THE STORY OF YOUR DRUGS

In 2007, a paper from Dr. Daniel Drucker’s lab was published in The Journal of Clinical Investigation titled The role of gut hormones in glucose homeostasis. The paper reviews the actions of gut hormones that regulate glucose levels and the discovery of one hormone in particular, a glucagon-like peptide-1 or GPL1. A little further back in time, Dr. John Eng, an endocrinologist at the Veterans Administration Center in the Bronx, released a paper about Exendin-4. Dr. Eng had been looking into identifying new hormones and heard about certain snake and lizard venoms that produced an enlargement of the pancreas. The pancreas is where our bodies produce insulin and Dr. Eng was curious. What if this could be useful in treating diabetes? One of those hormones is Exendin-4.

Exendin-4 turned out to be very similar to GLP1. Then, around the same time Dr. Eng was playing around with Exendin-4, Dr. Josephine Egan, in collaboration with Amylin Pharmaceuticals, found that injecting diabetic mice daily with Exendin-4 stabilized their blood sugar levels. Several trials later, gave us Ozempic. All from a peptide from gila monster venom and patented by Dr. Eng. This is just one of an infinite number of examples of how basic scientific research leads to big developments in fighting diseases. It is also the kind of research not possible without federal funding. Early studies in Ro ribonucleoproteins by Dr. Judith James gave birth to the Rheumatology Research Center at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation. This center currently has a long list of clinical trials going, because of federally funded basic research.

Right there, in my home state! 

This time every year, an independent outside group of scientists gather together at the FDA to compare and collaborate on data for developing the flu vaccine. Flu viruses change every year either through antigenic drift where the virus’s genes mutate or through antigenic shift where two different flu strains swap genetic material. Through sequencing the most potent flu strains, scientists can predict what the sequence will be in the next flu strain and then vaccines are designed around those predictions. This meeting determines the effectiveness and safety of the flu vaccine you will receive in the Fall. That meeting has been cancelled this year. NPR talked to one of the vaccine experts on the committee, Dr. Paul Offit.

I think there's a value in having an independent committee that looks at the data, holds it to a very high standard. That's a process that makes sure that we can have the best science behind the decisions we make. - Dr. Paul Offit.

A similar meeting has also been cancelled at the CDC. This is going to result in a large delay in making the vaccine for this year’s flu and producing enough to ensure the safety of the public. This is what happens when we freeze money for science and force massive blind layoffs of Federal employees. I selfishly have chosen to highlight a small portion of the destruction forced by the DOGE, mainly because there is so much happening right now. I only have so much energy, but here is the current list of agencies where federal employees are being fired:

• Department of Education (includes the Federal Student Aid office)

• Department of Homeland Security (half of those cuts are in the Federal Emergency Management Agency- FEMA, including our Coast Guard)

• Department of Energy (including the National Nuclear Security Administration)

• United States Agency for International Development

• Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

• Department of Veterans Affairs

• Department of Agriculture (including cuts the US Forest Service- wildfire response and prevention)

• Environmental Protection Agency

• Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Interior (our National Parks)

• Office of Personnel Management (Human resources for the government)

• General Services Administration

• Small Business Administration

• Internal Revenue Service

• Department of Defense.

I am a middle class tax bracket citizen. I have required and received help and or aid in some form from more than half of these agencies. I relied on information from HUD and the first time home buyer benefits when I purchased my house. My family receives benefits from the Gold Star Family program, a federally funded program. I have a lifetime pass to the National Parks through this program. I would not have been able to pay for graduate school without federal loans. Chris would not have been able to pay for any of his college education without federal funding. This is just a drop in the bucket. I can assure you that we all have benefitted from federal programs and I don’t even mind paying federal taxes to contribute to the benefits. I do mind that so much of the federal tax burden lands on the middle class and poor. Trump’s new tax proposal is set to increase my federal taxes by $1,500 while 4% of the country who makes almost one million a year gets a tax cut of $7,000. Want to get really mad? Check out this graph. Did the 77,284,118 people who voted for Trump know he was going to raise their taxes by fifteen hundred dollars? What about their representatives? Did they willingly support candidates who refuse to stand up to a tyrant and allow for an increase in their taxes? Is abortion and the removal of trans rights really worth this tax increase to them? 

After about my third gin and tonic Saturday night, I looked at Michael and said “I’m just so angry all the time and so much of it is directed at things I have no control over.” I can’t fix what’s happening. I can’t reason with those who support this fascist. This administration is by far not making America great, but they are doing a fine job of making it harder to be an American. I know that when I write these entries, the only people reading are those already part of the choir. Michael reminded me that we just keep doing what we’ve been doing. As soon as the Ivanhoe Farmers Market opens, we’ll buy produce there and we will be very mindful of how and where we spend our money. We have a local election in April. We will vote to improve Kansas City schools. I will continue to send money for aid to Ukraine and Palestinians. I will continue to send my weekly accomplishment list to the Nazi. I keep preaching to the choir.

