5 question quiz 1

#1.Scientific research can be controversial. Opinions vary on how scientific evidence is interpreted and how society should use scientific research. One controversial topic is the use of plastics containing BPA in consumer products such as drinking bottles.

Give three reasons someone who is for banning BPA from being used could give to support their position.

#2.Give three reasons someone who is against banning the use of BPA in plastics could give to support their position.

#3.Some people believe that exposure to BPA can effect puberty in children.

What is a scientific question you would want answered to help you decide your position on whether BPA should be banned?

Describe an experiment that could be performed to answer this question.

4.Read the following article and then answer questions regarding the article.

Food dyes may protect against cancer

April 2008, New Scientist http://www.newscientist.com

Synthetic food dyes – long blamed for causing hyperactivity in children – may have a good side: some of them may protect against cancer. Gayle Orner at Oregon State University in Corvallis added the carcinogens dibenzopyrene (DBP) or aflatoxin, which can induce cancers such as stomach and liver cancer, to the feed of trout for one month. Some of the trout were additionally fed the food dyes Red 40 – one of six recently linked to hyperactivity in children – or Blue 2.

Nine months later, trout that had been fed either of the dyes in combination with aflatoxin had 50 per cent fewer liver tumours, compared with those that had been exposed to aflatoxin alone. Trout that had been fed DBP in combination with Red 40 had a 50 per cent lower incidence of stomach cancer and a 40 per cent lower incidence of liver cancer. “The public perception is that food dyes are bad, but some of them may have good points as well,” says Orner, who presented her results at the American Association for Cancer Research in San Diego, California, last week.

While the amounts of dye eaten by the fish could be matched by eating a lot of sweets and soft drinks, Orner advises against this strategy. Instead, she says the next step is to understand the mechanism by which these food dyes exert their anti-cancer effect.

Give three implications of this research. In other words, if this research is valid and was used, what could happen next?

#5.Based on the article, does the food dye Red 40 protect children against liver cancer?

Explain your answer