Patrick, John. “A Norovirus Vaccine Has Been Discovered with Help from Tobacco Plants and Arizona State Researchers.” KTNV, 19 Aug. 2018, www.ktnv.com/news/national/norovirus-vaccine-tobacco-arizona-state-university.

Researchers in Arizona have been able to reproduce the norovirus in a lab thanks to genetic engineering. Genes were inserted into the leaf of a tobacco plant and the bacteria it produced, once harmless, was now a form of the norovirus. This is a big achievement because the norovirus is difficult to create in lab and therefore it is difficult to create a vaccine against it. The norovirus affects 20 million Americans each year.

I am glad that something seemingly good has happened, in general. It appears that gene engineering certainly has harmless and yet very useful uses. This article doesn’t relate to environmental science as much as other ones just because it really only affects the human population. I don’t think people die from norovirus but, regardless, the creation of a norovirus vaccine may positively affect the human population. This same technique or similar ones may also be applied in the near future to create vaccines for lethal diseases and those will certainly have an effect on the human population and its survival rate.

Nickel, Rod. “Gene-Editing Startups Ignite the next ‘Frankenfood’ Fight.” Reuters, Thomson Reuters, 10 Aug. 2018, www.reuters.com/article/us-grains-tech-gene-editing/gene-editing-startups-ignite-the-next-frankenfood-fight-idUSKBN1KV0GF.

There have recently been a number of new start-ups started around the newly forming industry of genetically modifying crops. One such company, Catalyxt Inc., has genetically modified soybeans to produce healthier oil. Other companies are scrambling to participate in this newly forming market. However, the public expresses concern over the safety of this food, and over the ability of the United States’ oversight agencies to properly regulate these new crops. As of now, the creation of a crop gene editing market relies on the reaction of the public.

I thought genetically engineering crops was something that had already occurred or was already occurring but this article made it seem as something that is still rather new. I am uninformed about any potentially adverse affects of genetically modified crops, but as of now, I am not opposed to it. Environmental science relates here, because genetically engineering an organism can affect an entire ecosystem. In this case we are speaking of genetic engineering that has the potential to affect the entire food source of the united states. This may also lead to improper use or people wanting to gain even more agricultural land to farm.

Herlihy, John. “Pathogens Attack Plants like Hackers, so My Lab Thinks about Crop Protection like Cybersecurity.” The Conversation, The Conversation, 17 Aug. 2018, theconversation.com/pathogens-attack-plants-like-hackers-so-my-lab-thinks-about-crop-protection-like-cybersecurity-98595.

There exists certain microbes that “hack” plants, specifically, plants that humans consume. An example of one of these microbes are oomycetes. The oomycete Phytophthora was the cause of the Irish Potato Famine. These microbes infect the plant, redirecting resources like sugar to itself and living off of the plants nutrients until it eventually kills the plant. As of now, farmers are using limited amounts of pesticide to combat this problem, but John Herlihy and his team is trying to find plants that are more resistant to these microbes so as to genetically engineer future plants or breed them.

Similarly to the way that genetically engineering mice affects evolution, so does genetically engineering plants and breeding them. I don’t think most people think of selective breeding as a form of genetic engineering, but it is rather similar to the process of genetic engineering, because humans are selecting specific genes they want to pass on to whatever organism. Genetically engineering organisms will affect they interact in their ecosystems and will therefore affect their ecosystems as well. I was surprised to hear the microbes and such are still a problem farmers have to deal with.

Marcus, Amy Dockser. “Communities Raise Their Voices on Genetic Engineering.” The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones & Company, 27 July 2018, www.wsj.com/articles/communities-raise-their-voices-on-genetic-engineering-1532717088.

A project is underway called Mice Against Ticks that is trying to genetically edit the genes of mice embryos so as to make them resistant to the bacteria that causes Lyme disease. This group plans on releasing these tick-resistant mice on an island where they will breed and pass on their gene to their offspring. The ticks that feed on these mice and would’ve contracted the Lyme will no longer contract the disease and thus will no longer be able to pass Lyme disease on to humans. Additionally, this article discusses what role the general public should play in deciding the future of such a powerful technology.

This article is a perfect example of how genetic engineering can be used in favor of humans. Initially, I find no issue with this approach with the mice and would be in favor of this project. Genetic engineering specifically relates to environmental science, as demonstrated by this case, because it has the potential to alter the evolution and therefore the ecology of certain environments. This in turn can have other unpredictable effects.

Rogers, Adam. “Scientists Take a Harder Look at Genetic Engineering of Human Embryos.” Wired, Conde Nast, 8 Aug. 2018, www.wired.com/story/scientists-take-a-harder-look-at-genetic-engineering-of-human-embryos/.

A researcher named Shoukhrat Mitalipov published the results of an experiment in which he attempted to correct a gene responsible for the sudden death of athletes by removing the gene and replacing it, using CRISPR. He published the results but was largely criticized as the scientific community did not believe the success of his experiment. His experiment is criticized for inadequately checking for larger genome deletions. The ethics of his embryonic experiment is not being debated as much as the success of his experiment.

Genetic engineering is a relatively new technology and apparently, it is advancing as we speak. Although the ethics of genome editing of human embryos will be up for debate soon enough, as of now, genetic engineering is in the phase where scientists are trying to determine if it is possible. I myself am surprised that someone has attempted to edit a human embryo. This is relevant to environmental science because besides editing human genes, genetic engineering is already occurring in our food and crops. They have the potential to allow us to use resources more effectively, but they may also lead to an overuse of resources. Genetic engineering is a very broad topic and has many moving parts.