Chapter One
Genome the genetic makeup of the human race
Life. Mysterious, complicated, fragile and for many if not most, difficult to understand. Our bodies , for nearly all of us, from birth to the magical prime of 30 years old, are robust, strong and, reaching the peek of their vitality. We are cocky in our seeming immortality …‘old age’ seems comfortably distant. We have plenty of time. This ill-conceived confidence, quickly fades as that first ache invades our body. Those mile stones of accomplishment that we have set for ourselves, be it, marriage, schooling, children, whatever goals we set out to achieve early in life, start to slip away. We begin to reluctantly acknowledge, that we are aging. We tuck this unpleasant fact deeply within the back of our minds and bravely forge ahead.
My journey up the ladder towards death, with most of the rings below me, has been the impetus for me to begin writing, something I have so long been urged to write and have even longer prepared for. I begin this endeavor, while my mother is having heart surgery in Springfield Missouri. I sit in front of my lap top , in the waiting room, uneasy, frightened and acutely aware of how short and fragile life is. In other words, I am deeply conscious, that I need to start now. I do not know how the outcome will be for her, this frightens me . We all know after our grandparents and finally our parents die, we are next on the list. Better start now. Time is running out!
I find myself in wonder and awe at modern/western science. My mothers heart needs to be mended. The seamstress, a surgeon. I question, is this the physical manifestation symptomatic of my mothers broken heart? In truth, I believe so. I am certain that I have contributed to this, if not the central cause. How many of us as children believe this to be true? We were/are a disappointment to our parents. I think this is most true for children who choose, or rather were chosen, to be life’s artists. We never feel good enough.
Should heart surgeons address this issue, that of the broken heart? That emotional heartbreak can manifest in heart disease? “Crazy!“ most certain would be the typical response. And their replying mundane retort would continue “Why it is a disease of clogged arteries and ripped valves, so the textbook reads” Yet years ago, when the science of the body looked at the entire person, which included emotional and spiritual conditions, cause of death had been sincerely declared, by both doctor and loved ones alike ,“She died of a broken heart.” I think of Healthcliff and Katherine of Weathering Heights. Now, such declarations are considered sheer nonsense . I strongly disagree. As far back as Plato, mankind was encouraged to view a human being to be viewed as a whole: sprit, mind and body. Ours is a society of separatism, compartmentalized departments!!!
During my visit in Branson Missouri , where my mother resides, I have seen far to much obesity , I am at a loss for words, nearly everyone seems fat! I am certain, many might say, this is not politically correct to exclaim in such a manner. Missouri do not take offense. I have observed this across America. I am not alone in my observations. America has not taken offense. For even the local news, they report on the increasing problem of our countries growing obesity…yet we eat on, we march on holding our right to engorge and make wrong choices in our diet. Land of the free…home of the obese.
During my stay, throughout my mothers ordeal, I found myself reflective and felt a long sought sense of peace, in the Ozark mountains, her new home. Moreover , a profound sadness, at the realization of the massive loss of the wild country, so beautifully penned in the great and timeless novel, “The Sheppard of the Hills”. What made Branson magical to Harold Bell Wright ,has unfortunately been replaced with concrete towers and mammoth billboard faces. I shamelessly admit I have loved the shows. The local people of the area, are genuine, gracious and polite. However, I found it astounding, when I looked at the men and women dressed, coming off the multitude of busses, from all over the country, dressed in baggy worn sweat pants, paper thin tea shirts, shabby tennis shoes, short and barely combed hair. They waddle, huff and puff down the sidewalks and corridors. The small town of six thousand in Branson, moves 250,000 tourists a day, from all over the country. Last year alone eight million came to visit this quirky explosion of excessive ceaseless entertainment .
To clarify, I am not calling the citizens of Branson ‘fat’, it is the sampling of America ,that pours off those buses each day, I call overweight. On a side note, I still refrain from calling people ‘fat’, because I sense it is not fashionable nor conscionable. Yet I still , as when a child, must endure the comments about my weight. I am not anorexic, never was…but I was teased for my skinniness. A casual acquaintance may, without such feelings of remorse , comment on my weight. It usually goes something like this , “You have lost a lot of weight lately.” I haven’t in nearly ten years. Yet, the undertone is that I’m sickly. They tell themselves that they say these words out of concern…for my health no less. I , being thin, am an minority, I am understanding the associated advantages and disadvantages, like any other minority. Women, blacks, gays, …the whole lot of us, that makes up our diversified world. Yet one does not feel uncomfortable or politically incorrect referring to a person as “skinny”. Maybe it will come with time.
