DELA CRUZ, Marie Giecel V.

BS Biochemistry 2008 67965

Involvement of WSSVshrimp homologs in WSSV infectivity in kuruma shrimp: Marsupenaeus japonicas (A Review) By Lua T. Dang, Takashi Koyama, Aiko Shitara, Hidehiro Kondo, Takashi Aoki, and Ikuo Hirono Date of Publication: 30 August 2010 (online)

In this paper, the importance of white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) and its homologues in the infectivity of the virus were tested utilizing dsRNA-mediated RNA interference. Kits were used to test the parameters needed to evaluate this effectively. The study was published recently at the Antiviral Research journal.

I found the article to be highly informative. The graphs, tables and figures were properly labeled and needed information for readers were provided. The materials and methods used were properly detailed and outlined. However, I noticed that the researchers did not perform an optimization test and just assumed that the stock dilutions that they used will give optimal responses for the testing of efficiency.

The design of the primers for the study was also briefly described and I think the authors assumed that the readers already have a background information on primer design for such studies or they expected the readers to conduct a deeper research about designing primers themselves. Personally, I think they shouldve explained a bit more why they used that specific program to design their primers.

I also noticed that the authors used several kits for this research, which isnt exactly helpful for researchers with limited resources. They shouldve provided an appendix or a supplementary paper for

alternatives in the kits they used and probably a comparison of probable effects of the use of alternatives to the kits.

Another thing that I find confusing is the number of shrimps they used. They seemed to have done so many things to their shrimps. Recall that they mentioned using a total of ten shrimps (section 2.4 In vivo viral titration assay), but after that, it seemed that they used more than ten.

I also find their use of some terms confusing since they did not define it in their introduction. The purpose of the study was also not very clear. Were they doing it to advance studies on anti-viral medications that can be extracted from animals and used on humans? Or were they doing this simply because shrimps have the ability to be carriers of viruses without being diagnosed with the sickness?

However, despite all these, I find it noteworthy that the authors indicated the possible improvements and further studies that could be done on their research. This means that they are acknowledging that some other methods could be employed for further understanding of the mechanisms of the subject they are studying.

Personally, I think the authors should have indicated whether it is possible to study the use of their findings on human studies. There is a great need for anti-viral medications for people and studies such as these are good foundations for researches.

Back to basics, the title of the journal is appropriate for the study as it is very straightforward and it immediately informs the reader of what the journal is about. The abstract gives the reader a slight idea of what is really inside the paper. Keywords were provided by the author and important information was provided. The introduction part of the journal was very concise, which is good. It stated the objectives; however, there is a need to expound on it. And, as was mentioned earlier, definitions of some terms need to be provided to avoid confusion.

Proper documentation of the materials and methods and data treatment was given by the authors. The steps in the experimental procedure were also explained carefully for easy referencing and visualization of the readers but modified procedures of other studies were not properly referenced. It was also not stated which parts of the procedures by other studies were modified in this study. The

tables were not hard to interpret because data values were presented well. Aesthetic value of the presentation was carefully considered and it does not look cluttered. Lastly, there was no information regarding the disposal of the wastes produced in this experiment. I deem this note-worthy because readers and future researchers like me need to know how to dispose of wastes properly after experimenting to prevent more damage.