That Time Already Or. Ethical Dilemma's

Hello Dear Readers,
I'm just going to jump right in with, I couldn't think of anything to write. And I know that I have two weeks to think of something, but those are also still two weeks of Vet School term 3, which really keeps me busy trying to not fall to far behind in any one subject while prepping for whatever test I have coming up (there are a lot) so instead of me just cutting this post short I am going to present my Ethics paper for your reading pleasure? (sure why not) and some photos because I can.

TTFN and sorry for not having something more pertinent if I think of something I will make a post next week.

Cloning for the purpose of de extinction: an ethical dilemma

The bucardo became an extinct species in 2000, in 2003 the last bucardo was born and died of respiratory failure minutes after birth (Choi, 2009). This singular case brings the ethical dilemma of de-extinction with its various avenues and rabbit holes. However, the purpose of this paper is to explore what the ethics of de-extinction are today, and what the ethics of de-extinction might be one day; by looking at the welfare of the animals involved. As in case mentioned above, if de-extinction were to become a viable process, what would the effects be on animal conservation, what would the impact on the environment be when releasing cloned animals and what changes in legislation would be required.

The process of de-extinction has several steps starting with sequencing the animal’s complete genome and ending with the implantation of a fertilized egg in to a surrogate dam. These processes are, for the most part, out of the scope of this paper, however, the last step is of great importance and is the beginning of the animal welfare issues. Evaluation of animal welfare will use the 5 freedoms 1) no anxiety, 2) behavior is to be normal, 3) to be comfortable, 4) free of disease, pain or injury, 5) have energy from food and water. (Kirwan, 2018, p1) The act of implantation causes the surrogate to lose three of its five freedoms; the freedom from fear and distress, the freedom of normal behavior and the freedom from pain and injury.  Most animals that are proposed for de-extinction have no domestic relatives, so in the act of tranquilizing, moving, and handling the surrogate is exposed to mental suffering; this is the loss of freedom from distress.  The freedom to normal behavior is loss by having to care for the fetus of a different species; therefore, that animal is being deprived of its normal behavior. Undue pain or injury caused by the pregnancy and parturition is the final loss “Cows and ewes used as surrogates for SCNT-derived pregnancies appear to be at increased risk of late gestational complications” (U.S. FDA, p, 199) (somatic cell nuclear transfer, SCNT is a method of cloning). Care of the surrogate is of the highest quality; however, it is currently impossible to complete the task with out compromising the before mentioned freedoms.

What of the offspring? What would its welfare look like? “There is an increased risk of mortality and morbidity in perinatal calf and lamb clones” (U.S. FDA, p, 199). Even with a high quality of care this seems to negate the freedom from pain. What happens to the welfare of the cloned animals once born and healthy? There is a very limited gene pool to pull from, the process of inbreeding would only be viable to an extent (Choi, 2009), so cloning and genome sequencing would need to continue.

If de-extinction were to become a viable process, there could be a fundamental shift in thinking about how to conserve endangered species. The possibility of cloning for the protection of endangered species is already being considered one of the better options available; “Conservationists in Brazil are poised to try cloning eight animals that are under pressure” (Coghlan, 2012). However, there are problems with this way of thinking, consider the Mammuthus primigenius one of the more popular de-extinction candidates; a 10,000-year-old woolly mammoth carcass that preserves muscle tissue the color of fresh meat (Wong, 2013). Consider the welfare of the cloned woolly mammoth, while in captivity its’ shelter, food, and water would be provided for, as well as the freedom from pain and injury. Nevertheless, the freedom to normal behavior, and freedom from metal suffering is not guaranteed. Now consider the mammoths welfare if it were reestablished as a wild species. Think of the welfare of the native intact species. The mammoths could presumable maintain normal behavior, and might also be free from mental suffering, there should be food, water and shelter. Still the environment has changed, “evidence reveals that current warming is occurring roughly ten times faster than the average rate of ice-age-recovery warming.” (NASA, 2018), which would lead to the loss of normal behavior and could create fear and distress, it could also lead to pain or disease. Three of the freedoms are potentially compromised for the mammoth, which might or might not be the case in the real world. Considering the impact on the native species there are invasive species models which could help shed some light on their welfare if mammoths were introduced; “Many species are limited primarily by food availability and secondarily by density-dependent factors” (Lohr, 2017 p.3), showing that they could impact the supply of food, the quality of shelter and the normal behavior of animals. There is also the potential for physical harm to humans. There is also a small possibility that through the cloning process unknown viral DNA could be copied leading to a viral outbreak in livestock, exotics, companion animals, or even humans. This is a very unlikely outcome, but all possibilities need to be considered. Another possibility is that the reintroduction of the wooly mammoth could help the environment (Mann, 2018) making it an important ecologic species.

