Damian Kaminski
01/18/18
Forensics current event 14
Main, Douglas M. "The Forensics of Snake Venom." Green Blog. New York Times, Web.
The article, The Forensics of Snake Venom, by Douglas M. Main, explains how new DNA testing has increased justice in cases of smuggling dried cobra venom. In in Kerala, India authorities have made many arrests for venom trafficking. The activity is on the rise and includes milking highly venomous snakes, and then transporting the good and selling it at a very steep price. It’s illegal to trade in venom from any snake species protected under the country’s Wildlife Act, including the Indian cobra. But unfortunately, not all of the caught smugglers have been locked away due to inconclusive evidence. Before genetic analysis there was no way to prove which snake the venom came from. After a raid on a hotel room in Kerala, the local magistrate sent venom samples to the Center for Cellular and Molecular Biology in Hyderabad. For the first time, scientists were able to analyze DNA within the venom to prove that it came from the Indian cobra, or Naja naja. The study at the Center for Cellular and Molecular Biology in Hyderabad found that the process of milking venom sheds epithelial cells. These cells contain DNA which, when analyzed, can reveal the type of snake it derives from.
Because of the conclusion of genetic analysis testing smugglers are facing the justice they deserved. They were charged with illegal hunting and trafficking of a protected animal, both of which are punishable by a prison sentence up to three years and/or a fine of about $500. The new discovery will stop the trafficking of the of venom, which will help clean up Kerala, India, where it was being used as a recreational drug. Illegal hunting of and trade in snakes and other reptiles is an enormous problem in South Asia, the process brings animals to extinction, which in turn harms all the wildlife in their habitat. Because of this new process Kerala will return to its peaceful state.
I personally thought this article was very interesting and drew my attention. I was expecting to find an article about a case about a shooting or something cliche. Instead it lead me to see the larger extent of forensic science spreading its influence all the way in Kerala India. It made me see just how science is affected by everything in this world. The article itself was old, but had links to more recent and related articles, which made my summary more relevant. The inclusion of the experts within the article also made the genetic analysis easier to comprehend.
12 comments:
Main, Douglas M. "The Forensics of Snake Venom." Green Blog. New York Times, Web.
Damian’s review of “The Forensics of Snake Venom” was a very interesting review. First of all, it really helped that he stated the exact place and conditions surrounding this topic, specifying that in Kerala, India, authorities have made many arrests for venom trafficking names. In addition, the fact that he had a lot of details about how the DNA was gotten from the smuggling, elaborating on the Center for Cellular and Molecular Biology in Hyderabad. This aided me in understanding this topic better and gave me some additional information about it. Finally, Damian did a really good job in making this review quite thorough by adding information on how DNA links the venom to a specific snake.
Although this review was very interesting, one way it could have been made better is that Damian could have gone back through the review and elaborated a bit more on why is this article and subject important for the world, so that the review was more sophisticated. By reading it over and adding a few sentences, he could have avoided this problem and made he review more thought out. Moreover, there were a few typos in his review which could have easily been eliminated. By reading over his review he could have avoided this problem and had a better flow throughout it.
Overall, this review was captivating and thought-provoking. I had never heard about this use of DNA in smuggling, so I was intrigued when I read Damian’s review. Thus, learning about this was very enlightening and taught me many new things. Reading this review made me realize that with the new forensics techniques that are being developed, many areas are being helped and many different crimes can be solved.
Maggie Miller
Forensics A/B odd
Current Event Comment 15
January 30th, 2018
Main, Douglas M. "The Forensics of Snake Venom." Green Blog. New York Times, Web.
Damian Kaminski submitted a review of the New York Times article, “The Forensics of Snake Venom.” Damian included a detailed summary of the article, which is about a new DNA testing has increased justice in a case about smuggling dried cobra venom. Damian also includes background about how snake venom can be sold on the market for very steep prices, which explains why this type of case is so common. Damian also explained what this new method means for the number of people facing a prison sentence from illegal hunting and trafficking, which is that it will stop this area of crime in general.
However, there were two things lacking in Damian’s article. Damian didn’t mention exactly what the new DNA testing method was, so the article was essentially pointless, he spent the whole time talking about animal trafficking and how common it is, when the more important topic is the new testing method itself. Second, Damian didn’t include any quotes in his review. Quotes are a great way to use textual evidence to support your claim.
Nonetheless, I found the topic about the snake venom interesting, I was unaware it was such a common thing to hunt for. However, I do plan to do more research to find out what the DNA aspect of this article actually is.
Lucy Rizzo
January 31, 2018
Forensics
Current Event 15
Main, Douglas M. "The Forensics of Snake Venom." Green Blog. New York Times, Web.
I read Damian Kaminski’s summary of the article “The Forensics of Snake Venom” from the New York Times. I thought that Damian did a very good job with the article summary. He included a ton of helpful detail and created a comprehensive and easy to read summary of the information he learned. He also did a good job incorporating forensic influence in the drug trafficking of venomous snakes. Thirdly, Damien did a very good job citing specific studies and centers which helped provide more detail.
To improve the summary Damian could have done two things. He could have included his own opinion about the information and his perspective outside the country as to how this could be used in drug trafficking in the US. He also could have included quotes from the article from specialists or professionals in the field or involved with these specific drug trafficking cases.
Overall I was very intrigued by Damian’s article because it’s forensic relation was not typical to something I had already read about. I am curious to see if this connection is brought into police investigation and drug trafficking in other countries including the United States.
Timmy McGrath
Bronxville School
2/1/18
Current Event 15
Main, Douglas M. "The Forensics of Snake Venom." Green Blog. New York Times, Web.
Damian Kaminski reviewed the article “The Forensics of Snake Venom.” Damian gave a great summary of the article. He was able to include a large amount of detail from article and he put it into his review to help the reader understand more in depth. He also did a good job including background on the topic which helped the reader understand the connection with snake venom and forensics. He did a great job telling the reader what centers and studies were used to gather the research and have them the credit they deserved.
Damian’s review was well written but there were two things he could have done better. I noticed that while reading the article that his opinion and perspective on the matter were not in it. If he had added that it would have made it a better review. He also could have included some quotes into the article to help the reader understand the author’s tone.
Overall I thought Damian's review was excellent and very informative. I found it astonishing that Snake Venom had something to do with forensic science.
Olivia Lewis
February 4th 2018
Forensics A/B Odd
Current Event 15 comment
Main, Douglas M. "The Forensics of Snake Venom." Green Blog. New York Times, Web.
Overall, Damian Kaminski’s review of the article, “The Forensics of Snake Venom” was very well thought out and interesting. I thought that he did a good job of summarizing the article so that the most important facts were included. I also think that he did a good job in his critiquing of the article as they were all good ideas on how this article could have been improved. Finally, I think that the way in which this current event was structured was unique and not similar to the current events that are normally posted, drawing the reader in and keeping the review interesting.
I think that to improve his critique, he could have included more quotes from the article so that the reader would have a better understanding of the context. I also think that this critique would have been more interesting to read if he had related it more to what we are learning in class and the forensic community as a whole.
Ultimately, Damian’s critique of this article was very interesting and informative as cases such as these are often discussed but not in much detail. I think that he did a good job of showing the reader how it affects society today as well.
This week my classmate Justin McCarthy did a current event on “Agonizing Question for Irish: What to Do With Children’s Remains?” by Dan Berry. The article, which was published in the New York Times, talks about what the Irish should do with the bodies of children who born out of wedlock, and buried by catholic nuns. The first that surprised me in this article was the number of children who died. The article stated that nearly 800 children died in the mother-child home, but many lacked proper burial records. The second thing that shocked me was that not only did they treat the people and children in the home badly but when children were given to foster parents, they were often abused. Finally, I thought Justin did a great job transitioning from the facts to his take on the story.
Although this current event was very interesting and well done, there were two things I felt Justin could've done to make this story more comprehensible for the reader. The first thing he could have done was added more background information to the article. He presented the current facts very nicely, but failed to give some background information. This could have conveyed the point of this article nicer. Lastly, even though he did touch on the forensics side of the investigation I felt he could have added more information into what specific processes, and maybe gave his opinion on what the investigators should do.
This was a very interesting article to read. Before reading this I was familiar with the cruelties that happened in child-mother homes in Ireland. Some homes would take the children away from their parents and give them up for adoption to foreign families. Reading this article helped me understand the situation better, although it took an even darker outlook.
Barry, Dan. “Agonizing Question for Irish: What to Do With Children’s Remains?” The New
York Times, The New York Times, 13 Jan. 2018. www.nytimes.com/2018/01/13/world/europe/tuam-ireland-lost-children.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FForensic%2BScience&action=click&contentCollection=timestopics®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=collection&_r=0
Ayten El-Hennawy
Current Event 15
2/5/18
Main, Douglas M. "The Forensics of Snake Venom." Green Blog. New York Times, Web.
Damian’s review of the article “"The Forensics of Snake Venom." was very interesting to read. I liked how Damian started out his review by including an explanation of how new DNA testing increased justice in cases of smuggling dried cobra venom. He also included how people would smuggle the venom and sell it for very high prices. I also liked how he stated what the study at the Center of cellular and molecular biology in Hyderabad found about the process of milking the venom. Finally, I also liked how in his second paragraph he explained what this venom was being used for.
Although Damian’s review was straightforward and easy to follow, i think he could’ve done a better job by including quotes from the article. I also think it would've been better if he related this topic to something similar in our society.
I think it’s crazy how people reach such expremes just to sell something, I mean who would have thought that venom snake could be such a valuable thing!
Main, Douglas M. "The Forensics of Snake Venom." Green Blog. New York Times, Web.
https://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/10/the-forensics-of-snake-venom/
Sophia Kocur
Damian Kaminski submitted a review of the New York Times article, “The Forensics of Snake Venom.” Damian included a detailed summary of the article, which is about a new DNA testing has increased justice in a case about smuggling dried cobra venom. First of all, it really helped that he stated the exact place and conditions surrounding this topic, specifying that in Kerala, India, authorities have made many arrests for venom trafficking names. In addition, the fact that he had a lot of details about how the DNA was gotten from the smuggling, elaborating on the Center for Cellular and Molecular Biology in Hyderabad. This aided me in understanding this topic better and gave me some additional information about it. Finally, Damian did a really good job in making this review quite thorough by adding information on how DNA links the venom to a specific snake.
To improve the summary Damian could have done two things. He could have included his own opinion about the information and his perspective outside the country as to how this could be used in drug trafficking in the US. He also could have included quotes from the article from specialists or professionals in the field or involved with these specific drug trafficking cases.
Overall I was very intrigued by Damian’s article because it’s forensic relation was not typical to something I had already read about. Before reading this I was familiar with the cruelties that happened in child-mother homes in Ireland. Some homes would take the children away from their parents and give them up for adoption to foreign families. Reading this article helped me understand the situation better, although it took an even darker outlook.
Jack Baxter
Forensics
Current Event Comment
2/5/18
Main, Douglas M. "The Forensics of Snake Venom." Green Blog. New York Times, Web.
Damian’s review of “The Forensics of Snake Venom” was a very interesting review. First of all, it really helped that he stated the exact place and conditions surrounding this topic, specifying that in Kerala, India, authorities have made many arrests for venom trafficking names. In addition, the fact that he had a lot of details about how the DNA was gotten from the smuggling, elaborating on the Center for Cellular and Molecular Biology in Hyderabad. This aided me in understanding this topic better and gave me some additional information about it. Finally, Damian did a really good job in making this review quite thorough by adding information on how DNA links the venom to a specific snake.
Although this review was very interesting, one way it could have been made better is that Damian could have gone back through the review and elaborated a bit more on why is this article and subject important for the world, so that the review was more sophisticated. By reading it over and adding a few sentences, he could have avoided this problem and made he review more thought out. Moreover, there were a few typos in his review which could have easily been eliminated. By reading over his review he could have avoided this problem and had a better flow throughout it.
Overall, this review was captivating and thought-provoking. I had never heard about this use of DNA in smuggling, so I was intrigued when I read Damian’s review. Thus, learning about this was very enlightening and taught me many new things. Reading this review made me realize that with the new forensics techniques that are being developed, many areas are being helped and many different crimes can be solved.
Damian's review of "The Forensics of Snake Venom" an article from the New York Times was very informative. One aspect that I think Damian did particularly well in was choosing an article that no one else would have thought to choose. The article he chose to read and write about was very different from the rest and focused on a crime that isn't normally discussed. He did very well when talking about the snakes that the venom was being taken from. I thought when Damian went on to talk about what the smugglers got charged with that was the strongest part of his review. He went into that the most.
His review was good but there are a few improvements that could be made such as his explanations. I would've liked more on the Indian Cobra and on the Wild Life Act. He didn't explain what the Act entails and his review could've been better if we knew more about it. He could also use improvement on his wording, when he went on to talk about what he thought of the article he was glad he had found an article that wasn't "cliche or something" and regarded that to one about shooting. I wouldn't put the word cliche in the same sentence as shooting because although reviews being written on shootings are common they are not cliche.
What I liked and was impressed with is that forensics isn't solely used for popular crimes such as stabbings and murders but cases involving animals as well. I'm glad we haven't forgotten about them because they deserve justice too.
Isabella Dibbini
Mr. Ippolito
Forensics
13 February 2018
Main, Douglas M. "The Forensics of Snake Venom." Green Blog. New York Times, Web.
Damian wrote an excellent review on the article: “The Forensics of Snake Venom” by Douglas M. Main. To start with, Damian developed an accurate summary of the article, including all of the main arguments. In addition, his review is detailed, making it very interesting. Lastly, he does a good job of elaborating on his arguments. He backs up his statements with evidence, making this review very good.
Overall, this review is extremely well written, however, there are a few small things that would make it even better. For instance, Damian could include some quotes from the article, which would help him further elaborate on his findings. Also, if he wanted to take his review to the next level, he could have obtained outside information and incorporated this into his article.
After reading Damian’s review of the article “The Forensics of Snake Venom” by Douglas M. Main, I learned a lot of new information that I was previously unaware of. Overall, I really enjoyed reading this review and believe that Damian did a great job.
Kelsey Ravesloot
Main, Douglas M. "The Forensics of Snake Venom." Green Blog. New York Times, Web.
Damian wrote a review on the article, “The Forensics of Snake Venom”. I thought that he did a very good job on this review. I enjoyed how Damian included a detailed background about this topic. I also liked how he cited specific studies to help provide more details about the topic. Lastly, I thought he did a very good job on including specific facts from the article and really centering the review around the article/topic, which makes the review easier to read.
Although I thought the review was well written, there is always room for improvement. One thing I wish he included more of was quotes. Quotes bring in more direct facts from the article and provide the reader more information about the topic. Another thing I wish he included more of his own opinion in the review.
Overall this review was pretty well written and very interesting to read. I think it was very interesting to read about how this affects our society and how Snake Venom relates to Forensic Science.
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