And I will remember that this battle is going to be a long haul. So I need to pace myself and give myself some grace.

I'M LEARNING FRENCH BUT DREAMING IN JAPANESE

Ever since Michael said that we were going to try to make Paris happen this year, I’ve been channeling Yoda and saying “there is no try!” I have committed myself to learning enough French so as not to be the stupide americain in Paris. Michael tried to get through the very first Duolingo lesson and then immediately gave up. He says that he just can’t hear what is being said. I will admit that I struggled through the first three or four lessons for the very same reason, but the more I stick with it, the easier it’s getting. Now I’m trying to use phrases I’ve learned in conversation. I’ve also been listening to a lot of French pop music. I am sure my pronunciation is utter garbage, but I can read French pretty well. 

Sort of.

Meanwhile, I keep waking up at one AM from a recurring dream about a young pregnant Japanese woman who is the only survivor of a bloody assassination attack on her gang lord husband. I think it’s something I’m co-writing with Quentin Terentino because then I lay awake for the next two or so hours mentally writing out what happens to her after she flees the house and all the bloody dead bodies. I have lots of ideas, like this one: Yuri tentatively makes her way into the main living room. Gore and death surrounds her, but she feels a hand grasp her ankle. Yuri struggles to not scream but looks down to see her husband Isamu covered in blood but still gasping for air. She leans down and he draws a bloody finger tip down her cheek, lays his hand on her round full belly before letting the hand drop limply to the floor. Then he rips the chain holding a small silver key from his neck. Isamu places the key in the palm of Yuri’s hand and closes her fingers tight around it. “You are free” Isamu whispers with his last breath.

Then what happens?!?! Who was the assassin? Why was Yuri spared? Is Isamu really the father of the child she’s carrying?

I don’t know! I mean I know, but I don’t know!

Oh, hey…did you know that perimenopausal induced hives are a thing? I do. Also, I’ve been bleeding from my vagina since January 19th. 

The crazy dreaming and sleep habits are partly due to my body, but I have to admit that I’m also doing a lot of worrying. Last week was a doozy. So many things happened! One of those things was that the NIH was told to put a hard pass hold on grant reviews. For those of you who do not know, the NIH funds a lot of basic medical research. Some of you may also not realize that while I am a scientist, research facilities like mine employ a number of nonscience people (maybe even more because it takes a lot to keep a building running). Less, or in this case no grant, money means less jobs for EVERYONE. Putting people out of work doesn’t seem like a smart way to boost an economy, but maybe I just need to be patient and wait it out…

The White House budget office ordered a pause in all federal loans and grants. The directive could upend funding for local governments, disaster relief and education. -The New York Times

Anyway, I’m worried about not having a job in the future and I’m worried about my friends who are in similar situations. I’m worried about the safety of my friends who have been receiving extra amounts of bigotry and just plain hatefulness thrown at them (at times, literally). This administration hit the ground running to make this country more discriminative and are taking off their bigotry filters (if they even had any to begin with). There’s a woman I have followed in the blog community for years. She’s wonderful, writes books on being kind and spreading joy. She’s a beacon of light. Her elderly parents have been accosted multiple times in the last few months. One of those times, her father could have been seriously injured because a man pushed him off his bike. The other time, a white woman angrily yelled the n-word at both of her parents and then threatened to beat them over a parking situation. 

Is this the country that we are now? What does “Make America Great Again” truly mean? Because if this, straight up encouraging hatefulness and taking away funding that supports low and middle class citizens is the way to “make America great”, I’m not sure I want any part of being an American. And I am struggling to understand how anyone who claims to be a follower of Christ can support any of this. Leaving the country, which is something Michael and I have discussed in regards to our retirement, is becoming a more appealing idea. Chris and I, years ago, started doing this thing where we’d take vacations to where we thought we might want to live someday. We’d pretty much settled on Portland,OR and Kansas City wasn’t even on our list, but we ended up very happy with our move. Nine blissfully happy months. Anyway, maybe this is how Michael and I should consider our travel adventures, start vacationing in places we might want to retire to one day. Except Paris. I know Paris is an unsustainable retirement option. 

Especially if my retirement is fucked because I lose my job next year. 

I TURNED 41

Snuggles

See this Instagram photo by @elephant_soap * 4 likes

Michael said something a day or two ago about how I didn't write anything about my birthday. I shrugged and said "Huh, I guess I didn't." and then I kind of shuffled away. My birthday was a non-event this year. We went out to a fancy dinner the Sunday before where we ate snails and I drank two Pimm's cups. The day of my birthday, I took Josephine to the groomer and I met with my massage therapist where I laid on a biomat filled with healing crystals and voodoo. Michael took his truck in to get a hitch installed and I picked him up so he wouldn't have to wait around all day. We went to lunch, cheap vietnamese food and then I spent the rest of the afternoon on the couch watching Hell on Wheels.

