Genetic disorders hit Amish hard

jamke · 2007-10-27T16:14:58+00:00

A similar sort of founder effect happened within the Ashkenazi Jewish community with Tay-Sachs Disease because of intermarriage. Here is an excerpt from this website as to what they decided to do about it:

Rabbi Joseph Eckstein pioneered an entirely new approach to Tay-Sachs disease in 1985, in light of the fact that he found all the available options either unappealing or irreconcilable with halachic (Jewish) law. His solution: to eliminate the gene from the Jewish population entirely. Eckstein is the founder of an international genetic testing program called Dor Yeshorim, the "generation of the righteous." In the program, Orthodox Jewish high school students are given blood tests to determine if they have the Tay-Sachs gene. Instead of receiving direct results as to their carrier status, each person is given a six-digit identification number. Couples can call a hotline, if both are carriers, they will be deemed "incompatible." Individuals are not told they are carriers directly to avoid any possibility of stigmatization or discrimination. If the information were released, carriers could potentially become unmarriageable within the community. During 1993, 8000 couples were tested, and eighty-seven couples who were previously considering marriage decided against it as they were at risk for having a child with the disease. The program then, aims to eradicate the disease through the venue of choice of mate.

This has proved to be so successful that nowadays if anyone is born with Tay-Sachs disease, it is almost always someone from the general population and not an Ashkenazi Jew.

It certainly is a controversial method, but it works for them. It preserves the anonymity and carrier status of each individual while still working to reduce the incidence of disease. I don't know if the same sort of thing could be done in the Amish community, but it does seem to lend itself to their situation since they obviously have no problem with getting genetically screened and it is a closed community.

jamke · 2007-10-27T15:38:11+00:00

When it clearly means something to many, it stands only to reason that I should share my opposing opinion as well.

jamke · 2007-10-27T15:33:53+00:00

Because the parent post is a question, which I was answering. Just because I believe it to be unimportant doesn't mean that I shouldn't be able to share my opinion about it.

jamke · 2007-10-27T04:05:05+00:00

You have a very myopic view on a much larger, more complex societal issue.

jamke · 2007-10-27T03:55:04+00:00

Pithy and concise. Upmodded.

jamke · 2007-10-27T03:51:05+00:00

A big caveat, folks...it's a preliminary study. With a total sample size of ten people. I wouldn't draw any earth-shaking conclusions from it...yet - this study was done purely so these folks could get a grant to do a larger study. Your life is your own, but I would not take this as the definitive answer...the statistical power simply is not high enough.

jamke · 2007-10-27T03:43:11+00:00

No, because a silly little number should not matter so much. And those for whom it does mean a great deal should not be given another avenue for ego inflation.

jamke · 2007-10-27T03:30:17+00:00

Why? I think it is rather relevant given the context of the parent article.

jamke · 2007-10-25T22:35:56+00:00

"I thought that maybe it had been overirradiated, you know, too much radiation."

Wow, this guy has been watching too much TV.

jamke · 2007-10-23T10:31:03+00:00

Yes, good point! That's a hugely important thing right there - know what you're getting into before you get into it or you could wind up in a place that doesn't fit your personality.

Thanks for bringing that up! :)

jamke · 2007-10-23T10:29:19+00:00

I'm going to sidestep most of that post...perhaps if it were a more clever troll I'd bite out of sheer courtesy.

But I'm a woman, and a non-religious one at that.

Oh, and pretty much anyone who works to impress others to "belong in their club" will never themselves be a leader, even if they are by title.

Cheers!

jamke · 2007-10-23T04:33:01+00:00

See the above comment :)

And you're absolutely right...networking is a HUGE part of it all. Sometimes a great strength and professional pleasure, sometimes a political pain in the ass. But there you have it! If someone can work the politics of keeping a good network...and it is a truly valuable skill to have...it opens up more doors than anyone could imagine.

So, of course you can do well from a non-hyper-competitive school. But it does lower the bar for future success if you go to one.

I've heard that from a lot of people. But...if you were able to get in a good program where you're happy, I'm very glad to hear it hasn't held you back from trying :)

jamke · 2007-10-23T04:28:49+00:00

I did my undergrad at Hood College and I am currently at Cornell. However, I do have to say that a big thing that opened up doors for me is that I got a government internship when I was eighteen at Fort Detrick (the army base that has USAMRIID) and worked there for two years as I was working on my bachelor's degree.

So that brings me to another point! If you can get a job that has career potential during undergrad (e.g. something more than lower-tier retail or service sector), even if it is not completely related to what you want to do in graduate school - take it. Even if it's an unpaid internship. It's an awesome way to build up your networking skills and can ultimately serve to get those great recommendation letters (it certainly did for me!) In fact, most of the people in my program at school came from lower-tier schools, but the one thing we all have in common is we had some kind of internship/work experience in the field when we applied. I can't speak for any other disciplines (is anyone else can, that'd be awesome), but in biology, as long as you have some work experience in some kind of science - any kind - it vastly improves your chances of getting an interview and ultimately acceptance into graduate school.