Currently de-extinction and animal cloning have no federal laws. Rather, de-extinction has a set of guidelines laid out by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Cloned animals used for food have a set of health guidelines that need to be adhere to. For example, if the dodo bird were brought back, and subsequently domesticated in the U.S. using an entirely cloned population for the production of meat and eggs for human consumption; there would be a required health check to insure quality of the products. If the animal did not meet FDA standards for human consumption then they would, like non cloned animals, be used in animal feeds. “No animal feed risks unique to clones were identified in the Risk Assessment” (U.S. FDA, 2008, p.3). Now reflect on human cloning and the field which is more associated with the genetic manipulation processes of de-extinction eugenics, which also have limited laws and regulations. Currently Australia has very strict laws allowing only curtain licensed individuals to perform certain parts of the process but never to complete a human clone; “Offense—placing a human embryo clone in the human body or the body of an animal” (AU, NHMRC, 2017 p7). The U.S. has no federal laws banning cloning, only sanctions on government spending in the areas of human cloning. However there are no such sanctions for animal cloning. Revive and restore a non-profit organization, and one of the largest de-extinction groups is based on charitable donations and not government funding, thus circumventing the limitations of government funding. (“Lour, 2018). Still once an extinct species has been successfully cloned it could come under the endangered species act, and thus government protection and taxpayer money, or they might be classified as invasive (IUCN SCC, 2016, p17). The lack of federal laws in the U.S. leaves it to states to regulate human cloning. The lack of laws means cloning is essentially an open field where abuse of processes and techniques designed for de-extinction being used in human cloning is a very real possibility. Having the partial genome for a person could lead to the cloning of historic figures, although unlikely, as current cloning techniques would allow for the cloning of those living as well as the recently deceased, albeit with many failed attempts. It is this fact which has kept full human cloning from being attempted as it would be unethical to have hundreds of failed attempts. Just as the de-extinction process calls for the use of hundreds of surrogates, 208 embryos were implanted for the cloning of the bucardo, 7 goats became pregnant and of those 1 made term (Choi, 2009), while these are only animals there is still an ethical dilemma that faces those seeking the return of extinct species.

De-extinction is mostly still theoretical in nature, with the single exception of the bucardo. As such the ethics are still only mostly theoretical as well. Yet the current state is only for today. Looking forward as de-extinctions techniques evolve and change, so will the ethical issues surrounding it. The facts remain the same, some species have become extinct, whether due to environmental changes or the effects of the human population, makes no difference to the extinct species. A dead animal no longer requires welfare, so we should instead focus on the task of preserving the welfare and lives of living animals, and the welfare of the animals used as surrogates.  “UNLESS someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not.” (Seuss, 1971).

References:

Choi, Charles Q. “First Extinct-Animal Clone Created.” National Geographic, 10 Feb. 2009, www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2009/02/news-bucardo-pyrenean-ibex-deextinction-cloning/.

Seuss, Dr. The Lorax. New York: Random House, 1971.

“Our Supporters.” Revive & Restore, 19 Mar. 2018, reviverestore.org/our-supporters/. https://reviverestore.org/our-supporters/

 

Kirwan, A.P. (2018) Ethics in Veterinary practice, St. George’s University.

