Mercy! Mercy! That Dang Nabed PERCY!

Michael Pollan

Michael Pollan

We know for a certainty that we are alive. We might not know if there is life on Mars or elsewhere in the Universe but we do know that it resides in our bodies. We know this to be true because we are aware of it. Given that this is true, would it not be a more fertile avenue to explore, looking to unravel its secrets, rather than poking about on the outback of Mars?

While the Bible takes a cosmic perspective it also makes reference to a mustard seed. A mustard seed is a package on nature’s shelf that is ready and waiting to spring to life. If we want to find out more about our origins this would seem a good place to start.

What we need is a National Trifle Association. Its mission, to explore the inner world of life, and instead of looking outward into the cosmos to look inward at the ever decreasing size of structures that take life to the far reaching depths of the infinitesimal.

I know that DNA is ten percent understood and ninety present redundant. There are strings lying about that don’t seem to have a clear purpose. I submit that this is a library of sorts, maintained by a cell with barcodes for strings of proteins, the genome has happened upon in the course of evolution. They are scattered about in a clutter that might not appear organized but the cell knows where to find these unique combinations when the need arises.

I am reading a book called the Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan. It was recommended by one of my doctors at Marshfield Clinic. Dr. Mennen doesn’t just talk the talk, he walks the walk and is deep into healthful nutrition. Anyway the first part of the book is about corn and the revelations are amazing indeed.

One of the themes Pollan kept returning to is:

“There exists a fundamental tension between the logic of nature and the logic of human industry.”

I won’t go into it here except to say that where biology has brought us and where our industry intends to take us are two different paths. Technological developments in raising animals and plants occur much differently in nature than in the factory farms of the agro-industry. There is a huge and profound transformation taking place and along with a growing understanding of how the human genome works, does not necessarily bode well for the future of mankind.