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Lowell House, on the Feast of St. John of God
Obviously I can't keep resolutions. Oh whatever. I have two exams tomorrow but since the biology lab was postponed, I think I can afford to catch up on my friends list and write a post. I think. Some various items that needed mentioning:
1. How could I forget to say that James Watson (and a whole bunch of other Nobel laureates) came to speak at a genetics symposium organized by the grad students at the MCB last Friday? I went to listen to the Watson talk and ended up sitting on the far right, unable to see the stage at all. But I did hear msot of the talk, and Watson was his usual irreverent self. He made some interesting and very controversial points though. There seems to be an association with large chromosomal mutations (deletions in particular) and various disorders, such as autism, schizophrenia, etc., and Watson asserted that perhaps it would be a better solution to research these genetic correlations and screen for these mutations instead of investing so much in researching cures that may not even exist. It verges on eugenics, an association that Watson freely acknowledges, although I can't really refute his point about "genetic injustice": the pinnacle of unfairness, and no one can deny that. I also do agree that it's naive to talk about a "cure for cancer" or a "cure for schizophrenia"--physiologically, molecularly, genetically, these disorders are simply too complex for any surefire treatment. But to go so far as to implement screening, which could lead to so many sorts of abuses...I don't know. Watson spoke from a personal point of view--he has a son with schizophrenia--so he wasn't simply being provocative, and I don't know if anyone can really argue with that.
I also went to the Christiane Nusslein-Volhard lecture, but unfortunately, I fell asleep though most of it. She is a good speaker, but a dry one, and developmental genetics isn't precisely my passion. I did wake up when she showed this cool clip of neuron development along the lateral line of some fish species, but I can't say much more than that. I also caught the first twenty minutes of the Mary Lou Pardue lecture, which looked terribly interesting (she spoke on the topic "some things we don't know about the genome" and while I was still there, she was discussing the epigenetic regulation of centromere sequences). Mary Lou Pardue spoke in a soft, slightly shaky voice with a touch of a Southern accent, and yet she really managed to hold my attention. I don't know how she managed it. Anyway, the symposium was excellent, and I would love to organize something like that as a grad student. (In case you're curious, the website for the symposium is here.)
2. I met![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
tokyofish on Sunday and absolutely stuffed myself on dim sum. It was wonderful to meet an LJ friend--I've never had the chance to before--and I was surprised to find that I wasn't my usual awkward, uncomfortable self. We had a chance to wander around Chinatown too (I've never really explored that place) and chatted pretty continuously; it's so cool how someone you meet in person for the first time could seem so familiar. ^_^
3. I finished my Cambridge FST, and it is here. You have to join the community to see the post, but I recommend you ("you" being my blockmates, ahem) do so because come on, your life is not complete until you've listened to the Geek Love song. (Is that enough of an incentive? ^_^) You can always take![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
fst off your friends list if you don't want the clutter.
4. I also wrote a Clow/Yuuko drabble forchain_of_fics here. I've never written XXXholic fic before--I mean, why would I ever need to when there's people like lazulisong and pornkings--but I found to my surprise rather enjoying the experience. Hm.
5. ( Music meme )
6. So, people are doing this thing called Fanfic Author Appreciation Week, where you post about an underappreciated fanfic author and why you like their writing. I think it's an awesome idea but horrible timing. But next week, my midterms will be over, so I thought maybe I could do it then. ^_^
7. I may or may not start posting rants about Charlemagne around midnight. If I do so, please feel free to ignore. (Okay, so I know the Rhine flows north and the Rhone flows south, but how the heck am I supposed to figure out where Aachen is? Also, there are way too many Carlomans and Pepins in the Carolingian family tree. Random tidbit: the etymology of Charles may come from "*harja" + "l". The asterisk stands for this sort of guttural rasping sound that I don't know how to describe in writing because linguist I am not despite any pretensions I may have to the contrary, and so when latinized, the sound is simplified to a hard "c". "*harja" means "warrior" and "l" is a diminutive suffix, so Charles may mean "little warrior". Carolus Magnus, rex Francorum, stood at six feet and something inches, which is why that tickles me.)