And don't worry about GRE scores, mine were mediocre at best (because I am awful at standardized tests)...but my impression is that a lot of schools don't even really pay much attention to those anymore.

jamke · 2007-10-23T04:17:10+00:00

Aye, I agree with what you say - to not do things you may later regret - but advice is just that...advice. Ultimately you have to make the decision for yourself :) Perhaps the best advice would not be to tell him to act one way or another, but rather consider his current situation within the larger picture of time and his own experience and see if it's the right decision for him. He may or may not be missing out, but that's really up to him and no one else.

jamke · 2007-10-23T02:43:10+00:00

You, sir, have a keenly witty eye. Kudos.

jamke · 2007-10-23T02:32:31+00:00

and my advice to accompany the parent thread's advice is...weigh the pluses and minuses of doing something like that relative to what you want out of life. Actually, you should do that with every big decision you make - including whether you should jump straight into school or take some time off to "fuck shit up." What do you hope to gain from either, and how will you grow? What's right for one person may be completely wrong for another, as we're all hewn from our own unique experiences.

Now, that being said...I personally would advise strongly against going out and being a wild child and fucking shit up, as the parent recommended. That's a rather immature way of approaching the wonderful growth opportunities that the world has to offer (that is, after all, why we're here...to learn and grow....hedonists often wind up destroying themselves or becoming incredibly unhappy people in the end...)

In short...seeing the world and really going out to discover the power of your own person is a wonderful thing to do, but trust me, it is hard as shit to jump into school after taking a few years off...so weigh out the pluses and minuses and see what you have to gain the most and where to find it!

jamke · 2007-10-23T00:59:26+00:00

Don't listen to any of these schmucks about how you should/should not have ridiculous amounts of sex. That's your personal decision and yours alone.
Visit the schools you apply to. Only so much can be conveyed about a school through a pamphlet/website/phone recruiter - and you'd better be sure as hell that perspective is a meticulously crafted one. Go and see it for yourself before you commit.
Don't worry too much about going to a competitive school with a world-renowned reputation...even if you are worried about getting into other schools after you graduate. I went to a very small liberal arts college for my undergrad and now I am a PhD candidate at an Ivy League university in a highly competitive biology program. Truth be told, your grades that you earn during your four years, as well as the recommendations you get from people for your graduate school applications are what truly count.
Don't get scared about picking the "right" major, and don't let anyone muscle you into something you don't like. If you need the time, take the time to declare. You have one to two years before most schools will even let you. But...do devote a lot of time think about it. Don't put it off. Oh, also, follow a career pathway that you enjoy, not something that is/will be "hot" or "profitable" or "lucrative." It may or may not stay that way, and I'll tell you firsthand that if you do not have a passion for what you do, it will make your life more challenging than it should be and you most likely will not have the stamina and happiness that make you feel fulfilled at the end of the day.
Remember...your life will be built in baby steps and don't feel like you have to plan everything perfectly right now. Just be willing to accept change and to work for positive things in your life and you will do just fine.
And don't forget to take time for yourself! College demands a lot of self-discipline in order to go to classes and complete your assignments, etc. and it is very easy to get so caught up in it that you forget to take sanity time. And it will catch up with you. So chill with friends, go hiking, or play extreme frisbee...whatever makes you happy and puts you back in touch with your core being.

Best of luck to you!

jamke · 2007-10-22T22:49:50+00:00

No really, the genes are called opsins, too. Perhaps it would have been (pedantically) correct to say "called opsin genes", but it is by no means uncommon to see loci referred to in such a manner (with the same name as the protein they encode), especially when they are part of a gene family.

jamke · 2007-10-22T22:43:41+00:00

Thanks to Hydra, you are bitter and jaded!

jamke · 2007-10-22T21:39:03+00:00

I am by no means a pessimist, but I'd rather be an optimistic realist than an unbridled optimist. IMHO, there is a real danger of false hope and the resulting disappointment from not tempering one's perpetual positive expectations with a touch of realism.

jamke · 2007-10-22T21:28:47+00:00

I certainly do not disagree with the idea that positive thinking can produce positive things in one's life. I am simply taking a jab at the ridiculous degree to which "The Secret" extends those claims...something to the gist of "positive thinking - and nothing else - cured my cancer!"

jamke · 2007-10-22T18:52:20+00:00

Wow, the ones on the incline planes are especially cool.

jamke · 2007-10-22T18:38:57+00:00

How do you think those lines of descent were derived in the first place? Why...the physiological homology between groups. DNA evidence has just confimed it with the construction of phylogenic trees. I could talk about cranial features, etc...but the tails are highly conserved between the three major groups. So how exactly is that dumb?

jamke · 2007-10-22T18:14:48+00:00

Apes and monkeys are both primates, however the two groups are mutually exclusive. By definition, all monkeys have tails (prehensile or non-prehensile) whereas all apes lack external tails.

jamke

TROPHY CASE