Aaaaaaaall over the place today.
Aug. 24th, 2006 10:40 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
stoney321I just realized this morning who Emily's kindergarten teacher looks like: Kristen Chenoweth. She's beensy, too. (Ru! Hee! It's your Broadway crush!)
So, I was going to whip out this RPS PWP, right? Right. Friday. It's turning into a pornish- YA novel, for god's sake. Which... okay, I suppose. I have such a love of "coming of age" young adultsex romps that take place in boarding schools. SO. MUCH. LOVE. (There was a cheesy For Girls series I read in junior high about a spoiled brat horsey girl who was the cause of someone's death/injury, and she covered up her Glorious Sooty Eyelashes and wore Frumpy Clothes so she could volunteer as a candy striper, thereby redeeming herself. Also, there was coal strip-mining, and that's how she got rich. Anyone? What the hell were those called?)
I am very excited about the new findings coming out on stem cell research, although I feel it's ridiculous we have to have this debate AT ALL. hahaha. I like alienating people right off the bat like that. Back to science! Let me state my positions clearly, so we can move on (either by you defriending me, or nodding your head.)
Okay. My background is biology, especially genetics. Those of us that have been directly affected (do NOT use the word "impacted" here. That word... I do not think it means, what you think it means.) by genetic disorders in our family/friends can appreciate how wonderful it would be to find a simple solution to something like Alzheimer's. Parkinson's. Autism. And we can.
A blastocyst is eight cells. Eight cells that determine EVERYTHING a human will or will not be. That's pretty awe inspiring, if you think about it. Everything is genetic, people. It's all genes. It's all chemicals. Your personality is chemicals. Your food likes. Your hair. How often you have to clip your nails. Whether you are more susceptible for cancer, for bone breaks, for drug addiction, for success, for a healthy weight. I don't get hung up on the "moral" issues of whether we should tamper with genes. We've tampered with genes from the beginning.
What? Yeah. Animal husbandry. Plant selection. Natural selection. A physical "type" you're attracted to. It's all an attempt to control genetic material. Now, do I think people should go in and change the sex of their baby? No. Hair color? No. Eliminate Sickle-Cell Anemia in utero? Hell yes. I have a sister that is a non-verbal autistic. Now, I don't talk about her a lot, because it's a very private thing, my relationship. It's been difficult, it's been heartbreaking, and it's been incredible rewarding. What if there was a way that we could have "fixed" her? Given her a better chance at life? I had a cousin that was born with Nuerofibromatosis Type 1 (NF-1), lived a horribly painful existence until the age of four, and died a painful death. Now, the Christian sees this as a lesson from god, a way to have a better understanding of his mysteries, etc. I cannot even GO down that road, because it drives me nuts. That's a shitty god that uses a child to teach an adult a lesson.
MOVING ON. NF-1 is caused by one protein. ONE. One amino acid caused my cousin to live and die painfully. Down Syndrome is typically caused by ONE EXTRA chromosome. (usually on the 17th, 18th, or 21rst chromosome) To me, it's asinine to have a debate about the "morality" of using inert matter in petri dishes to give living beings (and future generations) a better quality of life. If you want to go the Christian route (like our President), then look at it this way: god gave man intelligence so he could do for himself. So... do for yourself.
How it works: donated eggs and sperm are joined in laboratory conditions to get to the blastocyst stage. (Quick recap of bio 101: sperm + egg, two gametes make a zygote. Zygote splits into two cells, those two split, become four, the four split and become eight. Blastocyst. This takes roughly 72 hours.) Those eight cells now contain all the information needed to make an entire human. Technically, you aren't medically considered pregnant until this mass of cells attaches itself to the endometrium in the womb. The father's genetic information doesn't even BECOME a player in the development of a fetus until several cell-divisions AFTER this point. (Something they fail to mention often in these types of debates.)
The fact that the debate about this material that is being manipulated in laboratories to create a better, healthier life for generations to come and the ethics of it boggles me. I just really don't understand it, not from a "boo, religion!" mindset, but from true bafflement. I'm pro-betterment of humanity. I'm pro-genetic manipulation of foods to increase health and longevity. I'm basically FOR ways to improve quality of life. The cells being used for stem-cell research WERE NEVER MEANT TO BE PEOPLE. They are not being robbed from good women's bodies. Men aren't being milked for sperm in their sleep. (Although I bet they wouldn't object.) These are cells (They are GAMETES, half of the genetic material required for human production!) that were frozen/stored for purposes of learning.
Basically, I just really hate George Bush. Hahahaha.
