This story needs to be re written so laypersons can understand what you are excited abou.

Whatever it is– genomic sequences are not something I run into every day.

I think you need a summary paragraph at the beginning saying what is happening and why it is so important. Then have someone speak in non RAD talk about how this might affect us, other research, and change our view of the wrold.

Thanks.

Timothy

With all due respect to the previous poster, everyone chooses to read science writings for the interesting studies and often, conclusions. I like not always being able to completely understand what I read. I get the vast majority and am left with some unanswered questions. On the other hand, a scientist or amateur in that subject might prefer having the higher level of technical detail.

This is good for everyone. A minimal amount of added explanation of terminology perhaps would lessen the unanswered questions, but only in certain areas. Don’t “dumb down” your articles! We need to be comfortable in our confusing world and with the idea that we don’t “get” everything. We are surrounded by unanswered questions and science is only a process in which we can attempt to find answers.

P.S.? I think it’s fascinating that with what sounds like a relatively simple tecnical test, humans have discovered that this particular mutation has been repeated over and over again. And it has been relatively quick, but what chance for quick enough to withstand this climate craziness our fossil fuel dependence has caused?

I agree wholeheartedly with the previous post of Elise Villemaire, much more polite than mine will be. And would invite anyone who finds a term they do not understand to use a dictionary and the occasion to learn, instead of asking that a clearly high level educational site ” dumb down”. This is a site tailored to universirty graduates, where ways and hows of learning is the point of the exercise If this person, or any other, prefers brainpap, there are mahy other sites available that cater to that. If they are here, then one can safely assume that it is to open their learning banks and deposit into their accounts, certainly not to ask that the institution bankrupt itself.
Sharply impatient, yes, as this mewling is inappropriate and widespread and the results of concentrating on NOT challenging one’s capacities to learn correctly anything has led to some of the lowest levels of general ability in educated societies in centuries. Universities, and this site, are not there to teach people to handicap themselves, but how to escape any handicaps imposed and open their and others’ worlds to clarity, joy and creation.
And, as all artists know, that takes work and that work IS the interest and creating passion as well.
I have seen levels of basic English at my own Ivy League University that have left me sad, angry (as you see here) and very concerned for a society taught to be manipulatable and incapacitated, especially in its ability to judge and make an individual decision based on real knowledge and depth. If the English Graduate students at the Top Universities of the world cannot write correcly in their own language, who pulled one over on them and why would there be any reason, ever, to accept such dishonesty? So, T Colman, I would suggest that you honour yourself and other people of this world and of this particular readership more. Get a dictionary and start living, Learn, and give full support to others around you to do the same so that you are capable of making true judgements, and that your life is rich. Asking a Univeristy site to diminish the level of appropriate vocabulary and knowledge presented for YOU to learn with and from is entirely inappropriate judgement. Move your brain, and be happier for it. Life is very short…

As the writer of the news release in question, I appreciate the feedback. I agree with the comment that science stories should encourage people to consult their dictionaries or additional information as part of the learning and understanding process.

In this release, I attempted to provide definitions for terms could be new or tough, and also I assumed that some terms should be by now acceptable for general consumption, such as the word genome. In this decade of the sequencing and mapping of the human genome, I would assume the majority of readers would be familiar with the word and implications.

However, as a university science writer I am glad to be reminded that some people, such as the first writer, can be turned off by scientific terminology. I try to weave in definitions as part of my releases rather than bog them down with a glossary of terms. We university science writers need to be gently nudged to remove as much jargon as possible so that more people understand the science we describe.

In this case, the science is basic rather than applied. To say too much about the findings’ potential importance in the big picture of genetics could be dangerous. These findings are exciting and important to other scientists who may choose to adopt the technology for their own gene research and for the quest to understand how and which genes trigger adaptation. Application comes much later. For the public, the story provides a glimpse of basic science at work. Cures and advances don’t arise without basic understanding.