Zinc is interesting

The ABCs of Biotech for Christians - Twenty-seventh and final in a series - Z is for Zinc and Zinc finger nuclease

Do you know what the eight essential nutrients are for humans? You can read them here. Zinc is high on the list with many functions noted: helps you maintain a sense of smell and have a strong immune system; builds proteins, triggers enzymes, creates DNA, and more.

In relation to the previous post, zinc is perhaps the most critical trace mineral for male sexual function. It is involved in virtually every aspect of male reproduction including the hormone metabolism, sperm formation, and sperm motility.

As noted in previous posts, biotech is not always highly complex; sometimes it explores and then puts a star on things like zinc or Blackstrap molasses (post 3) or jackfruit (post 11) because they are good for our health.

Biotech and its underling (or overlord?), organic chemistry, can make clear what zinc does for us, how much we need and how a deficiency affects us. It can prove what chemicals will harm soil so that it has no zinc to impart to a crop, preventing zinc intake through foods. Or, biotech can concoct medicines to enhance male function which we hear about continually on radio and TV. But those “little blue pills” (etc) do not contain zinc.

In itself, biotech is neither good nor bad. It is a body of knowledge, an exciting field of work, a tool or means in the hands of humans that can work toward good or bad ends. It can explore things found in nature like quinine (post 18) or wormwood (post 24) and discover new ways to heal diseases.

Nanotech (post 15) manipulation of zinc led to the discovery of zinc-finger nucleases (ZFNs). These are way above the understanding of laypeople and may be a good example of why we consider biotechnologists to be geniuses capable of doing great good, however they may instead do great evil, in some cases never even knowing the difference.

Zinc finger nucleases (ZFNs) are a class of engineered DNA-binding proteins that facilitate genome editing by creating a double-stranded break in DNA at a user-specified location. This reminds us of post 4 where we looked at the potential for genome modification that could change the DNA of a human, altering it in the germ stage, thus reinventing a person who originated with one genome destiny to a new one— one selected by the biotechnologist that will be inherited by the subject’s offspring.

Just this past week, news reports heralded that genetic modification of embryos to alter a portion of DNA has been accomplished by a Chinese biotechnician, Dr. He Jiankui. His alteration presumably will prevent HIV/AIDS in twin girls who were born in November 2018.

Dr. Jiankui used CRISPR (post 4), however ZFNs are known to be very useful for in vivo genetic editing for HIV: “Disruption of CCR5 using zinc finger nucleases was the first-in-human application of genome editing and remains the most clinically advanced platform…”

Christians and other moral persons in the biotech field will— and already have— forcefully condemned Dr. Jiankui's “accomplishment,” but continuing manipulations of human life are a foregone conclusion. The 3-parent baby is another example.

Exploring all the ramifications of this trend in biotech is a job for the experts. But laypeople must study their discussions and be ready to comment (post 13). One website to visit for bioethical news and discussions is the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics. I hope to add more such resources in the new year.

Many, even Christians, will argue that genetic mutations and other aberrations caused by viruses like HIV must be eradicated, and this process must start out in the petri dish. Ten good reasons not to start life in vitro are listed in Flesh & Bone & The Protestant Conscience. I hope to re-add this content to this website and to add more reasons in the new year.

At the end of this blog series and at this Christmas Season, it is good to celebrate that Jesus Christ is the champion of good biotechnology. He is the Wonderful Counselor. (Isa 9:6) Look to Him for understanding and wisdom.

Assault on the Father

The ABCs of Biotech for Christians - Twenty-sixth in a series - Y is for Y-chromosome

An interesting internet site was published fairly recently as part of the National Institutes of Health website: https://ghr.nlm.nih.gov.

The letters stand for:
(https - hypertext transfer protocol-secure)
ghr - Genetics Home Reference
nlm -National Library of Medicine
nih - National Institutes of Health
gov - government owned

The purpose of the site is to provide consumer-friendly information about the effects of genetic variation on human health. A search found 1,118 articles containing some information on the Y chromosome.

An example of a genetic variation that is common today relates to the USP9Y gene, and here is the entry:

The USP9Y gene provides instructions for making a protein called ubiquitin-specific protease 9. This gene is found on the Y chromosome. People normally have 46 chromosomes in each cell. Two of the 46 chromosomes are sex chromosomes, called X and Y. Females have two X chromosomes (46,XX), and males have one X chromosome and one Y chromosome (46,XY).
Because it is located on the Y chromosome, the USP9Y gene is present only in males. It occurs in a region of the Y chromosome called azoospermia factor A (AZFA). Azoospermia is the absence of sperm cells. The USP9Y gene is believed to be involved in sperm cell development, but its specific function is not well understood. (More info may be found here.)

We might ask: What has happened to USP9Y? Where has it gone? Why are there so many men with infertility problems today? Biotech is looking into this.

Studies have revealed many different culprits, and some are those we have reviewed in the ABCs of Biotech, so this topic is well suited to help wrap up this blog series.

In Post 2 we saw that some adjutants (things that are added) to vaccines are causes of illness and trauma. Infertility has been linked to Polysorbate-80, a nonionic surfactant and emulsifier that is in the swine flu vaccine. That is only one example.

Another is seen in articles about the Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine. The Children’s Medical Safety Research Institute reports that it is causing soaring infertility. So, buyer beware.

In post 6 infertility was listed as a side effect of electromagnetic wave radiation exposure through WIFI and other sources. Laptop computers are a dangerous source for men. Mice (post 14) or rats were used to verify this.

Ibuprofen (Advil and Motrin) has been linked to both male and female infertility. It is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug which we looked at in post 16. Addictive pain killers like Oxycontin contain ibuprofen. A WebMD article reports some findings from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

We looked at quinine in post 18, and many antimalaria drugs have been implicated in male infertility.

Other means of producing human beings in the lab are under study (post 8), and male infertility will encourage these, so we must get involved in the Biotech Feedback process (post 13) and speak out.

Other causes of male infertility include some large “items” like food and water. MomsAcrossAmerica is mad at Roundup for glyphosate in the crops that damages their husbands and sons. And another way food is contaminated to cause male impotence is through bisphenol, a chemical used to make plastic harder and watertight tin cans.

Couples joke about getting pregnant from ‘drinking the water’, but there is evidence that estrogens in our water supply has adverse effects on men.

Without any doubt, male infertility is increasing. The Y-chromosome is crying out for relief from assault.

In a previous post we thought of Biotech healing Biotech hurts. This is a good note to end on and to begin the next, final post of the series.

An aside: The many influences combining to render men impotent parallel the trends at work to destroy the concept of male leadership in the home and church and the knowledge of God as male, whether the Father, Son or Holy Spirit.

Angel fish
Public Domain, Link

...and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind ... the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind ...the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good. -Genesis 1

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A SistersSite eBook

Flesh and Bone and The Protestant Conscience is an e-book on Amazon.com. It is 99¢ and in the Amazon lending library as well. It is also available here in PDF format. The book description follows.

Would you let your conscience be your guide?

Does God care if the skin and bone of the dead are passed along to the living for medical uses? Is organ donation OK with God? Should you sign a Living Will?

Did you know that dead organ donors are often anesthetized before their organs are removed? Do you know the current definition of death? The conscience cannot function without facts.

As we ponder the ethics of in vitro fertilization, stem cell research and man-made chimeras, our thoughts trail off. How then should we live? (Ez 33:10)

How should a Christian think about euthanasia by starvation when doctors and the state attorney general all agree it is time to withhold feeding from a brain injured patient? Some things are family matters, but someday it may be our family.

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