So the NEW technique goes to the eight cell stage, takes ONE of the cells, and leaves the other seven for implantation, should a woman choose in vitro fertilization. So. Nothing is "killed" or destroyed. It's also incredibly chancy, as it's not as effective as the original plan (take eight cells and manipulate the gene code with eight chances). BUT. They can't get ANY research properly done because of the "ethics" of involving potential humans. Which were never going to be humans. *sigh* So, now the scientific community is bending over backwards trying to find a way to NOT upset anyone, and Bush is back peddling now, saying "we just shouldn't involve ANY humans" instead of his original stance that it was the destruction of the embryos after testing that was the problem. *SIGH* There's more to this debate, but I'm just ranting now, and it's getting obnoxious to ME. *feels for you all at this point. All one of you who stuck this out*
I wish Americans didn't have such a Hollywood induced mindset with scientists. (IE: evil, out to control the world, no morals, no regard for life... BAH, I say.)
You know what's going to make me feel better? Some YA porn. I mean... YA stories. :)
So, I was going to whip out this RPS PWP, right? Right. Friday. It's turning into a pornish- YA novel, for god's sake. Which... okay, I suppose. I have such a love of "coming of age" young adult
I am very excited about the new findings coming out on stem cell research, although I feel it's ridiculous we have to have this debate AT ALL. hahaha. I like alienating people right off the bat like that. Back to science! Let me state my positions clearly, so we can move on (either by you defriending me, or nodding your head.)
- It's not alive unless the mother has bonded with the fetus (IMO.) I am pro-choice, obviously
- Stem cells from gamete fusion are the best way to study and protect people already alive
- I'm a proponent of fixing what's here already (living people)
- This includes animal research for science. (Not makeup testing, which disgusts me.) This has nothing to do with the current topic, I'm just putting that out there.
Okay. My background is biology, especially genetics. Those of us that have been directly affected (do NOT use the word "impacted" here. That word... I do not think it means, what you think it means.) by genetic disorders in our family/friends can appreciate how wonderful it would be to find a simple solution to something like Alzheimer's. Parkinson's. Autism. And we can.
A blastocyst is eight cells. Eight cells that determine EVERYTHING a human will or will not be. That's pretty awe inspiring, if you think about it. Everything is genetic, people. It's all genes. It's all chemicals. Your personality is chemicals. Your food likes. Your hair. How often you have to clip your nails. Whether you are more susceptible for cancer, for bone breaks, for drug addiction, for success, for a healthy weight. I don't get hung up on the "moral" issues of whether we should tamper with genes. We've tampered with genes from the beginning.
What? Yeah. Animal husbandry. Plant selection. Natural selection. A physical "type" you're attracted to. It's all an attempt to control genetic material. Now, do I think people should go in and change the sex of their baby? No. Hair color? No. Eliminate Sickle-Cell Anemia in utero? Hell yes. I have a sister that is a non-verbal autistic. Now, I don't talk about her a lot, because it's a very private thing, my relationship. It's been difficult, it's been heartbreaking, and it's been incredible rewarding. What if there was a way that we could have "fixed" her? Given her a better chance at life? I had a cousin that was born with Nuerofibromatosis Type 1 (NF-1), lived a horribly painful existence until the age of four, and died a painful death. Now, the Christian sees this as a lesson from god, a way to have a better understanding of his mysteries, etc. I cannot even GO down that road, because it drives me nuts. That's a shitty god that uses a child to teach an adult a lesson.
MOVING ON. NF-1 is caused by one protein. ONE. One amino acid caused my cousin to live and die painfully. Down Syndrome is typically caused by ONE EXTRA chromosome. (usually on the 17th, 18th, or 21rst chromosome) To me, it's asinine to have a debate about the "morality" of using inert matter in petri dishes to give living beings (and future generations) a better quality of life. If you want to go the Christian route (like our President), then look at it this way: god gave man intelligence so he could do for himself. So... do for yourself.
How it works: donated eggs and sperm are joined in laboratory conditions to get to the blastocyst stage. (Quick recap of bio 101: sperm + egg, two gametes make a zygote. Zygote splits into two cells, those two split, become four, the four split and become eight. Blastocyst. This takes roughly 72 hours.) Those eight cells now contain all the information needed to make an entire human. Technically, you aren't medically considered pregnant until this mass of cells attaches itself to the endometrium in the womb. The father's genetic information doesn't even BECOME a player in the development of a fetus until several cell-divisions AFTER this point. (Something they fail to mention often in these types of debates.)