United States, FDA, “Animal Cloning: A Risk Assessment.” Animal Cloning: A Risk Assessment, Center for Veterinary Medicine, U. S. Food and Drug Administration, Department of Health and Human Services, 1 Aug. 2008. www.fda.gov/downloads/AnimalVeterinary/SafetyHealth/AnimalCloning/UCM124756.pdf. 

Coghlan, Andy. “Brazil Aims to Clone Endangered Animals.” New Scientist, New Scientist, 12 Nov. 2012, www.newscientist.com/article/dn22493-brazil-aims-to-clone-endangered-animals/. 

Wong, Kate. “Can a Mammoth Carcass Really Preserve Flowing Blood and Possibly Live Cells?” Nature News, Nature Publishing Group, 30 May 2013, www.nature.com/news/can-a-mammoth-carcass-really-preserve-flowing-blood-and-possibly-live-cells-1.13103. 

NASA “Climate Change Evidence: How Do We Know?” NASA, NASA, 8 Aug. 2018, www.climate.nasa.gov/evidence/.  

Lohr, Cheryl A., et al. “Modeling Dynamics of Native and Invasive Species to Guide Prioritization of Management Actions.” Ecosphere, vol. 8, no. 5, 15 May 2017, doi:10.1002/ecs2.1822. 

Mann, Paul. “Can Bringing Back Mammoths Help Stop Climate Change?” Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Institution, 14 May 2018, www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/can-bringing-back-mammoths-stop-climate-change-180969072/.

United States, FDA, “Guidance for Industry Use of Animal Clones and Clone Progeny for Human Food and Animal Feed” Guidance for Industry Use of Animal Clones and Clone Progeny for Human Food and Animal Feed, Center for Veterinary Medicine, U. S. Food and Drug Administration, Department of Health and Human Services, 15 Jan. 2008 https://www.fda.gov/downloads/AnimalVeterinary/GuidanceComplianceEnforcement/GuidanceforIndustry/UCM052469.pdf

 

Australia, (NHMRC) National Health and Medical Research Council,“Prohibition of Human Cloning for Reproduction Act 2002.” Prohibition of Human Cloning for Reproduction Act 2002, 21 Sept. 2017. www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2017C00306. 

IUCN SSC (2016). IUCN SSC Guiding principles on Creating Proxies of Extinct Species for Conservation Benefit. Version 1.0. Gland, Switzerland: IUCN Species Survival Commission https://portals.iucn.org/library/sites/library/files/documents/Rep-2016-009.pdf

Easter a Time to Remember Or, Always Check the Mouth of a Gift Horse

Hello Dear Readers, firstly sorry I am a day late yesterday was still a "day off" which I spent studying and feeling kinda off so I just decided to wait till today to write. So Easter is a great time of year first and foremost because of what it represents Jesus dying and rising from the dead 3 days later, 2ndly because here at SGU we get a four day weekend, which I spent trying to relax and have some fun but also studying for 3 upcoming exams.
So in my sad sad attempt to relax which only succeed in making me feel like the lazy, good for nothing, procrastinator that I am. I also found myself reminiscing, which seem to be happening more and more to me, if it happens with anymore frequency I be seeing my life flashing before my eyes, so I suppose I could be dying, or it could just be the hardcore sleep depredation. Ether way it is slightly interesting to see what things I look back on with such fondness and longing to go back to that time just for a visit, and the things that I kinda don't care about or almost wish had never happened. Now I am not going to get into any specific memories, but I will say that I am surprised by the number of specific exact moments that have shaped my life.

