Off to Boston tomorrow!

Though I’m technically not arriving until Friday. Yay cross country flights! I leave at 2:30pm and land at 1:10am. I’ll make sure to wake up my roommates as obnoxiously as possible as I bumble around our hotel room in the dark.

More importantly, why am I going to Boston? For the American Humanist Association annual conference! Wooooo!

I’ve heard nothing but good things about this conference from people who’ve attended in the past, so I’m super excited. I get to see my godless activist friends like Greta Christina, Debbie Goddard, Chris Stedman, Sharon Moss, Darrel Ray, and of course everyone from the SSA (August, Lyz, Jesse, JT, John, Shelley, and Leslie – phew, it’s like we have a miniature army!). I’m also looking forward to finally meeting people I’ve somehow missed so far, like Margaret Downey, Elisabeth Cornwell, Greg Epstein, and Roy Zimmerman.

Oh, and I heard something about student leaders getting a special breakfast with Richard Dawkins.
What am I doing there? The SSA is having a student leadership tract, and I’m going to be on a panel about increasing diversity in the secular movement along with Greta and Debbie. Yes, we get to tell everyone how not to fail when it comes to race, gender, and sexuality. Hopefully the in-person response to suggestions isn’t like the online response, or else I may be running from some pitchforks and torches.

Though I’m not going to lie…most exciting thing about this trip? I think JT and Greta and I are hunting down a place to do karaoke, and Chris Stedman promises me some gay bar birthday shenanigans.

My life is kind of awesome.

You know what else has unique human DNA like a fertilized egg?

Cancer.

Just sayin’.

Science aside of the day:
Well, and T lymphocytes. “T cells” are a type of white blood cell involved in the immune response. They’re special because they undergo something called somatic recombination.

Try to remember back to high school biology. During meiosis (the formation of gametes) there’s a step where Chromosome 1 from Mom and Chromosome 1 from dad can swap chunks of DNA – that’s recombination. It’s the reason why we have so much diversity – because you’re not just getting Grandma or Grandpa’s chromosome, you’re getting a mix of both.

Usually this only happens when making sperm or eggs, but there’s one time it occurs in non-gamete (somatic) cells – in the production of T cells. A protein called a T cell receptor recognizes antigens (foreign particles) from viruses, bacteria, parasites, and even tumor cells. But think of it – if there was just one gene coding for a T cell receptor, we’d only be able to recognize one type of antigen. That’s no good – we need to be able to recognize millions!

Thankfully evolution has the answer. The T cell receptor gene has three main segments: Variable, Diverse, and Joining. There are 65 V, 27 D, and 6 J – but the cell only needs one of each! That’s where somatic recombination comes in – it randomly deletes all but on of each segment, leaving the cell with a unique combination.

“But wait,” cry my more mathematical readers, “that only leaves 10,530 combinations! That’s not very diverse at all!” You’re right! These huge structural differences make up most of the diversity, but these genes are also hypermutable – they gain mutations WAY faster than other genes. So that contributes to the diversity even more!

So, are we ready to start calling every T cell a person because it has a unique human genome? I’m not sure if my psyche can stand all the funeral’s I’d be having every time I get sick.

The most logical abortion laws

We can add Alabama to the growing list of states heaping more and more restrictions on abortion – though their proposal is especially stringent. Three bills (introduced by a Republican, of course) are attempting to “redefine “person” as “any human being from the moment of fertilization or the functional equivalent thereof” — and require that all uses of the word “person” in the state constitution be accompanied by “all humans from the moment of fertilization.”

You know, maybe these people have a point. Maybe being ejected from a womb is an arbitrary cutoff point for where life begins. Maybe we do have to take it back to the zygote – the initial cell formed after fertilization. After all, that zygote has the potential to eventually become a human being!

Just like how every egg has the potential to become a zygote, which is why all girls now must constantly attempt to become pregnant after their first period, and any subsequent period will be tried as murder.

And how every sperm has the potential to become a zygote, which is why now all ejaculation except for procreational purposes will be tried as mass murder (though we can downgrade wet dreams to involuntary manslaughter).

And how every ovary and testis has the potential to produce gametes, which is why now any accidents that damage them will be tried as involuntary manslaughter, but voluntary sterilization will be tried as murder.

And how every stem cell has the potential to become a gonad, which is why now all stem cell research will stop immediately, even that done on lab derived adult stem cells.

