Upstaging the President-Elect and his little inauguration is an as-yet unnamed, as-yet, unsexed baby gorilla. Born to experienced mother, Mandara, the baby is a welcome arrival to a population of animals considered critically endangered. You know what I found odd about this story, though? Apparently, the zookeepers usually feed Mandara birth control pills. I can see that you wouldn't want babies born too close together, but her next one up is seven. Odd to me that they would use birth control for an endangered animal. But what do I know? Maybe gorillas nurse until they're six. Anyone out there a primatologist? More photos and a link to a video of mother and baby after the cut.
For that matter anyone out there a conflict-free doctor? It seems those are so few and far between that the FDA can't be bothered to sort them out when it comes to drug trials. Almost half of doctors participating in drug trials don't fill out paperwork indicating their conflicts of interest--their investments, for example, in the companies whose products they are supposed to be testing--and as for the doctors who do fill out the paperwork, the folks responsible for collecting the data don't bother to read about said conflicts.
That doesn't reassure me one bit about ethical quandries like the increasing "hope" for a prenatal autism screen. According to researchers, mothers who bear children later diagnosed with spectrum disorders tend to have higher than normal amounts of testosterone in their amniotic fluid. This leads them to think a screen for such disorders could be around the corner, as might in-utero treatment. If it's a matter of testosterone causing spectrum disorders, they might just block the hormone. Of course this is all completely dodgy guesswork at the moment. And autism advocates are concerned that selective pregnancy terminations could wipe out autism and its cousin, the autistic savant, which, as those of us who admire Albert Einstein can agree, can be pretty darned useful. As can folks with lesser gifts than Einstein's. Dare I say I'd rather have autism in the word than not have it, if it means I get to have the various autistic people in my life whom I love and enjoy--and who bring the human population a unique perspective on the meaning of our existence. Of course, the screen wouldn't only lead to terminations. And I'm sure parents of children with spectrum disorders would have been glad to have more knowledge, earlier on, so they could prepare the proper treatment and therapy for their children. And therein lies the ethical quandry.
Finally, as promised, Here's more of that baby gorilla. And here's the page with the video.Is it just me, or is this whole baby gorilla thing really awesome? I don't know about you, but I needed a bit of happy news.
images: washingtonpost.com and nationalzoo.si.edu
see also:
Kid and Kangaroo Best Friends
Peanut Allergies, Peanut Schmallergies?