Before my mothers heart surgery, we made an effort to pack as much fun and living as we could manage, not knowing if it would be our last times together. This not knowing, made every moment sweeter, without a doubt. My mother and I went to “Noah” , the musical , a Christian phenomena , I will discuss this rapidly spreading event later. When I went to purchase a southern favorite, hot sugared almonds, I turned around and could not find my mother. Panic set in. I scanned the large over crowed reception area. When I finally realized an alarming sight. Everyone looked alike. Mostly women in there later years, white hair cut short to the neck, dark shirt and pants, tennis shoes that were mostly white. I had an immediate flash back to a book that influenced me greatly and appears to be eerily prophetic, “1984” by George Orwell. It is interesting to note how often this book is referenced in these days. The people looked as if they were in uniform. Marvelous conformity! I, the proverbial eccentric, had on a tall black velvet hat, leopard spot faux fur coat and tie dye long flowing skirt…my mother easily , and thankfully found me quickly. I am slender and a virtual thin stick comparatively …a fragile Goddess! I do not fit the mold , an odd ball that many, I have observed, from there obvious stares, find curious. Good. I am conspicuously out place. Long beaded multicolored necklace draping from my neck entangled in my silk scarf wrapped around my head and my long golden braid escalating down my back, I wear a favorite shirt made in India (nothing made in China for this American patriot ) , embroidered in maroon and gold swirls of ethnic design, am proud to look out of place. This in stark contrast to the dress of the Missouri-tourist-American-sampling wardrobe of dreary dark depressing dress. I think they stare a me because there eyes are thirsty for color and there sprit recognizes a soul that is free to express itself. I would like to think so anyway.
The point I am trying to make, is the loss of our expression of our individuality and the reversion, regression to the dress style, in color choice, to the times of the area of the Great Depression of the 1930‘s. Not surprising really, considering, economically ,many believe we are once there again. Dark, black and blues, bleak, gray and dull were the dress then and are once again the preferred choice of color. More on the significance of color and its effect on health and disposition at a later time. But if we are what we eat, we are what we ware. Yellow and orange are happy and hopeful colors. Black, negates the personality, this is why it is the color of choice in the priesthood and other religious organizations.
Let me give you a bit of back ground information about myself. How can I make these authoritative observations? I attended Collage , believing I would go into Nursing, as my mother had, took a multitude of science classes ,and at one point elected to take a Genetics class, which I , to my surprise, excelled in. Over the passing years, far before the human genome was discovered, I believed emphatically, that there was a gene for aging. It has been recently discovered. I have been convinced, that this unpleasant process of aging was a disease, a curable disease, and a genetic disease. In fact, it appears it is. This ‘illness’ would not rule out death of coarse, but we would not have to suffer the common dreadfulness of watching our loved ones and ourselves for that matter, slowly fall apart. Dementia, as so many of the diseases associated with aging, are cruel to humanity beyond measure. I, as others before me, have questioned “How could a loving God put his beloved children threw such an ordeal ? ” Why would He allow such unbearable suffering and pain? Am I to believe it is all just a test, before we meet Him, the almighty God at the pearly white gates or meet that nefarious devil, in the depths of hell? It is a test designed, that we are all destined to fail, it seems.
I , as so many of my fellow students, yearned for the genome discovery. I really didn’t believe I would see it in my life time. It was in the realm of undiscoverable fantasy. Once discovered, however, my expectations greatly increased. I soon set my hopes on the discovery of the gene that regulated aging. Once the genome is discovered everything would certainly follow. Think for a moment what it would really mean if the gene that regulated aging were found. You could stop aging right now. at your present age and degrade no further. You would or rather could learn to put up with the aches and pains you endure daily, knowing they would never get worse, couldn’t you? Or for those younger, they could pick the year that they wished to cease the aging process. What age would one pick? Leap ahead for a moment in your mind and image such a world. Would the beauty of a aged rustic face that mirrors its rich life become extinct? Would we all be under thirty years of age? What age would you pick to stop aging, most certainly no matter what your age , wouldn’t it be now? What if you could pick your age to cease the aging process, let’s say you could make the decision once you were of legal age, say twenty one? The age you are allowed to drink mind altering poison lawfully.
Such jubilation and rejoicing this would bring to humanity, right? Just image how it would cut down on health care costs, it would eliminate the need for assisted living and nursing home care. Consider the emotional cost it would save all the children, forced to watch their beloved parents die a slow and agonizing death, watching them gradually wasting away. Would this not be better for society? Yet we must ask ourselves, excluding the diversity different age groups bring and our appreciation for what the elderly have to contribute, would it really make for a happier society? By living longer, we would acquire more experience, knowledge and with that, invaluable wisdom.
