Samantha Mazariego-Chinchilla

WRIT2 Lopatko
Spring 2023
4/19

CRISPR Research Combats Obesity and Insulin Resistance

“By 2025, approximately 167 billion people will become less healthy because they are

overweight or obese”, an estimate calculated by WHO- World Health Organization. Obesity is a

worldwide issue. It is now deemed a health crisis, but why? Obesity is described as abnormal or

excessive accumulation of fat. It is a serious issue because it is linked to being a gateway health

issue leading to other noncommunicable diseases, such as Type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular

diseases, cancer, mental health issues, etc. Hence, it the importance to act early to prevent it, but

what if you are “too late”? No worries, developing research has been conducted to help

accelerate the plan to tackle the issue soon. I translated the academic article

“CRISPR-engineered human brown-like adipocytes prevent diet-induced obesity and ameliorate

metabolic syndrome in mice” into an educational and insightful blog. In my translation, a blog, I

hope to reach and reveal insightful information to family members and loved ones of patients

combating Obesity, rather than the Upper graduate students, specifically those majoring in

biology, public health, etc., as intended in the original academic article. I also hope to convey the

possible actions to upper-class high school students. This is my specific audience because these

people are much more inclined to want to learn more about the effects and any new and

upcoming preventions in response to Obesity. People would like to learn more about possible

treatments and how to support their loved ones. Also, high school students are more susceptible

to learning about obesity in Biology and Health classes and given it being a worldwide issue they

are apt to want to research more.

 My intended genre is a blog post because it would be a much easier way to bring

my readers in. Nowadays, technology is very prominent; whenever someone has a question,

thought, statement, etc., they are 10x more likely to look the idea up on the internet. When

family members, patients, and high school students are searching to learn more about ideas-

relating to Obesity and treatments. A blog post will appear in the search list, and click on it to

read more about it. A blog is more helpful because it'll make the heavy, tedious research written

in the original article easier to understand. It helps convey my main points because it lets me

include a visual format and discuss innovative research in a less formal setting. It also allows my

audience to comment on questions, concerns, and comments. It's an accessible way to learn more

about a given topic.

A prominent issue with the academic article, and the reason a translation was needed, is

that it uses a lot of complex ideas and terms that the average person would not be able to

understand. My new intended audience needs to understand the unique research because it can

potentially help them or someone they know. We know that the original article was not intended

for my new audience. In Reading Games: Strategies for Reading Scholarly Sources by

Rosenberg, she cites, “The author will assume prior knowledge that you likely do not have.” She

means that depending who the writing is written for, they will assume you know what things are.

Authors need to have background information. I knew I had to translate to allow my new

intended audience to become the primary audience. To make the article more understandable to

my new primary audience, I decided not to include some figures from the original writing.

According to Reid (Page 6), “Occasionally, it is effective to avoid details.” I decided to avoid
explaining images that could potentially confuse/or lead the reader in a different direction. This

helps help the audience comprehend the new given information. A blog post would be

significantly shorter in length than an article. This is appropriate because it is much more inviting

to be read by the audience researching possible treatments promptly. “Your goal is to recognize

these shifts in location and to be aware of how much shifts might affect your writing,” as written

by Kerry Dirk( page 256). Recognizing that a blog is not only accessible but also helps condense

the information to my new reader is critical when considering the changes done to the academic

article.

I was challenged a few times when translating the original article into a blog post. One of

my biggest challenges was deciding how much the information should be condensed. I had to

make sure the information was precise and understood in the way I wanted it to be. My audience

was most likely not well-mannered in the given subject. So making sure that that information

translates easily without leaving important information out was my biggest challenge. I

addressed these challenges using simple language rather than the complex words originally used.

Also, explain each term and practice as simply as possible but detailed enough to understand the

process and its importance. I also addressed another challenge by reading my translation as if I

knew nothing about the topic. Writing as if it was my first time looking over the information. I

made sure to include- links to videos/articles related to the advancement of CRISPR, prevention,

and information on Obesity. I translated the article while utilizing the point of view of a family

member. I stepped into their shoes, so to speak, and read my translation as if I was experiencing

this new information from their perspective. I think the only thing I wasn't fully prepared for was

being able to explain the research images and how to utilize the figures to my advantage in
helping convey my ideas. But after meticulous thinking on ways I can capture and transfer this

information. I decided to create a new graph and translate the research images into something l

little more understanding to my new audience.

In the long run, translating the article “CRISPR-engineered human brown-like adipocytes

prevent diet-induced obesity and ameliorate metabolic syndrome in mice” with ease into a new

genre took determined and persistent thoughts. A blog did the best job of successfully translating

the genre smoothly. I learned that it is possible to translate- any genre to a different genre as long

as you convey the key points and it gravitates toward your new audience. I can use these new

translation skills. They can help me in spreading new ideas, thoughts, etc. Communication is

made much quicker utilizing transitions, which can result in the spread of new innovations. With

accessible access to the blog post, I hope my audience, family and patient, and high schoolers

can retain the information and understand that new developments are arising. With better

information, they are more likely to search for possible studies and participate in helping the

future. Maybe by conducting further research while using this blog post as a base knowledge,

etc.
 Work Cited

Dirk, “Navigating Genres”

Reid, “Ten Ways to Think About Writing”

Rosenberg, “Reading Games: Strategies for Reading Scholarly Sources”

Wng, Chih-Hao. “CRISPR-Engineered Human Brown-like Adipocytes Prevent Diet-Induced

Obesity and Ameliorate Metabolic Syndrome in Mice.” Science Translation Medicine, Aug.

2020.

“Over One Billion Obese People Globally, Health Crisis Must Be Reversed - WHO | UN News.”

UN News, 4 Mar. 2022, https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/03/1113312.