News-day Tuesday - Embryonic Stem Cell Debate

So I'm going to try to take Breeze's advice and have "theme days" to organize what I post about. I've decided that Tuesdays will be "News-day Tuesday" where I give my take on issue(s) currently in the news. So here goes:

"President Barack Obama will reverse the U.S. government’s ban on funding stem-cell research today and pledge to 'use sound, scientific practice and evidence, instead of dogma' to guide federal policy, an adviser said. ..."

I'm sure this story is old news to most of you by now, but I feel I'm in a unique position to comment on it since I actually DO research on embryonic stem cells. (From mice in my case though, not humans.)

First, some points of clarification.

Stem cells are an area of interest becaue they can turn into different cell types and thus might be used to treat degenerative diseases or restore damaged tissue.

There are different kinds of stem cells. Some are adult stem cells, the kind we all have in our bodies. These can be used to turn into a large variety of cell types, but normally not all cell types.

Embryonic stem cells (ES cells), are those from an embryo (as the name suggests) and those can turn into ANY cell type.

Also, it is my understanding that there are already government approved ES cell lines but that they are not as good as others being used in private research.

Another important point is that researchers have successfully transformed adult stem cells to give them similar morphing power to ES cells. They call these iPS cells (induced Pluripotent Stem cells). Unfortunately they still haven't worked out all the kinks in these cells, and the genes they use to transform the cells are also involved in tumor/cancer formation.


Ok, now on to the current story:

My gut reaction is to be in favor of Obama reversing the ban. This is in line with my "I want science to cure death so I can live forever" philosophy, as it potentialy removes a road block to life extending research. But, as many have pointed out already, there exists the ethical question of "does using ES cells sacrifice innocent human life?" Since I work with mouse ES cells every day, it's easier for me to justify in my head that ES cells are "just cells." Though in the case of human ES cells there's still a nagging uncertainty in the back of my head. On one hand, yes, given the right conditions an embryo can develop into a fully functioning human being, that's where we all came from, but on the other hand, the embryos people want to use are destined to be disposed of anyway, so perhaps using that potential life for good is better than letting the life die in vain. So even if I consider the ES cells human life and not "just cells" I still am uncertain.


From a different perspective, the use of ES cells versus iPS cells both have technical advantages and disadvantes.

For ES cells, you are probably going to be dealing with cells from one person being used in another person's body (this can work, like in organ transplants and whatnot) but the body recognizes cells with a different genetic make up as foreign and the immune system tends to attack them. This is overcome with transplants by trying to find close matches and also by using immunosuppressants while the organs are being integrated. The immune response may limit the utility of ES cell usage to the point that it's not really feasible. Who knows?

For iPS cells, you have the advantage of being able to harvest them from the same person who will be recieving them, thus immune response is not an issue. However, there's still the threat of possibly giving the person cancer based on the current form of iPS cell technology. Also, iPS cells may not behave quite the same way as ES cells, so their response in the body might not be as good.


In the end I think that even if ES cells do not end up being used for therapy, the basic research with them will give us a better understanding of how stem cells work and is likely to result in research results faster. As I said, there is a nagging concern in the back of my head, but it hasn't been enough to totally change my mind.

If I am ever in a position where I'll be working with actual human ES cells, I'd probably have to do some soul searching to decide if I really truly think that this is ok.

What's in a name?

So Breeze made a comment asking me about my screen name and I figured other people might wonder about it so I thought I'd post a brief explanation. Here goes.

Nano- is for "nanotechnology," a hot topic in chemical engineering and especially in biomolecular (my area of focus in chemical engineering). -bri is for "Brian," my first name. Put the two together and you get "nanobri". I came up with the name when I was taking a nanotech class and was registering for some random site. I decided I like it though and have been phasing it in as my standard screen name.

Anyway, now you know. :)

Where to go from here...

So I only have one week left of classes and then finals week. I am really looking forward to this quarter being over. Though next quarter is going to be worse. I have to write my master's thesis then. I really hope I get my research done. If I have to stay another quarter then that's going to create all sorts of craziness.

I was grading stuff this past thursday which is my usual Exalted role-playing game day, so I missed a session. :( I'm working on a write-up of what my character did and perhaps I'll post that here when I'm done.

I'm kind of unsure of the direction I want to go with this blog. That's part of the reason I haven't posted in a while (the other part being that it's crunch time at school). I could go the RPG route and talk more generally about random ideas that I think would be fun in a game or just neat concepts in general. I could post more of the poetry I've done, and perhaps new stuff if I write anymore. There's random life updates. Philosophical musings. More about my research or other science-y things I find interesting. More about cooking (which means I'd need to cook a little more, I've kind of slacked off this past week.) *shrug* I dunno. If anyone has thoughts on what they would/would not like to see more of, I'm all ears.

Well, I'm off to take a data point (growth kinetics experiment, yay!) and then head to class.

