoting a pink-ribboned product, but manufactures products that are linked to the disease.

Reflection

I never knew how controversial a subject as simple as curing breast cancer can be. KFC is constantly being attacked by other groups for trying to put a healthy label on a very unhealthy product. Though these companies make very good points on this topic, KFC is donating their money to help breast cancer patients get cured. If it was a donation to prevent childhood obesity, then I might be against it, but it is against a disease that is partly out of the victim’s control

Watson, Bruce. "KFC's Pink Bucket Breast Cancer Campaign: Critics Have It Wrong."Dailyfinance.com. 27 Apr. 10. Web. 30 Apr. 10. .

Another Virus Affecting Children

http://www.wkbw.com/news/local/83297132.html

• A new virus called the Respiratory Syncytial Virus is having local hospitals
  • The virus, which like its name indicates, attacks the respiratory system and is actually common this time of year, but it's making many parents nervous due to the rising concerns over the swine flu.
    
  and doctors deal with frightened parents.
• Health experts say there is no reason for alarm and say RSV is not any worse this year compared to others.

This article showed me that a simple, common disease or virus can be over-think by another disease, in this case, the swine flu. People look for the next big thing to be scared of and would not even think twice of the previous epidemic. For example, the ecol i disease that spread around spinach used to be the big, scary epidemic that people were watching out for. Now, with the swine flu, ecol i is almost completely forgotten.

"Another Virus Affecting Children." Wkbw.com. 1 Feb. 10. Web. 16 Mar. 10. .

Birth of embryonic stem cells is imaged

http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2010/02/17/Birth-of-embryonic-stem-cells-is-imaged/UPI-75491266439975/

• U.S. biologists say they have identified the specific region in vertebrates where adult blood stem cells arise during embryonic development.
• University of California-San Diego scientists say their finding, recorded in time-lapse imaging involving zebrafish, is a critical first step in developing safer and more effective stem cell therapies for such diseases as leukemia, multiple myeloma and anemia.
• "If we could generate healthy (hematopoietic stem cells) from patients and transplant them back into their own bone marrow, it would eliminate many complications," said Assistant Professor David Traver, who led the research.
• "Our findings are an important step toward this goal because they provide a better understanding of how … the cell type responsible for the clinical benefits of bone marrow transplants are first specified during development," said Traver.

Reflection

When I first read this article, I felt happy that biologists have found a step to make stem cell therapy safer and more effective. This is a medical advancement toward helping people in need of stem cells because it can cure many diseases such as leukemia, multiple myeloma, and anemia.

"Birth of Embryonic Stem Cells Is Imaged." Upi.com. 2 Feb. 10. Web. 12 May 10. .

Chromosomes Dance and Pair Up on the Nuclear Membrane

http://insciences.org/article.php?article_id=7549

• New findings by University of California, Berkeley, scientists show that the cell's cytoskeleton, which moves things around in the cell, plays a critical role, essentially reaching into the nucleus to bring chromosome pairs together in preparation for recombination and segregation.
• he cytoskeleton appears to encourage the dance of the chromosomes around the nuclear membrane as they search for their partners, and help make sure they have the right partner before meiosis continues.
• Errors during meiosis lead to age-related human infertility, and to birth defects such as Down syndrome and Klinefelter syndrome," said Abby Dernburg, UC Berkeley associate professor of molecular and cell biology and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator. "Our work teaches us about the fundamental mechanisms of genome organization, about how cells execute processes in precise ways, monitor their own mistakes and correct or eliminate them."

Reflection

When I read this article, I found out that scientists in UC Berkeley made a scientific discovery in chromosomes. It made me happy because by dad graduated UC Berkeley with a degree in BioChem. It is a bit exciting for me because he was in the same lab as the scientists who made this discovery.

"Chromosomes Dance and Pair up on the Nuclear Membrane." Insciences.org. 12 Nov. 09. Web. 13 May 10. .

Anaphylaxis is the Most Severe Form of Allergic Reaction

http://www.silive.com/healthfit/index.ssf/2010/03/anaphylaxis_is_the_most_severe_form_of_allergic_reaction.html

• Gail Larkin was having dinner with a friend at a restaurant when her friend noticed that she doesn’t look very well. Larkin tries to go to the bathroom but is too weak. She starts to notice some tightness and wheezing all of a sudden. She passes out and the next thing she knows she is in a stretcher with an oxygen mask on her face. She had a severe allergic reaction even though she never had allergies; she suffered from anaphylaxis.
• Anaphylaxis is the most severe form of allergic reaction.
• It often comes on with no warning and can be a severe allergic response to something you’ve had several times with little or no reaction.
• Her immune system wrongly perceived the food as dangerous and triggered the reaction of swelling in the mucous membranes, severe drop of blood pressure, sneezing, and lightheadedness.

