Posts by Comatose

58

The Noah Movie

by Quarterback in

well, i saw it.

you better get ready for everyone's talk about it.. it was 25 % biblical, 75 % fantasy.. noah was mean as a character, his family was great.

methusala, was an old fart..

I couldn't watch it personally. The flood is why I am now out of the WT and normal. I couldn't sit through 2 hours of movie modeled after that story. Even if it is an inaccurate telling. My brain would melt.

11

Gene therapy to cure disease and possibly aging

by Comatose in

jw
friends

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/03/140330151614.htm.

this article is amazing.

there have been other recent articles about reversing aging in mice.

Comatose

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/03/140330151614.htm

This article is amazing. There have been other recent articles about reversing aging in mice. Science is the solution.

The findings, described in the March 30 issue of Nature Biotechnology, offer the first evidence that this gene-editing technique, known as CRISPR, can reverse disease symptoms in living animals. CRISPR, which offers an easy way to snip out mutated DNA and replace it with the correct sequence, holds potential for treating many genetic disorders, according to the research team.

"What's exciting about this approach is that we can actually correct a defective gene in a living adult animal," says Daniel Anderson, the Samuel A. Goldblith Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering at MIT, a member of the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, and the senior author of the paper.

The recently developed CRISPR system relies on cellular machinery that bacteria use to defend themselves from viral infection. Researchers have copied this cellular system to create gene-editing complexes that include a DNA-cutting enzyme called Cas9 bound to a short RNA guide strand that is programmed to bind to a specific genome sequence, telling Cas9 where to make its cut.

At the same time, the researchers also deliver a DNA template strand. When the cell repairs the damage produced by Cas9, it copies from the template, introducing new genetic material into the genome. Scientists envision that this kind of genome editing could one day help treat diseases such as hemophilia, Huntington's disease, and others that are caused by single mutations.

Scientists have developed other gene-editing systems based on DNA-slicing enzymes, also known as nucleases, but those complexes can be expensive and difficult to assemble.

"The CRISPR system is very easy to configure and customize," says Anderson, who is also a member of MIT's Institute for Medical Engineering and Science. He adds that other systems "can potentially be used in a similar way to the CRISPR system, but with those it is much harder to make a nuclease that's specific to your target of interest."

Disease correction

For this study, the researchers designed three guide RNA strands that target different DNA sequences near the mutation that causes type I tyrosinemia, in a gene that codes for an enzyme called FAH. Patients with this disease, which affects about 1 in 100,000 people, cannot break down the amino acid tyrosine, which accumulates and can lead to liver failure. Current treatments include a low-protein diet and a drug called NTCB, which disrupts tyrosine production.

In experiments with adult mice carrying the mutated form of the FAH enzyme, the researchers delivered RNA guide strands along with the gene for Cas9 and a 199-nucleotide DNA template that includes the correct sequence of the mutated FAH gene.

Using this approach, the correct gene was inserted in about one of every 250 hepatocytes -- the cells that make up most of the liver. Over the next 30 days, those healthy cells began to proliferate and replace diseased liver cells, eventually accounting for about one-third of all hepatocytes. This was enough to cure the disease, allowing the mice to survive after being taken off the NCTB drug.

"We can do a one-time treatment and totally reverse the condition," says Hao Yin, a postdoc at the Koch Institute and one of the lead authors of the Nature Biotechnologypaper.

To deliver the CRISPR components, the researchers employed a technique known as high-pressure injection, which uses a high-powered syringe to rapidly discharge the material into a vein. This approach delivers material successfully to liver cells, but Anderson envisions that better delivery approaches are possible. His lab is now working on methods that may be safer and more efficient, including targeted nanoparticles.

10

Please I need help

by kneehighmiah in

jw
friends

so my doubting spiritually weak girlfriend talked to some spiritually strong christians and decided we should breakup.

she said she knows breaking up is probably a mistake, but she has a troubled conscience.

she says she truly loves me, but i was causing her to doubt more and more.

