delirious. delicious. delightful NY

of men and monsters

genetic selection is the new kind of racism. like most technology, geneology is morally neutral, it can be deployed for evil or for good. genetic holds information and myriad secret of the past, migration, wars, plagues, history and DNA lineage.

it is important to reflect in dark chapters of our history in war and colonization:

rape was used as tool to 'cleanse' genetic traits that deemed unfit and inferior.

our curiosity of personal origin fuel the capitalization of gene industry - unbeknownst to the consumers, their genetic history and information are now in the hands of companies.

with the information, the companies offering their customers with complementary and thorough genetic testing based on their susceptibility of common hereditary disease that appeared in their bloodline.

the use of DNA to tarnish individual past is utterly unacceptable, especially when the possibility a gene to pose risk to 'specific disease' is low. rather it takes a group of genes works together to manifest a disease. it is a complex and costly to understand genomics.

why worry. cause even with mutation or defective gene you may not express the disease. human biology is not a coding problem. 

even the 2003 genome project is incomplete. and actually based on one person name craig venter - the dude who claimed to create synthetic 'life' by inserting cocktail of chemicals - DNA into an empty cell. you know, it's like putting a brain to a no-brainer.

will genetic information encourage you to quit smoking or drinking? what about free will? oh yes, free will is not congruent with science.  

let's look into encode project - the continuation of genome project to rigorously define the proportion of human genomic sequence. turns out the junk dna has important role in the regulation of particular genes. 

the diversity of our genes is amazing and show us how complicated can human biology can be with interracial marriage and procreation. please, do not marry your cousins.

let's not forget that environment, surrounding and food intake may influence our genetic health.

   

voting with style. salt bae.

tissue and organ regeneration in adults - review

dear daisy,

the professor asked me to write a review about his book: his choice of word - oxymoronic to describe the title caught my eyes and attention. it is fair enough that we human do not have the genetic ability to regenerate and heal like doctor who or mr. wolverine. there are so much of science fiction in tissue engineering and organ regeneration. we hoped that someday that we not only can prolong lives, but to embrace immortality. this may sound far-fetch and not-in-our-lifetime goal but the idea and knowledge on biotechnology and sciences are becoming more exciting ever since intelligent drug delivery and regenerative medicine were first coined in the 1950s - at the time, the questions on human ethics and concern were raised in a famous conference which covered by the rolling stone magazine. last year, more than 100 scientists from all around the world gathered in so-called the secret meeting to discuss on human genetic editing and creation of life - from scratch. although moratarium had been set to restrict 'human genetic modification', the chinese are aggressively conducting research on human embryos and publicly declaring their efforts to the world, ignoring international concerns on the serious implications of this technology.

the idea that human engineering is instructive to morality seems to be deeply wired in our thinking. today we are facing an emergence of reality that the technology we hoped to bring cure and care to the humanity, can also bring destruction and spread of diseases. we clearly have no idea how genetic modification of animals like pig, can be humanized and serve as spare parts for human.

perhaps we need to be reminded of yann martel's writing on 'we ate the children last'.

it is clear that this day would come and it is impossible to control any new scientific process. we are entering a new era where there is no precedent and the civilization is now confronting an unknown consequences of biotechnology.

maybe it is the time for human to look for soul searching, as T.S. Eliot put it in his writing;

where is the wisdom that we have lost in knowledge,

where is the knowledge that we have lost in information.

in all of my years, one thing does not change,

it is the perpetual struggle of good and evil.

----------------------------------------------------

(i will post my review after the prof. comment - )

ha.. i didn't realize that i quoted t.s. eliot the second time)

23andme - genetic testing - schadenfreude

protection of patients' genetic and medical records is a basic human right.

predictive test for disease susceptibility can have negative influence and implications in patients' life and sense of well being. genetic interpretation is not simple for most disease and traits.

variation can occur at the single nucleotide - called polymorphism. it is a complicated and holistic biology - a single gene can be responsible to many specific functions and to complement other gene functions.  just like when we have to explain to a laymen that endocrine receptors are responsible for facial blushing, palpitation, sweating, hard to breathe - the patient could just be nervous (to meet the love of his life) or maybe having a metabolic disorder.

it is very irresponsible to dupe clients into believing that they have the probability of getting sick.

we do not need unnecessary worry because without understanding genomics we cannot decide whether having early genetic tests will improve health and living quality or causing financial burden to the patients.

(in response to 23and me selling to clients genetic test after assessing their vulnerability to heriditary diseases)

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Have you ever loved someone so much, you'd give an arm for? Not the expression, no, literally give an arm for? When they know they're your heart And you know you were their armour And you will destroy anyone who would try to harm her But what happens when karma, turns right around and bites you? And everything you stand for, turns on you to spite you?

a portrait of an artist as a young man