Weekly News

UK Scientists Allowed To Modify Human Embryos

Scientists hope to gain an "insight into the causes of miscarriage" by winning the right to 'edit' the activity of genes in human embryos for the first time in the UK. The license will allow Dr Kathy Niakan to take her research further. The embryos they will be using are going to be from couples undergoing IVF treatment who don't need them. The embryos used in the research aren't allowed to be implanted into women. The purpose of this is to "assist infertile couples and reduce the anguish of miscarriage". Researchers at the Francis Crick Institute, with laboratories in Hertfordshire and London, rely on "CRISPR-Cas9" technology which allows scientists to edit genes very precisely and very cheaply.

Some scientists are worried what this will lead to, it might end up with genetically modified embryos being implanted into women; there will be unforeseen consequences of this later in life of children with edited genomes, additionally, this could lead to 'designer' babies in the future.

In my opinion, I think what they're trying to do is good but I think it will lead to some ridiculous outcomes, which will lead to people wanting to design their babies etc. I think that as long as they don't let it get out of hand, it will be a great advantage to our knowledge of biological science.

Weekly News

Sex crimes against children rocket 75%

Home Office figures recorded 36,855 child sex offences in the year to September 2015. In the past 4 years child sex offences have increased by 75% (in England and Wales). Telford and Wrekin are the areas with the highest rates of child sex crimes, according to the data. The article (http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/sex-crimes-against-children-rocket-7243478#rlabs=3%20rt$category%20p$5) consists of multiple statistics which show which areas have the highest rate of child sex crimes.

This article stood out to me, as I'm sure it did to lots of other people. It stood out simply because of the large numbers of child sex offences. After reading this I found it very disturbing and disgusting that people would do such things, and these numbers are just for England and Wales; don't even want to know what they would be for the rest of the world. I think this article was written to raise awareness about this very serious issue to hopefully try and prevent it somehow. 

Weekly News

Women paying more than men for everyday product thanks to 'unacceptable' gender price gap.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/women-paying-more-than-men-for-everyday-product-thanks-to-unacceptable-gender-price-gap-a6820816.html

Research found that hundreds of the products aimed at women are more expensive than the 'male' equivalents. These products include toys, clothes and beauty items; The Times found that 37% of these products were more expensive on average. An example of this is in Topshop; "a roll-sleeve white T-shirt for women costs £12 but a Topman roll-sleeve white T-shirt is £8." Some people debate whether we need gendered products at all since many products are the same for men and women. Maria Miller, chair of the Women and Equalities Select Committee called the findings "unacceptable" and said that "Retailers have got to explain why they do this."

I agree with this point of view as personally I have always thought that women's products were more expensive, especially clothes. However, this shouldn't be the case, especially if they are products from the same shop. Why should someone pay more for a product just because they are male or female? This issue is very similar to the "tampon tax" argument, where "VAT is charged for women's sanitary products because they are classified as "non-essential luxury items". 

Movie Comparison

Welcome to the punch & Headhunters comparison

The genre of both of these movies is thriller, this is seen through the use of dark colours, tense music, an antagonist and a series of difficult situations that the protagonists have to try to overcome. Both of these movies try to make the characters relatable to the audience through a theme of insecurities. In Welcome to the punch, the protagonist is unable to achieve things to his full potential due being shot in his leg during a spontaneous decision he made and continues to regret. This creates a sympathetic audience. This is similar in Headhunters as the audience is supposed to feel sympathetic towards the protagonist because he is insecure about his self image and lives in fear of not being good enough; this makes the character relatable to the audience as this is a common insecurity to have. Furthermore, it makes the audience understand some of the reasons for his actions during the movie.

