Rebooting the Immune System

Did you guys hear the good news? German doctors have cured AIDs. Actually they didn't start out trying to cure AIDs, they were simply trying to do a bone marrow transplant for a patient with leukemia & AIDs. This however is not just any old marrow transplant. The marrow comes from a guy with a resistance to the HIV, meaning he has the CCR5-Delta 32 gene. So it was a pretty new procedure. The patient probably figured he had nothing to lose. Anyway in the end, the doctors realised that the HIV in the patient's bloodstream reduced to a extremely low level and so the guy was cured of his AIDs.

For those who are unaware of what stem cells are. Stem cells are part of the repair system of multicellular organisms. These reproduce through mitotic division and can differentiate into different cell types. Stem cells can be found in the bone marrow and since the marrow came from a donor with CCR5-Delta 32 gene it grows into T cells with receptors that does not allow the HIV to "dock" and insert its viral DNA which causes the cells to be infected. The bad news is finding people who have the HIV resistance gene CCR5-Delta 32 because this gene is completely absent in East Asians. This gene is more prevalent (about 10%) in European populations as it was a resistance built up after the Black Death plague. So like they say, that which doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

Well I guess the first biotech to find an Asian embryo with the CCR5-Delta 32 will be a forerunner in stem cell lines producing marrow to cure the rich AIDs victims. Meanwhile its still retroviral treatments.

Whats your Totem?!

In the native american culture the people believed in animal spirit guides. American Indians see animal spirit guides or totems as powerful guardians of the land or spirits of living animals. Some psychologists conjecture that a vision or message from an animal spirit guide may be certain aspects of the human psyche resurfacing from the pre-conscious ancient human mind. For example, fish living in the sea are associated with the unconscious mind and symbolize a deep mind. Perhaps evolutionary memory may exist, we don't really know since memory is still largely a mystery.

Carl Jung believed that personalities can be categorised into archetypes. The Self, the regulating center of the psyche and facilitator of individuation.The Shadow, the opposite of the ego image, often containing qualities that the ego does not identify with but possesses nonetheless. The Anima, the feminine image in a man's psyche. The Animus, the masculine image in a woman's psyche. The Persona, how we present to the world. Based on his analytical psychology theories there are quite a few personality classification tests that arose. One of the most commonly used is the Myer-Briggs Type Indicator or better known by its abbreviation MBTI. Here's a good link where you can take this test and check for yourself what personality type you are.

So it turns out that I'm a INTJ- Introverted Inuitive Thinking Judging. Apparently people of this personality type are a mere 1% of the population. Great... we are nearly extinct. I guess that's logical since socializing isn't very high on our scorecards, we are unlikely to sow wild oats all over to beget little INTJs =p. Joking, personality does depend a lot on influences other than genes. Think this test is pretty spot on. If given autonomy and freedom of creation, I'll be at my best form. Rationality is my baseline and that really poses a problem in that I seldom fall head over heels in love. Guess that's my fatal personality flaw.

Also having this INTJ personality tends to make people think I'm arrogant and distant. People who know me well though will tell you that I'm a dedicated friend in deed and one who keeps friends for life. I just tend to think a lot, read a lot and analyse a lot. Just ring a bell to grab my attention to wake me from my waking meditation and I'll be there haha. If I were to identify a spirit animal most like me I would say its a cat. Give me my ball of wool and I'll amuse myself for a looong time. Here kitty kitty!