Cloning Wars

Yes, it's a trite and overused headline for a seriously debated topic, but you're reading right?  Anyway, the Minnesota legislature is currently debating a bill that would "ban human cloning" in Minnesota, so I thought I would ring in.  The only background I will give (this is a source of opinions, not information) is that it appears to apply only to reproductive cloning, so research using embryonic stem cells appears to be as safe as ever for the time being (there are already some laws "banning" this research in MN, but there are loop-holes as well).  There was an expert on MPR this morning, and I think he hit the nail on the head when he observed that this topic is the perfect storm of politics, ethics, religion, and science, making it the perfect fodder for some casual blogger trying to get back in the game.
The intent of the bill, as I understand it, is to leave the topic of embryonic stem cell research open (for now) but to make it illegal for this research to actually produce a new human being.  In other words, it recognizes that there are many potential benefits of stem cell research, the ethics of which can be debated elsewhere, but puts an absolute cap on what those techniques can be used for.  My initial reaction is to say "Sure, why the hell not".  After all, what possible good reason is there for making a new person through cloning?   Here's what I came up with:
1) "If we could clone Martin Luther King, Jr., Abraham Lincoln, Mohandas Ghandi, or Albert Einstein, wouldn't that be a good thing?":  Well, sure there's a chance they would grow up to be a great leader and bring about world peace, but there's an even better chance that, all things being equal, they'll end up being just another person.  Let's focus on creating the kind of environments, in our families and communities, where great leaders can develop rather than trying to relive the glory days by resurrecting our heroes.  Besides, how much would it mess a kid up to be told "You were born in a Petri dish to save the world.  Don't let us down!"?
2) "I'm awesome!!":  You know that if Richard Branson were legally allowed to, he would clone himself for the sole reason of preserving his greatitude.  No thanks.
3) "Our son died at age 6.  We don't want another child, we want our Billy back.":  To be blunt, that's not going to happen.  Billy is gone, but he lives on in your hearts.  To create a new person who looks very similar to Billy will not bring him back.  And again, can you even imagine the psychological damage of growing up with your mother crying every time you remind her of your brother AND crying every time you fail to remind her of your brother?
4) "We can't have kids the normal way, but we want biological children.":  Even assuming you were both adopted and, thus, did not have biological relatives to help you out, AND you both had non-functioning gonads, there has to be another solution.  Actually, if that's the situation, maybe it's time to accept the fact that you weren't meant to have biological children.

There are a couple more I considered (and may add in later), but that last one made me think of two tangents.  First, the US Supreme Court has repeatedly upheld that each person has the right to reproduce whenever, with whomever, and however they see fit.  That being the case, is reproductive cloning really any more or less ethical than in vitro fertilization?  That brings me to my second line of thought, which is whether there are other situations to consider.  For instance, if IVF is fine but cloning is unethical, what if we developed in vitro meiosis to create gametes from existing individuals' somatic cells, which could then be combined and implanted the same way as clones?  Is this a form of IVF because it creates a new person from two parents, or is it cloning because it turns somatic cells into embryos?

To See or Not to See?

I have a dilemma: I want to see my baby on ultrasound, but Lynn and I have decided not to find out the sex before birth. Not to brag, but I'm pretty sure that I would be able to tell if it were apparent. I'm sure I'm not the first to have this problem and that technicians have ways to let parents see the baby but not the critical parts, but I don't have that much faith in Bean to stay still. If it's my offspring, it's going to be moving a lot and not going to be camera shy. I still have a month to figure it out, I guess.

