Shark Disection

Nathan Wolfe

Many people die from a sickness called HIV, Human Immunodeficiency Virus. This is a sexually transmitted sickness for the most part. There is yet a cure for this sickness but doctors have come up with medicine that will help you live with it as long as possible.

This disease was started in 1929 in Congo, Africa when a group of hunters set out to bush hung for primates to feed their families. In class we watched a video about a scientist by the name of Nathan Wolfe. He is trying to figure out what animals carry this disease and is also trying to monitor viruses so they stay away from the human race. Wolfe personally went on a bush hunt to collect samples of blood to check for zoonotic diseases. Zoonotic diseases are diseases caused by infections that can be transmitted between animals and humans. We hope as a world that we will someday find a cure to all these diseases that are life threatening, especially HIV.

Before I watched this movie I had no idea how HIV had actually started. I had never really thought about it. I’m glad I know how it started but I also think that there are other ways to take care of your family without threatening the life of the hunter and spreading it throughout the world. Such as hunting for animals we know for a fact don’t have diseases and aren’t endangered species.

Chimp's Article Summary

After a ten-year hiatus there is questioning and debate whether a certain group of chimpanzees should really be sent back to a labratory after such a long break in a retirement home in Alamagordo New Mexico. Questions such as these come up in discussion: Should testing really be allowed on chimpanzees when we wouldn't risk it on ourselbes and haven't these specific chimps already donated enough time and years to this lab?
A specific group of Chimps are being sent back to the lab after a decade of being at a retirement home in Alamagordo. The governer of New Mexico, Bill Richardson, is going to put up a fight agains the National Institutes of Health which would prevent them from going back to the lab. They want to test on these chimpanzees because they think it would be better to risk a cimp than a human.
The reaction I have to this article would be that these specific chimpanzees have already done their time in the lab and do not deserve to go back. I personaly think that they should stay where they are permanently.

Tina, Guest Speaker

Having a guest speaker on this topic really helped me to understand what people in situations of needing organs have to go through in order to live their life. This experience was really eye opening and helped me to think in a different perspective in which i could better understand the struggles that people suffering with organ failures have to cope with on a day to day basis.

September 9, 2010
Dear Policy Maker,
I ask that you listen to my letter with an open mind and open
heart. I am a single forty year old woman with Hepatitis C.
Unfortunately, when I was a young girl I was in a car accident
and needed a blood transfusion. As a consequence, I contracted
Hepatitis C.
I have three kids that are five, ten, and thirteen. My five year
old Benny is a curious one. Garrett, my ten year old attends
Elementary school and thrives in school and loves to play soccer.
My oldest daughter Maya is in seventh grade and is a very
responsible young woman and helps me with both of my younger
children.
Fortunately, my disease has not affected my health until now. I am
a dedicated fourth grade school teacher. I have taught fourth grade
for the past fifteen years which is one hundred students per year
and has a great impact on the education of our kids and our future.
I would really like to keep working and help teach these young
minds and get them started on a great education. I hope you can
assist me to continue my career as a teacher.
Policy Maker, please consider me as a candidate for a liver
transplant. My children still really need me and I want to be there
to watch them grow.
Thank you for your time and please don’t hesitate to contact me for
further information.
Sincerely,
Joyce Smith