Writing activity

Dear students,
we are having a long semester break. There are 2 activities (homework) for you all to do. Please pass it up during the next class. Happy holidays!

Activity 1
Write an essay about 200 words ' cloning is said to bring more negative effects than positive effects. How far do you agree with this statement.
Note: you may refer to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloning for details on cloning.

Activity 2
Summarize the article below in not more than 80 words.

Already, better imaging techniques mean doctors can look deep inside the brain to see changes that might indicate if a person will develop Alzheimer's. One very hopeful area, Positron Emission Tomography or PET scans, uses an agent, PIB, that binds to the beta amyloid. If there's a lot of beta amyloid in the brain, you can be pretty sure the patient will develop Alzheimer's. This is being looked at as part of the large Australian Imaging, Biomarker and Lifestyle (AIBL) Study. Researchers are using PET/PIB scans to compare beta amyloid levels in a large number of patients to work out how predictive they are for Alzheimer's. ''If the amyloid load is highly predictive, this will be a very useful test,'' says Professor Ames.

Tom Valenta knew his wife, Marie, had Alzheimer's – she'd been diagnosed a year before her PET/PIB scan. But he was shocked at how graphically the scan showed the spread of the disease. Coloured in bright yellows and oranges, the areas covered by beta amyloid plaques seemed to dominate the brain.

''My main hope, and I believe it's a realistic hope, is that [PET scans] will be part of the solution that will prevent my three children from getting Alzheimer's,'' he says.

Valenta is enthusiastic about PET/PIB scans because they can detect the beta amyloid build up before there is any
outward sign of behavioural change or memory loss



Good luck!