Studio Brief 4, Message and Delivery, Research

Animal Testing -

Personally I don't really know where to stand with animal testing. With products such as make up I don't think animals should be used, however with medical procedures like this story, I think they are the best candidate. It's a very interesting and delicate subject with huge debates.

One hand most medical discoveries or developments such as smallpox (cow) and anthrax (sheep) vaccine were due to animal testing.

However, the conditions the animals are in before and during the experiments are normally horrific and abuse for the animal.

I think this subject is very hard to work with and decide what is right and wrong, I am more on the cruelty side of the debate but can understand the benefits of the experiments. I would struggle a lot to create a graphic answer to this debate.

Science-

The science is quite complex behind this development. I think I understand it, that it's the tissue that is transplanted onto the mice and that is how the hair grows again. In the past it has just turned into more skin but because they have formed the tissue into a 3D spheroids it keeps the hair identity.

More information and results of the experiment are on this website. http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2013/10/16/1309970110

Baldness-

There are so many different people that are affected by baldness, this particular 'cure' can help burn victims, cancer victims, alopecia sufferers and male pattern baldness. 

This can be a very serious subject if concentrated on cancer victims, or burn victims, but because this is just research I can look at it with an open mind.

The newspapers and articles I read took on two tones of voices, it was either serious with belief that this cure is a step forward in medical history whereas other papers would take the mic and belittle it.

I support the more humorous tone of voice because there is so many way of dealing with baldness already like wigs and hair pieces. I don't understand why there has been so much money spent on this project and animals

messed with when in reality, this is a 'first world problem'. No one really needs this 'cure' like people need the cure of cancer.

Body Image

There are many famous people who look bald as well as some who don't like it.

Sinead O'connor is a famous female singer who has always been bald and looked good, which I think is good because there isn't a lot of women in the public eye who support the bald look and show a body confidence.

When Gail Porter lost her hair to alopecia she went public with it and shocked some people. However it was good to see someone just deal with hair loss, and think it was the end of the world.

Wayne Rooney and Jason Gardiner are men who couldn't deal with natural hair loss, so spent thousands on a hair transplant. I think they obviously did it to be happy within themselves but a normal man couldn't afford a procedure like that which isn't good for the public eye.

It also shows how expensive and unrealistic the 'cure' will probably be.






















Crit

When discussing my research it was brought to my attention that this story could be seen as not real news, which I think i agree with.
It does beg the question is this a real cure or just something that seems interesting but not real for a normal person.

Routes I could go down and the different tones of voices that were possible.