{"id":151,"date":"2011-02-27T19:56:13","date_gmt":"2011-02-27T19:56:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.fanagrams.net\/blog\/?p=151"},"modified":"2011-03-20T18:15:22","modified_gmt":"2011-03-20T18:15:22","slug":"they-suck","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fanagrams.com\/blog\/2011\/02\/they-suck\/","title":{"rendered":"They Suck"},"content":{"rendered":"

I have concluded that the first step in facing an irrational feel is to go to the internet.\u00a0 You not only have immediate knowledge – the universal antidote to fear – but you will also have easy access to others who have embraced your fear, turned it into a sustaining passion and their life\u2019s work. \u00a0Take for example, leeches, which to me signify\u00a0what is rotten about a lake.\u00a0 I can hardly put my toe into the water of the cold clear lakes that are the defining feature of my Midwestern\"\"<\/a> environment.\u00a0 There is that pervasive\u00a0fear that\u00a0some leech will rise up\u00a0suck my blood.\u00a0 The vivid leech scenes from the movies African Queen and Stand By Me don\u2019t help.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0But within 0.57 seconds of typing \u201cleech and biology\u201d into Google, I am knee deep into the 1999 diary of Mark Siddall, who is in the Andes prospecting for leeches.\u00a0 Siddall says that he first became interested when he was \u201cattacked\u201d by one as a child, and his mother peeled it off with salt.\u00a0 For many that might have been a life scarring experience, but he became besotted with them, and tries to kindle some spark in his readers by claiming that leeches are bespotted with beautiful colors, if you would only take\"\"<\/a> the\u00a0time to look closely at them before ripping the leech off in revulsion.\u00a0 Other notes of interest are that the bite of many leeches is the example replica of the insignia of a Mercedes Benz, that leeches are related to worms, are hermaphroditic, and some even care for their young tadalafil tablets prices<\/a>.\u00a0 Siddal recognizes that despite all this, leeches are an acquired taste.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Siddall is in the Andes collecting leeches as part of a biodiversity study to determine where leeches originated and their patterns of spread.\u00a0 He is hiking up and over a pass and is absolutely giddy with excitement as he packs up his collecting equipment, which one can only imagine is some sort of scientific version of Tupperware.\u00a0 As he stands atop the ridge and sees the mountain lakes below, he says, \u201cShoot me now, I thought. If I’m not in heaven, I’m awfully close.\u201d\u00a0 Clearly he is in a stunning location, but one gets the sense it is more the promise of leeches that is orbiting him heavenward.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The lure of the unknown is a powerful force, but previous explorers and naturalists have taken all the easy visually exciting stuff, like condors, pumas and others animals of prey.\u00a0 What are left are the parasites of frogs or subspecies of leech, but\u00a0Siddall’s display of pure intellectual curiosity\u00a0in the face of revulsion and ridicule\u00a0is compelling.\u00a0 You also get the sense that Siddall\u2019s intellectual rush may be mixed in a bit with dollar signs.\u00a0 Leeches produce blood thinners and maybe, just maybe, Siddall can find a leech that will produce some sort of blood thinner that is easily bioengineered and will set the world of hematology on its head.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I once had the opportunity to interview the scientist who made one of the key discoveries that simplified the process of genetic testing.\u00a0 To identify genetic mutations, tiny scraps of DNA typically need to be amplified to sufficient quantities.\u00a0 While it was known how to do this, it was extremely labor intensive.\u00a0 The process required multiple cycles of heating and cooling, and during the heating portion, the necessary enzymes would basically get cooked and congealed, much like a hard boiled egg.\u00a0 The key to automating the process was to find some sort of enzyme that could stay intact during multiple cycles of heat.\u00a0 Enter a geneticist I admire greatly, but whose name I have forgotten.\u00a0 I will call him Dr. Fortuitous Goes to the Bank.\u00a0 Dr. FGB liked to spend his vacations hiking in Yellowstone Park, and one day was lamenting the fact that he could not get any cool clear water from the murky hot spring where he had stopped to rest.\u00a0 In a life-altering eureka moment, he scooped up the water and raced back to the lab and discovered a bacterium that had been sequestered in Yellowstone Park for millions of years.\u00a0 Presumably out of a dogged desire to endure, the lowly Thermus aquaticus was forced to learn how to relish hot water.\u00a0 From thence, an entire industry was borne.\u00a0 One can only imagine Dr. F now sipping a tall cold one as he relaxes on the patio at one of his many stunning homes.\u00a0 His 1993 Nobel Prize sits on the mantle.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The medicinal properties of leeches offer both historical and current contexts to better appreciate this relative of the worm.\u00a0 Leeches were used for blood-letting for any number of ailments for thousands of years, peaking in Europe between 1830 and 1850 in Europe.\u00a0 In the past, leech farmers would just stand in a swamp to collect leeches on their exposed legs.\u00a0 The species Hirudo medicinalis is now largely extinct in Europe, due to the twin effects of exploitation of both the leech and its wetland environment.\u00a0 Contrary to my assumption, leeches do not symbolize the putrefaction of a lake, but are another of nature\u2019s unassuming little canaries in a cage, an early warning sign of environmental destruction.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Medicinal leeches are now\u00a0commercially bred and have even received approval from the FDA as a novelty drug delivery device.\u00a0 Placed\u00a0at the suture line of\u00a0reconstructive surgeries, say reattaching a severed finger or other appendage (think John Wayne Bobbitt here), leeches can delivery a steady stream of anticoagulant that keeps the blood moving and prevents the appendage from falling off again.\u00a0 Leech saliva has other anti-inflammatory properties, and there have been studies of using leeches to treat knee\u00a0osteoarthritis.\u00a0 The authors claim the treatment is successful, but it seems to me that anyone who would agree to affix six leeches to their knee would want to believe that they worked so badly that it became a self fulfilling prophecy.\u00a0 There is no better example of the placebo effect than the Scarecrow, Lion and Tinman, who had come so far that they really had\u00a0no other choice but to believe the wizard.\u00a0 But at $10.00 a pop these leeches are one of the last best medical bargains.\u00a0 Of course, you could come full circle and stand out in a swamp up to your knees and perhaps get the same effect.<\/p>\n