This is fine. I am not upset about any of it. Sure, I have had better birthdays. Remember that time just before I interviewed for this job when I requested a strawberry cake and Audra said strawberries were not in season? I thought I was getting something else and when I cut into it, it was all pink. It was a surprise strawberry cake! That was a good birthday. I have also had worse birthdays, as many of you well know. So when Michael said something about me not writing an entry for that day, what I should have told him was that there was nothing really to write about. Actually, that is how I feel in general right now. In fact I have deleted three different entries, one was a list of things I didn't do last week, one was woe is me tale of birthdays, and one was regarding the camper. We freaked out about the camper we were buying and have since downgraded back to the original pop-up. We get it on Saturday. 

Here are some things that have taken up so much space in my brain over the last two weeks:

• The camp trailer. The size of said camp trailer. Hauling that camp trailer. Parking that camp trailer in the driveway. This problem has been solved.
• Politics. Confirmation hearings. Cabinet members who have been chosen to head cabinets they are totally against. Losing the Affordable Care Act. The gag order issued to scientists to not discuss their work or publish data. A wall that Mexico is not going to pay for, but funding will probably come from dismantling the National Endowment for the Arts. The loss of our National Parks. The list really looks like this woman's sign.

• Building a yoga workshop on straps and maybe blocks. I lugged my giant yoga binder from teacher training out of the basement and started a list of poses. I have an idea for a handout that I need to build and then get that list of poses organized into a lesson. I will do this before February.
• Updating my life list or taking it down. I haven't looked at that thing in years. It is outdated and i haven't been keeping track of things like how many museums I've been too. There's also items on the list that are just plain sad now. I should do something about that.
• Starting a science lesson entry blog post. I thought I'd write up something about the Scientific Method and how to apply that method. Maybe give people a better understanding of what goes into the process of preparing data and information for publication. 
• The idea that I'm sitting in a hamster wheel, just spinning and go nowhere. That idea is totally unfair because I have been busy doing science and making progress in that science. I have been active with rallies and contacting my Senator every day. Thursday evening is the AIDS Walk Kick Off party and Terry has asked me to be a photographer since the original guy bailed out. I am worried that I am not an aggressive enough photographer for this job, but it is all part of being a volunteer. I am busy.

I think that's it. 

THANKFUL FRIDAY

Roy Blunt Mobile office staff. We're letting our voices be heard. #indispensable #kcmo

See this Instagram photo by @elephant_soap * 5 likes

This week, I attended a mobile office event for Roy Blunt, I signed myself up to attend a Women's March Event, and I put mine and Michael's name on the volunteer list for the AIDS Walk Open. Then I went over and updated my AIDS Walk fundraising page because it's never too early to start raising money. This year is starting to look like a year of activism, something I felt I wouldn't be involved in at this stage of my life. I think back to when I was younger and less disillusioned and I dragged Chris, Amy and Brian to our first Red River Democracy meeting. We believed that we could make a real difference in the state of Oklahoma. At least I believed it for a while. (I kid you not, Cold Play's 'Fix You' just started playing while I'm typing this.) It became painfully obvious that a large number of Oklahomans did not want the same kind change and good things that I wanted for that state.   

The mobile office event, even though we were talking to staffers who were writing every thing down to pass on to the senator, reminded me that I may not have the same passion as I did then, but I still have a desire. That event also reminded me that I can talk to my senator about things that matter to me whenever I want even if I didn't vote for that person. I have a voice. YOU have a voice. There's no reason we have to sit back and just let our congress people and representatives do whatever they want and then listen to them say they are looking out for their constituents. It is our responsibility to make them accountable and to make sure they know what exactly their constituents want from them.

There were about fifty people crammed into a very small meeting room for the mobile event, more than Roy Blunt's staff members had ever had to deal with at one of these things. All of us shared our concerns over losing the Affordable Care Act (without even a hint of a plan to take it's place), the quickness in vetting cabinet members without proper background checks and investigations, what will become of our teachers if vouchers are put in place, and what's going to be done about a President who continues to bully and use hateful speech. I am thankful for everyone of those voices. Because of the size of our group, I feel like our voices are bound to be heard. I am thankful for the glimpse of my younger more passionate self. I am thankful for the reminder that real change happens on a local level. 

I am thankful for some major successful experiments that I did at work this week. I am thankful for all the greens I've eaten this week. I am thankful for those moments in the middle of the night when I feel Josephine get up from her spot at the end of the bed and move to curl up into a ball at my side. I am thankful that Michael put air filters in the furnace (something I've never done because I couldn't figure out how or where). I went to dust the house last night and there was hardly any dust. I am thankful for the perfectly poached egg that I ate for breakfast this morning and I am thankful for you.

Here's to a weekend of hopefully not sliding around on ice and a truly Thankful Friday.