Education Disorder

Through a long series of ponderings today, I starting thinking about how American society's regard for higher education has changed over the past few generations. A couple generations ago, going to college was a big deal that required a serious decision to forego the ability to support a family so that one could devote oneself to further education, in the hope that it would make the student better able to contribute to society. It was only the affluent that could afford to take on such an endeavor without contemplating the sacrifice.  In contrast, it was viewed as a noble venture, or often as a waste of time, by most working-class families.  However, we have now come to a point in American history in which college is seen as "expected"; the decision facing many (I dare say most) current high school students is where to go to college rather than whether.
This is good, right?  This means that we have reached a point where we value education and understand the necessity of a populace with deeper skills, right?  Perhaps.  However, it reminds me of an interesting correlation that is seen in the mental health field: Anorexia is most common in societies and communities in which food is most plentiful.  In other words, greater assured access to food is correlated with a higher rate of voluntarily (though I use that word cautiously) refusing food.  Although I would need to look it up (this is a blog, not a peer-reviewed article), I'm sure someone has proposed the interpretation that when food becomes plentiful, it gets taken for granted, and it is seen as "disposable".  A person can refuse food when it is available because they know that there will always be more.  If you don't like the example of anorexia, just think about all the food that people throw away simply because they took more than they could eat.  Same basic concept of food being taken for granted without thinking about the cost or how fortunate we are to have the luxury of "wasting" food.
I worry that the same will happen to education, or perhaps already is.  I see students who really do not understand the cost of college, to themselves and their parents.  They have an all-you-can-eat opportunity to learn, some at the finest establishments in the world, and they squander it because they never doubted that it would be there.  My biggest concern is that it could truly become an analog to anorexia by being such an expectation that the next generation forgets, or fails to understand, how vital higher education is to survival.  College should be a lot of fun, but it should also be a time to stock up on as much knowledge as possible so that it can sustain a person throughout the rest of life.  I look forward to education becoming so plentiful and easily accessible that no person is deprived, but I also hope that we remember its value so that we as a world community can grow fat on knowledge.

Welcome back

It's been more than a year without blogging, so I'm going to take another stab at doing so. I'm in the middle of writing my dissertation, and there's a lot going on with trying to find a job and get prepared for the kid, so I don't know how successful I'll be, but it's worth a shot.
So what's new? We're pregnant. Well, Lynn's pregnant, but I helped! It's quite the adventure, but I think the drama in the early stages kept our excitement in check, so we're pretty level-headed about it all. One thing we have learned is that expectant parents should not read any books, especially the classic "What to Expect..." because it has just pointed out a whole bunch of things to worry about that we would never have thought of on our own. And Lynn thinks of a lot of weird things to worry about, so that's saying something! We're only in the second trimester, so there's a lot of waiting to go before we get to the excitement.
I'm also still working on my dissertation, but it looks like I might be in the final stages. Presenting preliminary results to my research group and such. It's terribly exciting, yet terribly terrifying seeing as I don't have a job in the fall. But I better get back to doing something about that.

Helicopter Parents

For those unfamiliar with the term, helicopter parents are those that hover directly over their kids indefinitely. These are the parents that keep track of their kids' schedules, assignments, and finances. And by "kids", I mean "college students". These parents drive down to their kid's dorm twice a week bringing food and laundry and picking up dirty laundry. They write resumes, set up interviews, and so on. Well, now they're apparently harrassing their kids' places of employment, trying to make sure they're treating their babies right. Does anyone else realize how crippling this is to the kids? Sure, you hold your baby up when they're learning to walk, but once they can walk on their own, you let go! A psychologist was on the Today show yesterday who asked the viewers to hold up their right hands and swear to uphold the one commandment of parenting: "I will only do for my children what they cannot do for themselves". I applaud this.

Rabies

This is a meerkat from the Minnesota Zoo. It is no longer alive. No, it did not die from old age or disease. It was not eaten by the tigers. It was euthanized when a kid climbed to the top of the wall, stuck her hand into the display, and was bitten. The zoo offered to give a prophylactic rabies vaccine, but the parents said they didn't want their kid getting a shot, so all six animals had to be euthanized to check for rabies. This happened a while ago, but I happened across this photo I took a couple years ago and felt like sharing it. I just still can't believe that these animals were killed because a kid was too curious and the parents were... Well, I don't think there are words to describe the parents.

Gerald Edelman Talk

I happened across this video of a talk I saw given on another occassion. It's perhaps one of the best talks I've ever heard, so I strongly recommend it to everyone (once you get past the bureaucratic beginning).

Gerald Edelman's talk.

From Brain Dynamics to Consciousness

1 hr 26 min 4 sec - May 10, 2006

If you're having trouble watching the video, try copying the following URL into your browser:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7437432153763631391&pr=goog-sl