And how every nutrient you eat has the potential to become a part stem cells, which is why now eating will be illegal. Look, we solved the national obesity epidemic too!

And how many inorganic molecules have the potential to become a nutrient, which is why now moving will be illegal, lest we disturb the fate of an atom to become incorporated into a particularly delicious carbohydrate (which you can’t eat, sorry).

And how stars have the potential to produce different elements, which is why… well, I’m not sure if we can do anything about supernovas, so we may have to let that slide for practical reasons.

I know pro-zygoters aren’t the best at science, so hopefully this helped them understand their logic a little better. I’m a horrible human being who cares more about adult women than cells and atoms, so I’m going to keep destroying all of these potential humans and looking at photos of supernovas with awe instead of horror.

But good luck to all the pro-zygoters out there in their lifestyle! I know I had a hard time eating less junk food, let alone giving up eating and all mobility. Be sure to let us know how that goes.

‘Tis a small world in biology

Today I was browsing through recent articles in Nature, looking for a potential genetics paper to present for my department’s Journal Club. ” “Somatic coding mutations in human induced pluripotent stem cells” catches my eye – I mean, come on, doesn’t that sound absolutely fascinating? I happen to glance at the name of the first author.

“Wait…Athurva Gore? …Who’s studying biomedical engineering? Hmmmm… Is that just a more common name than I think?”

After a couple seconds of Googling, I find a photo of him and some other scientists in their native habitat (awkwardly posed in front of expensive equipment) and confirm that yes, that is my ex-boyfriend’s friend that I spent a good part of undergrad hanging out with. Who I am now rediscovering while browsing genetics literature. Odd.

Congrats on the Nature paper, Athurva!

Well, if you even read this. I have no idea what the protocol is about reading friends’ ex-girlfriends’ blogs. Blogs before bros?

A CRISIS!

This is serious guys. I don’t know what I’m going to do. I’m so torn!

The release date for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 is July 15… RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF TAM9!!!

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!

Friend: Oh boo hoo, you’ll have to wait a couple days to see Harry Potter because you’ll be in Vegas hobnobbing with famous skeptics. #firstworldproblems

I must gather some fellow skeptics to go to a midnight showing with me! Harry Potter in Vegas! Who’s with me?!

Off my ASS for …myself – Week 13

Starting weight: 186.4 lbs
Last week’s weight: 170.6 lbs
Current weight: 171.8
Weight loss this week: -1.2 lbs
Total weight loss: 14.6 lbs

Weight loss… Y U NO MAKE SENSE?!?!

I was so good this week! I worked out every day, I was at or under my calorie budget…but I gained weight. Blargh.

This is what we call a plateau, folks.

Oh well. I know if I keep it up, I’ll eventually break through it. Just annoying that this doesn’t follow some sort of rational pattern.

On an interesting side note, I’ve noticed I do much better if I set my calorie intake at the rate of 1.5 lbs lost per week rather than 2.0 lbs. 1300 cal is just too low, and so I’d fail almost every day – and when I was in the mindset of failing, I’d give up and overeat since I already went over my budget. But I can easily do 1600 and be full – and often times that positive attitude will make me go a little under. Woo psychology.

Best atheist conference ever

Greta Christina has the schedule up for the Very Big Atheist Conference of 2012, which will be held in Devil’s Corner, WI. I have to say, the lineup is amazing – you should check it out. I mean, Post-Diversity Panel Infuriated Smackdown and Horizontal Networking? So glad I’m a part of it.

Seriously though, go read it. I laughed my ass off.

…Is it bad that I’m disappointed this conference doesn’t exist?

My Skepitcon pin-up calendar photos

I was initially hesitant when JT Eberhard asked me to be a part of the Skepticon 4 pin-up calendar, but now I’m really happy that I did it. Not only is it a great fundraiser for an awesome conference, but I’m alongside amazing women like Rebecca Watson and Greta Christina. Plus, it’s sexy and artsy – like this photo from last year.I definitely had my reservations. I mean, I’m already known for my boobs, and I don’t want to get pigeonholed into some sexy stereotype when I have many intellectual accomplishments. But at the same time, it’s my body, and I don’t want others telling me what I can do with it. If I want to pose nude, then damn it, I should be able to!

These are just the proofs – for the high quality version, you’ll have to buy the calendar.
I’m not embedding them here since full nudity is NSFW, but you can check out my favorite shot here.

Be gentle!