About Vaccines

             I have my opinions on vaccines and you have yours. It is not the intent of this blog to ever tell you what to think. This blog hopes to present you with raw verifiable facts which are consistent with objective reality. The intent is to help you to think for yourself, rationally and critically, and, hopefully, in the context of this blog, that you allow yourself to be led by the Holy Spirit.

Do not base your opinions solely on what I say. Do not base your opinions solely on what anyone else says. Do not base your opinions solely on what any religious tradition says. Listen to all of them, but use your own mind, and read your Bible. Be like the Bereans (Acts 17:11), even on totally secular matters. Like they used to say about the Marvel Cinematic Universe: “It’s all connected.”

The discussion about vaccines in the United States has devolved into people taking sides based on their political leanings and has come to involve multiple issues: progressivism, conservatism, autism, Christian nationalism, distrust of government, distrust of the giant pharmaceutical companies, distrust of science in general, rejection of organized religion, some elements of bigotry, possible adverse side effects of vaccines, issues of vaccine effectiveness, the ethics of mandates, libertarianism, epidemiological community health concerns, availability of health resources, possible vaccine effects on autoimmune diseases, religious and/or ethical objections, exactly who will benefit most from a vaccine and whom they might harm, preventing pandemics, possible medically adverse ingredients in vaccines, ethical concerns over some methods of vaccine preparation, the concern of some that over-exposure to vaccines early in life might overwhelm the immune system, natural immunity vs vaccine immunity, live vs dead viral components in vaccines, issues of informed consent, racial differences in disease susceptibility. Did I leave any out?

Vaccines are biological preparations designed to stimulate the recipient’s immune system causing it to produce proteins called antibodies against a particular microorganism. The antibodies are, in effect, weapons produced by the body to protect itself against invaders.

Some vaccines are built from proteins or other parts of the organism being targeted. Other vaccines use the entire organism in either a dead or greatly weakened form. All are intended to cause the body to violently say “This is not me!” and to learn how to attack this particular “Not Me.”

The idea is that, if an exposure to this particular “Not Me” later occurs, the body will remember the prior attack and will jump into action to produce massive quantities of the weapons it needs.

This blog post is about the Coronavirus vaccine for COVID-19. New vaccines are needed each year because coronaviruses are RNA (ribonucleic acid) viruses and mutate more quickly than DNA (deoxy-ribonucleic acid) viruses. Most of the mutations carry no consequences for the human host but a few give the virus significant advantages in ease of transmission or in severity of the disease. This occurs as errors in copying the virus’ genetic information cause changes in the organism’s surface proteins. These changes result in the surface proteins being different enough from prior versions that the body’s immune system thinks that they are a “Not Me” that it has not seen before.

Because of this, the immune system essentially has to start over and, so, cannot make a quick kill. This means that there is no pre-existing immunity to the new variant even though it is still the same virus.

Vaccines have to be developed each year because of that year’s new variants, which usually arise in Asia or India and then spread worldwide. The vaccines which are developed are actually guesses or assumptions that the virus variants which arrive in the West will still be the same ones for which the vaccine was developed. This can account for why some of the vaccines are more effective than others. 

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            An aside: This process of the body's immune system attacking "Not Me" is what is involved in tissue rejection after organ transplants and also comes into play during pregnancy because the mother is "Me" and the child is "Not Me."

Follow the Science

        

        We have been told repeatedly to "follow the science," usually in connection to COVID-19 

immunization. That is good advice and my wife and I are fully vaccinated for COVID-19 and other 

viruses.

        To be fully consistent, there is another situation where I would hope that everyone would consider

following the science. 

        The human female produces ova (eggs) which her body recognizes as "me." Except in rare cases of

 autoimmune disease, the woman's body leaves the ovaries and the eggs alone. In autoimmune

oophoritis, the body's immune system attacks the ovaries causing inflammation, severe damage, and

fibrosis.

        Normally, when a sperm wins the frantic race to the egg, the egg immediately allows the 

spermatozoan to enter and mix its DNA with the DNA of the egg.  The mixture of DNA is 50% "me"

and 50% "not me."

