Persuasive Essay On Sirenas

1173 Words3 Pages

Since the dawn of humanity, man has been hunted by one thing. An invisible enemy, completely alien to our race, has stalked us. It came silently on the backs of animals or hulls of ships and wiped out entire civilizations.What is it that has claimed so many lives? Disease. In the course of medical study, innovation has always been a savior. In our darkest hour, when disease pushed the populace to the edge, innovations in medical science have saved us. Innoculations, vaccines, germ theory, painkillers, antibiotics, Stem Cells, CRISPR...all of these have picked up the slack and carried medicine forward. Today the research community stands on the edge of a knife, balancing ethical dilemmas with government regulation and international law. …show more content…

What can be gained by exploring the ocean? What secrets do the creatures of the deep give us? In California, a new business called Sirenas seeks to answer this question (Shoot). Sirenas is a new breed of business that “bio-prospects” material from the oceanic and coastal floors around their area. Their hunt is for a different type of treasure, an unexpected one. Sea sponges. For Sirenas, the sea sponge holds a wealth of biological knowledge just waiting to be tapped into. Sea Sponges have a very unique chemistry that allows them to regenerate and purge harmful cells from their bodies. Sirenas removes these vegetable like life forms from their habitats, studies them, takes whatever small samples they may need, and then returns them to their original states. The chemicals and derivatives they discover are becoming key components in anti-cancer and pharmaceutical medicines …show more content…

There are actually many. Take for instance Harriet, a pet turtle of pioneering naturalist Charles Darwin. Harriet was discovered by Charles on his 1835 voyage to The Galápagos Islands (in the middle Pacific off the coasts of South America). Harriet is believed to have been about five years old and no larger than a plate when taken from the isles. She lived to be 176, passing in 2006. Charles died long before Harriet did, but what gave the tortoise her longevity? Scientific research is beginning to pinpoint the cause. The current (and growing) theory is that there exist synapses in our brains called telomeres. These telomeres function best when long and stretched out. A substance called “telomerase” maintains the synapses and keeps them long (“Warmflash”). Research on animals like the Galapagos tortoise reveals that their brains have an abundance of telomerase, keeping their telomeres functioning for hundreds of years. The application of this substance on a human subject has many ethical problems around it, but the possibilities are astounding. The secret to prolonged life may be obtainable upon further research, which is an excellent incentive to continue study (“Warmflash”). Tortoises are land animals but there is a second creature, and oceanic creature, that lives even longer than the Galapagos tortoise. The ocean quahog clam “Ming” was 507 upon his death. That means that the clam was “born” in 1499, 277 years before

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