MEDICAL ADVANCEMENTS IN

OCEANBY. AUTONIO ROLAND

KEY TERMS

• Coral reefs- A marine habitat that contains animals and plankton.

• Horseshoe crab blood- Special chemical constructed blood that contains excessive amounts of white blood cells.

WHAT ARE MEDICAL ADVANCEMENTS IN OCEAN?• These are natural remedies that cure diseases or other sickness. For an example:

• A Caribbean sponge has been discovered to generate compounds used in AZT (zidovudine, Retrovir), which is used to fight the AIDS virus.

• Caribbean gorgonian (a soft coral) produces a group of compounds with anti-inflammatory properties, which are also included in an anti-wrinkle cream.

• A tentacle aquatic organism, called bryozoan Bugula neritina, yields a compound being tested as a cancer drug.

• Skates (a flat fish shaped like a kite) have provided clues used in treating vision loss.

• Corals and mollusks are used to make orthopedic and cosmetic surgical implants.

• Horseshoe crabs are commonly used to test for bacterial contamination.

STATUS QUO

• Horseshoe crab blood is used to boost a humans immune system. Calcium carbonate from coral reefs are used as a protein to help construct that bone and muscle structure of a growing baby. Also it treats cancer, heart disease, and even bacterial infections. They are not looking for a way for it to cure HIV/Aids.

AFFIRMATIVE

Helps economy by giving jobs to people to research and to sell the medicine.

Helps people with those diseases.

Let humans keep an eye on all parts of the ocean.

NEGATIVE

• Destroys coral reefs.

• Catch by catch.

Pollute the ocean waters.

• Kill marine animals.

CITATIONS

• http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/coral_medicine.html

• http://www.horseshoecrab.org/med/med.html

• http://education.nationalgeographic.com/archive/xpeditions/lessons/08/g35/seasmed.html?ar_a=1