The SomaLogic Blog

How would the late Surrealist artist, Salvador Dalí, view his genome? I suspect that the artist, who had a flair for painting things in midair as cats and water seemed to hover nearby, would have been fascinated by not only the concept of genomics, but the widespread human view of it.

Oh dear…what is that? Seeing (and feeling) a rash-riddled arm at 2 o’clock in the morning can be alarming. And turning to Dr. Smartphone Google adds even greater urgency to the fear: A rash can reflect a large number of conditions, from very serious to very mild. Even legit doctors have a tough time deciding which is which.

How much is too much? According to author Douglas Adams, the answer to all life’s questions is 42. It seems to work as an answer in any situation, such as “How many lemon curd-filled donuts are too much for me?”

How do others identify you? The simplest answer may reside in what others use to recognize you, your face. In fact, people may use your face to get a putative synopsis of you and make judgments accordingly (Rifkin et al., 2018). So much for the old saying of not judging a book by its cover.

We easily recall many of our first experiences as they often signal important milestones in our lives. History duly records the first time of many things, such as the first steps on the moon, the first phone call ever made, the iconic story of the first cell phone call, etc. We may be witnessing another important “first.”

Am I loath to admit it? No. I proudly admit that I joined the ranks of the many people who overate during the holidays. What I do loathe is dusting off that VHS tape to start doing aerobic exercises that promise to turn my various expanded body parts into steel. Though, I have always been told that it is important to at least try. But is it?

Our bodies are a lot like well-constructed houses built on solid foundations. It seems like they should last forever, but the fact is that even the best houses require constant maintenance and repairs, especially as they age. And, just like houses, vigilant maintenance and earlier repairs of our bodies can often stave off bigger problems.

A few years ago, when I was conducting thesis research, I happened upon an article authored by an EPA researcher that stated that cats could be considered “canaries” for environment-related thyroid problems arising in humans (Dye et al., 2007). Many years later, my beloved cat Noodle B. developed thyroid problems. While being medicated, the poor thing also went on to develop kidney problems.

Winter is coming. I just know it. I do not need the changing color of tree leaves to tell me this fact. I know it because my appetite is insatiable right now. I feel like one of those brown bears that stands in the river and lets salmon continuously leap into their open mouth (though I would prefer to receive lemon-curd filled donuts).

Born under atypical circumstances, a perfect storm wields unimaginable havoc. So, does a rare disease. What exactly constitutes a rare disease? In the U.S., the Orphan Drug Act of 1983 stipulated that “rarity” meant the disease affected fewer than 1 in 200,000 people, which applies to about 7,000 diseases (National Institutes of Health, 2017).