        If the body is functioning properly it does not like "not me" and makes moves to get rid of "not 

me." It attacks "not me" to protect itself from viruses, bacteria, and other organisms like yeast or 

protozoa. This is the reason transplant patients have to take anti-rejection drugs. The transplanted 

tissues are "not me."

        To protect itself, the fertilized egg starts making masking proteins to tell the body "move on, 

there's nothing  to see here." The masking proteins hide the "not me." The body only sees the "me."

        Once the embryo implants and begins to increase in size, it becomes too "not me" to ignore. That's

where the placenta takes over. It has many functions but one function is to release hormones and other

factors to prevent rejection of the fetus. Remember that the fetus is "not me." So what you have is

mother ("me") and fetus ("not me.") 

        This is one reason why there is so much controversy over when the fetus becomes a separate,

 individual human.

 

Coronavirus COVID-19: Edited 22 March 2020

This post may seem to be off subject but it is not. If Jesus is Lord of everything then He is the Lord of public health and our personal health. The current world-wide spread of the COViD-19 (Coronavirus disease 2019) virus in its original form and in a possible second mutated form are surely cause for vigilance and concern but not for panic and misinformation. Updates are in BOLD type.

The CoVid-19 virus is essentially an influenza virus so the following comments make good sense regardless of whether the disease to be avoided is SARS, MERS, CoViD-19, "the flu", or the common cold.

1.  The "corona" in the name is Latin meaning "crown" or "halo" and is descriptive. Under two dimesional electron microscopy, the viral particles appear to be covered with club-shaped spikes.

2.  The current virus is not "Coronavirus." It is one of a group of viruses known as coronaviruses. Corona in Latin means "crown." The group includes the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome virus (MERS-CoV) and the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome virus (SARS-Cov). The viruses in this group are RNA (ribonucleic acid) viruses with a viral envelope as their outer layer. Many of these viruses produce flu-like symptoms and in severe cases do have the capacity to be fatal.

3.  The presence of a second mutated form of the virus is to be expected. Viruses commonly mutate into new varieties.

4.  The United States Centers for Disease Control says that there is no need for healthy individuals to wear face masks.

5.  Cover your face, mouth, and nose if you sneeze. The primary infection route is on respiratory moisture droplets from sneezes or coughs. The second most likely infection route is fingers: touching a contaminated surface and then touching your own mouth, nose, or eyes.

6.   If possible, stay about six to 10 feet away from people with obvious flu-like symptoms (fever, cough, and shortness of breath). It is silly and racist to avoid any particular ethnic group. Viruses do not care about your ethnic background.

6.  Wash your hands frequently with soap and water and use any hand sanitizers which are provided by stores, churches, physicians, etc. Grocery stores often provide sanitizing wipes for use on grocery cart handles; always use them because the grocery cart handles are touched by hundreds of people a day. All of the items listed here are touched by many random people each day: door knobs and handles, elevator buttons, public telephones, shared computer keyboards, coins and paper money, and any number of other public things. You probably use your cell phone all day long; anything you have touched with with your bare hands will be on your phone. Don't forget about your automobile;s steering wheel, radio buttons, light switches, and door handles. Wash, wash, wash; wipe, wipe, wipe. The main route of transmission of viruses such as CoVid-19 is your hands. Keep your fingers away from your mouth, your nose, and your eyes. Do not chew on rubber pencil erasers!

7.   Most healthy individuals are at slightly less risk. Those with the greatest risk are probably the elderly, those with compromised immune systems, and those with other serious preexisting conditions. The main causes of death from the virus are secondary pneumonia and multiple organ failure.

8.    A vaccine for the virus will eventually be available but the process for developing the vaccine is not magic. It will take time.

9.   Follow the instructions of your local health authorities. Cooperate with what they instruct you to do. It is their job to protect you as much as possible. Do not assume that you are immune to any disease. It is not disloyal to the Lord to temporarily avoid large gatherings of people like church services.  We are instructed in scripture to be good citizens and to cooperate with our rulers in any matters which do not interfere with with our Christian faith, always putting our obedience to the Lord first.

10. Think of the "social distancing" which is being implemented as you would about the crews who fight forest fires. To fight the enormous fires, the firefighters take bulldozers and cut wide trenches into the dirt, clearing away trees, brush, and debris, When the fire reaches the trench there is nothing there for it to burn. The idea for us is we cannot infect one another if we are separated.

