#a lot of malaria and yellow fever that we had before then; now it's making a comeback and he was annoyed | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

lihikainanea · 3 years

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Heyy ^^ i found ur blog yesterday and ive been ADDICTED to ur BFF!Bill stories!! they're so so good! I was wondering if you could write something about them both being on a plane, and when turbulence starts to happen tiger is just freaking out and bill has to calm and comfort her. omg that would be so adorable. also maybe them being cute at the airport before the flight, because tiger is all sleepy and soft. as you can tell, i've been desperate for some fluff hahah xx

HELLO NEW FRENN.

First of all, welcome bubs. Welcome welcome welcome to my crazy little corner of the interweb universe, I’m so happy that you stopped by and I’m so happy that you enjoy my insane babbles! do you have a favourite? I love hearing about your favourites.

Second of all, it’s strange to me that the people who are only starting to follow me now--ya’ll know a really special side of me. You know a weird, out of normal side of me. Because my job--I don’t talk about it--but normally, my job is 90% travel. Before this zombie virus hit, for years I was away for about 250-300 days a year. In 2019, I visited LA, Egypt, Iceland, London, Paris, Stockholm, Hong Kong, Japan, Cyprus, Ghana, Colombia, Phuket, Qatar, Milan, Bali, Stockholm, Abu Dhabi, Denmark, Norway--and that’s just to name a few. I was never home. I lived my life at 35,000 feet, in hotel rooms, never quite sure what continent I was on or what time zone I was in--and I loved it. That was the life for me.

And then 2020 hit and I just haven’t been the same since. In fact--because I think it’s important to talk about these things--this has hit me really hard lately, this nostalgia, this longing. And the main topic of my therapy sessions these days has been allowing myself to grieve for a life that I loved, that I may never get back. It’s rough, it’s really intense, and therapy has left me totally drained lately.

I have a few airport-comfort pieces on my #vacation bill tag on my Masterlist, because it meant so much to me at one point in my life. Don’t get me wrong, I was always treated very well when I flew and I had a lot of perks--but sometimes, sometimes it was hard too. When I was on malaria pills and only a few weeks out of a yellow fever vaccine, suffering from an insanely sensitive stomach in Ghana? I was curled up at the airport as my boss slowly gave me carbonated water, and I wanted to die. Curling up and just wanting to pass out on my 5th flight that was trying to get me to Vietnam, when I had no idea what day or what time it was, and all I wanted was to sleep--knowing that when I landed, I had 28 working hours ahead of me. That trip was hard. It was a lot of planes rides for short periods--so right as I started to drift off my seat would be slammed back into upright position, we were landing, and I had to shuffle out and shuffle onto another plane.

In any case, please let me indulge a moment in this because I am always here for Bill comforting tiger in all scenarios.

Bill flies a lot, so he’s used to all of it. He knows airports are chilly, and airplanes are often even more chilly. He knows that tiger errs on the side of cold always anyway, so he packs a few extra sweaters just because he knows that like...she doesn’t. She doesn’t think of it. And make no mistake, the extra sweaters are for him--because he always gives her the sweater off his back. She’s more comforted that way, it’s warm and it smells like him and she always huddles into it.

And it’s not that travelling stresses tiger out--she quite enjoys it actually--but it’s all just so thrilling, that sometimes she has a hard time focusing. Bill is a high roller, man he has access to all the lounges and always either flies business class, or is ballin’ enough to be bumped to business class just when the airline agents see how many points he has. And tiger is just taking it all in--the wine in the lounge, the fanciness of it all, the prestige. She’s all up in ends and Bill has to help kind of ground her--just be that steady presence that keeps her in check, tells her to eat. He fixes a plate for her always, because tiger is like a kid in a candy store and there’s just so much to be amazed about. He thinks it’s adorable, god she makes his heart skip a few beats, but he knows she’s also looking for a bit of stability, some anchor that she can hold onto amidst all the excitement--and that’s what he is.

They, obviously, always sit together on the plane. She always gets lots of head scritchies to help her relax and fall asleep. And listen, if turbulence should hit? He’s all over it. I, low key, really love turbulence--man that shit will just rock you right to sleep. I’ve been on a few flights where I have legitimately been scared--I’ve been on flights where an engine blew out after take off and we had to emergency land, or a flight where the tail of the aircraft split clean in half about 3,000 ft above ground and we had a crash landing, I’ve been on flights where the back wheels hit the runway and then the pilot had to take off again at almost a 90 degree angle because an aircraft was too close in front of him and I’ve nearly passed out from the G force. And actually the flight to Bali from Qatar was very turbulent--but I’ve mostly been able to retain my calm. No plane in history has ever been downed by turbulence alone.

