Here's to the crazy ones, the ones who know we live in a wonderful world

Think different, be different.
Smile. Laugh. Love.
Be the change the world needs.
Love this wonderful world.
Give life all you've got.
Be one of the crazy ones.
Think.

Is it Ethical to Create Recombinant DNA Organisms?

"A man without ethics is a wild beast loosed upon this world."

-Albert Camus

"Ethics is knowing the difference between what you have a right to do and what is right to do."

-Potter Stewart

Recombinant DNA is defined by Biology-online.org as spliced DNA from two or more different sources that have been cleaved by restriction enzymes and joined by ligases. Genetically engineered DNA made by recombining fragments of DNA from different organisms. The joining together of genetic material from two different organisms. 

Examples of recombinant DNA organisms include:

• Glofish - A zebra fish infused with either coral, anemone, or jelly fish DNA; which makes it glow neon red or green instead of being the usual black and white.
• Vacanti mouse - A mouse that has what looks like a human ear growing on its back. The "ear" is not an actual ear but an ear-shaped cartilage structure. 
• Neonmice - Mice that glow in the dark.
• Golden rice - A new variety of rice engineered to express the enzymes responsible for β-carotene biosynthesis.
• Insect-resistant crops - Crops with recombinant DNA from Bacillus thuringeiensis, a bacterium that naturally produces a Bt toxin protein with insecticidal properties. It repels insects without having to spray the crops with insecticides. 

There is no doubt in my mind that recombinant DNA has helped scientists make huge advances. It has helped them create crops that could help save people from vitamin deficiency, which could lead to death. Golden rice is a great example of this, as its DNA allows it to make up for the vitamin A deficiency in the diets of people in undeveloped countries. 

Another example of the advances that scientists have been able to make thanks to recombinant DNA are the Neonmice. Neonmice allowed scientists to understand 2 very important things: they helped them find a new way to engineer the animals to make them acquire certain medical conditions which has greatly speed the research in finding cures for this diseases. The second thing they helped them achieve was a greater understanding of type II diabetes which has send scientists around the world on their way to find a cure. 

However, what troubles me is this: how far should the scientists take recombinant DNA? Recombinant DNA (or rDNA) is something that shouldn't be played with. It can create dangerous organisms, or organisms that when inserted into natural habitats could unbalance the food chain and destroy other species. 

It is also not ethical to toy with life. Scientists who experiment with recombinant DNA might develop a "God complex" which could lead to them trying to control life and new species. It is also not fair to the animals being used as experiments for rDNA. The scientists are meddling with the essence of their being, their DNA, which could lead to trauma. Another thing that isn't ethical is how much pain and discomfort these experiments must be causing the animals.

The questions I have are:

How safe is it to experiment with rDNA?

Should the humans be allowed to create new species without consideration to the consequences it may have on the environment?

How far should scientists be allowed to go? Should they stop at plants, fish, and lesser mammals? Or should they continue towards greater mammals and humans?

How far is too far?

Empathy

"Empathy depends not only on one's ability to identify someone else's emotions but also on one's capacity to put oneself in the other person's place and to experience an appropriate emotional response" 

-Charles G. Morris

"Could a greater miracle take place than for us to look through each other's eye for an instant?"

-Henry David Thoreau

Empathy is something that few people master. Most of us can feel empathy to some level, sociopaths being the major exception, but few of us truly master the art of stepping into someone else's shoes and feeling what they're feeling. 

Empathy is what allows us to live together in a society without ripping each other's throats out. It is a skill we have developed over millennia, and many would say it is a skill that sets us appart from animals. Now, is this true? Are animals incapable of empathy? The answer to this question is no, it is not true that animals are incapable of empathy.

A very clear example is provided by a study that took place recently in the University of Chicago. In this experiment scientists sought to find out wether a rat would release a fellow rat from an extremely unpleasant cage if it could. The answer was yes. The free rat responded to the occasional distress calls uttered by its compatriot, it learned to open the cage, and became more and more efficient at it over time. The free rat would release his companion even if he wasn't rewarded with a reunion afterwards. The most astonishing aspect brought to light by the experiment was the fact that the rat, given a ration of chocolate chips, would save one or two for his companion and would give them to him when he released him. The unavoidable conclusion that the researchers came to was that what they were witnessing was empathy.

Now, think about it. We're talking about a rat here: A RAT. We consider rats to be some of the filthiest and less lovable animals. We associate rats with cheaters and betrayers, and they, generally, have a very bad reputation. If we can see this level of empathy in a rat, this level of caring and understanding, why do we think animals cannot display empathy? Why do we believe we're superior to animals?

Who Am I?

Which of these am I? 

Am I only one, or am I a combination of them all? 

Am I who people see me as, or am I who I see myself as? 

Does a mirror tell the truth? 

Can a mirror reflect everything we are, inside and out? 

Does a mirror see what makes us who we are? 

Can everyone see who we are, or only those closest to us? 

Do we know who we are? 

Do we know why we are who we are? 

Which of these elements makes me who I am? 

Is it all of them together?