The fact that the debate about this material that is being manipulated in laboratories to create a better, healthier life for generations to come and the ethics of it boggles me. I just really don't understand it, not from a "boo, religion!" mindset, but from true bafflement. I'm pro-betterment of humanity. I'm pro-genetic manipulation of foods to increase health and longevity. I'm basically FOR ways to improve quality of life. The cells being used for stem-cell research WERE NEVER MEANT TO BE PEOPLE. They are not being robbed from good women's bodies. Men aren't being milked for sperm in their sleep. (Although I bet they wouldn't object.) These are cells (They are GAMETES, half of the genetic material required for human production!) that were frozen/stored for purposes of learning.
Basically, I just really hate George Bush. Hahahaha.
So the NEW technique goes to the eight cell stage, takes ONE of the cells, and leaves the other seven for implantation, should a woman choose in vitro fertilization. So. Nothing is "killed" or destroyed. It's also incredibly chancy, as it's not as effective as the original plan (take eight cells and manipulate the gene code with eight chances). BUT. They can't get ANY research properly done because of the "ethics" of involving potential humans. Which were never going to be humans. *sigh* So, now the scientific community is bending over backwards trying to find a way to NOT upset anyone, and Bush is back peddling now, saying "we just shouldn't involve ANY humans" instead of his original stance that it was the destruction of the embryos after testing that was the problem. *SIGH* There's more to this debate, but I'm just ranting now, and it's getting obnoxious to ME. *feels for you all at this point. All one of you who stuck this out*
I wish Americans didn't have such a Hollywood induced mindset with scientists. (IE: evil, out to control the world, no morals, no regard for life... BAH, I say.)
You know what's going to make me feel better? Some YA porn. I mean... YA stories. :)
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no subject
Date: 2006-08-24 03:49 pm (UTC)And I am totally with you on the hollywood mindset of scientists, with a few exceptions and most of them are on scifi channel -- they're either bumbling, socially-retarded idiots, or they're evil masterminds.
Do you know anyone who is that stereotypical in real life? Thank you, no!
*isn't shouting at you, just kinda shouting*
It's stupid. And Bush is an ass. It's probably me being Jewish, but abortion issues aside, I have never, ever understood the mentality of sarcifice the mother to save the child. The mother should be the primary -- within reason -- concern, because the mother is here and the mother is now. I'm not saying you shouldn't try to save the child, either, or anything ludicrous like that. But the idea that the mother absolutely should be sacrificed for a potential boggles my mind.
And the fact that so many people are being sacrificed or tortured by their own bodies just because some people have political clout to close off cells that will never be fertilized anyway is just asinine.
Not that either of those things are new *throws up hands*
no subject
Date: 2006-08-24 03:52 pm (UTC)*hig fives you while the hands are still up* Yeah. What drives me personally the craziest is the mindset towards genetics. I mean, I love Jurassic Park but it's NOT REAL, people. It's simply not possible. (Frog DNA. Frog DNA!! Yeah. That's like the PETA people who hate geneticly altered tomatoes because they think there's FISH DNA in there. YOU CAN'T DO THAT, PEOPLE.)
no subject
Date: 2006-08-24 04:00 pm (UTC)I think C, as Halfmoon mentioned, is the most important. The first two are ignorance based and can, sometimes, be cured through patient application of boards to heads. But the third? One of the best descriptions I saw was something they used in Drive Me Crazy, but is true nonetheless -- those who are against animal research change their tune very fast when a family member becomes sick, usually if it's cancer. I see it all the time, since we do a lot of animal-based research at my uni and those who are against it turn over faster than employees at McDonald's.
Particularly as we have so many rules and regs that trust me, these animals are not maltreated.
I just ... I don't get this. I don't think I ever will, whether it's because of my religious upbringing or because I'm inherently selfish, or because we're actually on the sane side. I dunno. But it just... how can that make sense? I don't know.
I am also ranty, sorry :(
no subject
Date: 2006-08-24 05:42 pm (UTC)True. Something I've noticed about Americans is that they use science when they need it, but then when they don't, they tell it to fuck off. Personally, I can't take it when people screw science over like this. The goal of science is to improve EVERYONE'S lives, not just one person's or one family's, and the sort of "use it and discard it" mentality that many Americans take is selfish and counterproductive.
Also, I think B is the most important because beliefs can cloud everything, while A and C can be fixed through thorough explanation. I've tried explaining emergency contraception to a conservative Christian friend of mine and no matter how logical my arguments were about the science and the benefits of EC, she refused to listen and accept that EC is a good thing because of her religious beliefs.
no subject
Date: 2006-08-24 06:09 pm (UTC)But yes - there's this very clear idea among a group of people, especially the Modern Christian, that states clearly that you are not to tamper with creation.
But they usually support the death penalty, so... I'm still having a problem wrapping my head around THAT. :)