Monday, October 22, 2007

Millennial Challenges: Racial Prejudice betrays even the brains of seasoned scients- the Watson Fiasco and its implicaton

The Path from Bacteria, to virus to DNA structure and jump to racism

Lab suspends DNA pioneer Watson

The Nobel Prize-winning DNA pioneer James Watson has been suspended by his research institution in the US.

Dr Watson has drawn severe criticism over remarks he made in a British newspaper at the weekend.

In the interview, he was quoted as saying Africans were less intelligent than Europeans.

The Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory had already distanced itself from the scientist's comments but its trustee board has now suspended him.

A statement from the Long Island, New York, institution said the action was being taken "pending further deliberation by the board".

Unreserved apology

Dr Watson was due to give a lecture at the Science Museum in London on Friday as part of a book tour. But the museum cancelled the event, saying the scientist had gone beyond the point of acceptable debate.

The Bristol Festival of Ideas has also cancelled an appearance by Dr Watson.

And further critical comment of Dr Watson's views has come from Dr Craig Venter, the scientist/businessman who led the private effort to decode the human genome, and who, by coincidence, is also visiting the UK to promote a book.

"Skin colour as a surrogate for race is a social concept not a scientific one," Dr Venter said. "There is no basis in scientific fact or in the human genetic code for the notion that skin colour will be predictive of intelligence."


Dr Watson helped unravel the structure of DNA


In his Sunday Times interview, Dr Watson was quoted as saying he was "inherently gloomy about the prospect of Africa" because "all our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours - whereas all the testing says not really".

He was further quoted as saying that his hope was that everyone was equal but that "people who have to deal with black employees find this is not true".

The scientist has since said that the way the words were presented did not reflect properly his position.

"I can certainly understand why people, reading those words, have reacted in the ways they have," he said.

"To all those who have drawn the inference from my words that Africa, as a continent, is somehow genetically inferior, I can only apologise unreservedly.

"That is not what I meant. More importantly from my point of view, there is no scientific basis for such a belief."

Scientific endeavour

And in comments published in The Independent newspaper on Friday, Dr Watson tries to clarify his position.

"We do not yet adequately understand the way in which the different environments in the world have selected over time the genes which determine our capacity to do different things," he is quoted as saying. "The overwhelming desire of society today is to assume that equal powers of reason are a universal heritage of humanity.

"It may well be. But simply wanting this to be the case is not enough. This is not science. To question this is not to give in to racism. This is not a discussion about superiority or inferiority, it is about seeking to understand differences, about why some of us are great musicians and others great engineers."

Dr Watson was a joint winner in 1962 of the Nobel Prize for discovering the structure of DNA, the molecule that lies at the heart of heredity in living organisms.

When, some 40 years later, Dr Venter and colleagues were finally able to read all of the DNA in our cells, they concluded the concept of race could not easily be described by our genetics.

Venter and his team pointed to the fact that people from different racial groups could be more genetically similar than individuals within the same group. Genetic studies show that there is more variability in the gene pool in Africa, than outside.


Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/science/nature/7052416.stm

Published: 2007/10/19 10:41:55 GMT

Can Scientific Ahievement give one the license to denigrate others with out evidence

© BBC MMVII


Nobel Prize Organization

http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prize/medicine/laureates/1962/watson-bio.html

James Watson the man who turned to churn out Racist Comments and his biography!

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1962

Biography

The Only Son Synderome begins an early life that ends in shame!

James Dewey Watson was born in Chicago, Ill., on April 6th, 1928, as the only son of James D. Watson, a businessman, and Jean Mitchell.

His father's ancestors were originally of English descent and had lived in
the midwest for several generations.

Sctos Clasmen Ancestry. May be the KKK and Clansmen had great influce!

His mother's father was a Scottish-born taylor married to a daughter of Irish immigrants who arrived in the United States about 1840.

Segregated early life in ChChicago.

Young Watson's entire boyhood was spent in Chicago where he attended for eight years
Horace Mann Grammar School and for two years South Shore High School. He then received a tuition scholarship to the University of Chicago, and in the summer of 1943 entered their experimental four-year college.

Chosing birds and animals to humans as a calling.

