Genetically Speaking

I am blown away by what scientists are attempting these days. I read a National Geographic article on a man-made phenomenon called a "chimera" that sounds like it is out of a science fiction story. As you may already know, a chimera is a mythical creature. I have heard a few versions of what it supposedly looks like, and the gist of it is a part lion, part goat, part snake. Basically the parallel being that it is a melding of different species to create, well, a monster of sorts! I remember when I first heard of a chimera. It was in a book of folk tales that my mom had called "With a Deep Sea Smile," and the story was about a man playing a kind of game of Memory with the Devil. I, being probably about 6 or 7, thought it was some kind of instrument. Anyway I digress. Apparently it is now possible to do any number of unnatural, mythical things to embryos! There is a great debate on now about whether this is all ethical, if it will create some kind of super animal that can think like a human but have the instincts/power of an animal, and if it will devalue BEING human in itself.

I say that they have already done the latter by enforcing the theory of evolution. By calling Darwin's theory a truth, they have brought us down to the status of mere monkey, or going farther back: paramecium. This country embraces a beginning of nothingness. We teach our children that nothing exploded and suddenly there was all this stuff!! We drill into them that millions of years ago, we were no more important than a tiny plankton. And we are to believe that humans are merely animals. I remember thinking that. When I was a child, my science and biology classes taught me that we are all just animals. How depressing! Animals do not have logical thought. They may exhibit emotions and loyalty to one person in particular, but they cannot sit here at this computer and type to you their thoughts, feelings, hypotheses. I love animals and hate to hear of them suffering. But I just know that I am different than them.

How this relates to chimeras is this: They are in the process of inserting human genes, blood, and brain cells into different animals to study, in an isolated way, how human genes, blood, and organs work. I think this is very valuable research especially since they may be able to someday harvest organs from animals to transplant into humans. They also may be able to use animals as blood and tissue donors as well. But the question is, once you start putting human elements into an animal, does it gain rights? My question is, how the hell would you know if the animal WANTED rights? It can't sign a signature on a paper, it can't tell you, and really it doesn't know if it does or not. I don't really know what my side is on this matter yet but I see the pluses outweighing the minuses. I think the question really should be: Do we want to save human lives or have a ton of pigs, rats, and monkeys sitting in labs waiting to hear if they have rights? It is a question few people probably will answer honestly as not to step on any toes.

The Voice in My Head

I listened to that voice that told me to donate blood and get bone marrow testing. I waited 2 hours in the local Red Cross with about 50 other people at any given time to be tested for a match to the police officer. Everyone seemed quite relaxed and even I didn't get the butterflies I normally would get before a bout of self-inflicted pain. There were many State Troopers in line to help a friend. I chose to also donate the pint of blood that would waive my $45.00 fee for the testing. You know, it wasn't really that bad at all. I went in with a good attitude and everyone was so nice. The guy taking my history was jovial and kept calling me "m'lady", most likely because I was one of the youngest women in there. Its a shame that more younger people don't donate. I never have before out of fear of the unknown but I definitely will again. The finger prick to determine my iron content hurt more than the actual drawing of blood! I did get a bit light-headed at the end when it was over and they had to practically tip me upside down but it only lasted a few minutes. A little apple juice later and I was feeling fine.

Pain is so relative. It has been proven that if one is listening to music that they enjoy while they are undergoing surgery and after in recovery, they need almost 1/2 as much pain medication as if they had listened to nothing at all. What gets me through a lot of the time is knowing that it will be temporary and that tomorrow I won't even notice it. The fear of the needle intensifies what probably would be comparable to a mosquito bite into something to be dreaded. I just don't look while they do it! After having 2 kids and 3 tattoos I think I have felt all the pain there
is to feel! If I can handle that, I can handle anything. I think the most painful thing I have ever felt is the tattoo on my neck. Damn that stung around the edges! I didn't cry though. That reminds me I need to get that finished...

The Sound In My Ears

I am starting this blog to be different than my other blogs. I have been wanting to do this for a while but haven't really had a chance.

Let me start off by saying that Life is Good.

There. I work in a "boring" job, doing the same things every day. I prayed for this job, as my last one was dead-end retail in a used children's clothing store. Hmmm...stay in school, kids. I wish I had! I got this job so easily it definitely seemed predestined. I remember my prayer the night after I applied for this job: "Thank you God for my family, my house, and the job I have now. Please change my life somehow, some way. I am stagnating in this life." I remember that the answer I received came with a thought. "Be patient." So I have to keep that in mind as I work here at my little temp job in a factory. Every door I open has hidden surprises. Every person I meet has a purpose in changing my life as I do in theirs. Every newspaper article that sticks out or song on the radio that I hear, even if for the hundredth time, can be something that I should pay attention to.

I heard about a young man in Brattleboro, 2 young children like mine, married, accomplished police officer who has leukemia. His wife is desperate to find a marrow donor match but the problem is that he has a rare genetic disorder and out of the 9 million possible donors they have looked at, zero have matched up. This really stands out to me. What if I could be that match? I hate the thought of giving blood or being stuck with a needle at all but what if that was me? Or my loved one? Or my child... I would want every single person on this Earth to go give a sample! Even if it only bought me a few more years. Every moment with children especially is so precious.

Even if I am not a match, I will get put into a national registry so if I ever did match someone maybe I could help them. I am not as afraid of pain as I used to be. I should suck it up and do what I can for others. I wish I had time to volunteer in the hospital. I would even love to volunteer at the Humane Society walking dogs, changing litter boxes, playing with the bunnies.

Maybe when I'm older...