Exalted RPG Character Info

So I wrote up a description of my character's familiar for the Exalted role-playing game I'm playing. I decided I'd post that description here for those of you who find role-playing game stuff interesting. My character's name is Leggit, this post really isn't about him though, more-so the familiar. By the way, I used the picture below as an inspiration for the humanoid form. (Image Source)


Leggit's familiar is a spirit-bird named Ati. The familiar-master bond has a strong resonance between Leggit and Ati and this allows a psychic link allowing Leggit to share Ati's senses at will at a distance up to several miles. Ati has several other abilities owing to his spirit nature. He can travel instantly from anywhere to Leggit's side, materialize and dematerialize at will, and shift between his bird and humanoid form at will. However, the instant travel as well as the materialization drain a large portion of his essence temporarily. (Essence being the term for magical energy in Exalted.)

Bird Form:
Ati in his bird form appears as a raiton - a type of omnivorous scavenger bird found often at battlefields. He has a three foot wing span, a toothy beak, black feathers and black eyes. Rations will eat most anything, from carrion to fruit, eggs and small animals, but since becoming a familiar Ati has been elevated from his previous embodiment to that of a lesser spirit and no longer requires food for sustenance. He is capable of eating if he so chooses and occasionally still steals eggs for amusement.

Humanoid Form:
Ati in his humanoid form is thin, short (about 4 feet tall) and wears a crisp white Nehru vest. Black feathers cover most of his body with the exception of a pointed crimson patch at the peak of his head, an elongated creamy white beak and goldenrod talon-like feet.

His arms are more winglike than human arms with feathered skin connecting at his side just under the rib cage out to what would be his wrist. These wing-arms do not afford him full flight capability but he can use them to get a boost when jumping and can also glide effectively from a moving start. His wing-arms do not have true hands, but rather, widely splayed finger-like feathers with a small opposed claw. He can maintain a weak grip on small objects with these "hands" and can has enough control to manipulate a writing implement with just passable legibility. His talon feet are capable of a stronger grip and more dexterous. He is capable of carrying a load with one talon and walking with the other and does so with a sort of hop-glide aided by bursts from his wing-arms.

In conversation or when focusing on something his head cocks about with an unnerving suddenness, a very bird-like habit, even while his small blood red eyes remain fixed on a target. His manner of speech is a quick and curt staccato with a slight clacking accent. The overall effect on his demeanor is that he seems somewhat peevish and expectant, anxiously awaiting a response or command.

Sag Bashers: Exposing the misguided war on saggy pants

"... In December, the Jasper County Council in South Carolina passed an ordinance making it illegal to wear your britches three inches below your hips and expose your underwear—or worse—to innocent bystanders. In January, South Carolina State Senator Robert Ford introduced a bill that would make saggy pants a crime throughout the entire state. ..."

Full article here: http://www.reason.com/news/show/132019.html

So a friend of mine showed me this article and I thought I'd pass it on. Apparently wearing saggy pants is illegal in some places... wtf?!? I'm not a fan of the fashion personally, and I think it'd be really hard to walk around like that, but illegal??? Come on...

A Fairytale Unfinished

I have a midterm on Wednesday so I've been busy studying for that tonight. Blech. At least one person out there liked the poem of yesterday so perhaps I'll post another today. That way I can be quick and get back to studying.

A Fairytale Unfinished

“Once upon a time,” begins the man,
A man in girth quite like a balloon,
Raspingly reciting an age old tale.
In his chair he rocks as he talks
The chair whining under his weight.

The children sit, listening
To a tale they’ve heard before.
The small room packed nearly full
Quite like a clogged artery.

The storyteller pauses,
Pulling out a handkerchief.
He blots at the beads of
Sweat on his forehead.
“The princess was trapped
Atop a high tower,”
The man moves on.

Hacking now, the man halts his story
And having freed his phlegmy throat,
Continues.
“And then the brave knight
fought the fierce dragon
who guarded the princess.”

In a heartbeat the story
Flows to its close,
But today’s tale would end
Quite unlike the children have heard,
Too naïve to see what’s coming.

“And they all lived hap…
Hap…”
Fumbling the final phrase.
His head turns a dark red
As he wheezes his last.
The children, paralyzed with terror,
Watch
As the man drops with a
Thud,
Breaking the silence.

A fairytale unfinished.


So there you have it. This is one of the darker ones I was warning about. I think it's kind of funny, but maybe I'm just odd. I wrote it for a class and was complimented on my use of alliteration and foreshadowing. Ha!

Bah, ok, now back to studying "the phenomena of fluid motions." I assure you all it's highly exciting material.

Portrait of a Daydreaming Student

His ears, a sieve.
The teacher’s voice
Just trickles through.
His eyes still open,
In an empty stare,
Looking somewhere
Past the blackboard,
But his mind isn’t there.
Instead,
It’s gone away to yesterday.
Phone in shaking hand,
Heart beating like a drum.
Finally,
Mustering the courage,
Dialing the digits,
Waiting…
Anticipating her voice…
“Hello,
Mr. Bailey, we’re waiting.”
The ruler hits the blackboard,
Crack!
Back to the present,
Startled, blinking.
“Question 3, on the board,
We don’t have all day!”
A laugh rolls through the class.
Red rushes to his cheeks.

So I wanted to post something, but nothing really exciting happened today, so I decided I'd post a poem I had written a long time ago. I don't really write poems anymore. It used to be an outlet for me. Many of them were dark. This one isn't really.