In 1947, he received a B.Sc. degree in Zoology. During these years his boyhood interest in bird-watching had matured into a serious desire to learn genetics. This
became possible when he received a Fellowship for graduate study in Zoology at Indiana University in Bloomington, where he received his Ph.D. degree in
Zoology in 1950.

Italian microbioligist influence.

At Indiana, he was deeply influenced both by the geneticists H. J. Muller and T. M.
Sonneborn, and by S. E. Luria, the Italian-born microbiologist then on the staff of Indiana's Bacteriology Department.

Effects if Radiation on bacteria? Effects of slavery on intelligence?

Watson's Ph.D. thesis, done under Luria's able guidance, was a study of the effect
of hard X-rays on bacteriophage multiplication.

The fate of DNA on infecting viruses? No human genome study so far!

From September 1950 to September 1951 he spent his first postdoctoral year in Copenhagen as a Merck Fellow of the National Research Council. Part of the
year was spent with the biochemist Herman Kalckar, the remainder with the microbiologist Ole Maaløe. Again he worked with bacterial viruses, attempting to study the fate of DNA of infecting virus particles.

Meeting - The real Noble genius! Wilkins

During the spring of 1951, he went with Kalckar to the Zoological Station at Naples. There at a Symposium, late in May,he met Maurice Wilkins and saw for the first time the X-ray diffraction pattern of crystalline DNA.

Cavendish lab and working with real creative brains!

This greatly stimulated him to change the direction of his
research toward the structural chemistry of nucleic acids and proteins. Fortunately this proved possible when Luria, in early August 1951, arranged with John
Kendrew for him to work at the Cavendish Laboratory, where he started work in early October 1951.

DNA structure interest of Crick? So far no human genome interest!

He soon met Crick and discovered their common interest in solving the DNA structure. They thought it should be possible to correctly guess its structure, given
both the experimental evidence at King's College plus careful examination of the possible stereochemical configurations of polynucleotide chains.

Their first serious effort, in the late fall of 1951, was unsatisfactory.

Their second effort based upon more experimental evidence and better appreciation of the nucleic acid literature, resulted, early in March 1953, in the proposal of the complementary double-helical configuration.

Rotating Anode X-raby tube opens new opportunity!

At the same time, he was experimentally investigating the structure of TMV, using X-ray diffraction techniques. His object was to see if its chemical sub-units, earlier revealed by the elegant experiments of Schramm, were helically arranged. This objective was achieved in late June 1952, when use of the Cavendish's newly constructed rotating anode X-ray tubes allowed an unambiguous demonstration of the
helical construction of the virus.

X-ray Diffraction studies of RNA interests! no human genome yet!

From 1953 to 1955, Watson was at the California Institute of Technology as Senior Research Fellow in Biology. There he collaborated with Alexander Rich in
X-ray diffraction studies of RNA.

Back to Virus studies?

In 1955-1956 he was back in the Cavendish, again working with Crick. During this visit they published several papers on the general principles of virus construction.

Role of RNA in protein synthesis! No human intelligence geonome yet?

Since the fall of 1956, he has been a member of the Harvard Biology Department, first as Assistant Professor, then in 1958 as an Associate Professor, and
as Professor since 1961. During this interval, his major research interest has been the role of RNA in protein synthesis.

Introduction to molecular biology! No human genome yet?

Among his collaborators during this period were the Swiss biochemist Alfred Tissières and the French biochemist François Gros. Much experimental evidence supporting the messenger RNA concept was accumulated. His present principal collaborator is the theoretical physicist Walter Gilbert who, as Watson
expressed it, «has recently learned the excitement of experimental molecular biology».

A Series of recognition and awards and prestige! the beginning of his follies!

The honours that have to come to Watson include: the John Collins Warren Prize of the Massachusetts General Hospital, with Crick in 1959; the Eli Lilly Award in
Biochemistry in the same year; the Lasker Award, with Crick and Wilkins in 1960; the Research Corporation Prize, with Crick in 1962; membership of the American
Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences, and Foreign membership of the Danish Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is also a consultant
to the President's Scientific Advisory Committee.

No interest in humans, even marriage! Bird watching not human wathcing yet!

