Monday, April 7, 2008

CM PRESS # 333


RACIST BONE MARROW REPORTED BY RACIST OC REGISTER*

I don't usually write about genes and related matters in the CM PRESS, but since some local bigots and tiny brain ignorant individuals, including one pitiful loser who appears to have deep seated psychological problems, keep calling names, I thought some readers might like an example of what I often write about in various ways in my national columns and books. And, since the Register is running an article about this, there's a logical local tie-in.

DID JIM CROW SNEAK INTO THE BONE MARROW?

In a story in the OC REGISTER ( LINK) readers are told that people have to find bone marrow matches from their own race or ethnicity. What is this, Jim Crow? Separate drinking fountains? Blind prejudice? Nope. It's simple genetics.

Genes matter.

As reported in the Register, if you're a Caucasian you have a greater chance of finding a bone marrow donor because there are more Caucasians who have agreed to be donors.

But why does race and ethnicity matter at all? Don't we all bleed red blood? Aren't we all the same except for different paint jobs?

Again, genes matter.

Before proceeding, though, you need to note that what was glossed over in the Register story is the fact that if you are mixed race, your chance of finding a donor is like finding a needle in a haystack because of all the variables involved.

Here's a quick (and over simplified, but still reasonably accurate) back ground lesson about why genes matter and why you need someone like yourself if you need a bone marrow match.

First, you have to understand that DNA is composed of just four chemicals that are abbreviated A,T,C,G. Every living thing, both plant and animal, that we know about has these four chemicals making up its internal blueprint (genotype) and its external appearance (phenotype). Just four measly chemicals. Sounds simple, right? Hold on.

These four chemicals, when combined with a molecule of sugar and a molecule of phosphoric acid make up the 3 billion base pairs of nucleotides in our DNA. Think of this as though you have a stack of playing cards as tall as one of the office buildings in South Coast Metro, and on each card is just one of these four letters: A, T, C or G. This stack of 3 billion cards made up of just four letters is the blueprint of human life. These 3 billion cards then make up the approximately 30,000 genes that we humans carry. And, the 30,000 genes are clustered on the 46 chromosomes in humans (other species have different numbers of base pairs of nucleotides, genes and chromosomes).

So, if all living things have these same four chemicals, why is there all the variety of animals and plants?

The answer is that it has to do with the shuffle of the four chemicals. Shuffle these cards one way and you have a human being. Shuffle about 4% of those same cards a different way and you have a Chimp. Shuffle about 15% of them differently and you have a mouse. Shuffle about 50% of them differently and you have a fruit fly.

Assume arguendo that current scientific thinking is correct and that life began on earth with a single cell that had the properties that we define as life. That cell would have had the original deck of DNA shuffled in just the right way so that the cell was alive. In a sense, that cell was the mother and father of all life.

By definition of one aspect of life, that cell would be able to reproduce itself. As it reproduced--making more like itself-- changes and mutations began to occur in copies of itself for a variety of reasons including mistakes, different conditions in the external environment, aging of the cell and more.

In other words, that cell, just like us, did not live in a static world. Things were changing all around it and within it as it ate and aged and moved about, and some of the changes caused changes in its offspring. Thus, life began to diverge. The DNA card stack that had made the single cell was being reshuffled a few cards at a time. The cell was evolving. And, because of the constant mutations that happen with DNA, the process went off in many different directions. To be clear, mutations are "mistakes" that change DNA from what it was before the mutation.

As far as humans go, scientists have now discovered that a small mutation in gene slc24a5 that occurred between 20,000 and 50,000 years ago is what makes white people white. Without that mutation, that began in a couple of individuals on their journey out of Africa, there would be no white people on earth.

So, why didn't this white skin mutation just disappear as is the case with so many other minor mutations? Now we get into natural selection and the survival of the fittest. The answer is that the white skin mutation gave an advantage to those with it over those without it, because it let those with it absorb more sunlight through their skin and produce more Vitamin D in the less sunny regions as they moved further and further away from Africa and into northern Europe. Those with the mutation lived longer and produced more children who also had the mutation. Those without the mutation often developed rickets (a softening of the bones caused by a lack of Vitamin D) and other problems and didn't live as long and didn't produce as many children. Over time, the gene pool of Europe filled up with the white skin mutation and the gene version that was not mutated died off.

As mentioned above, humans carry approximately 30,000 genes (actually, the exact number hasn't been established, but most geneticists seem to agree that 30,000 may be about right). These 30,000 genes are clustered on the 46 chromosomes in humans.

When humans reproduce, 23 chromosomes from the male join with 23 chromosomes from the female and we have a new human with a full complement of 46 chromosomes. If the male and female have a similar genotype and phenotype, their child will also have that genotype and phenotype. If that child ever needs a bone marrow transplant, a match can be fairly easily found by looking for matches from people of the same phenotype. In other words, if another person looks like you in major ways, they may be a good match. It's as simple as that; at least in the first cut to find a match.

OUR PRESENT DARK AGE

Today, we live in an anti-intellectual Dark Age where people are afraid to discuss race.

I've often written that it's funny/sad to hear certain "avant-garde" and "angry" stand up comics from the '60's who continue to think that their night club routines about the words we can't say on TV, or about sexual topics, are still taboo and cutting edge.

Today, the real taboos and cutting edge material involve race.

People freely discuss race when it relates to their pet dogs--in dogs, race is called breed--and they easily understand that breeds of dogs have different strengths and weaknesses, but when it comes to humans, they clam up lest some dimwit call them a racist.

I've been discussing such things in my national essays for years. If you're interested, you can find them all over the Internet.

Here's just one example of how silly humans are about race. In one of my national columns I wrote about an obstetrician in France who has a theory that the high rate of deaths of black babies is because black women come to full term earlier and their babies have to be delivered earlier than white babies. When he started delivering black babies earlier, the death rate of black babies dropped markedly. What did this guy get for his troubles in saving black babies? He was called a racist.

Meanwhile, in Costa Mesa we have some local nutcases whose lives are meaningless, and who are of an age where they are starting to realize it, who seem to be so obsessed with denying the reality of genes, that they evidently spend countless hours pouring over the hundreds of essays and short stories that I've written, looking for a word here and there that will "prove" to the world that I am this or that.

Then, these sad excuses for human beings, who also have political and social motivations and who don't want to see Costa Mesa truly improved--and especially not the Westside--try to tie me in to some local politicians in order to demonize the politicians and stop them from making the needed improvements in Costa Mesa.

Ignore these low life punks, folks. They're loons and are mostly like dumber and puffier (think gonadless eunch) versions of the Comic Book Guy on the Simpsons.

# # #
*Some nutcases apparently define "racist" as anyone who indicates that the different races and ethnicities of man have differences.
# # #
Those are our opinions. Thanks for reading them.

 http://frankspeech.com/