TOW #1-Bionic Eyes, Stem Cells and Gene Therapy: 3 Cutting Edge Cures for Blindness

The news article, Bionic Eyes, Stem Cells and Gene Therapy: 3 Cutting Edge Cures for Blindness, was written by Alexandra Sifferlin and Alice Park. Both are writers for TIME Magazine who focus their non-fiction writing on public health issues and big ideas in medicine. In this issue geared towards the general public and those who are interested in the advancements of science, they focus their attention on different methods to cure blindness including Bionic Eyes, Stem Cells and Gene Therapy.

Sifferlin and Park confirm their credibility by not only working for one of the most commonly known news magazines in the world, but also by citing established scientists and researchers such as the director of the National Eye Institute at the National Institutes of Health, and a doctor at the University of Pennsylvania. This article was written during a time period where technology has been rapidly increasing, and is now being applied to the field of science. In order for the authors to achieve their purpose of making the public aware of the advancements in technology and its application to curing blindness, they incorporate the rhetorical devices of coherence personal examples. The authors’ coherence is displayed throughout the text when she explains each advancement. She follows the same order, “The Patient,” “The Treatment,” “How it works” and “What it’s like for (patient’s name).” This layout makes it easier to comprehend each eye treatment, and how each treatment differs from the other. In addition, including personal examples and excerpts from each person that explain how their treatment has greatly improved their life accomplishes her purpose in a more relatable way. These personal cases illustrates how successful these treatments already are, and with the improvement of technology, how successful they can be.