Watson is unmarried. His recreations are bird-watching and walking.

From Nobel Lectures, Physiology or Medicine 1942-1962,Elsevier Publishing Company, Amsterdam, 1964

This autobiography/biography was first published in the book series Les Prix Nobel. It was later edited and republished in Nobel Lectures. To cite this
document, always state the source as shown above.


For more updated biographical information, see:Watson, J.D., The Double Helix. Atheneum, New York,1968.


Copyright © The Nobel Foundation 1962

Thursday, October 11, 2007

Millennial Opportunities: Improving the Image and future of Ethiopia

www.Globalbelai4u.blogspot.com
Global Strategic Enterprises, Inc for Peace and Prosperity

Dear Desta and Colleagues:

Re: Educating the protagonists and antagonists on Ethiopian Millennium with Facts

I agree with almost every body, we need to be proactive and pre-emptive too!

We need to write a series of response and letters in time to all the onslaught by Egyptians, Turkish, Eritrean, Somali and Ted Dagne and Co at US Congress, etc.

We have to design a mechanism where our efforts will bear fruit by ensuring that the letters are drafted here and then circulated amongst us first to get the facts and contents as close to the facts as possible, then responding in time to all the false allegations

Ethiopia deserves respect and improving coverage with the international media, cyber world and all Diaspora networks

with regards

Belai Habte-Jesus, MD, MPH
Global Strategic Enterprises, Inc.
Globalbelai@ yahoo.com
V: 703.531.0540; C: 703.933.8737; F: 703.531.0545



----- Original Message ----
From: Desta Berhe
To: EPRDF-Supporters- Forum@yahoogroup s.com
Sent: Thursday, October 11, 2007 11:58:54 AM
Subject: RE: [EPRDF-Supporters- Forum] "EPRDF is not a spirit! It is a man made political party!" - Unknown



Greetings Yagere Sewotch

I am glad to know my initiation bear fruit. I am certain that we will make history. We have got the opportunity to give boundless service to our country by supporting EPRDF. We will also have the opportunity to know a lot beyond our specialty. I invite you to envision what you can do with your fellow Ethiopians in addition to supporting EPRDF, a lot more.

Let us keep our confidence as high as our capacities.

Desta Berhe

Some music?
http://www.youtube. com/watch? v=R_zi4OxJpY0

m.ayalew@surrey. ac.uk wrote:
Let me start by saying some things about myself. My name is Mulugeta.

I was born in Gondar and attended primary, secondary and high schools both in Addis Ababa and Gondar. I am doing PhD in law in England.

I support EPRDF because I believe in many of its policies: land policy, rural development policy, its position on the current federal state structure are few of the policies that I believe are for the good of the peoples of Ethiopia.

I believe that these could also be imitated or adapted by other African countries to develop a workable democratic system. I do not believe in 'one size fits all argument'. that is why I do not want to evaluate the current state and government structure of Ethiopia with American or British benchmarks. American benchmarks of democracy and rule of law should be used to evaluate American democracy.

Ethiopian democracy should be evaluated only by Ethiopian benchmarks. one thing is for certain (or I think so): that western models of democracy cannot be imposed without modifications on Ethiopia. and the policies of EPRDF constitute such necessary modifications that enable democracy to have strong foundations in the country.

We can just take one example: education. the core of democracy is the freedom of citizens to make an informed and free choice about their life. making an informed choice requires among other things having universal access to education and an impartial source of information about different alternatives. without education and reliable access to information, people's choice is bound to be dictated by prejudice and misinformation by the very few who are fortunate to be educated. therefore, I believe that the education policy of EPRDF helps to enable people to, among others, have the capacity to make an informed decisions when it comes to national and individual issues.

Though I strongly believe in these policies, I have not been active in politics for one or another reason. however, the situation recently (including the passing of a bill in the House of Representatives, US) has alarmed me to the danger of not standing for what you believe when the others have mobilized for what they believe. So I welcome this forum and I hope that we can do a great deal.

For now let me give you a link to an article. http://www.american chronicle. com/articles/ viewArticle. asp?articleID= 39964

there is this professor in, I think, Egypt, who writes all kinds of bad things about Ethiopia with a view to create a rift among the peoples of Ethiopia.

