• Overview
  • Blog
  • About
  • Contact

Robert Barbere

~ All In A Day's Work

Robert Barbere

Tag Archives: Genetics

Aldous Huxley: A Blind Man Who Saw the Future

24 Wednesday Sep 2014

Posted by robb1138 in Philosophy, Science

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Aldous Huxley, Charles Darwin, Double Helix, Genetics, hallucinogenic drug, Life

At birth, Aldous Huxley immediately found himself surrounded by England’s Literary and Scientific elite. His father, Leonard Huxley was teaching classic literature at Charterhouse School in Surry England. Leonard later wrote biographies on Robert Scott, Charles Darwin, and his own father Thomas Henry Huxley. Aldous’s grandfather, biologist Thomas Henry Huxley or as he was better known as, “Darwin’s Bulldog”; was an avid defender of evolution and a supporter of Charles Darwin. His mother Judith or Julia Arnold was the granddaughter of Dr. Thomas Arnold, headmaster of Rugby School and the niece of English Poet Matthew Arnold. His older brother Julian followed his grandfather’s example and become an excellent biologist, philosopher, and educator. Huxley’s half brother Andrew went on to win the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine. Born during the height of Victorian era in England, Aldous Leonard Huxley came into this world on July 26 1894, in Godalming, Surrey England.

Educated at home by his mother, Aldous attended Eton and after graduating Balliol College, Oxford in 1916, Huxley started his career as a writer and an author. Starting as a journalist, writing primarily satire, Huxley’s later works offered more in depth thoughts about politics, society, and psychology. Aldous Huxley’s first full-length novel Chrome Yellow, written in 1921, continued in a similar satirical vein. During the 1920s and 30s Huxley spent much of his time traveling the world visiting the United States, India, and Europe, spending much of it in Italy during the rise of Fascism. It was in this setting in 1932 that he wrote his classic novel, “A Brave New World.” In 1937, Huxley immigrated to the United States and settled in California. Continue reading →

The Concept of Wanting Things

19 Friday Sep 2014

Posted by robb1138 in Personal Experience, Philosophy

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Genetics

I think that the want of things is a matter of nurture over nature. However, I believe the tendency for one to be more inclined to want more than others. Example, a child whose parents deny or limit in the extreme basic needs may cause a child to grow up with a greater desire to WANT more in order to compensate for what they lacked as a child. Conversely, a child may grow up the feelings of entitlement and believe that the world owes them more.In both cases I blame the parents for not moderating their child’s psychology. Culture is also a motivating force. Growing up around people who always strive for more than they need will also cause this sense of need. I would blame religion but it is really a lack of ethics and that may or may not be a failing with religion but more of a sense of a lack of identity and self esteem of the greedy person.

Genetic Engineering is here to stay; get over it!

15 Monday Sep 2014

Posted by robb1138 in Science

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Genetics

The article “Biology and Behavior” states that our genetic makeup plays an important role in how we behave. Although the debate continues whether or not we should rely solely on genetics to solve society’s problems; society must admit that genetics does play a vital role in how behavior is determined. Also scientists constantly study the effects of how different combination of genes causes certain behavior in laboratory animals. Genetic research is here to stay and as a society we are going to have to learn to deal with all its varied moral, legal, and social issues that this subject raises.

Our first look into genetic engineering comes in the form of understanding how our genes affect behavior. Researchers working in this field also look at other factors including environment. For example sometimes the environment has an effect on our body’s chemical makeup that causes genes to interact in ways that they were not meant to. To illustrate, a study of children in Philadelphia’s inner city showed that due to the high concentration levels of lead in their environment certain genetic qualities have manifested themselves in the form of disruptive behavior and in lower grades. Understanding that the environment can alter genes adds additional variables into the genes verses environment equation.

Although environment plays an important role in how humans develop, it is important to understand why genetic research is necessary rather than to approach the problem from a purely social context. The obvious reasons seem to go down the path of good intentions. If doctors identify a fetus with some form of a genetic defect, they feel that with proper genetic identification, there would be a good chance to correct this problem while the child is still in the mother’s womb. Continue reading →

The Pros and Cons of Government Sponsored Genetic Testing

11 Thursday Sep 2014

Posted by robb1138 in Science

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Genetics

The United States government should require and pay for extensive prenatal screening for pregnant women in this country. The U.S. is the only developed country in the world without a social insurance or statutory system to cover basic expenses for medical services for most or all of its population. This is especially problematic for low-income or high-risk individuals who are still able to work but who are self-employed, work part-time, or work for small businesses, and who may not be able to afford or obtain health insurance. Even for those who have health insurance, coverage for most preventive, screening, and counseling services, insurance companies sometimes exclude these items. Therefore, these limitations of U.S. healthcare coverage particularly affect genetics services, which have an important counseling component. Insurance reimbursement or other financing for genetic diagnosis, testing, screening, and essential genetic counseling is not generally available now in the United States. According to the United States Census Bureau’s website, in 2003 more than 45 million people were without health insurance coverage in the United States. The cost of government sponsored prescreening and the prevention of children being born with birth defects outweighs the costs of supporting the severely handicapped or learning impaired. Continue reading →

Welcome

Robert Barbere

Start here

  • Overview
  • Blog
  • About
  • Contact
Follow Robert Barbere on WordPress.com

Blogs I Follow

  • Barbere Productions
  • Strong Language
  • Thought Catalog
  • hessianwithteeth
  • The Daily Post
  • A Constantly Racing Mind...

Follow me on Twitter

My Tweets

RSS A Constantly Racing Mind

  • Battlestar Galactica Viper Mark l August 30, 2021
    1977 was a big year for me.  Two great films came out that year. Roger Moore in A Spy Who Loved Me with that crazy Lotus Esprit that turned into a submarine. And, of course, Star Wars. With the Death Star, Tie Fighters and Y wings, and the iconic X Wing fighter. Now, most Star Wars aficionados know that John Dykstra was in charge of the special effects and w […]
    robb1138
  • The Black Death and the Plague Doctor mask August 23, 2021
    The Great Mortality or as it is better known to as the Black Death, was a time in the medieval history that saw the population of the world practically drop by half.It was a turning point in history that left us with a new world rising from the ashes.Join me as we travel back in time to Medieval Europe and take a look at a time and the headgear of the plague […]
    robb1138
  • The Cross of King Arthur | Reel Art August 10, 2021
     Archeology is the search for facts, not truth, So, When looking at the historical King Arthur, we, unfortunately, must put aside all the romantic characters and imagery that we have been exposed to throughout our lives. We forget the tales of knights in shining armor and start from scratch with the story of Arthur.I am not even sure if there was a King Arth […]
    robb1138

Blog at WordPress.com.

Barbere Productions

Professional Voice Talent

Strong Language

Thought Catalog

Thought Catalog is a digital youth culture magazine dedicated to your stories and ideas.

hessianwithteeth

This site is all about ideas

The Daily Post

The Art and Craft of Blogging

A Constantly Racing Mind...

All In A Day's Work

  • Follow Following
    • Robert Barbere
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Robert Barbere
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar