Arsenic Susceptibility Essay

Words: 1246
Pages: 5

Maria Syfert
BIO 206 -

1. Citation
Muniz Ortiz, JG, Opoka R, Cane D, Cartwright IL. 2008. Investigating Arsenic Susceptibility from a Genetic Perspective in Drosophila Reveals a Key Role for Glutathione Synthetase. Toxicological Sciences 107(2):416–426.

2. State the affiliations of the authors (for example, Department of Biology, Thomas More College). For multi-authored papers (>2 authors), use the first and last author.
Department of Molecular Genetics, Biochemistry, and Microbiology, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine

3. Elements of Reasoning
a) Point of view:
The authors test Drosophila Melanogaster for the purposes of discovering the genetic basis of arsenic susceptibility. They are examining the ultimate cause of arsenic
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To accurately test a genetic susceptibility, the natural variations of the organism being studied must be chosen from a variety of geographical locations.
e) Information: What are the major pieces of data produced by the study?
The results include a chart of male and female Drosophila (of the PVM and Oregon strain) in which their susceptibility or resistance to arsenic relative to their arsenic-laden or arsenic-free food is noted.
f) Interpretation and inference: What did the authors conclude after observing the data? 
Are there other interpretations?
The tolerance to ingested arsenic is closely related to the X chromosome, yet autosomal factors come into play as well. Specifically, male flies of the Oregon R strain X chromosome were tolerant to arsenic, while those with the PVM strain X chromosome were more sensitive. However, the relative tolerance/susceptibility seemed to disappear or become inconsequential with continued crosses. The results mentioned above refer only to the F1 generation. Therefore, it is inferred