Can science help us
resolve our ethical dilemmas? (Let us forget all the dilemmas that it
creates... for the moment.) According to a recent New York Times op-ed by
Adam Shriver, the answer would appear to be “yes.” Scientists have been able to
isolate the gene for a peptide critical to the functioning of the anterior
cingulate gyrus (where the mammalian brain perceives pain) in mice.
We thought Tuesday would be free day at the Seymour
Marine Discovery Center at Long Marine Laboratory in Santa Cruz, but that
policy, it turns out, does not apply in August. To be honest, I can’t blame
them, given California’s economic woes. Anyway, it felt good to pay my $4 to
gain entry into this UC Santa Cruz facility dedicated to teaching about the
sea, its inhabitants, and our relationship with them.