Comatose

Hey that is a tough spot to be in... Sorry. Here is some info that could get you started, it should have all the references you need.

http://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/quotes/education.php

http://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/directed-by-holy-spirit.php

from this link on spirit directed:

"The Governing Body consists of a group of anointed Christian men These preside over the worldwide activities of Jehovah's Witnesses. They are not inspired by God and hence are not infallible, but they rely on God's infallible Word as the highest authority on earth." Jehovah's Witnesses - Unitedly Doing God's Will Worldwide p.26

"The brothers preparing these publications are not infallible. Their writings are not inspired as are those of Paul and the other Bible writers." Awake!1993 Mar 22 p.4

23

My best friend died.

by Decided in

jw
friends

Comatose

Sorry Ken. I wish you the best and hope you can find some simple small joys in life to appreciate over the next few days. Take care.

16

Selective memories and disfellowshipping

by Really?! in

i've been out around 20 years (da'd), but recently i've really started to struggle with certain aspects of relating to family members who are still in, as well as my own thoughts and feelings about my upbringing and my personal views about god/life the universe.

i have an older sibling and my mum who are still in.

we are a small family and my dear grandmother, who was not in, passed away around a year ago.

Comatose

Hi! Welcome to the forum! It is so great to have you. You can post here about anything you want. Please do by the way, you will meet lots of nice people and expressing yourself here is a great outlet.

6

Sitting in the meeting now...so bored...

by stuckinarut2 in

hey all,.

i'm sitting in the meeting now...so very bored...speaker is going on and on... serve more, sacrifice more etc.... smite me now!

please!.

Comatose

I couldn't sit through a meeting. Last few we went to, we sat in the second hall and I checked twitter and JWN while the wife looked at Pinterest. To sit and not do something else was like watching the worlds worst movie with the worst actors ever for the tenth time.

51

The Good News of The Kingdom - Gods Plan for Salvation through the Ransom (Help Needed)

by objectivetruth in

when i first began studying in order to "make the truth my own", there were a set of scriptures that perplexed me and motivated me to dig deeper.. the scriptures are regarding the resurrection of the inhabitants of sodom & gomorrah.. see jesus words here - matthew 10:15 - "truly i say to you, it will be more endurable for the land of sodom and gomorrah on judgment day than for that city.

" (ezekiel 16:48 / matthew 11:23 / matthew 11:24 / luke 10:12 ).

any time that i brought these scriptures up to jw friends and family they would reply like this "jesus was speaking in hyperbole.. that is why he said it would be more endurable".. i would clarify and show them that it says "will be".

Comatose

Are you in a manic episode? This posting after posting is quite strange.

12

Getting to know the mind of God (part 1) Incest? No big deal. Looking back? Instant death.

by BU2B in

it seems that genesis is chock full of goodies to make yhwh look less than the loving, impartial, fair god so many think they worship.. here is another one i just thought of.. yhwh decides to turn lot's wife into a mound of salt for the horrible crime of "looking back" toward her home.

this is brought up often by jws who use the story to tell jws not to look at the things behind.. we all know god is consistent and never changes so compare what happens later.. lots daughters cannot seem to find any man around so they conspire two nights in a row to get their father drunk, and have sex with him two nights in a row.

gods response?-...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.............. there isnt one .

Comatose

Just go back in time a night before that. When the Angels were in town visiting lot staying in his home. The bad people of the town came to try to have sex with the Angels. So instead of asking the angels for help or praying to his mighty God as a faithful servant would, lot offers to send out his two virgin daughters for the crowd to rape all night long.

Apparently this didn't bother the daughters since they had sex with their dad a day later.

11

"Draw Close To Jehovah" study - strange logic..

by BluesBrother in

what do you think of the reasoning in this paragraph from this week's meeting study?.

draw close to jehovah - chapt 4 .

21 consider jehovahs self-restraint from a different angle.

Comatose

Had this conversation with my mom yesterday. She doesn't comprehend it. Can't even begin to see it. To her Jehovah is LOVING and wants me to live if I will only do what I'm supposed to. Brain dead.

43

Why JWs don't celebrate Mother's day

by Laika in

in the uk, this sunday is mother's day!

ask a jw why they don't celebrate holidays and they'll tell you it's because of some nefarious pagan connection.

but this is really just a cover.

Comatose

Laika great post. You are right. I'll add that they don't individual families to be close. They want people close to them as a group no each other.