The Janus Cat

We were sitting next to the ocean in Newport, OR the other day when Amelia showed us a newspaper clipping of a two-faced cat aka a "Janus" cat. Named for the Roman god with two faces - Janus. This is where we get the name for our month "January" which makes sense since it was thought the two heads of this god were looking into the past and the future at the same time - like we look back at the year gone by and make resolution for the year to come on January one. 

Looking into this condition I found that the likely cause of this is an over-expression of a gene dubbed "SHH" or Sonic hedgehog. I'm not kidding on the name - fruit-fly geneticists historically had a sense of humor in naming their knock-out flies.

Comprehending the mechanism of action of the SHH protein in development is an excellent exercise in seeing how there is no greater "plan" from God but rather an "apparent plan"  that manifests because of our relatively complacent evolutionary era.  There is nothing unethical about a genetic disorder. It is what it is and the affected either lives or dies. This cat was not cursed by God. Its existence is a window for mankind into one possibility of mutation.  One out of a million might be useful. On a long enough timeline that one doesn't just become more likely but rather inevitable. 

One of the coolest things I can think of in the age of you tube and Facebook is our collective ability to rapidly be aware of rare occurrences.  This will not be the last cat in history to have this rare condition. What interests me is the subtle differences in expression of this gene from human to human as the SHH gene also regulates the organization of the human brain. There are clinical examples of babies born with the Janus condition who did not live. Thinking about this leads me to speculate that a viable two-faced human may have actually lived to adulthood at some point in history. Is such an individual responsible for the depictions of the Roman God Janus? We may never know. But a viable two-brained adult would be a marvel to have a game of chess with :)

Koseoglu K, Gok C, Dayanir Y, & Karaman C (2003). CT and MR imaging findings of a rare craniofacial malformation: diprosopus. AJR. American journal of roentgenology, 180 (3), 863-4 PMID: 12591714

What is Thunderf00t up to these days?

Does this qualify as civil discourse?

Carl Zimmer tells his story

I listened to this RadioLab episode last night on highway 5 here in Oregon. Carl Zimmer wraps enlightenment around the hard truths of his life in this week's RadioLab short "Sleepless in South Sudan" Worth a listen.

Eugenie Scott tells her story

Eugenie Scott remains on my short list of heroes. In the video below I hope you can see why.

Save the Children!

Full Circle

This is a phenomenal story and worth the 17.5 minutes required to watch it. Jana Levin - Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Barnard College - tells an unlikely story of romance while researching. I was in the room for this and she certainly has an electric personality. The story was told at the Player's Club on Manhattan as part of the 2010 World Science Festival in association with The Moth - probably one of the most ingenious non-profit organizations of our time. The Moth is a story-telling series where all stories are true and told live, without notes. I have listened to hours and hours of the most real entertainment I've ever been exposed to. Usually I listen to The Moth on my iPhone through the Stitcher Radio app. From Nobel Laureates to high-ranking politicians to prison inmates, the Moth has featured story-tellers from all walks of life. If you have never heard of the Moth, Tom Paine's Ghost highly recommends their content.

Daniel Radcliffe performs Tom Lehrer's "The Elements"

I missed this last year. I'm amazed if he really memorized this in one night!

Happy Halloween!

Porphyria! The Mystery of the Vampire Myth Explained 

TPG CLASSIC - REPOST from 31st October 2008.

Teeth lengthened by receding gums glow in the shaded valleys of the Carpathian basin. The genetic milieu of the Visigoths, Huns, Carpians, and Slavic peoples have swirled over centuries as granite crags pushed populations into shallow gene pools. A ghoulish thing of legend emerged from Transylvania and has since soaked literature and pop-culture with a reddish froth. Science and medicine have given us reason not to fear for our necks in a story that is truly stranger than fiction...

The glowing teeth mentioned earlier occur because of an accumulation of light sensitive molecules called porphyrins in victims of a rare genetic disease. Porphyria affects one of the steps in heme production. A heme is the chemical group that holds iron atoms in their proper position in hemoglobin (the protein of blood). The name "porphyria" came from the Greek words for purple and pigment. Victims of this disease have an uncanny similarity to historical descriptions of vampires and phenotypes of this disease have been suggested as possible explanation for the origin of vampire legends.

Mal-formed porphyrin molecules accumulate in affected people's skin and teeth. When activated by light these molecules activate oxygen molecules into destructive radicals that can wreak havoc on surrounding tissue. When exposed to light individuals appear to be burned with caustic lesions left on their skin. Enter: Nosferatu's pale countenance shrieking in terror as the sun rises.

Though no blood-lust is reported by sufferers some historians speculate that drinking the blood of animals may have been attempted as a folk remedy in treating the disease. It has since been proven that the heme molecule is in fact robust enough to survive digestion indicating that replenishing mal-formed blood molecules by drinking blood may indeed help those that happen to exhibit anemia in conjunction with porphyria. When watching vampire movies the whole garlic premise never made any sense to me. Why couldn't you use mushrooms, or cinnamon, or toothbrushes to scare away vampires? What was it about garlic. With the Porphyria hypothesis in mind it makes sense however. Garlic has vasso-dilator chemicals and is reported to exacerbate the affects of porphyria. Sufferers may have learned to avoid it indeed!

In the genetically secluded valleys of Transylvania it is not hard to imagine disorders like these occurring more than expected in a diverse population. Before the renaissance and the spread of the scientific revolution a vampire myth may have grown from accounts of these individuals with their glowing long teeth, aversion to sun and garlic, and maybe even sucking blood in the night!

Your Inner Fish

This interview is from 2008 and I just now discovered it after searching for some inspiration over at the Scientific American Blog Network. Thanks to Guilty Planet blog for showing me this fantastic interview with Neil Shubin, author of Your Inner Fish.

The Colbert Report
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Obama Opens the Gates on American Education

I am in Munich, Germany at the moment. I've met people from all over Germany and the rest of Europe here at the Oktoberfest celebrations. I am constantly impressed with the number of languages all Europeans seem to speak with ease. Though I question the status and rigor of education in the United States I do not think we are at the point of no return. Watching President Obama make his address this week fills me with pride at the continued promise of America. There are many among my close friends who say "the American Dream is over." To them I say Nay, it is alive, changing, adapting. And education is portal to see the metamorphosis. Bully for you Obama!