Introduction

In todays society, its hard to find a single school that doesnt participate in a D.A.R.E

type program. These programs are educational, warning children as young as kindergarten the

danger of using bad medicine. Every year during a D.A.R.E week, my little brothers

elementary school wears crazy sock, weird hats, and tacky clothes to lighten the spirit of their

week as they learn about taking medicine that isnt theirs and how peer pressure affects choices.

When I was a child I would laugh these weeks off, how could someone let themselves become

dependant or addicted to drugs? I thought it was completely mind over matter, you had to have

let yourself become addicted and you had to want to continue to use drugs, but through personal

experience and furthered education I have changed my view.

When I was seven years old I met my step brother Shane. He quickly became the coolest

(and only) teenager I knew. He and his friends would drive me and my sister around and take us

places. Shane became addicted to opioids and prescription medicine. It changed him, and

because it was almost impossible for me to continue my previous belief that it was a choice. I Commented [1]: I had to re-read this sentence many
times, so maybe you could re-word it to make your
point come across more clearly. For instance, you
watched my brother struggle with his addiction for 5 years before he lost his battle to an could say "My prior opinions about opioid addicts
changed because..."
overdose in November of 2016. A lot of people I have talked to have a similar story as me and it

brings to question, why now? Why is this opioid crisis becoming a national epidemic?

As I have learned more through my education, I have learned that there are many aspects Commented [2]: use another word besides "learned"
because you used it already
of biology and genetics that relate to the state of a persons mental health. I began to wonder why

most addicts started using when they are teens and how these substances change the pathways

and the genetic markers in cells. If these drugs are affecting the body in a hard science way,

why do we only treat them with psychology? The current treatment plan in America is mostly

still the same twelve steps that were invented in 1935 with some minor upgrades. Every year
there are constant improvements in medical health and if a doctor tried to cure a cold with

medical advice from 1935, they would lose their medical practice. This programs are failing and Commented [3]: these

how could we expect them to continue to work? I believe that if we spend more time looking at Commented [4]: I don't understand this sentence

the genetic and epigenetic factors we could reverse and possibly put an end to addiction

altogether.

Literature Review

The modern day opioid crisis is sweeping across the nation and as it does it is capturing

the attention of many, creating a polarized spectrum of opinions. In 2015 there were more than

33,000 fatal overdoses in the United States, that is approximately 90 fatal overdoses each day

and for every one fatal overdose there are approximately 30 nonfatal overdoses. (Hsu 2017) In

2017 this crisis has reached a pinnacle point, so much so that New Jersey Governor Chris

Christie released a report calling for the president to call a State of Emergency on the opioid

crisis. This would allow there to be a decrease price in Naloxone and other overdose reversing Commented [5]: Once again, define what this is
because some people may not be familiar with this
drug.
drugs making them widely available (Allen 2017). The increase of availability of Naloxone is

highly controversial because some people view these drugs as a crutch, they mostly stand they

addicts are products of environments. When talking to my mother, Nancie Mandeville, she told Commented [6]: proofread this to write it in a more
concise way
me that she used to be a firm believer that addiction was a choice and that making these drugs

available would only enable addicts. She had this feeling until witnessing addiction in her family,
Commented [7]: I believe for APA citations, you don't
after this experience said that there is so much more to addiction than choice and now is an cite your interviews in the reference page, but only in
your actual piece. So here, the citation would be "N.
Mandeville, personal communication, 2017)
advocate for making Naloxone publically available. (Mandeville, 2017) In an interview David
Commented [8]: you don't need to repeat his name
here
Sheff on NPR speaks on a book he wrote, David Sheff says that addiction is one of the most
Commented [9]: Don't use disease twice here, you
can use the word "illness" instead.
complicated diseases and it is a brain disease. Together they talk about the personal story about
I would agree with you here when you say that it is one
how Nic lost himself in the Methanamine (2013). With addiction rates rising now more than of the most complicated diseases. I would love to see
you expand on this and say what makes it so
complicated. Peel back the layers of this sentence to
elaborate.
ever, many scientist are now focusing their research efforts on pinpointing what factors

contribute to addiction.

All mental health, not just addiction, is caused by many factors. Some of which can be Commented [10]: mental health issues?

linked to neuroscience and the biology of the brain, as example chemical imbalance or genetic

variation (MacDuffie and Strauman 2017). The stigma placed on the mental health that it is

controllable is a perspective of the past that needs to be changed. Scientists have worked hard to

study and combat all addictions, but there is no change in levels. In the specific case of drug and

substance addiction, the substances actually change the neurochemistry essentially rewiring the

brain. There are predisposing factors that cause a person to have an addictive personality and

these are mostly found with the amount of grey matter in a brain, this also connects it with age.