However, I think the characterisation in the movies is different; we find out much more about the protagonist in headhunters than we do in welcome to the punch. This makes the audience more involved in the movie and feel more emotions when things happen to that character. Although both of the movies do represent women under a negative light, in welcome to the punch there are only two female roles and both of them are shown failing, one through death and the other by getting exposed. In headhunters the woman is also represented negatively as she is presented as a gold-digging and selfish female character. In comparison to the male characters in the movies, the females would probably be looked down upon by the audience.

Overall I preferred headhunters because I think the story line was very intriguing and unique, it keeps the audience interested throughout the whole movie. I also think that it is much better in making the audience feel sympathetic towards the protagonist, especially in one of the key scenes in the movie where he has to shave off his hair; this is a visual representation of how quickly his life went down hill. He went from a full set of hair to nothing in just a few days. Additionally, the protagonist went from wearing fancy suits to wearing other people's clothes; this highlights the dramatic turn of events that he has experienced.

Weekly News

The NHS and Tinder have formed an unlikely alliance

This article was written by Harry Readhead for Metro.co.uk; the purpose of it is to inform the audience of the positive action the popular dating app Tinder has taken to raise awareness for organ donation. NHS and Tinder are hoping to raise this awareness by inviting three celebrities to help them; Jade Jones (Olympic gold medallist), Jamie Laing (Made in Chelsea) and Gemma Oaten (Eastenders). The use of star power here is supposed to help attract a wide audience to their partnership and "throw a spotlight on the importance of organ donation". It is important to raise more awareness for organ donation as "millions more support donation but haven't taken the final step to sign up". Additionally the article includes some statistics to help people realise how serious this topic is: "There are nearly 7,000 people on the UK transplant waiting list and over the last 10 years more than 6,000 people have died waiting for an organ." The NHS campaign is hoping to educate Tinder's 18-35 demographic on its potential to save lives.

In my opinion I think it's great to see a popular app help to promote a positive cause, I also think it's good how celebrities have gotten involved to try and raise awareness. I hope it is successful and leads to many more people signing up to be an organ donor.

Weekly News

Mother decided to bring up her three-year-old son as a girl in Britain's youngest case of a child wanting to sex change

Kerry McFadyen found her son Daniel, who was aged three at the time, trying to cut off his penis so that "he could be a girl". When I first saw the title of this article I instantly thought that it was bad parenting to let your three year old child change genders but she says "Most people might think I'm a bad mother for letting my child transition so young, but I will do anything to make my child happy" she also mentioned that her "daughter is so happy now and a completely different child. As a boy she was quiet, withdrawn and miserable but now since since she has been living as Danni she is a ray of sunshine". This made me see things from her point of view and understand why she agreed to raising her son as a girl. Mrs McFadyen and her husband Craig approached their family GP for advice, after some time Daniel was diagnosed with gender dysphoria. This is a condition where a person experiences discomfort or distress because there is a mismatch between their biological sex and gender identity. "The parents will wait until Danni starts puberty, and then she will be prescribed hormone blockers until she is truly old enough to decide whether she wants to transition aged 16."

Weekly News

World's first anti-ageing drug could see humans live to 120

Scientists believe that Metformin, a current drug used by people with diabetes could increase a humans lifespan by 50%. The drug is set to have a human trial in 2016 where they're hoping to show that it slows down the ageing process and stops disease.

The evidence that suggests that this drug could possibly increase your lifespan is:

• "Belgian researchers tested Metformin on the tiny roundworm C.elegans the worms not only aged slower, but they also stayed healthier longer."
• "Mice treated with Metformin increased their lifespan by nearly 40 per cent and their bones were also stronger."
• "Cardiff University found that when patients with diabetes were given the drug Metformin they in fact lived longer than others without the condition, even though they should have died eight years earlier on average."

Although the evidence above seems reliable, I refuse to believe that this drug would work on everyone, and surely there would be some side effects for people. "However, if their trial performs as promised, experts say slowing ageing would be a 'public health revolution.'"

Link for the article: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/science-news/12017112/Worlds-first-anti-ageing-drug-could-see-humans-live-to-120.html