I personally feel sad and frustrated with all of his articles but I can not also help reading them. Just today a certain guy wrote an article addressed to him (open letter). Some or all of you might have already known the professor. Anyway it is good to follow what he writes every day and try to expose his mission by trying to refute his arguments, correct the factual errors he commits and so on.



____________ _________ _________ __

From: EPRDF-Supporters- Forum@yahoogroup s.com on behalf of EPRDF Ethiopia
Sent: Thu 11/10/2007 11:14
To: EPRDF-Supporters- Forum@yahoogroup s.com
Subject: [EPRDF-Supporters- Forum] "EPRDF is not a spirit! It is a man made political party!" - Unknown

"EPRDF is not a spirit! It is a man made political party!" - Unknown (maybe me)

Well, as they usually call it, "when the going gets tough, the tough EPRDF emerges as a winner"- that is what we have seen in the past, what we are witnessing today and what we will be witnessing in the future provided we took over the fight and continue the struggle for the right cause, a cause that bases the people as its basic entity, a cause that demands equality among nations and nationalities, a cause that respect diverse identity, a cause that lets people be them selves-their wishes-their creations, a cause which will succeed in the long term, a cause very difficult to see its fruits in a short time.

We have been tasting the sweetness of peace and stability and witnessed about it with our ability to learn and move at any time anywhere when ever we needed it with out the worry of being taken away to war fronts by security forces, with out the worry of being targeted by extreme elements (Abyot tebakis).

We all knew and remember the time of the Dergue; though I only have a faint memory, though I don't have bad experiences during that time, though I still have good childhood memories about that time, though I have lost many close families whom I don't know in close terms, I have learned that it was a time of sadness, a time of instability, a time of insecurity, a time of political turmoil, a time when a young was hopeless with out a future of any sort.

Thanks to EPRDF, that time of insecurity and instability has now gone for good.

Even if we were and are so thankful to those who sacrificed their life for the betterment of future generations, the success of which we are witnessing today, we haven't realized the greatness of it yet, which has its own stake to who we are today.

Though we have started benefiting from it in different ways, we have not been able to appreciate it and remember those who paid the price by blood and bullet leaving behind widows and children with out fathers and mothers.

Those who took the struggle to a new dimension to this day, though committed to do their best, though faced with hardship and poverty and struggling day and night to make a difference, though registering amazing socio-economic developments of all aspects every where in our country, they have been victims of hate, victims for doing the right thing, victims for being realistic, victims for not being fanatics, victims of hate for being so successful and by the benchmark they created, others are seen as mere hypocrites and useless at best .

EPRDF as a party is doing the donkey (or call it dirty) work of building the base at this historical time, a strong base, so controversial in many aspects that it sometimes sends stress and shiver through policy makers.

It is an open secret that EPRDF is a successful and visionary party. We all have been hearing about the various personalities and the commitments they put into it by dropping out of college in their young ages for something they believe is the right thing to do, for them and for the whole poor society they live along with.

Now sitting during this time, we all are witnessing the fruits of their struggle, though not so ripe, we can still feel the aroma that comes out of it, an aroma so intoxicating, it makes people like me who have seen the taste of freedom excited to do something more and continue the legacy of the party, it makes people who oppose it to increases their hate (be it personal or historical) on this successful party for showing them how incompetent they are.

Even though I support EPRDF policies and took their propaganda in positive light, I haven't been an active supporter like the rest of you. For the reason that I including many of you were not active, EPRDF has been under fire from all directions be it internal (aka Collection Party) or external (aka Hanna Gobeze) and the hate mongers are counting by days to take away the freedom that we are testing as we speak if not by decades.

Now it is time to repeat history not talk and brag about it. A history of keeping a legacy and not giving it away, a legacy of pride and dignity and of freedom that we inherited from King-Theodros, a legacy of brevity and astute thinking that we got from general Alula AbaNega.

Lets all help EPRDF leap frog to a new dimension by showing them our strong support and fighting the enemy word by word.

Long Live EPRDF (with its policies)
ProEprdf Administrator!
http://proeprdf. com/eprdf/ eprdf.aspx? __selectedMenu= Home/Editorial






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