Tag: Biology

All is fair in love and war.

Describe a risk you took that you do not regret.


Evolution is a brutal process. Only the strongest and the fittest will survive.

Millions of sperm are released into the uterus in a single ejaculation.

Conception is an arduous journey. The woman’s egg might reject the sperm of her chosen partner, says the latest research by a group of researchers at Stockholm University, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust and The University of Manchester.

The female body considers sperm to be a foreign object and hence her immune system reacts to eliminate them.

And, defying the odds, a lone sperm staying alive in the uterus for up to three days, winning the war, swimming upstream, going on to penetrate the egg and completing fertilization is what we call successful conception. 

Being born, therefore, on this Earth must be the toughest and riskiest journey yet, and one should celebrate the moment rather than regret it.

I’ve won the war, a risky venture against a 250 million strong army, and I have no regrets.

 

Missing You a ‘Pig’ Time!

Doctors have, for the first time, transplanted a genetically modified pig kidney into a living human patient. And the patient is recovering well after surgery.

Surgeons in a Massachusetts hospital transplanted a pig kidney into a 62-year-old patient on March 16.

As there’s a huge lack of human organs available for transplant surgery, doctors have now turned to help from scientists.

CNN reports that eGenesis, is a biotechnology company that’s developing human-compatible engineered organs. The company supplied the kidney for the patient. They said scientists have performed 69 edits to the pig DNA, to make it compatible with human beings.

Genetically engineered pigs now provide huge hope for patients who suffer from chronic kidney diseases.

The patient mentioned has a history of type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure.

He had been on dialysis for seven years before undergoing a human kidney transplant in 2018.

As the transplanted human organ showed signs of failure after five years, he switched to restarting dialysis in 2023. This caused serious complications.

No human kidney was available for at least another six years.

What was the best option left for him? He can’t die.

“I saw it not only as a way to help me, but a way to provide hope for the thousands of people who need a transplant to survive,” the patient said in a statement.

“The patient would have had to wait five to six years for a human kidney. And he would not have been able to survive it,” said Dr. Winfred Williams, associate chief of the nephrology division at the hospital for The New York Times.

​

That begs a question. Will this technological advance help address many patients who are in need of a transplant?

Source: www.scientificamerican.com

Edit: Dear readers, we have an update on this story. The 62 year old patient Mr. Slayman has died owing to complications unrelated to the transplant according to the Massachusetts Hospital sources. Heartfelt condolences. Let’s pray his soul rests in peace. Thank you.

 

Akbar in India stays Single, why?

What is trending now in India?

Sita can’t live together with Akbar. ‘Save Sita’ is what VHP, the RW Hindu nationalists issued an alert in court.

They raised a complaint at the Kolkata court asking to restrain Sita, a 5-year-old lioness, from joining her old mate Akbar, who’s 7 now.

They were friends in Tripura Zoological park. And they are now shifted to Siluguri Safari Park in West Bengal for a purpose as  noble as a project called ‘Lion Breeding in India’.

What’s the issue? Why shouldn’t the pair mate?

Sita, the name, is so popular among Hindus as she was the wife of Lord Rama according to Hindu mythology.

Akbar, as you know, was a Mogul emperor and ruled India in the 16th century. A ruthless ruler.

As the Hindus and Muslims continue to lock horns since Pakistan had separated from India post-Independence in 1948, this union is seen as a greater travesty.

People mostly belonging to the Hindu faith and belief are awaiting what the court is going to pronounce in the verdict.

Should the pair go ahead and procreate as the jungle law proposed, or should Sita not live in the midst of an Akbar who was once considered an anti-Hindu?

The King of the jungle stays single, till then. Poor chap!

‘Survival of the loneliest’ should have been the refrain of Darwinism, in India.

Thread that exposes the greater vulnerability of men. Why did he wish to get into the nether regions of a woman? With all those special masculine sounding names?

When the hunger kicks in, no food in the store near you, nor inside the shelf and you see one ‘up above the steep rock’, no bitter cold or death could stop you becoming a smart pick up & delivery boy yourself. That’s nature.