anthropometaphors

The first entry made on anthropometaphors was prompted by learning about the evolution of a contagious facial cancer that has rapidly spread through wild Tasmanian devils, killing most adults in affected populations.  Here’s a picture of the poor guys, before (cute!) and after (sad!):

I’ve followed the evolution (so to speak) of this issue, and spied an article in the 14 July 2008 issue of PNAS demonstrating life-history changes in devil populations affected by the facial tumor disease.  In particular, at four of the five devil sites studied, researchers found evidence for breeding several months to a year earlier than the normal breeding age of 2-years-old.

In evolutionary speak, what could be happening is co-evolution.  Also known as The Red Queen Hypothesis, organisms can drive each other toward adaptation and evolution in a race to survive.  In the words of Lewis Carroll’s Red Queen,

“It takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place.”

Consider this: at an unknown time in the past, a strain of cancer somehow gained an adaptation enabling it to spread between individual devils.  What could be happening now is a genetic retaliation on the part of the devils; an evolutionary adaptation to breed earlier, before the onset of cancer, allowing the survival of the species.

While further studies are required to confirm devils are reproducting earlier as a result of adaptation (rather than say, increased availability to food or mates), the plight of these devils is in the evolutionary spotlight.  Tasmanian devils may be the first known mammal to rapidly evolve it’s reproduction patterns in response to disease.

I enjoy being around children because they are so unabashedly curious.  Their world is still full of possibility and “Why?!” is an entirely appropriate response to everything.

For the past few weeks, I’ve had an idea that seems completely sci-fi and outlandish.  I’m increasingly intrigued by the possibility of creating cybernetic plants capable of being programmed using a genetic language, possibly using synthetic genetic components to bridge the current divide between living and non-living components.  I envision server gardens.  As an “adult”, I’ve been quashing my inner child and trying my best to put the idea out of my head.

So when I came across io9’s Mad Scientist Contest (in which the participants are tasked with creating a new lifeform) a few days ago I was a bit excited.  Here is a group of people from respected institutions actually encouraging unusual ideas like mine.  And the prize?  The winner will be shipped off – all expenses paid – to the Synthetic Biology Conference in Hong Kong.  Supposedly to meet other folks who may also be professional daydreamers when it comes to biological possibility.  Still, I quashed my idea.

However, this morning I saw Seed’s tear-outable cribsheet on synthetic biology and I’m starting to pay attention to my server garden concept.  There seems to be a field called Synthetic Biology.  In fact, there is a department at good ‘ol Cal called Bioengineering.  I’m imagining K’Nex made of cytoskeletal components; mitotic spindles with nanotube scaffolding reorganized to form structures from simple shapes to complex circuit boards with electrical impulses translated into ion gradients and action potentials.  Why not?

One way to have a close encounter with a bat: hang your laundry outside to dry overnight.  If you get lucky, like Abbie Hawkins, you may find a baby bat nestled in your bra the next morning.

While a bra may seem like an unusual place to find a bat, a spokesperson from the Bat Conservation Trust noted that bats “roost anywhere that appears dark and safe”.  Good to know.  And now, I’m off to do some laundry.

Researchers in Japan have created what some are calling the first DNA molecule made entirely of artificial parts.  The unnatural bases are said to be capable of forming bonds with one another similar in shape and stability to those of the molecular framework associated with naturally-occurring DNA.

For the long, technical version of the story, you can read the .html version of the article on the American Chemical Society website here.  Below is an image from the article, visually comparing the natural (top row) and unnatural (bottom row) base pairs:

The following excerpt, taken from the Conclusions section of the article, is enough to ignite my imagination with sci-fi tales of the cybernetic future of humanity:

Therefore, the present molecular framework has a potential for storing genetic information and for application to enzymatic replication directed toward engineered genetics. Furthermore, the artificial DNA may be a superior building scaffold for constructing nanostructures of materials interest because of the stable C-nucleosides against ubiquitous naturally occurring enzymes such as DNase.

Every weekend I try to plant at least 3 plants. So far I’ve planted:

• 2 tomato plants (in a tomato cage)
• 3 basil plants
• 1 cilantro bunch
• 3 French lavender bushes
• 1 dwarf mandarin tree
• 1 Cara Cara (orange) tree
• 12 strawberry plants (as ground cover for the two citrus trees)
• 6 sugar snap pea vines (in a homemade bamboo tripod)
• 6 Swiss red chard bunches

I enjoy working with the earth, amending clay with compost and soil to prepare nurturing homes for plants.

The tomatoes have thrived since their transplant into the ground; I can see new growth every morning when I sip my cuppa by the kitchen window. The basil and cilantro are coming along, and are regularly plucked to be included in salads and whatever else happens to be for dinner.

The French lavender is planted in a container just outside the front porch, greeting those who come and go with their insistent stalks of purple scent. The two handmade wooden planters sitting nearby are home to the wee citrus trees, with strawberries spreading through the soil beneath them. Tucked alongside the mandarin tree is the chard, already turgid and insistent in green and red. And only days after planting the snap peas, tender vines are quickly inching up, encouraged by the support of bamboo supports I fastened together (from the thicket of black bamboo in the backyard).

My favorite part of the week is Saturday afternoon when I tend to my plantlings, watering, weeding and nurturing in whatever way is needed. This is the type of parenthood I’m intended for; watching for the call of green tendrils needing a support to cling to, or hearing the nutrient requirements of citrus trees in leaf coloring. When it comes to plant life, I seem to intuitively grasp the meaning of patience. I understand time and the needs of youth when seen through the green filter of chlorophyll.