BIOL1110 Paper Dissection Assessment Answer

Questions

1. Identify the major concepts in the Introduction and link them to create a concept map,

Concept map:

2. Select one sentence that includes many scientific terms and put its meaning into plain English, rather than using technical jargon.

“The microbial communities that reside in the human gut could maintain host homeostasis by providing essential functions, including immunomodulation, nutrient metabolism, and structural protection against pathogenic microorganisms”.

The above-mentioned sentence stated that microorganisms can be defined as tiny organisms that can not be seen through the naked eye and used to live inside our bodies. These microscopic organisms have a significant role in maintaining the normal functioning of the body by acting on the defence mechanism of the body, also known as the immune system. These organisms work to digest the food and allow the body to gain nutrition. Microorganisms also protect us from infection-causing germs by making several modifications in our immune system, which provides better defence and avoids excessive and harmful reactions.

3. Identify and explain the aims of the paper.

The paper aimed to identify the association between gut microbiome alterations and gut barrier dysfunction with host immune homeostasis in COVID-19 patients.

4. Did the authors address the aims?

Yes, the author addresses the aim. The method chosen by the author is highly relevant and specific. As the participants in the study were COVID-19 patients, the author collected samples of the participants for the detection of SARD CoV-2 and conducted other laboratory tests, including testing for blood cells, complement, irritation biomarkers and coagulation function biomarkers. As mentioned in the aim, the author aimed to comprehend the effect of SARS-CoV-2 infections on the gut microbes, for which they considered the gut microbial groups of COVID-19 patients by means of metagenomic sequencing in 106 fecal samples. YES, the aims were mentioned to in the discussion and conclusion, along with the results identified. The use of metagenomic sequencing of fecal samples was a wise step, as it enabled the authors to get a better understanding of the taxonomic and functional changes in the gut microbes in COVID-19 patients.

5. Are the conclusions that the authors came to justified based on their results?

Although the author provided a clear and concise conclusion, however, it lacks specificity. As mentioned in the conclusion the authors recognized numerous microbial features at taxonomic and functional levels. This does not provide information about what these features were and how they were related with COVID-19 infection’s harshness and host immunity. The author concluded that disturbance of the gut barrier might have a significant part in the development of COVID-19. However, they did not provide any statistical data from their findings to support this statement. It can be stated that the discussion provided by the authors is not overly speculated; they provided valid explanations for their findings and supported these findings with evidence-based studies.

6. Select one figure from the paper and add your own annotations
(legend/comments) to indicate what the various parts of the figure mean.

The image provides a graphical representation of the impact of diverse conditions on the gut microbiota. As shown in the image, the COVID-19 infection is showing the highest impact on the gut microbiota. It indicated that the SARS-CoV-19 infection can disturb the intestinal homeostasis and result in adverse outcomes of COVID-19.

7. If you had the lab, equipment and funding, what would you do next to further investigate the paper’s findings?

To investigate the paper findings I will conduct an experiment aimed to identify how gut microbes dysbiosis during COVID-19 is related with amplified risk of bacteremia and microbial translocation. I will profile the bacterial configuration of the fecal microbes collected from SARS-CoV-2 infected patient and then perform analysis of metagenomic data found from sequencing of the 16S rRNA genes exposed from bacterial community. For the detection of bacteremia, blood samples will be analyzed by using molecular techniques like PCR. However, for microbial translocation, I will assess the levels of specific biomarkers like lipopolysaccharides and bacterial DNA in the bloodstream.

8. Include the reference of your paper in Harvard biology format.

Sun, Z., Song, Z.G., Liu, C., Tan, S., Lin, S., Zhu, J., Dai, F.H., Gao, J., She, J.L., Mei, Z. and Lou, T., 2022. Gut microbiome alterations and gut barrier dysfunction are associated with host immune homeostasis in COVID-19 patients. BMC Medicine, 20(1), p.24. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-021-02212-0

You Might Also Like

HLSC220 Healthcare Workers and Covid-19 Patients Assignment Sample
Impact of Covid-19 Pandemic on Nursing Students
Homeostasis Assignment Help