We can be certain that societies at large, embrace the concept of living for eternity. It is a secret we hold dear to our hearts. Just look at the our much-loved and persistent Vampire myth. Nearly every culture has its version, its nofsferto! The vampire acquires knowledge, power and wealth with his nearly unlimited lifespan. Yet, even he is subjected to death, as would we given the arrest of the aging gene. We can not escape death, only postponed death. The vampire values his life and fights to keep it, even at the cost of what he must undergo. I assert that the same would hold true for us, if we did not age, we would value our life even more, exercise more caution and restriction than we do now. Many of us live our life embracing the motto , “Live life like there is no tomorrow.” Experience what you can now, for soon enough you will be too old to experience life’s many pleasures…after all “You aren’t getting any younger.” We of coarse, would still be subject to death, like the vampire, who can be killed with a good dosage of sunshine or the preverbal wooden stick threw the heart. Our fate, mortal man? A gunshot to the head, lethal wounds from car accidents, incurable degenerative diseases, there are still many ways in which a man can die. Many, not all, find this a more preferable way to die than the route of wasting away from old age.
Or do we delude ourselves? Is this kindness in death? Is there really more humanity to dying by eliminating the symptoms of old age and its inevitable outcome? Maybe not. I for one, can not fathom the thought of dying, from lets say a fire, and drowning positively frightens me. I am not alone in these statements ,I am sure. If given the choice , would not most choose, to simply go to sleep, in a soft pillowed bed, and never wake up? I would.
And so I boldly announce, I find nothing graceful, nor noble, certainty not golden, in the process of aging. I have personally witnessed, in my earlier days ,with the innocence of my youth, when I worked with devoted service, in nursing homes, that by today’s standards resemble the past horrors of the mental institutions ‘snake pits’ , the horrors of aging. I remember the abandoned middle aged husband and father of four small children, in a baby crib, all his extremities amputated due to his ravenous diabetes. I cleaned his putrid bed soars, while big sloppy tears slowly leaked from the corners of his eyes. No one ever came to visit him.
No one wants to think of people in this state. I share with you the memory of two women, so distinctly opposite, yet they are permanently etched in my mind until my unfortunate dying day. For in the Nursing Homes, on the third floor, the last floor, the floor for all abandoned, the hopeless, the deformed, physical and mental cripples, I discovered both Gods most humble servant and his counter combatant ,who wrestled the submission of a women’s soul into certain demonic possession. There names have been lost in time, put there faces and disposition will never leave.
The one women, in her 90’s, sweet, tender, grateful, a melodious voice and a cozy sugar smile that warmed the heart. She was the patient that kept my sanity and brought me to work each day. My job was to , get her out of bed into the wheel chair, comb her hair. I made small talk with her, and each shift she never failed to plead “Would you please read the bible to me?” I never refused, I simply could not. I closed the door, to avoid detection, for she was one of the few low maintenance patients on the floor, my time slot for her was only five to seven minutes. Her head would fall forward, her eyes shut, a smile would come across her face and she positively glowed, as I read out of her worn family bible. I would take her hand into mine as I read, she always thanked me and never forgot to give me her blessing. “God Bless you child”. Many times, I would be discovered by the senior staff leader, and was severely reprimanded for my in subornation. Reading the bible, was not in its self forbidden, it was spending to much time with the patient that was prohibited.
I put up a good fight pleading the importance of what I was giving to this lonely soul. The RN on staff responded with indignation, at best. Nevertheless, I failed to argue the importance of what I was doing. Consequently, as a form of punishment, I was given a women, a patient whom any priest might find a likely candidate, to perfect his exorcism skills on. Looking down the long silent corridors, with its cold concrete and marble speckled floor, white empty walls, and flickering incandescent lighting fixtures, was a shot right out of a Steve King horror film. Now and then a screech could be heard from behind a closed door, or the faint sound of scuffling bedroom slippers.
Her room was in the far back corner at the end of a long cold windowless hall. She, unlike my other patient and goodly sister in God, did not have her own room. She shared a large room with seven others. She was in the far reaches of the corner. In the inner most recess of the entire complex building, lie this tangled, twisted women, with her legs tied to the handrails with stained white cotton sheets, barefoot feet contorted, cracked bleeding skin and toenails green and thick with fungus. Her arms were tied in similar fashion. As one approached this sinister frightful room, her cries and moans could be heard streaming down the corridor halls. My job was to wash her and feed her. Upon approaching her bed, her cries and moans, turned to snarls and growls. She would spit across the room, then begin a series of howls that reached a pitch that effected the ears in the most unpleasant and unsettling manner. I can still hear them. In order to bathe her, it required the removal of her gown. Naked underneath, the hissing, twisting shell of a women, fought viciously to remain captive. Once her arm was set free, she reached under her self, and on some invisible command, defecated and threw her vile excrement at her liberator; me. The demonic laughter took a life of its own, after she found the final resting place of her rebellion, in her mouth. This routine did not vary. She would scratch me and I swear on my soul, some of her body contortions were not far off from the classic Exorcist tale, with her head turning on its axis. These and other unpleasant experiences with caring for the elderly, came to shape my distain and fear of the aging process.