This is why Dr. Potenza contributes addictions to the younger adolescent generations. Our grey

matter is still developing and we are also still using primary circuitry which when functioning in

parallel loops can cause impulsive behaviors such as addiction (2017). This primary circuitry

controls the bodys response to stress, so when a person is stress the natural release of these

hormones in these loop and remind the brain of the addiction causing the impulsive behavior

(Sinha 2011). Along with looking into the physical structure, we are also beginning to look at

epigenetics. After an interview with Dr. Bullock, a UNCC professor, about the epigenetics of

addiction, she said she believes that we should devote more funds to research. Once more is

known about the precise chemical pathways we could block them, reducing or stopping the

addiction problem. (Bullock 2017)

Learning more about the science behind addiction, pharmaceuticals have began

producing more drugs to combat addiction and overdoses. Naloxone and Buprenorphine are two

major drugs that help reverse the effects of overdoses and lessens dependences on opioid. Many
drugs like these people view as a crutch. It reverses overdoses and lessens dependence. In Dr.

Corey Waller opinion these drugs are essential to saving the lives of loved ones and should be

widely available (Allen 2017). Even though they help addicts, there is a lot more questions

about these drugs than answers. Ben Goldacre is a doctor who disagrees with the process of

medical journal publication (2011). He talks about the bias of publication, journals only publish

positive results which makes medicines seem better than they are. In relation to these drugs we

often question their effectiveness, we have several drugs that have been proven in trials to help

reverse overdoses and that are being used, but the numbers of fatal overdoses are still rising.

(Sinha 2011) Overall using drugs that inhibit the mesolimbic dopamine function help addiction

to drugs like opioid, but are limited when it comes to addictions like gambling. That says there

are more underlying contributors to addiction and it is important to find these as well so we can

better grasp the issue (Potenza 2017).

Entering The Conversation

When looking into the opioid crisis in America, many people acknowledge that it is an

epidemic that is sweeping across the nation. Everyday it seem as though there is a breaking news

headline about how drugs are affecting the world we live in. Before my encounter with

addiction, I was uneducated and could not fathom how people would let a substance control there

live. However, after watching the power of addiction in someone I loved I believe that through
education and research we can minimize damaging effects of opioid addiction. I have chose to
research on how the epigenetics of addicts can create dependence on opioid. This quantitative
data can be used to isolate the precise location of the DNA methylation that occurs after
Commented [11]: This whole section is basically a
carbon copy of your introduction. I honestly don't know
if that is a bad thing or not, but try to introduce this
section in a different way. Also, the last sentence that is
highlighted as well as many different areas, like, I have
no idea what that means. You can use big language
like this if you define what you are talking about so that
anyone who is reading can understand, not just super
smart bio majors.

extended opioid use.Using the information gathered in the my study we can begin to reverse the Commented [12]: I know what some of the science-y
words mean because of classes that I have taken,
however someone else may not. Try defining words
effect of opioid on DNA and begin to create a cure for the dependency of addicts. For this study, such as methylation and epigenetics before you
continue so that your audience isn't lost.
Commented [13]: fix
I intend to gather a diverse group of participants of the same age group in which some have an Commented [14]: How do you intend to select these
participants? State exactly the steps in which you
would go through to choose them. Also, clearly state
opioid dependency and some have never used opioid and I will map the state of their expressed which age group you choose to select your participants
from. Age here is important as to how the drugs will
genes. I will analyze this data in first to locate the loca of the gene that is affected after persistent affect them -- drugs will affect the elderly in a different
way than teenagers.

opioid use. Then I will create a timeline of the methylation of the gene from the point in which a Commented [15]: fix
Commented [16]: wut
person has never used opioid, to someone that has spend their lifetime using opioids. Commented [17]: fix

This study has two main portions of research. In the first study, I will gather a group of

about 50 opioid addicts and 50 nonusers of the same age group and environment. I would have to

use people living in the same environment and age group because epigenetics can be affected by

these factors. I will use a form to gather basic information.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc0aYzP4nwlB6tByIvv2PcMWxIJaygsJ0SGWLXx

gqDbGTA_vA/viewform

Though it is impossible to create a sample group with one variable changing while studying

epigenetics, so I will try to limit variation in factors that can be limited using chromatology. I

will map the methylation of the each of the chromosomes while they are in interphase. Mapping Commented [18]: IM NOT A BIO MAJOR IM SO
LOST
at this point will allow the team of researchers to see the natural state of the chromosomes while

they are expressing genes. Comparing the differences betweening users and nonuser and the

similarity among users. This could help us narrow down what methylation occurs due to opioid Commented [19]: fix

usage. Looking at the differences among the addicts you could find overlay of area that look

similar. There will probably be more than one similar area because they have grown up in the

same geographical region, they are the same age, and share other similarities than the opioid

usage. That is why the control group is important, the non users will provide a comparison to

rule out the epigenomics that does not have to deal with drug usage.