 Moving on to a slightly more lighthearted look at what happens on a long weekend in vet school, and the answer to that is very easy nothing happens, ether you chill hangout with friends and you get no studying done, or you study everyday and you have no fun and you relax 0%, or you try to both have some fun and get some studying done. Which ends with nothing happening since your fun is spooled by think that you should be studying and your study suffers because you just want to be done so you can have fun, it's lose lose but since this is vet school nothing can be easy so we had/have two of the hardest quiz's this week and then Monday we have a final, A Final! just writing this I could feel my stress levels rising.
So whats the take away here, Days off are a form of mental warfare designed to break students who are already losing it. and thank God because without him I would never have a shot at make it though this mine field. TTFN

P.S. Photo is a bit of reminiscing

Boomerang , Or How we all Stay Sane

Hello Dear Readers, It's kinda getting crazy with only about 4 weeks till finals start, also I have 4 quiz's and a final that will happen before then, a four day weekend for Easter and I alter from feeling like I can't possibly get though, understand and remember all the material for the tests and beyond. and feeling like I might be able to pull off high marks on some of the test, and a confidence that I can beat this term, but we will see how it goes, all I can do is my best and that will just have to be good enough.
On to the core of this post, this last week in physio 2 we have been going over a lot of "review" of bio-chem, at the same time I got a Facebook memory of some notes that I had posted when I was in bio-chem which I promptly used to help complete some homework, I am honestly surprised by how much of my undergrad classes have come back to me and helped me to better understand some of my classes, I will also say that there are also classes and lectures that seem to have nothing to do with my classes, this is mostly since the whole of my undergrad is covered in the first slide set, vet school is hard their is no doubt about that.
Now you maybe wondering with all this stress how does one stay sane (or at the very lest, not go more crazy), well that's a bit of a tricky question mostly since there is a different answer for each individual, the advise I received a long time ago was to be a good vet you need a hobby that has nothing to do with animals, for me it was racing cars but since I can't really do that on Grenada (unfortunately), however I was lucky enough to find Improv Club here and now when I am on island that is how I deal with my stress, the big thing for me is not the actual improv (although I think I am getting the hang of it and it is very fun), the big thing is that I have friends that I can have fun with.
Friends really good friends that you can talk about anything, your problems, your success, the stuff that they don't really care about, someone who makes who makes you go to a beach front restaurant, a Friend, BFF, Confidant, a Best Vet School Buddy. TTFN 

WellnessWeek, Or Quiz quiz go away, Or Smoke roll on by

Hello, dear readers last week was a bit dark so this week i figured I would talk about some good good stuff.
Starting with wellness week a week full of events put on by SAVMA (Student AVMA) which is pretty cool there are loads of different things to do, like free massages, bob rose panting nights, a wellness lunch lecture everyday, I am sure I am missing some events and other wellness stuffs. But the most important one of the events was a collaboration with the Improv Comedy Club, the show we put on was sort of the big week ending event, and as a bones the show went real real well.
In other news I finished up my first round of quiz's which has had it's ups and downs, but at lest I get a bit of a mental stress break for a little bit. Well this was a short one, but before I go I have some interesting news a building in the True Blue industrial park caught fire today as far as I know no one was hurt, but it is wired coincidence considering that a building in my home county's town square just burned down, so just watch out dear readers and remember that fire is great till it's not. TTFN

I found a baby Gecko, Or AVMA site visit.

Hello Dear readers, This last week has been a bit wired, compounding this today was my first quiz which I felt super good about, and then it blind sided me with badly worded question. but that's now behind me I am going to take A extra hour off this afternoon, and then proceed to ace everything else this term.
Okay now that I got that of my chest let's move on to happier subjects like how the other day I found a Baby gecko on the inside of my windowsill (see photos) It was very small and extremely cute. there are a number of lizards on the island which for someone from south central Tennessee is a bit odd to see so meany, oh yes we see snakes, turtles, and the odd skink, but no big lizards or geckos.
In a totally unrelated event, SGU is still trying to get everything set up for the AVMA site visit which could end the schools accreditation (probably won't) but it has lead to RULES being enforced, since for the most part the school likes to put out these rules and never enforce them, It's like a fun game of Simon says but instead of doing what Simon says usually people just smile and node, like that's nice. here are some of the most ignored "Rules" no eating or drinking (expect for water) in the lecture halls, study rooms/halls, on the buses, and the one that makes since in the labs. the problem with this rule is that most clubs hold lunch lectures or meetings where food is available and where do you have these meetings Lecture halls, study areas, and some times in lab, so there would be a double standard if this rule was ever enforced (which it will be when the AVMA comes), next and my favorite rule from the AVMA directly, No animals in class. Since it would be a distraction (fair point) then the professors ask people to bring there dogs for lab which is 1 hour after lecture (not really enough time to go home get your dog, eat lunch, and then be back in time for lab.
anyway I will stop ranting now and go back to studding since I have a quiz on Friday, Have a good week, Do not let one mishap throw your whole week off. TTFN