Therefore most of my life I have prayed for the discovery of a cure for aging. I hoped I might be spared. I never, ever wanted to experience any of the ugly and grotesque aspects of getting old, in my parents, loved ones and most of all, myself. So, I patiently waited with hope. It never occurred to me that once it was discovered, I would never have the anticipation of being its recipient.
As I matured and began to better understand the world and its rulers, I sadly realized that this genetic disease called aging , its cure would never, nor could it be dispensed to just anybody, such as me, if it was found. For all of mankind , if and when it was discovered, it would be reserved rather, for the select, for the elect , better said for the selected elect . The rich. The elite. The rich beyond belief, minority.
Why? Its answer is fairly simple really, when you stop to think about it. Utopian societies can only exist in mans minds eye. What we can envision may never be able to be actualized, regardless of mans sincere and single-minded effort. For our leaders claim, it is not what is best for the economy. Man takes a distant second seat to Economy. What is best for mankind, the ideology, can not hold up to the power of a strong and thriving Economy. A strong Economy makes for a strong citizen, what is good for one is good for the other. This indoctrination has been firmly implanted in Americans and for that matter, the worlds mind. It is a global view. Few of us have not felt the effect on lifestyle with our present failing Economy. A depressed Economy, brings a depressed nation, then a society, next the family and finally the individual…the trickle down effect, at its best.
Why could we not abolish aging? Why can not the government dispense the “turn off getting old” drug like they dispense flue vaccines? I read once that the answers to most questions, the motive behind most agenda’s…is money. The most primary motive? It is once again, money. The answer to this question, why could not the government abolish aging? It is also money.
Americas present medical and drug industry, in principal and motivating force, closely resembles the auto industry. Plainly put, too many people, those ‘selected elect‘, are making money, money , and more money off of people getting sick and/or dying. The geriatric field, with the influx of the baby boomers reaching the age of institutional placement, is one of the fastest growing industries around. Private investors are making a killing in assisted living facilities. Factoring in the loss of income to drug manufactures, hospitals and other associated fields, it would have a severe impact on the economy. People not needing nursing homes or the drugs and equipment associated with aging would adversely effect our present economy. The same parallel would hold true for the auto industry. We have had the technology for efficient electric cars for the last ten years. It has been deliberately suppressed.
Do I believe that the “turn off getting old” drug will be manufactured? Yes. But its cost will be prohibitive. Today if you have enough money for the fare, you can go to outer space. This drug is for the sect of the billionaire. So heart surgeries, drugs for diabetes, dementia, arthritic’s, high blood pressure and the lot of money making paraphernalia associated with aging, will continue.
I, and others before me, have believed that with the complex organization of the genome, that a master mind is or must be behind it. This brings us to the concept of God and creation. I have come to believe that we indeed were created, but not the fairy tale version that we have been sold . If you, like me, have struggled with a God, forming in one full swoop, with his magic wand, and poof out of a clay and a rib, Adam and Eve were created, well you are not alone. Many of us wrestle with this version. Learning as a child that there is no Santa Claus or Tooth Fairy, it is easy for us to dismiss the man in the white flowing beard, sitting on his gold throne amidst the clouds , as just another childhood lie propagated by our loving parents. They create for their children, a world of wonder and magic, knowing that they will all too soon learn, the ugly harsh truth of the world they brought them into.
It is no wonder that religion, history and science have been at odds. The scientific and historical critical thinker, far too often eventually, many times reluctantly, puts his biblical childhood beliefs and religion out to pasture. I know during the heat of my academic studies, pouring threw advanced biological science classes , the scientific method became my mental technique of choice. The satisfaction of this process, became my criterion for nearly all critical beliefs, especially in regards to matters such as religion and/or spiritual beliefs.
Many atheists are born out of the womb of higher education. Especially those pursing the Natural Sciences or advanced Mathematics. It is interesting to note however, that those souls who pursue Quantum Physics, invariably, are some of the greatest crusaders for the insistence, that there must be a God . For those unfamiliar I will greatly simplify the basic theory of Quantum Physics. Reality, or matter is composed of particles. Particles are composed of smaller particles called protons, neutron and electrons. Something we all remember from high school science class. Particles make things solid and give them mass. The speed, quantity of the particles gives definition to the objects density, or weight. Particles behave in characteristic manners. What is so fascinating about the science of Quantum Physics is that when an object , or group of particles is observed, looked at, such as threw a microscope, the particles remain grouped. They behave as we expect them to behave. When however they are not being observed, they act as in a wave. They leave their group and go all over the place. This is a laymen’s definition. This has been tested in the laboratory by a relatively simple experiment. There are many fascinating books and films out on this subject for those interested.
