love me some stem cells

Evidence that I am a nerd at heart:

I watched a lecture about stem cells, and it just made me tingle with excitement. And we read a beautiful paper in biochem where they induced differentiated pancreas exocrine cells to insulin-secreting beta cells. It was the coolest thing ever. Seriously, when people talk about developmental biology or stem cells, I can't help but fall in love with the topic. I think that is what I want to study forever, even though it's a longer road because it takes longer to publish results due to the lengthy nature of the experiments. But it's just so mesmerizing.

I'm too lazy to form an organized argument on stem cell research right now, but basically it's ridiculous to prohibit government funding of embryonic stem cell research when it can do so much good. Suffice it to say, (and I am in no way demeaning the value of life) I do not believe that a 4-cell embryo (give or take a few stages) created in a lab has a soul that we are deliberately destroying. I don't believe that "life" begins at conception. I don't think we are foiling God's plan by finding new medical advances. I believe that God, among many things, is a scientist, and I believe we should take advantage of as many scientific frontiers as possible.

peace. love. and science.

cardio-philia

lub-dub-lub-dub-lub-dub-lub-dub...

I love that sound.

germaphobe-phobe

In my apartment, we have a community jar of nutella. The other day, we were all in the kitchen and I dipped my finger in the jar, and without thinking I double-dipped with the same finger. It was an honest accident.

You should have seen the look of restrained horror on my roommates' faces. One said so very passive-aggressively, "Did you just, um, double dip?" The other roommates who witnessed the crime agreed that it should just be my jar of nutella now (hey, free nutella!). They even scrawled my name across the top and put it in my room. ?????

Seriously? Seriously. I think passive-aggressiveness is so pathetic and annoying. Germaphobes need to just take a microbiology class because then they would learn that germs are everywhere. And they are not all bad. You know that philosophical debate about the tree falling in the forest and if no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound? I feel that can be applied to this situation because if I had been alone, no one would have noticed anything wrong with the nutella. No one would have gotten deathly ill either.

Germaphobia is purely psychological and has little scientific merit. The reality is that my "germs" are already all over the apartment. We all touch the same door/fridge handles, use the same dishes that don't get completely sanitized when we most often have to handwash them because our dishwasher sucks; the air and water I expire rests everywhere along with my dead skin particles (aka dust), a single sneeze contains 20,000 virus droplets, etc., etc. I digress.

The fact is that germs are everywhere and your minute attempts to avoid them once in awhile rarely make the slightest impact. What about french kissing? (I like how that term hasn't been used since the 90's.) Most people, even germaphobes, are pretty down with that even though it is an extremely germ-infested frontier. Or, I made divine Oreo truffles the other day that I had to touch with my bare hands to form the balls. But I'm sure none of my roommates would have a problem eating those either. My point is that most self-proclaimed germaphobes pick and choose which germs they want based on personal gain; there really is no rhyme of reason to most of it.

Now, of course I need an exception to this rant because almost every argument needs one. Sanitation and cleanliness are good things. Of course, you should wash your hands after you go to the bathroom--except if you only pee, it's okay to skip because urine is sterile and not a big deal. JUST KIDDING. That is a joke, people. Although urine is sterile, always wash your hands. You should cough in your elbow, keep household surfaces clean, blah blah blah, the basics, you know? Do I think it's necessary or healthier to be immaculate? No, not really. Studies actually show that kids who are exposed to pets and play outside more have healthier immune systems because the best way to boost immunity is to be exposed to other pathogens--none of this Airborne, vitamin C overdosing nonsense.

Anyway, I just wish people had the basic biological knowledge to know that one double-dipping incident is not going to give them AIDS.

And because I hate passive-aggressiveness so much, when no one was home, I licked my finger and stuck it right back in their new, shiny jar of community nutella--ironic, but I had to return the favor.

:)

give me a break

Normally I'm not one of those people who tries to sound smarter than other people, but this really irked me today.

I'm in a pathophysiology class, which is heavily information-packed. I do not doubt that my professor is very knowledgeable on the subject.

However...

He starts talking about nutrition because many of the diseases we talk about have a dietary factor. But he always talks in absolutes, and he throws out claims that really make me doubt his expertise regarding nutrition. I have taken two nutrition classes, which doesn't sound like much, but it is two more than any biology major will ever have to take. I also consider myself a self-learned nutrition guru. I read a lot. I learn a lot. I am also very interested in food politics, and I admittedly have a vegan bias at times.

So when I hear things like "meat is the only source of absorbable iron in the diet," or "you must have four servings of dairy products a day to reduce chances of osteoporosis. All other supplements and sources are completely nonabsorbable," I want to roll my eyes. And I probably do. After doing a simple literature search, I have found that these claims are unfounded. I tentatively tried to ask the difference between calcium found in animal secretions than calcium found in other (natural) foods. I understand that different ion complexes affect its absorption. However, cow's feed is supplemented with calcium because they are fed corn in most cases instead of being grass-fed. (I really said this in the most non-snotty way possible. I'm very good at asking innocent questions.) To this though, my professor replies, "well I've never heard that before, so blah blah same absolute claim blah."

If there is one thing I hate, it is feeling stupid and wrong. Especially when it is unwarranted. Like today.

three point five

There is something about taking a 3.5 hr developmental biology test that makes me feel really good about myself--no matter how it turns out. (It was free response, so I don't know...)

Yay for hox genes, wnt signaling, gastrulation, enhancers, insufficiency, Spemann's organizer, potency, commitment, splanchnic mesoderm, and EVERYthing in between.

Earthquake

My movement is shaky--says my dance coach from our lesson today. I need to utilize this thing called my core. I hear that term so often, but what does it even mean??

Meh. I guess I'm just waiting for it to all click.

On another note, I was in my reproductive physiology class and we were all discussing journal articles that we had found. As I sat there I just thought, "I LOVE SCIENCE!!!" There are so many things to study.

How do I pick just one?