Leeches USA (www.leechesusa.com<\/a>) provides other endearing factoids.\u00a0 Leeches are low maintenance \u2013 they only need to be fed once a year after a blood meal, although the company is quick to note that the leeches are for single use only.\u00a0 They typically fall off the body after about 70 minutes.\u00a0 Planned obsolescence is an excellent strategy for the supplier, since treatment may last for several days.\u00a0 At first glance the logo of the parent French company appears to be similar to the symbol of medicine \u2013 that thing that looks like a snake coiled around a stick.\u00a0 However, on closer inspection you see that the logo is actually two entwined hermaphroditic leeches that are mating.\u00a0 Leeches USA also provides all sorts of case histories complete with lurid pictures.\u00a0 A search of the medical literature produces another case history that was probably published for the\u00a0ick factor alone.\u00a0 Some poor guy chomped down on\u00a0his tongue in a car accident, and to help with the reattachment\u00a0the doctor\u00a0put leeches in the patient\u2019s mouth (who was hopefully unconscious at this point).\u00a0 The authors then described how they had to carefully monitor the patient to make sure that the leeches \u201cdid not migrate down the throat.\u201d<\/p>\n

The missing words in the following poem are anagrama (like post, stop, post).\u00a0 The number of dashes indicates the number of letters.\u00a0 One of the missing words will rhyme with the preceding or following line.\u00a0 Your job is to solve the missing words based on the context of the poem.\u00a0 Scroll down for answers.<\/h6>\n

For blood brothers, it signifies a bond of both head and heart<\/p>\n

And —- the pact that says \u201cfrom death do us part.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you are blood thirsty, you have a taste for meat, and want to dig right in,<\/p>\n

And rip away the tasty flesh and suck on the bones beneath the —-.<\/p>\n

\u201cBlood is thicker than water\u201d means you value your —- more than your kith,<\/p>\n

It also defines the people you have to share your holidays with.<\/p>\n

But for the subversive leech, blood is just the stuff of each and every meal,<\/p>\n

First they —- their teeth into your flesh and then suck with unbridled zeal.<\/p>\n

*<\/p>\n

*<\/p>\n

*<\/p>\n

*<\/p>\n

inks, skin, kins, sink<\/p>\nFollow Liza Blue on: \"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>Share: \"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"reddit\"<\/a>\"pinterest\"<\/a>\"linkedin\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I have concluded that the first step in facing an irrational feel is to go to the internet.\u00a0 You not only have immediate knowledge – the universal antidote to fear – but you will also have easy access to others … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[33],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-151","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nature"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7iVc8-2r","post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fanagrams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fanagrams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fanagrams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fanagrams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fanagrams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=151"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.fanagrams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":318,"href":"https:\/\/www.fanagrams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151\/revisions\/318"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fanagrams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=151"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fanagrams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=151"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fanagrams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=151"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}