“Why is this important”? you might ask. Because if an object is defined by its grouping and number of particles only when observed, one must ask, is it really there when we are not looking at it? Or what did it become? What is reality? It appears from the point of view of Quantum Physics at least, that reality is dependant on an observer for the manifestation of the world as we know it. This observer, many postulate, must be a God. The grand observer of the universe, that who watches and keeps everything intact sort to speak, is God. It is curious to note that in the old testament, some scholars have translated angels as the watchers.
My conversion from atheism to my present belief, has been shaped by my study of Quantum Physics. For such a design, the complexity of the universe to the complexity of the embryo, it follows in my scope of reasoning, that there is a creator. Now this is another matter indeed. Far more charged and controversial. We are not advised against discussions of politics or religion with friends and family, with out good cause.
I remember when arguing the existence of God with my fellow undergrads at the UW-Madison Union Pub, drinking cool refreshing mugs of ale, with each accomplished drink the more clever and convincing our dispute, or so we believed. Yet, I was certain that I had the full proof deductive reasoning for an existence of a creator. Not necessarily God, but that somewhere and sometime, someone, or something created the universe and our world as we know it. We need first however, to define God. If we define God as thee Creator of the what we know, then let us refer to him as God.
During our combatant discussions on creation, I would methodically go around the table and question, “Who made the wooden table and chairs we sit in?” “Who made the mug we drink our beer from”? “Who created the brew of ale we drink, the napkin, the plastic plate, your nylon backpack ?” On and on I would go asking these seemingly mundane and silly questions . Eventually I simplified the answer, one that we all agreed on, that man was the generic creator . Knowing and loving the periodical chart, I next managed to have my fellow classmates further agree that man either uses purely natural resources , such as the wooden table and chairs or essentially uses chemical elements in creating new substances in varying recombination’s. Such as the plastic plate and nylon backpack. Yes, we were all able to agree. This was and is the easy part. Who could argue that the wooden chair, table, napkin or mug of beer evolved from a single cell or spontaneously created themselves from nothing? They were created by man. So what? Big Deal! What’s your point?
Yet, we are asked to believe that the trees and flowers and the elements in the periodic chart for that matter, the essentials required by man to do his seemingly infinite and often catastrophic creations , just popped into existence. We are asked to take a leap of faith, asked to believe that those essentials, the tools man uses to create, that they evolved from nothing, or popped into existence, via a big bang, or were seeded from another planet that collided with planted earth or…anything other than that a man with a big white beard, sitting in a big white cloud, in seven days, simply manifested.
Most of men of science reject any form of creation theory. It is no wonder. The only creation theory he has to choose from is the fundamental version of Genesis from the Old Testament , the seven day creation of our earth and
Gods creation of Adam and Eve. This is not entirely true. If he digs deeper he can find that the Babylonians , the Sumerians have a creation epic. But more on that later.
Disregarding any form of creative source possessed with intention, I postulated was pure buffoonery, regardless of that intention ,be it for good or ill. It was and has been, my greatest disappointment in Science. Creation exists all around us. It is everywhere… we are literally swimming in it. Who can deny this simple statement of fact? Man is compelled to create. We all are creating daily. Mans creations move, shape and improve, society, as his creations can equally destroy the same society that he fashioned.
Somewhere, at sometime , someone, or something had to create the universe and the very elements that man uses to brew his magic. Poof… juggle and split and we have an atom bomb! Now we can declare “Behave or I will kill you”. I provoked great heated debates, in my collage Union pub. I did not for the most part win over my fellow disbelievers , to my dismay frankly. I found them ignorant and child like so I opted to tell them a story like I would a child.
My last ditch effort was my tea pot analogy. This has been useful for teaching children in Sunday school. Therefore ,I found it the prefect choice for the pseudo intellectual biology majors at the prestigious university of Madison Wisconsin. I risked sounding foolish and unaware, but I forged ahead anyway. The china teapot, and the four hand painted pretty and delicate cups, asks the first accompanied cup. “Where did we come from, who created you?” The cup responds “Why no one, how absurd.” the other cup disagrees and answers “ You, the pot and we the cups, evolved from the tea that we embrace threw a millennium of time” The third cup laughing and splashing his tainted brew responds ,“ All of you are wrong, for it is that man standing above us, big, unknown and omnipotent ! He is our God. For he created us from dust, he loves us and it is we who serve him.” The fourth and last cup says nothing, sitting sadly silently deep with his own thoughts. He wonders, I have observed that big unknown man, and it seems we do serve him, at his whim. Yet, I have seen others like him wondering the kitchen table and they often insist that we serve them a sip of our tea as well. Who are they ? Are they Gods too? If he is God why has he so often neglected us , leaving us to dust in that dark cold cabinet? I saw our number brother five, fall from his hand to the hard tile floor, he broke. This God just threw him away. Why did God forsake him? He was not reprimanded …What kind of love is this?…on and on went his thoughts questioning the concept and nature of God.