Henry

Henry

Henry

 

Earthquake! Or Valcano!

Hey there Dear Readers, We had an earthquake yesterday, it was a 5.7 but it was far enough away that it was barley a thing, but it did lead me to finding out that off the coast of the other side of the island there is in fact an Active Volcano that last erupted in April of this year.
Okay so staying on the natural train I have to say that some (SOME) days last week where ineradicable it wasn't hummed, it might have been cold if the sun was not out (could in that anything below 80F outside feels cold now). However it is back to being super hot and hummed here so all is right with the world.
Let's just jump back into Kick Em' Jenny which is the name of the under water volcano off the east coast of Grenada and the Northwest coast of a smaller Grenadian island known as Diamond Rock, the reason no one knew that Kick Em' Jenny was erupting in April is that it is 180m below the surface of the water.

Since we are learning lets straighten out what might now be going though your head, yes the earthquake and volcano are totally unrelated to each other. Islands in the Caribbean are actually fairly active when it comes to seismic activity which is something that I Learn yesterday. The more you know TTFN

P.S. if you want to learn more this is a great resource. http://uwiseismic.com/

     

     

Storm quizing Or Cheese cake, On a Island

Hello Dear Readers, let me start by thanking everyone for the prayers, we have been very fortunate, and God has been keeping us safe.
So on to the blog stuff the first quiz was today and I will take an 85, (for real this time last term i was already having a mental break down) I feel really good currently even though there is a bit of a storm hanging around but it is the rainy session so it's to be expected, next week is the anatomy quiz so will see how things are going after that.
in other news I made cheese cake on a island which doesn't sound all that impressive, (which it is not) but it was a very interesting, in that I feel like I appreciate how much work real bakers do. ( it did turn out really well)
Ok so lets just jump cut to this (transitions are for punks[not really i am just writing this in a hour between class and des])
My roommates  and I are still running Gupta's Home Style Cooking and Fusion, a family meal every Friday night for anyone that is willing to bring at least one item for the meals production, I think it is actually helping those that come de stress which makes me happy, also a Island vet school sitcom would be amazing.
Ok well this was a random week but I will try to be more put together in future post, till then TTFN

     

A Comedy of Quiz's Or Gupta's Home Style Cooking and Fusion

This last week was crazy three quizzes, two in anatomy, and one in animal nutrition. This lead to high stress levels, and loads of studying which normally would be a boring blog post but ill give it a go. reading notes x99000, going over bones and muscles x130000, and that is pretty much it aside from this weekend which was spent (gasp!) studying Histo for the quiz on Monday.
On to the more interesting part of the week which almost entirely happened on Friday (and by almost I mean it all happened on Friday after class), I got a hair cut which was okay a bit expensive, then I went to the improve comedy clubs show, which was very funny in till I got ("randomly") chosen to participate but that wasn't to bad, I was told that I was funny (shrug). moving on to the best part of Friday night and it wasn't the lights, it was the cooking a couple of us vet students got to gather each  providing parts of the cooking supply's, Ben (a faceless, meaning less name to most of you) was planning on doing most of the cooking but I couldn't help myself so I help with the cooking, at the same time a non company (part of the student visa we have here is we cannot make money), anyway myself and Ben decided that it would be nice to do this cooking at someones kitchen using a lot of different food stuffs. We also felt that this needed a name we settled on Gupta's Home Style Cooking and Fusion, (Dr. Gupta is are Histo professor) also I liked the idea that it would be like a food truck.
Now I am looking back at this post it's really not very good but I did almost forget to write it so I suppose it will have to do for this week and hopefully I will do a better job, anyway remember don't hold yourself to overly high blog standards. see you next week ^_^

   

Bowling the Quiz Or When the Breaking Point Hits!