Reflection

This article is about a woman's experiencing anaphylaxis, the most severe form of an allergic reaction. It was a first person view of a near-death experience. It was a very good story to read because reading a first-person view on something like that has much more depth than A third-person view of an allergic reaction. Reading this also made me think how precious life is and how easily it can be taken away.

Larkin, Gail. "Another Virus Affecting Children." Wkbw.com. 1 Feb. 10. Web. 16 Mar. 10. .

Lundberg Products ‘Non-GMO Verified’

http://www.naturalproductsmarketplace.com/news/2010/01/lundberg-products-nongmo-verified.aspx

• Sixty-six of Lundberg Family Farms’ products are among the first to be officially “Non-GMO Verified” by the Non-GMO Project.
• “It is very important for the consumer to have an educated choice between food containing GMO's and those that are non-GMO,” says Grant Lundberg, CEO of Lundberg Family Farms.
• Grant Lundberg serves as one of 11 governing members of the Non-GMO Project's board of directors that has been involved in initiating, funding, and writing standards for the Non-GMO Project since its inception; the Non-GMO Project is a nonprofit organization to offer consumers a consistent non-GMO choice for organic and natural products that are produced without genetic engineering or recombinant DNA technologies.
• Non-GMO Project is the only organization offering independent verification of testing and GMO controls for products in the United States and Canada.

Reflection

I really liked this article. I liked this article so much because it shows how controversial a subject as GMOs are. I feel that a non-GMO product is a good idea, but it will be very hard to keep it up because many materials are now contaminated with genetically modified organisms. Something as controversial as genetically modified organisms is a matter that must be thought through before anybody assumes what he/she believes in.

"Lundberg Products ‘Non-GMO Verified’." Www.naturalproductsmarketplace.com. 6 Jan. 2010. Web. 2 Mar. 2010. .

Controversy at the University of Sydney

http://www.usyd.edu.au/news/84.html?newsstoryid=1848

• Professor Julian Savulescu will discuss why a "new science", which uses radical techniques such as genetic engineering, is needed in order to engance people's lives rather than just prevent and treat disease.
• Julian Savulescu is the Uehiro Chair in Practical Ethics at the University of Oxford and has been at the forefront of cutting-edge research in the UK on the ethics of new biosciences, including cloning, stem cells, genetics, artificial reproduction, human enhancement, and neuroscience.
• He is known for his often controversial views: he recently called for doing to be allowed in the Tour de France, arguing that "performance-enhancement per se is not against the spirit of sport; it is the spirit of sport" and that cheating in sport will, in fact, be reduced if drugs were allowed rather than banned.

Reflection
In this article, Professor Julian Savulescu told the press why a "new science" is needed in order to engance people's lives rather than just prevent and treat diseases. This new science is used to treat the genetics of a person and save them from diseases, such as HIV/AIDS or cancer. Savulescu says that treating diseases are not enough; you have to go to greater lengths to try to prevent preventable diseases from spreading genetically. I agree with Savulescu because it is important to save as much lives as possible, and if we have the technology to do it, I believe we should attempt it.

Rare disease leaves Vicki's family and friends devastated

http://www.brainerddispatch.com/stories/012810/new_20100128036.shtml

• Vicki LaMere has spent much of her adult life championing causes to benefit the city of Lake Shore, a community she has lived in and loved her entire life.
• Now LaMere's friends and family are devastated as they helplessly watch her battle Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease; about 90 percent die within a year of the onset of the disease.
• Diagnosed on December 14, LaMere was given six to 18 months to live but her family said the end likely won't be long now. She is bedridden, can't speak and suffers from dementia and hallucinations.
• LaMere, 51, began noticing something was wrong the first part of October; she complained of feeling dizzy.
• People contributed weeks of vacation hours to help the LaMeres through this difficult time.

Reflection

When I first read this article, I felt a little bad for Vicki LaMere, the woman in this article who caught the Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. It is sad because she worked so hard in helping her community becoming a better place, and it must be devastating for her family to watch Vicki battle with the disease helplessly. It makes you think how you should try to make the world a little better because your clock is ticking before the day you die.

Tweed, Jodie. "Rare Disease Leaves Vicki's Family and Friends Devastated."Www.brainerddispatch.com. 6 Jan. 2010. Web. 2 Mar. 2010. .