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Factual Information and Opinions in One Article Essay

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The social context of the article is the way our genes program us, specifically, how one gene can have the ability to affect whether we are slim or fat. The latter is also directly related to health problems that can be acquired when obese, such as diabetes and heart disease. The article was found in the science section of The Guardian, so the likely audience of this article would have been people interested in scientific research about genetics, academics and everyone in between, as the article speaks of an issue that affects the general population. The purpose of the article is explaining people's genetic makeup and how something like people's tendency to gain weight can actually be determined by the activity of the adipose gene and not …show more content…

''One copy of this gene (FTO) leads to a 1.2kg (3lb) weight increase while those with two copies are, on average, 3kg (7lb) heavier. One of the opinions found in the text is Prof Graff saying that even though our bodies storing fat was a useful and important function of our bodies, ''it has backfired in the west.'' Some of the medical conditions linked to obesity include diabetes, heart disease and premature death. The main points that would summarize the first three paragraphs of the text are: 1. Scientists have uncovered the adipose gene, a gene that could determine whether a person is fat or slim. 2. The discovery of the adipose gene occurred in fruit flies over 50 years ago, but until the recent times scientists did not know exactly how it worked. 3. The activity levels of the adipose gene have been found to have an affect on fat formation. An inactive copy of the gene in animals made them become obese. 4. The discovery of the gene and how it works could help explain why many people have weight problems and it can aid the development of medical treatments that would tackle obesity and health risks linked to it. Professor Graff's team studied the gene by switching it on and off in mice and fruit flies. The results of their experiment showed that mice with a higher level of adipose gene activity were leaner and had fat cells that were diabetes-resistant, as opposed to the mice with reduced gene activity that were fatter, despite their diets and

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