So I feel like a lot has happened this week we had our first quiz, term 1 went bowling, we had anatomy lab check, and other stuff. Just feels busy plus all the studying for the anatomy quiz's
But lets start with the quiz it was not as bad as I thought it would be, everything was very organized and ran smooth. Now the bowling trip went pretty good as well, every one had fun and seemed to relax a bit, which is just what we all needed plus the next day was Grenada's independence day so we got the day off school (we tried to take advantage of the break with varying degrees of success.
I had my small animal clinical orientation lab on Friday which went good (it was just a general fiscal of a dog which most people haven't done before so if you are thinking of being a vet ask your vet if they would walk you though one on your animal its great practice) luckily for me Austin Peay has one of the best teachers around who taught us how to do fiscals. In fact Austin Peay did a great job preparing me for vet school there hasn't been any totally new concepts or subjects.
But lets move on to something that has been one of the big talking subjects around campus Breaking Points and what happens when we hit them, this was sparked by the sudden announcement by a med student that they where done and they where leaving, and its not like they where the first to leave going to school on a island is not all sunny days and beaches, in fact if you can do well here then you should be able to practice anywhere with no problem. However all your peers may not feel the same way since Island schools career lot of negative cognition's, which is one of the reasons I am writing this blog. So what should we do when we start questing why we are here? Well the problem is that it is a different answer for every person, what I can tell you is running away or trying to ignore it are never good options, SGU goes so far out of there way to try and make sure that every student knows about the help they can get here for free, for every thing from studying to mental stress and fatigue.
The big problem is that we are all to proud to ask for help when we need it, and we push all our problems down in till we break and it floods out of us all at once, threatening to overwhelm us pushing us away from our Hopes, Dreams, and Goals only leaving a scared kid that has no reason to be here. Now the vet school has only lost one person (so far as I am aware), however midterms are just around the corner and I am afraid that the stress will get to more of us. If the stress does get to you just remember that little kid inside that has all those Hopes of  saving life's, Dreams of one day wearing the white coat and having people look at you with admiration, and Goals of becoming a Doctor. And then you will remember why you are putting yourself though all this stress, It's because you could never see yourself doing anything other then becoming a vet.
I will see you all next week, for more adventures and hopefully less stress.

The art of Snake catching Or cultural cross reference!

This last week was mostly uneventful other then studying for the first Quiz, (quiz = small test) most people seem nervous about it. However I feel like its coming more from the strict testing procedures then the material it's self, but we will see Tomorrow how it goes.
So what did happen this week well one yesterday was one of my classmates (and Fellow Tennessean) birthday there was a nice party, cake, I made Sweet tea which is already becoming something I talk about far to much, along with other southern tropes (hey I like the south). Moving on to the other thing that happened, I went snake hunting with the herpetology club which was very fun we where driven (almost to quickly) to Grand Etang where we where split up in to groups and sent down trails, oh did I mention it was dark, and it had rained the day before (MUD!) this lead to lots of almost falling over even when standing still. I almost slide right in to a stream, lucky I didn't and we went on looking for snakes, unfortunately we did not catch any and by we I mean my group one of the other groups did get one. my group did hear some monkeys, one lizard, some bats, a bird, a frog, a male and a female wolf spider (not in the same place), a scorpion, and a Opossum.
Well I think that's it for this week sorry it's so short I will be sure to have more news and adventure next week, But in till then just remember Do Not Go Walking in the Jungle After Dark Alone, Bring your friends.
Also Photos are very hard to take on rough roads in a moving van but I did my best here you go.