Then a loud sound was heard coming from the sugar bowl filled to the rim with white sparkling cubes. “All of you are foolish and wrong. For I have the answer .” “Please tell us” they all replied. “ From the factory, from a far away land, were you all created you see and he at the table to you means nothing don’t you see?” One cup asks “Can we find our creator at the factory far beyond our scope in this place we cannot see?” “Yes indeed, but you can never find the way ”
I would continue to introduce all sorts of scenarios to draw comparisons to man and God as creators, all the different possible views, how some are blatantly wrong and others silly and absurd. And who really is the creator of this teapot set? The individual who drew the design? The man who runs the factory, or the set of hands that painted the floral bouquet? My answer is none of them, yet all of them. It is a collective creation. The creator is man . Not a single man , a man we can give a name to . Rather it is man as a species, mankind. I have wondered, is it possible that this might be how our creation is ? Our creator is God, not the deity with a name but the species of god, God kind? Heretical polytheism, I know. However, perhaps its persistence in ancient history was grounded in sound reasoning.
I hope I have made it clear that I most certainly believe in creation. I do not for a moment think that we evolved out of the primordial sea of apparent nothingness, save the amoeba transfer to walking fish and walking and talking mammals that we are today. I stress I believe man was created. It is the only reasonable conclusion. Yet, I wish to simultaneously stress to you, that this does not mean that I believe that man, this planet and its surrounding Universe were created as outlined in the Bible.
Now let us proceed under the assumption that man was created. By what or who, this answer, for our purposes, is irrelevant. We can clearly see then that the genome was brilliantly mapped out. We all know how some genes are ‘turn on” while other are ‘turned off’. We have also heard of the notorious “carrier gene” . In addition, we know of familial and racial genetic diseases. The important question is why are some genes on while others are off? What makes one gene dominant while the other is dependently recessive for its survival? How does one gene know that it is only expressed in one racial group and not another, such as in sickle cell anemia?
Life’s definitions, what makes an apple distinct from an orange, a man different than a monkey, are found in the number of the chromosomes, each possesses. In other words, how the genes, the DNA is ordered. All living organisms have DNA. It is the combination of the four elements that compose DNA that give the organism its unique expression. The DNA code, the genome. How can we not ask, who wrote the code? Many of us have heard how in many ways, there are not the wide spread variables in chromosomes that one might expect. We are more similar than not.
I have often imaged, while sitting on the side of a crisp running brook, on a sunny glorious day , out in the fresh smelling forest, butterflies fluttering, birds chipping, frogs leaping, that the creation of all this wonder, must have been amusing and gratifying for the architects. I envision a competition among the designers, as in an art class the student tries to win favor with their exalted teacher. At first making creations beautiful to behold, and then having almost mischievous enjoyment, with inventions of oddities, such as we find in nature. I see them laughing and sharing, creating in manic fever species after species populating the planet. The creation of all this diversity is simply done with genetic manipulation. Vary the number of chromosomes, rearrange the DNA chemicals and presto a new species has emerged.
This brings me full circle to the debate over the aging gene. It turns itself on at different times for different people. Some age better than others, have longer life spans, which we acknowledge is commonly, hereditary. Those of us familiar with the old testament of the Bible, in the chapter of Genesis, will recall how man once had a much longer lifespan. Man lived for hundreds of years.
To look at the bible for reference to mans history and orgins is always prudent. I do so at the risk of some readers being turned off for fear of religious fanaticism. I assure you I am not. I do know however that much of the bible is based on historical fact. Many stories are a retelling of earlier ancient ‘myths’, specially from the Sumerians, such as The Creation Epic and most of us are familiar that the story of Noah in the rushes is found in many cultures. One can approach the bible in many ways. It is pure fable. probably not, given its persistence and longevity. It is all true. Probably not, given the multitude of contradictions. And lastly, much of it is true, however it is difficult to find that truth ,for in the years, corruption, ignorance, and a host of other factors have contributed to false, incorrect and coded translations. This is the approach I will come from. Again we do know much of the bible is historical fact. Much seems like fairy tales. But maybe not.
Let us start at the beginning with Adam and Eve, when we are told that they were expelled from the Garden of Eden, where the Tree of Life resided. Immortality at one time was in reach for them, it was there for the taking. God only forbid that they not eat of the Tree of Knowledge.
The New Jerusalem Bible Genesis chapter 3 verse 2-5
We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden
but of the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden God said
you must not eat it, nor touch it under pain of death.
Verse 22
Then Yahweh God said, now that the man has become like one of us, in knowing good from evil, he must not be allowed to reach out his hand and pick from the tree of life too and eat and live forever.
So Adam could have lived forever, he could have eaten of the tree that would have given him immortality, he just had to remain stupid. One must ask why did God take away the option of living forever simply because man could now distinguish between good and evil? Yet even after Gods punishment Adam still lived an enviable long life.