I think so

I think we're too complex to describe in one word

No one single thing makes us who we are

It is a combination of everything in our lives that creates who we are and who people see...

The Hunger Games - A Futuristic View on Ancient Rome?

The book trilogy The Hunger Games, is a trilogy about a girl, named Katniss, and her struggle against the power that oppresses her people. The books are set in a future America, though it is no longer called America, it is called Panem. Panem is divided into 13 districts and a Capitol. The districts once decided to rebel against the Capitol, but the Capitol won, and as compensation it asked the districts to send a boy tribute a a gril tribute each year to compete in a thing called the hunger games. The games consisted in releasing the 26 kids into an arena with the knowledge that only the last one standing would be able to go back home, showered with prizes and food for their people. 

The games were televised for everyone to see, their viewing was absolutely mandatory. For the people in the districts it was torture seeing their children dying, but for the people in the Capitol, it was the highest entertainment event of the year; and this is were the allegory with Ancient Rome comes into play.  The hunger games were blood baths designed to entertain the people. The people of the Capitol were controlled by means of keeping them entertained and well fed and, exactly like the Roman Emperors, President Snow knew what he needed to keep them subdued was Panem et Circences (Bread and Circus). He knew that as long as the people of the Capitol has entertainment and were very well fed, they would never rebel against him. He knew all he needed to maintain his position in power was to keep them comfortable. The Roman Emperors did exactly the same thing. They had games were gladiators fought each other for the glory, while the gladiators fought, the people of Rome were kept entertained by these games. During the games the Emperors used to throw bread into the crowd, feeding them. Their logic was very solid: fed and entertained, what reason did they have to complain? This is how the Emperors maintained their power and popularity. 

In my opinion Suzanne Collins, the author of The Hunger Games, is a genius. She managed to create a world that showed us how backwards human beings can be. She showed us how even though time moves on, human beings are still as savage and primitive as always, the only difference being that we've learnt new ways to disguise our primitive ways. We are a race that's primitive in the most fancy and sophisticated of ways, and Suzanne Collins has managed to show us this in her wonderful books.

Let the Hunger Games Begin,

And may the odds be ever in your favor. 

Villa de Leyva

We recently went on a trip to Villa de Leyva, and we did a lot of workshops. I participated in 3 out of the 4 workshops, but I wasn't really there mentally because I was really sick. I tried to participate as well as I could but it wasn't really my best.

My favorite workshop was Mr. Tomalin's Class' workshop. I thought it was an excellent idea to have us create a culture of our own, and think of all the things that being part of a culture implies. I thought the reaction to my choice of role within the tribe (assassin) was really funny. I really didn't think it was thta big of a deal, but apparently my classmates thought it was really weird and kind of freaky. Well really weird and kind of freaky is who I am.

I'm sorry I couldn't tak more advantage of these workshops, but I was really sick and I didn't have the energy to invest into the activities. I really liked the hotel we stayed at, it was beautiful. :)

Homosexuality

Homosexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction to the people of one's own sex.

That's it.

It's not a sin, a mutation, a disease, or a flaw.

It's natural.

It's so natural, that it is found in over 450 species.

But there is one thing that IS unnatural, and it's found only in the human race: homophobia.

Gay Love is exactly the same as heterosexual love. It is just two people who love each other and who wish to be together. 

See this pictures? Do you see any difference? 

Last Friday during our TOK lesson, our teacher showed us a video of a radical group of people who say that everything that is wrong with the world is God's way of telling us that he hates homosexuals. They say "Fags eat poop". They protest at soldier's funerals and they tell everyone that will listen to them that those soldiers died because God killed them for being in an army that welcomes homosexuals. This video made me very, very upset. 

I don't understand how people can be so ignorant. Why do people think being gay makes you abnormal? Do people really think being gay makes you a bad person? A "sinner"? 

Take me for example, I get good grades, I respect my parents and my teachers, I don't drink, I don't smoke, I don't do drugs, I've never hurt anyone. Do I sound like a bad person? I don't think so. And I'm gay. The fact that I'm gay doesn't mean that I'll get bad grades, it doesn't mean that I'll stop being respectful to my parents or my teachers, it doesn't mean I wont be me. So can someone PLEASE explain to me why people think that being gay makes me a bad person? 
This image clearly expresses how I feel about this people:

Here are just some "facts" I'd like to share:

• If homosexuality is a disease, let's call in queer to work (or in my case, school): "Hello. Can't work today, still queer.
• I don't check in every few months to see if you're still straight, so stop checking in to see if I'm still gay. My sexuality doesn't have an expiration date. 
• I am a lesbian and just because I pay a girl a compliment, does not necessarily mean I want to get in her pants. 
• Who is the "boy" who is the "girl" is a ridiculous question. Obviously we're both girls. 
• Parenting works the exact same way whether it's with two moms, two dads, or a dad and a mom.

I apologize if this post offends someone, or if it is too much of a rant, but I needed to get it out of my system. 

I have only two things left to say:

1. Remember to wear something purple the 20th of October to show the gay youth that they are loved.
2. Long Live the Rainbow.