Society and avian Flu

supply-and-demand of eggs.

“I volunteer and bake cookies for a charity, and I’ve noticed the prices for ingredients are definitely getting more expensive,” said freshman Ellie Wu.

Combined with the skyrocketing inflation levels in the U.S. economy, egg prices have nearly tripled in price as of 2023. This has led to increases in prices of egg-containing products in grocery stores and restaurants, with groceries rising 12% in prices and restaurant meals peaking at 8%.

“Since I eat eggs almost every day, [the egg crisis] has been a bit of a disappointment,” said freshman Acer Dong. “Inflation is hitting home.”

Consequently, many people are searching for cheaper ways to obtain eggs. In particular, Americans are evading the egg prices by purchasing their own backyard chickens.

Suzanne Chandler, who sells chicks at Flower Feather Farm, says the demand in chicks “is up 300% from January…[and] January is usually kind of a slow month.” effect”, where inaccurate information leads to flawed recollections.

In the rush to raise their own flock, people overlook the risks of disease that come with the chicks. Although the avian flu has not become a human pathogen yet, it is still possible for a human to become infected with the virus; plus, the bird flu isn’t the only disease spread by chickens. Salmonella is easily spread to humans and quite common among chicks.

To study mutations in bird flu, scientists have experimented with the virus to outline the different “steps” that the avian influenza would need to take to mutate into a human virus.

First, scientists identified the polymerase PB2 that replicates RNA in the virus. Modifications to the enzyme known as E627K swaps an amino acid and results in an enzyme being better fitted to mammalian cells.

“But for H5N1 to cause a pandemic it also needs multiple changes in hemagglutinin, a protein on the surface of the virus that helps it attach to carbohydrates on host cells,” said Kai Kupferschmidt.

“Just because somebody tells you something and they say it with confidence, just because they say it with lots of details, just because they express emotion when they say it, doesn’t mean that it really happened,” explained Loftus in her 2013 TED Talk. “We can’t reliably distinguish real memories from false memories, we need independent corroboration.”

“By far, one of the most real world consequences would be eyewitness testimony during criminal trials,” said Jones. “A lawyer can change a few words around and manipulate a person’s recollection of an event during testimony and essentially change the course of a trial.” kwong@arcadiaquill.com

The fact that entirely made-up memories can be so easily implanted is a scary thought. This wrong information could convict the wrong person of a crime, create false accusations, or influence opinions in dangerous ways. It’s important that memory is treated as a flexible and fallible construct rather than ironclad fact. The next time you call to mind a memory, just remember that it may not be as lifelike as it seems.

Images Courtesy of PIXABAY.COM and WIKIMEDIA COMMONS mho@arcadiaquill.com

These changes would allow the avian influenza virus to transmit through the air while keeping the hemagglutinin in a stable form, and it would reshape the protein to bind to human cells.

Although the avian flu is far from be- coming a human virus, each new case brings it closer and closer to the right combination of mutations. Bird flu became pertinent to our society in 2022, and though the worst of the outbreak is over, the more information we can learn about the virus, the better prepared we will be if it ever mutates into a human pathogen.

Photos Courtesy of UNSPLASH.COM and WIKIMEDIA COMMONS