Why Life Begins at Conception, Part 3

(The posts in this series may not occur on consecutive days but they will make the most sense to you if they are read in consecutive order.)

This is a very simplified presentation of human conception and the passage of genetic information from the parents to the offspring.  (An aside: how can any rational, normally intelligent person see this level of complexity and order and still deny at least the possibility of an intelligent designer?)

The information may seem to be complicated and overwhelming, but at least a simplified basic
understanding is necessary for a scientific attack on abortion.  That is what I will attempt to provide for you here.  It is necessary to start at the beginning, DNA (deoxy-ribonucleic acid).

DNA is a spiral molecule consisting of two strands paired together in the shape of a helix.  DNA is present in every cell of the human body and, in every one of those cells, the DNA contains ALL the information necessary to build and maintain the entire body.

DNA is a very complex and a very simple molecule.  It basically is two strands joined by matched pairs of bases.  Only four bases (adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine) are used.  Combinations of these four bases contain the entire genome; the genetic code which determines a person's hair color, voice, skin color, height, body type, number of fingers and toes, intelligence level, athletic ability, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. The code determines everything about your physical body.  Literally everything, and genetic science says that all that information about you as an individual is present from the moment of conception.

A very simplified explanation is this.  In the sperm and egg cells, each cell receives one strand of the two DNA strands.  At fertilization, the two strands join to form one complete strand.  So, half of the information comes from the mother and half from the father.  The fertilized egg then is a hybrid of the two source cells, made from them but entirely different from them;  a fully separate genetic code, a separate individual.

More in the next post.
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If you wish to know more, see these links.

Very good:

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/glossary/gloss3/DNA2.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/glossary/gloss3/dna.html&h=543&w=351&sz=42&tbnid=8CP_Dkmi3Hub9M:&tbnh=84&tbnw=54&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dimage%2B%2526%2BDNA%26tbm%3Disch%26tbo%3Du&zoom=1&q=image+%26+DNA&usg=__DNAoHOES8pL7lQS_Oaj3PGM13so=&hl=en&sa=X&ei=uDw6UOT9OY2s8QTIrYG4AQ&ved=0CCMQ9QEwBA

Simplified:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNA

DNA to RNA to proteins

http://dna-rna.net/

Detailed information on proteins:

http://www2.chemistry.msu.edu:80/faculty/reusch/VirtTxtJml/proteins.htm

Chromosomes

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/D/Down.gif&imgrefurl=http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/C/Chromosomes.html&h=318&w=430&sz=29&tbnid=4sRt4QRwm30RKM:&tbnh=83&tbnw=112&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dimages%2B%2526%2Bchromosomes%26tbm%3Disch%26tbo%3Du&zoom=1&q=images+%26+chromosomes&usg=__9giWb2_ajTIbvehrthPPLzjuZwA=&hl=en&sa=X&ei=hkA6UJ36EoT89gS6joGwCg&ved=0CBoQ9QEwAQ

http://images.yourdictionary.com/chromosome

Why Life Begins At Conception, Part 1

Over the next few days I will be posting, in several parts, on the subject, Why Life Begins at Conception.  The posts may not be on consecutive days but they will make the most sense to you if they are read in consecutive order. 

The subject has become a very hot topic in the United States because of the poorly thought out comments (I would say something more harsh except for the nature of this blog) of one of the current United States Representatives. 

The current controversy concerns abortion and certain types of contraception and the timing of when a developing fetus becomes “human.”  Does life begin at conception or sometime later in the pregnancy? Does the developing fetus have legal rights as a person?

The question is presented by many as a religious question, and it is, but a rational and scientific case can be made for opposition to abortion without any reference to religion.  Many people will not listen to a religious argument, but they might listen to a scientific one.

The posts in this series will present, in a highly simplified way, the scientific information necessary for a case against abortion and some forms of birth control.  Also, the very strong emotions of persons on both sides of the issue will be discussed.

1.     This is not, never has been, and never will be, a political blog.

2.     I am qualified to present this particular scientific information because my undergraduate degree is in biology with a concentration in developmental genetics and embryology.