Critique of Richard Knox

The report was broad cast on National Public Radio by Richard Knox. It featured an article from the Nature journal that involved of studying people that cannot experience pain. In the article, the research conducted by Cox et al, discovered a mutated gene that encoded 1.7 Sodium Channel which prevent people from perceiving pain. The report suggests that by using the finding from the article done by Cox et al, scientist can devise the safest and most effective painkiller ever. The modern analgesia has many flaws, such as the side effects, addiction and possible over dose, the report could provide an insight to a new way of developing analgesia.

The report started with mention of the index case from the research article, where a ten years old child was first discovered with inability to perceive pain. The reporter went on talked about how the research was initiated. Then the reporter provided two extreme cases that involved the loss and gain of function from 1.7 Sodium Channel. When the mutated gene caused the loss function in 1.7 Sodium Channel, this will lead to a syndrome call “Channelopathy-associated Insensitivity to Pain” which people cannot feel pain. When the 1.7 Sodium Channel obtain gain of function duo to the mutation, it would cause erythermalgia where resulted an unbearable pain. Then reporter conclude the report saying that since the mutation that lead to loss of pain reception is very specific, and it will not cause any other function defect. Therefore, it can use to make a noble pain killer drug without the side effect.

Overall, the reporter did a good job of summarizing the result from the research by Cox et al. The reporter put a strong emphasize on the importance of the pain reception and how it effect the human development. But this report was far from been scientifically oriented. Since majority of the NPR listeners has various levels of science background, the report did not give an extensive detail on the theory behind the...