Josh's Interview Reflection

1) Describe your feeling about or response to the interview.

           Going into the interview I expected it to go very well considering I am currently in Invertebrate Zoology with Dr. Haskins and know she is very knowledgeable about the topic. Seeing as our group had a fairly good understanding of the cause of malaria going into the interview Dr. Haskins was able to provide us with even more additional information. This made for a very interesting interview because it was not full of  that same old material you can find in a textbook. Dr. Haskins was able to make the topic even more interesting by making it easier to relate to, which is very important because malaria is not encountered in the United States like it is in some countries.     

2) What changes occurred for you as a result of the interview?

           Going into the medical field for my future occupation and wanting to participate in medical service trips this has altered my view on parasites. Living in the United States really isolates us from many parasites that other less fortunate countries suffer from, whether it be due just to location or having the proper medical care available. This interview sparked a little desire in me to make sure I have a good base knowledge of parasites that way I might be able to identify the symptoms of a parasitic infection in the future.    

3) Did anything about it disturb you?

           The most disturbing thing to me would have to be the lack of knowledge individuals have when referring to parasites, especially malaria. It seems as though like with other illnesses individuals do not have any interest or become concerned with them until they have or their loved ones have become affected by it. This is unfortunate because sometimes if something is discovered too late in the game then the effects are irreversible.

4) Discuss the connection you found between the interview and your research/classwork.
           The biggest connection that I can make between the interview and my research/classwork would have to be malaria's connection to sickle cell. An individual that is heterozygous for sickle cell, have sickle cell trait, is in some areas more fit then individuals who do not. These areas include areas greatly affected by malaria. The advantage to having the sickle cell trait is that an individual only has half the normal hemoglobin, which means Plasmodium (cause of malaria) is only able to attach to half of the hemoglobin because it is not able to attach to the folded hemoglobin (sickle shaped) seen in sickle cell trait individuals. This leads to these individuals experiencing mild if any symptoms from malaria. This relationship has been briefly covered in my previous general biology classes I have taken, but it was not until this year that this relationship has sprung to life. I have encountered this relationship in Evolution, Invertebrate Zoology, and Advance Principles of Biology.


                                                                                                                          Josh Linton  

Riley's Interview Reflection

1. Describe your feelings about or response to the interview.

Overall, the interview was great. It actually went well over the time that I thought would be needed simply because Dr. Haskins had so much information to share with us. Her stories and knowledge of the topic meshed extremely well and she provided us with great insight that we had never before thought of. Dr. Haskins was the perfect person for us to interview.

2. What changes occurred for you as a result of the interview?

The main change that this interview had on me was the overall impact that malaria can have. Dr. Haskins provided many facts such as a single company losing over 5,000 work days per year with employees being out sick. I never really had a grasp on the seriousness of this disease until we interviewed her.

3. Did anything about it disturb you?

Nothing really disturbed me about the interview as a whole. As said in questions 2, I was more surprised about the severity of malaria than anything.

4. Describe the connections you found between the interview and your research/classwork.

The biggest connection that I found between the interview and classwork/research was actually the lack of knowledge about grid computing. Dr. Haskins had never heard of this until I mentioned that my computer was running on a grid for malaria. This surprised me because I initially had never heard about it until starting the Evolution course. I feel that if this was a better known concept then more people would be willing to sign their computers onto different grids allowing for more research to take place at a much cheaper cost.

Nina's Interview Reflection

1. Describe your feeling about or response to the interview.

I was really pleased with the outcome of the interview. I was really nervous we were going to run out of things to talk about very quickly and I was scared the questions we had prepared were not going to be very good questions. We ended up talking to Dr. Haskins for 45 minutes though and we definitely got on topics and subjects I didn't expect the interview to go in to. I had Dr. Haskins for invert zoology last year so I knew she was knowledgeable on the Plasmodium parasite but I was really surprised at how knowledgeable she was on the socioeconomic results Plasmodium and malaria can have on not only the economies of countries where malaria is a problem but also on our own economy. 

2. What changes occurred for you as a result of the interview?

The thing that changed most for me was just the idea of how big of an economical effect a parasite can have. When Dr. Haskins talked about how a company can lose almost 5000 days of work a year from being out sick it really shed a new light on the situation and why these impoverished and diseased countries have a hard time with health and economy and how they can be intertwined. 

3. Did anything about the interview disturb you?

We did get into talking about how there are studies being done with parasites controlling the habits of the organisms they inhabit. This was a little disturbing because one of the studies is about humans and if a parasite can cause sexual promiscuity or bad driving. 

4. What connections can be made between research and classwork?

The biggest connection that can be made between research and classwork I feel is the evolutionary advantage of sickle cell anemia. Just a single missense substitution mutation became selected for and now, in certain populations, being heterozygotic for sickle cell anemia is advantageous to having a completely normal hemoglobin protein. Dr. Haskins believes researchers are starting to look into the coevolution of other mutations and diseases as well.