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Klc
BIOL 1090
Animal Studies For A Itchy Situation
In an article published by The New York Times it shows the comparison
between the African elephants’ skin and humans who have a certain skin disease.
Their research design was based on skin samples to see what the cracks in
elephants’ skin consisted of and why the elephant has no need to shed. The research
found and tested hopes to find a cure to the genetic skin disease of ichthyosis
vulgaris, a dry and thick scaly surface on humans, which is very similar to the skin
of an elephant.
The hope of this study is to find a cure to the human skin disease ichthyosis
vulgaris. Scientists are still far from finding a cure other then moisturizers but this
would open the door to ideas of cures for the illness. Because this is new research
it is unclear of how this cure would be conducted. Genetics of the African elephant
are part of the conversation, which makes it possible genetic modification could
be an option. From the facts we know if the cure is in fact found then this would
be a huge break for health care practices by hopefully finding a cure to ichthyosis
vulgaris. This could also open the door for testing other aspects with the African
elephant that could help the health of humans.
The research and tests that was provided for this article are from a group of
scientists. This group is formed mainly from either individuals representing
Universities or individuals representing zoos and reserves. It is not certain if the
zoos and reserves are nonpartisan, however it would seem they would have no
benefit by altering the research based on opinion. It is possible that the zoos or
reserves could receive benefits for supplying the elephants but there is no evidence
of this accusation. All the scientists seem to be in unison with their findings, the
articles show no evidence of disagreement.
Before reading the article I knew about tests done on elephants prior but not
in regards to curing a type of skin disease. My knowledge is limited on what tests
were done and the findings but to my recollection I believe it was ideas to help cure
cancer. I was mainly interested in what the next step is and what needs to be done
to cure the human skin disease. I found it incredibly interesting to understand the
beginning process of finding cures for humans. In human biology we have studied
genetically modified animals and foods. I felt that genetically modification would be
a great deal of the article however it was mentioned very little in the article. I feel
like the research from this article could contribute to it in the future. The New York
Times article was intriguing and gave a basic idea of the study and its benefits,
however it didn’t really dive deep into the research of the study. There was a link as
part of the original article that lead to full in depth information about the study. In
the article presented by the link the layout was very well done with setting up
reader and providing detailed information about the research. They had different
sections titled for example they had an introduction section, a results section, and a
methods section. I am not against the research found as long as no elephants were
killed in the process.
.
Jeff Klc
BIOL 1090
Works Cited
Martins, A. F., Bennett, N. C., Clavel, S., Groenewald, H., Hensman, S., Hoby, S., . . .
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-06257-3
Quenqua, D. (2018, October 03). Why Elephants Don't Shed Their Skin. Retrieved
skincracks.html?rref=collection/sectioncollection/health&action=click&contentColl
ection=health®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlaceme
nt=1&pgtype=sectionfront
Jeff Klc
BIOL 1090