Holiday DNA

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I have an immense hatred of cancer, particularly hereditary cancer, which is so preventable. However, since it’s the holiday season, I thought I’d do something lighthearted (but still related to genetics) to wish the best to all my fellow advocates and health care professionals who are diligently raising hereditary cancer prevention awareness and saving lives.

National Family Health History Day

 

Thanksgiving is also National Family Health History Day. Created in 2004, National Family Health History Day was established to encourage families to share health information during a time when relatives are gathered together. It is an effort to help prevent diseases like hereditary cancer.

Genetic variants that increase the risk of cancer can be passed down for generations, sometimes centuries. And at least 1 in 279 people carry one of these mutations. Knowing and sharing family health history can be lifesaving.

Discussing family health history is a great idea. However, let’s be honest; it probably isn’t the easiest of subjects to discuss at the Thanksgiving table. So here are a couple of items to help get the conversation started. A lighthearted graphic to show relationships, and a pedigree to record family health history. (Did my Pilgrim ancestors discuss health at the first Thanksgiving? Probably, considering nearly half the colony had died, including my 9^th great-grandfather, William White. But I digress.)

The Pea Pod graphic is from a book project I’m working on that will hopefully help more people understand a little more about genetics and how learning more about your family tree can help prevent hereditary cancer. Once completed, I’ll try and provide as many free copies as feasible to any healthcare professional or inherited disease prevention advocate who might be able to use them.

To download this graphic, go to www.genetionary.org/family. To learn more about inherited cancer risk, go to www.genetionary.org.

Caregivers rarely get the opportunity to honestly share our stories, especially if they are heartbreaking. I’m so grateful for the support of the CGA-IGC* and the opportunity to share my story.

Here’s the link to the full story: https://www.cgaigc.com/post/recognizing-caregivers-in-observance-of-national-family-caregivers-month

*Collaborative Group of The Americas on Inherited Gastrointestinal Cancer (CGA-IGC)

First (and Last) Contact Repost

 

Do you ever look up at the night sky and wonder why, with the billions and billions and billions of stars and planets out there, we have no extraterrestrial pen pals?

Just thought I'd pull out one of my more popular cartoons from a few years ago.

The Sheep and the Turkey Again

  An Original Markix Fable

(I believe this is a rather fitting time to share this short tale again.
It was from a book project. However, the book is now on indefinite hold because of my wife's
death due to hereditary cancer. It was originally posted back in November 2020.)

 

   One day several sheep, enticed by the site of a distant green meadow, wandered away from the flock and trotted far off the mountain path to graze. After spending several hours stuffing themselves on the rich, green grass, the sheep realized they were lost.

Panicking, they ran in circles, baaing at the top of their lungs, and crying uncontrollably. “The wolves will eat us!” they screamed. “We don’t know how to find our way! Is there no one to save us?!”

Hearing the panicked and distraught sheep, a turkey that was passing by hastened over to tell them how to solve their problem.

“I am the most superbly smart bird ever,” the turkey declared. “Just look at my beautiful feathers that show the world how smart I am. Listen to me and I will be your shepherd. I will save you from being eaten by the wolves!”

“Follow me and I'll show you!” he shouted. “The valley where you live is just on the other side of that big rock!” Then he hopped quickly over to the big rock and launched himself high up into the air. Unfortunately, being a large bird and a poor flier, the turkey went over the cliff on the other side of the rock and plummeted straight down into the river far below.

One by one the sheep rushed over and hopped on the big rock and leaped into the air. Just like the turkey, they all plunged down into the waters of the river below. All were swept away by the swift river current, never to be seen again.

Moral: Arrogant would-be leaders should always be questioned, not blindly followed.

National Cat Day

A cute little distraction and a little genetics for the day. Take the first letter of three of the four nucleotides, and you can spell the word “cat.” Take a look at the two genomes, and you'll find that over 90% of the DNA in humans and cats is the same.

To quote a few lines from a poem by one of my genetic relatives (7th cousin 1x removed)...

"You should need no interpreter
To understand their character.
You now have learned enough to see
That Cats are much like you and me..."
--from The Ad-Dressing of Cats by T.S. Eliot

Sorry dog people, genomic studies show that Fido and Fifi only share about 82% of their DNA with humans.

By the way, house cats share over 95% of their DNA with big cats.

Treating Cancer and Spooky Tails

Possible use of scorpion venom for cancer treatment? Among the items pictured here is a recently published scientific paper about that subject. Great! I’ll be glad to donate every one of the bark scorpions that make their way into my house weekly if some researcher can use them. If they can help fight the evil of cancer, the short-tempered little arachnids might have some redeeming value.

There’s also a snapshot of a home-invading bark scorpion (actual size: 4 cm) fluorescing under my ultraviolet flashlight. To contrast that image, is my whimsical illustration of the desert denizens for Halloween. But don’t let it fool you. Bark scorpions are not cute and not much fun to have around. And the stings of young bark scorpions can be life-threatening.

As a native Arizonan and nature artist, I have had close encounters with numerous venomous creatures -- rattlesnakes, Gila monsters, tarantulas, and scorpions. Except for the neonate rattler that had a single rattle too little to rattle, every rattlesnake has warned me of its presence, allowing me to avoid being bitten. Gila monsters are actually very charming and docile if you let them alone and don’t do something stupid to annoy them. And tarantulas are harmless if you avoid doing anything to threaten them. But bark scorpions can be stealthy and don’t need much of an excuse to pump venom into you.

A finger of mine recently encountered the business part of a bark scorpion’s tail when I went to place recyclables in my outside container. The scorpion had decided that the inside lip of the container cover was a great place to hide or maybe look for a meal. Fortunately, it was an adult scorpion so I didn't have to go the emergency room. This was the second time I have been stung, so I was aware of all the nasty effects of a sting. However, the sting was still very painful and caused many uncomfortable whole-body sensations for about 36 hours.