The next step in this study is to use the localized methylated gene to create a timeline of

the stages of methylation. This is a test where will use the fourth question to create more

subgroups for testing. The first group is non drug users, this creates the starting point of the

timeline. The increments of the test groups are every three months the continuing up to years of

addiction. Creating these groups we can look at how the DNA reacts to the histones and how the

histones are introduced. This timeline could track the specific pathways that cause the

methylation of the genes. It will also track how the genes are affected compared to the onset of

mental health. Finally I will gather all my information and present it in a TedTalk in order to

spark the movement of research into the epigenetics of addiction. I believe that if more people

knew about this topic we could reach advancements and learn how to block the pathways and

inhibit or reverse addiction. Commented [20]: Again, this whole thing is a lot of
sciency stuff that I don't understand, and am still
confused about what you are actually doing with this
Conclusion study. Also the lack of grammar and proofreading is
very distracting from the actual content.
The research I have conducted is just the tip of the iceberg in the this field. I believe that

with research we can dramatically decrease the addiction rates in America. With this information

I would try to encourage other researchers to face the problem head on. We could find precise
causes and create target solutions. The scientists in this field can work together to fix this

problem.

The next step in epigenomic addiction research is mapping a the process of how this

happens. We can use this pathway to block receptors and try to reverse the damage that is caused

by opioids. With continued research we can undo the damage in recovering addicts and see how

that helps the withdrawal process. This research is nowhere near done, but with help from

scientist and the government the opioid crisis in America could be ended. Commented [21]: Your conclusion doesn't really
describe your research only that you did it. You
technically check all the boxes in the assignment
checklist, but you should focus on elaborating a bit
more on what the implications of your research are.
 Work Cited
Allen, G. (2017, August 02). Should The Opioid Crisis Be Declared A National Emergency?
Retrieved September 26, 2017, from http://www.npr.org/sections/health-
shots/2017/08/02/541071209/should-the-opioid-crisis-be-declared-a-national-emergency
Commented [22]: Overall, we understood your big
idea, and it was well-developed. Your study was very
impressive and it obviously takes a higher level of
understanding to comprehend it. The knowledge is
definitely there, so if you work on your actual delivery of
the information to make it more clear and elaborate
more on the biological terms, I believe your piece could
be very good.

Bickel, W. (2016). Computerized Treatment for Opioid Dependence: A Randomized Controlled

Trial. PsycEXTRA Dataset, 539-547. doi:10.1037/e348852004-001

Bullock, Sandra (2017) Personal Communication; Lauren Salem

Goldacre, B. (2012, June). Retrieved September 26, 2017, from

https://www.ted.com/talks/ben_goldacre_what_doctors_don_t_know_about_the_drugs_they_p

rescribe

Hsu, A. (2017, August 22). Hospitals Could Do More For Survivors Of Opioid Overdoses, Study

Suggests. Retrieved September 26, 2017, from http://www.npr.org/sections/health-

shots/2017/08/22/545115225/hospitals-could-do-more-for-survivors-of-opioid-overdoses-

study-suggests

Macduffie, K. E., & Strauman, T. J. (2017). Understanding Our Own Biology: The Relevance of

Auto-Biological Attributions for Mental Health. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice,

24(1), 50-68. doi:10.1111/cpsp.12188

Mandeville, Nancie (2017) Personal Communication; Lauren Salem

Memoirs of Meth Addiction from a Father and a Son. (2008, February 26). Retrieved September

26, 2017, from http://www.npr.org/2008/02/26/25552288/memoirs-of-meth-addiction-from-a-

father-and-a-son

Potenza, M. N. (2013). Biological Contributions to Addictions in Adolescents and Adults:

Prevention, Treatment, and Policy Implications. Journal of Adolescent Health, 52(2).

doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2012.05.007

Sinha, R. (2011). New Findings on Biological Factors Predicting Addiction Relapse Vulnerability.

Current Psychiatry Reports, 13(5), 398-405. doi:10.1007/s11920-011-0224-0

Staff, N. (2013, March 27). David Sheff On Addiction: Prevention, Treatment And Staying

'Clean'. Retrieved September 26, 2017, from http://www.npr.org/2013/03/30/175485876/david-

sheff-on-addiction-prevention-treatment-and-staying-clean