New Strain of Lab Mice Mimics Human Alcohol Consumption Patterns AOW #19

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111212124555.htm

The article that I read this week dealt with a new strain of lab mice specifically bred to seek alcohol over other liquids in their diet. The article states that this is beneficial for us because we can study them to try to find the genetic reasons that humans become alcoholics. They state that being able to breed lab mice to seek alcohol proves that some of the reasons humans become alcoholic could be tied with genetics. The reason that they chose lab mice for this experiment is because mice share 80 percent of their DNA with human DNA. The scientists who perform tests on these mice are excited to begin testing with these mice. Today, many humans know of someone who is an alcoholic or are one themself, but we do not know much as to why some humans seek a lot of alcohol while others do not. The article itself had a purpose of proving to the audience, or those interested in the reasons behind alcohol addictions of humans, that they are achieving some progress in their tests. Some of the rhetorical elements in this piece were its appeals to logos and ethos, and the organization of the article. The author established their credibility through the appeal to logos, their wise diction, and the fact that their article appeared on a website dedicated just to science. They appealed to logos through the statistics that they brought, and, also, the examples that they stated from the experiments the scientists had been working on. There was no figurative language or imagery/allusion in this piece because stating anything besides the facts in an article like this would discredit the author. I believe that the author did accomplish their purpose because they made an interesting article which informed the public of the advances this organization had made in science.