Better Living Through Chemicals

I looooooooove drug companies. I admire corporations in general and find it hilarious that screen writers today can no longer come up with any politically correct villains other than large companies. Even the latest "Pirates of the Caribbean" writers couldn't find any new monsters other than the East Indian Trading Company. Having paid my $7.50 I expected some new and improved Kraken, some dazzling CG beast. Arrrrr, nope - monster replaced by corporation, very lazy on the writers part.

But enough about popular culture, I'm writing about my favorite things - drug companies. Without them I would be a vegetable in a nursing home somewhere. Without them my blood pressure would surge to such levels the my head would explode. That little blue pill in the morning changed my life and I am GRATEFUL. Sure it too two years to snap out of the funk that my exploratory chemical cocktail put me through. I did get exhausted in the evening, even with an exemplary diet and exercise standard (OK that has only been for the last few months). But consider the alternative........

Its like anything else, you don't appreciate them/it/that until you need it. And I needed that greedy, unfeeling, inhuman, publicly traded, fairy godmother. Her avaricious fairy dust saved my life. Her Asian sister is sprinkling new dust on my forehead. Arigato.

Those mighty mutant mice

Imagine, being created to be destroyed. That is the plight of the lowly PKD lab rat/mice. Once those PKD gene (genes) were identified in 1994/1995, PKD research took off. Why? Because some lab somewhere could infect the mice with those nasty genes and presto! PKD kidneys. Let the games begin.

I've never met one of these creatures but I have seen pictures of their kidneys. Pictures of the "Before" -bulging, bumpy PKD kidneys, and "After" - adorable, pink, solid, post Tolvaptan kidneys. A GREAT RECRUITING TOOL. It sold me on the stuff.

I'm sure the PETA people would be appalled. And it does give me pause, should we create/destroy these creatures just to further my life? Biblically I think we're covered. I'm not sure about the other religions, it might piss off the Hindus or the Buddhists, I'm ignorant of their theology. What about the Muslims? Where do they weigh in on this? Secularly, I'm thinking that we're forwarding the "survival of the fittest" aspect of life (if one takes their moral direction from Darwin). Keeping this species going, even when some of us have defective genes. Lets fix the less fittest. Isn't that what we as humans do? As civilized creatures we take care of our weakest. Our herd doesn't leave them (me) lying in the dust. But our path is paved with the lives of these small creatures, these PKD mice.

I think I'll be nicer to the dog.