Adam was one hundred and thirty years old when his son Seth was born. In chapter 5 of Genesis, we discover that Adam lived to be 930 years. Enos lived 815 years, Lamech lived 773, while Mathusala lived 960 years. But the “Wickedness of man” set in soon after, in the next chapter as a matter of fact, His acts of iniquity included, the desire to build a city and a tower and the propagation of prodigy bore from the daughters of men and the sons of God. And man pays the price. He loses his ability to communicate with others, be unified and lastly God significantly reduces his life span.
From The Holy Bible, Catholic Press Chapter 6 verse 4 reads
Now giants were upon the earth in those days. For after, the sons of God went into the daughters of men, and they brought forth children, these are the mighty men of old, men of renown.
And in verse 2
Sons of God seeing the daughters of men, that they were fair, took to themselves wives of all which they chose.
And from the Authorized King James Version; Chapter 6 verse 4
There were giants in the earth in those days;
and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bear children to them,
the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.
And finally in the New Jerusalem Bible the same verse reads
The nephilim were on earth in those days and
even afterwards when the sons of God resorted to the women ,
and had children by them. These were the heroes of days
gone by, men of renown.
And in verse 2
The sons of God, looking at women ,
saw how beautiful they were and
Watch this video for bible verse from the book of Enoch
married as many of them as they choose.
What he have here is an altering of the original Adam generation gene pool. We have man breeding with what could be other Gods. Are sons of Gods in fact Gods themselves? With Royalty and hierarchy, the Kings son, the prince, shares the exalted status of the King, his father. In fact, he has many entitlements bestowed on him because of his familial tie. It is clear that one can safely assume that a son of God, implies a genetic connection to God . So man threw interbreeding began to share the same genetic pool as God.
We know that Thee God, the leader , the big honcho, didn’t like this one bit. He, whomever he was or is, would correct this fairly simply, with the infamous flood. Kill off his original initial creation and his subsequent in bred children.
Enter the notorious tower of Babel. Man developed the brick, heaven forbid! Man wanted to build a city and a tower so they could make their name famous before they were scattered. Man it appears knew the repercussions if they did this forbidden act. God knew that man would accomplish their
“ designs” . Therefore God said, to who he said this we do not ever learn,
In chapter 11,verse 7 in The Holy (Catholic ) Bible we read:
“ Come ye, therefore, let us go down and there confound their tongue, that they may not understand one another’s speech.”
And in the Authorized King James version,
Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that may not understand one another’s speech.
And finally in the New Jerusalem Bible the same verse reads
Come, let us go down and confuse their language there, so that they cannot understand one another.
Man was consequently “scattered” through out the earth and his speech was “confounded”.
Obviously God is up there, he came down. This is were we have gotten that God is on high.
It is during this same period, that man loses his generous life span. It appears that it is in the generations of the “sons of Sem that man lost his ability to live up to 960 years.
Sem, Noah’s son just two years after the flood had his first son when he is 100 years old living another 500 years. In other words he lived for 600 years. When we look at chapter 11 verses 10 to 26 ,we see how mans life span was effected, but no explanation is given. It seems that in nearly each generation the life span is reduced in half.
Arphaxad life span was 338 years.
The first son of Arpaxad was Sale’s whose life span was 433 years.
The next generation Hebor lived for 464.
Phaleg also lived for 239 years.
Reu lived 239 years.
Sarug 230 years
Nachor lived for 148 years.
Thare lived for 70 years.
We learn in the descendants of Thaur , 9 generations later, his first born son Erin died before his father , in other words before he was seventy, maybe as early as 30. One has to read between the lines here and make deductions on the information given. Man, after the flood had one language and was united. He lived for hundreds of years. But it was after his defiance, that they wished to build their own city and tower that he was collectively punished. His common language was abolished, he was no longer united and his life span was cut nearly by a cruel 90 percent. Living once to 900 years old to 90 years old. In fact no man can ever live longer than 120 years pre declaration of God.
In The Holy (Catholic) Bible we read in chapter 6 verse 3 God says:
And God said my spirit shall not remain in man forever,
because he is flesh, and his days shall be 120 years.
And in the Authorized King James version,
And the Lord said my spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall an hundred and twenty years.
And finally in the New Jerusalem Bible the same verse reads
Yahweh said my sprit cannot be indefinitely
responsible for human beings who are only flesh,
let the time allowed each be a hundred and twenty years.
To summarize, God made man as a genetically distinct creation from Himself, man was made in the likeness of God, not from God. God and Adam did not share their DNA. Once a son of God mated with Gods creation, now we had a new genetic pool, DNA had been shared, perhaps even a new species had been produced. This could be the proverbial missing link. Now man was related to God. We were of the family of God. We know from the text that God did not like this at all. This he considered wicked. I find this an odd sentiment.