Yours &c.
Obviously I can't keep resolutions. Oh whatever. I have two exams tomorrow but since the biology lab was postponed, I think I can afford to catch up on my friends list and write a post. I think. Some various items that needed mentioning:
1. How could I forget to say that James Watson (and a whole bunch of other Nobel laureates) came to speak at a genetics symposium organized by the grad students at the MCB last Friday? I went to listen to the Watson talk and ended up sitting on the far right, unable to see the stage at all. But I did hear msot of the talk, and Watson was his usual irreverent self. He made some interesting and very controversial points though. There seems to be an association with large chromosomal mutations (deletions in particular) and various disorders, such as autism, schizophrenia, etc., and Watson asserted that perhaps it would be a better solution to research these genetic correlations and screen for these mutations instead of investing so much in researching cures that may not even exist. It verges on eugenics, an association that Watson freely acknowledges, although I can't really refute his point about "genetic injustice": the pinnacle of unfairness, and no one can deny that. I also do agree that it's naive to talk about a "cure for cancer" or a "cure for schizophrenia"--physiologically, molecularly, genetically, these disorders are simply too complex for any surefire treatment. But to go so far as to implement screening, which could lead to so many sorts of abuses...I don't know. Watson spoke from a personal point of view--he has a son with schizophrenia--so he wasn't simply being provocative, and I don't know if anyone can really argue with that.
I also went to the Christiane Nusslein-Volhard lecture, but unfortunately, I fell asleep though most of it. She is a good speaker, but a dry one, and developmental genetics isn't precisely my passion. I did wake up when she showed this cool clip of neuron development along the lateral line of some fish species, but I can't say much more than that. I also caught the first twenty minutes of the Mary Lou Pardue lecture, which looked terribly interesting (she spoke on the topic "some things we don't know about the genome" and while I was still there, she was discussing the epigenetic regulation of centromere sequences). Mary Lou Pardue spoke in a soft, slightly shaky voice with a touch of a Southern accent, and yet she really managed to hold my attention. I don't know how she managed it. Anyway, the symposium was excellent, and I would love to organize something like that as a grad student. (In case you're curious, the website for the symposium is here.)
2. I met
tokyofish on Sunday and absolutely stuffed myself on dim sum. It was wonderful to meet an LJ friend--I've never had the chance to before--and I was surprised to find that I wasn't my usual awkward, uncomfortable self. We had a chance to wander around Chinatown too (I've never really explored that place) and chatted pretty continuously; it's so cool how someone you meet in person for the first time could seem so familiar. ^_^3. I finished my Cambridge FST, and it is here. You have to join the community to see the post, but I recommend you ("you" being my blockmates, ahem) do so because come on, your life is not complete until you've listened to the Geek Love song. (Is that enough of an incentive? ^_^) You can always take
fst off your friends list if you don't want the clutter.4. I also wrote a Clow/Yuuko drabble for
chain_of_fics here. I've never written XXXholic fic before--I mean, why would I ever need to when there's people like lazulisong and pornkings--but I found to my surprise rather enjoying the experience. Hm.5. ( Music meme )
6. So, people are doing this thing called Fanfic Author Appreciation Week, where you post about an underappreciated fanfic author and why you like their writing. I think it's an awesome idea but horrible timing. But next week, my midterms will be over, so I thought maybe I could do it then. ^_^
7. I may or may not start posting rants about Charlemagne around midnight. If I do so, please feel free to ignore. (Okay, so I know the Rhine flows north and the Rhone flows south, but how the heck am I supposed to figure out where Aachen is? Also, there are way too many Carlomans and Pepins in the Carolingian family tree. Random tidbit: the etymology of Charles may come from "*harja" + "l". The asterisk stands for this sort of guttural rasping sound that I don't know how to describe in writing because linguist I am not despite any pretensions I may have to the contrary, and so when latinized, the sound is simplified to a hard "c". "*harja" means "warrior" and "l" is a diminutive suffix, so Charles may mean "little warrior". Carolus Magnus, rex Francorum, stood at six feet and something inches, which is why that tickles me.)
Yours &c.