It is important for all to consider who rely on the bible in a fundamental fashion, that these verses, in three different bibles, clearly inform us that God has a family, that he is not alone, that in fact he has sons, plural , more than one. That these sons could penetrate with a phallus and impregnate a women. There is no mention of an immaculate conception. They had sex and had children and these children, these hybrids of man and God were heroes, important men , it is implied that they were great, they were men of renown. But God, Yahweh, declares a punishment for these men of ‘renown’ distinction, celebrity prominence, and recognition. Or did he?
From the New Jerusalem Bible, Genesis Chapter 6 verse 5
Yahweh regretted having made human beings on earth and was grieved at heart. And Yahweh said I shall rid , the surface of the earth of the human beings whom I created human and animal.
We must ask the question, which man did God regret he made? Because there were two diverse genetic men. Are these two genetic men the Homo Sapiens and Homo Sapiens Sapiens that we have all learned of in high school? Was Homo Sapiens perhaps genetically related to Adam, to Gods original creation, while the more evolved Homo Sapiens Sapiens shares common DNA information with God? Which gene pool are we descended from ?
We must remember this however, species can not interbreed and bear children. One can have sex with them, this we know but if the chromosome numbers are not the same then no prodigy can be formed. Our so called missing link is between this gap. Now to date I have been unable to find in my research the number of chromosomes in the subspecies of Homo sapiens of Cro-Magnum or of the familiar Neanderthal. I do not believe that we know for certain the number of chromosomes in these two familiar subspecies. It is clear that scientists have assumed that they have the same number as does modern man, or they would not share the same classification. In this case, cross breeding could occur, if not then they would have to be assigned as a new species.
Another simple fact would have to be deduced and that is that the ‘sons of God’ would have to have had as well, the same number of chromosomes as the species of man, namely 42. Other wise they would not have been able to have children. When we have the Cro-Magnum and Neanderthal man in the same species, then it would have been possible for the ‘sons of God’ to have cross bred with them as well. Is this our missing link? We got a genetic injection from the ‘sons of God’ and poof we have modern man. Now I know this is for some a radical proposal. But it is in fact what the bible tells us. Reread, carefully the first chapters in the book of Genesis.
Before we go on here are a couple of definitions;
modern man Homo sapiens; includes all modern races
genus Homo - type genus of the family Hominidae "Homo is the genus that includes modern humans and their close relatives. The genus is estimated to be between 1.5 and 2.5 million years old. All species except Homo sapiens are extinct."
Homo sapiens - the only surviving hominid; species to which modern man belongs; bipedal primate having language and ability to make and use complex tools; brain volume at least 1400 cc
Homo sapiens sapiens is the only subspecies of Homo sapiens known to have survived as current humans
Man in fact, is truly a direct descendant from Noah, not Adam. For the bible reports that all of man save the descendants of Noah and his sons were destroyed. Yet I ask the reader, was Noah a ‘pure man’, a direct link to Adam, meaning that his genetic pool was not “polluted” by the genetics of the sons of God, or did he share his genetics with God? Was Noah a pure bred or was he a cross bred descendant of the sons of God? Which are we? Do we have the light of God in us?
Either way, man as Gods original creation or man as a descendant from God, find throughout the old Testament history God, creator/father repeatedly found disfavor in our actions and we have suffered a horde of cruel consequences as result.
In conclusion, How does a God modify his creations life span? He waves his magic wand, he wills it? Or does he genetically modify each subsequent generations first born male? Look what we are on the brink of manifesting? Cloning is common place. We are creating new plant hybrids daily. We have hybridized animals as well. If we can clone a cow, it follows that we can clone a man. Is the cow created in in the likeness of its cell donor? Well of coarse it is. Creating a man from DNA recombination, is that really so far off? If man has the ability to create such wonders what is God able to do?
It is easy to see that a man who has hundreds of years to live will inevitably acquire much knowledge. Does a man instantly become more good or evil with his advancing years? We definitely lose our natively, and innocence of our youth when we age. Do we become more selfish, cynical and untrusting? I for one desire a longer life. Don’t you? Let us ask why do we want a longer life? To learn more, to get more money, possessions and power ? Or is it simply our fear of the unknown , our fear of death? For myself I fear the pain associated with getting old, the possibility of going senile, or worse having an active and virile mind in conjunction with a body that doesn’t work anymore.
The book of revelation and other prophecy books in the bible promise eternal life to the select few. Man loves life, wishes and fights to keep it. This generation is youth obsessed. We dye our hair, implant poisons into our body, suck liquids our of body, cut to reshape our bodies…all so we look younger. Pretend that we are not aging…not getting nearer to death. Is it any wonder that so many of Gods created man is angry at him? We do not understand the reasoning behind the punishment. And we struggle, once again, to build our tower to the heavens to be like Gods or to find him. Will we once again receive the wrath of God? I for one hope not. Such a God I find hard to relate to.