Bill knows that. He’s used to it. But tiger? Tiger has all of her claws dug into his forearm the minute the plane starts to shake even just slightly. It rouses him from a deep sleep--his goofy eye mask on and all--and he lifts it and squints at her. He’s a little grumpy, but the minute he sees the pure panic etched on her face, he morphs into caretaker mode immediately.

“It’s okay kid,” he says, “It’s just a rough patch.”

Sure enough, the seatbelt sign dings and the announcement from the captain comes on.

“Bill...” she says, and there’s a hint of a whine in her voice. He wishes he could just squeeze in close to her, just envelop her in his arms but the centre console between their seats separates them. He reaches his arm around her anyway, cranes so he can kiss her temple.

“We’re okay tiger,” he says into her ear, “Turbulence is normal. Nothing to worry about.”

She whines again, reaching a hand and she balls it into his t-shirt. He moves his hand to her hair, scritching lightly.

“Just breathe kid,” he says, “It’s okay.”

He can’t ding the flight attendant because they can’t move during turbulence anyway, so instead he reaches for his water bottle and uncaps it, offers it to her.

“Drink,” he instructs. She takes a small sip, but she tenses the minute the plane starts to rock again.

“We’re okay, I promise,” he says, “Turbulence isn’t dangerous kid. Not in the slightest.”

She looks unsure, everything about her is tense and worried.

“Hey,” he says and he taps her nose “You trust me?”

“Of course I trust you.”

“And you know how much I fly?”

“Yes.”

“It’s nothing kid,” he reassures, “Try and relax. Come here, I’ll rub your tummy.”

“I don’t need my--”

But listen, he manages to combine their blankets and creates a cocoon around the two of them. He reaches over and reclines her seat back a bit, boosts up the foot rest so she’s comfortable, and then under the blanket he lifts her shirt a little--and his warm hand just rubs back and forth, massages on her lower stomach just how she likes. He puts a pillow on the centre console, pulls the blanket up a little and pulls her over so she can lean across it--and then he rests his thumb on her lips.

“Billy--” she mumbles, but he hushes her.

“No one can see kid,” he kisses her nose softly, “I promise. Go on.”

#bill skarsgard #bill skarsgard drabble #BFF!Bill #soft bill

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makingscipub · 4 years

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Gene drives and societal narratives

Some days ago, I came across an interesting virtual conference (HT @Sarah_A_Hartley) about gene editing which includes a session on ‘societal narratives’. I have written quite a bit about societal narratives of gene editing, but more recently I became involved in the issue of ‘gene drive’, that is, “a system of biased inheritance in which the ability of a genetic element to pass from a parent to its offspring through sexual reproduction is enhanced”. This is a naturally occurring twist in the laws of inheritance that scientists can use (with the help of gene editing) “to develop [artificial] gene-drive modified organisms for public health, conservation, agriculture, and other societal purposes, for example, by suppressing populations of mosquito species that transmit human diseases such as malaria, dengue, Zika, and chikungunya among others” (Gene drives on the horizon, 2016).

I suddenly asked myself: Are there any societal narratives emerging around gene drives? Cloning has societal narratives, recombinant DNA has societal narratives, genetic engineering has societal narratives (I can’t wait for @matthewcobb’s book about this), genomics has societal narratives, genetic modification is buckling under its load of societal narratives. But gene drive? Not so much! Then I thought: but you have written some blog posts about gene drives and as a societal narratives aficionado, shouldn’t there be some societal narratives in there? So, I began to look at my old blog posts on gene drives.

In this post I want to review these posts and perhaps extract some societal narratives from them.

Promises and perils

If you want a really nice overview of gene drive theory and practice/applications and associated metaphors you should first read this guest post on the potential promises and potential perils of gene drives written by my colleague Aleksandra Stelmach. It lists some emerging metaphors societal narratives around governance, engineering and control, war and destruction. Framings are mostly negative, using for example the metaphor ‘Pandora’s Box’, which might have impacts on societal debates.

Eradication and war

Before I became seriously interested in gene drives, I was doing some research on ‘societal narratives’ around Zika, and when studying that I found there was one ubiquitous narrative that structured some talk of gene drive use in this context: the war metaphor. That was not surprising, as people wanted to ‘eradicate’ Zika, a disease transmitted by mosquitoes. I wrote about this in an old blog post co-authored with Carmen McLeod (Beware! the beginning is a spoof on the war narrative). But what about my gene drive blog posts proper, as part of a Wellcome Trust funded project on ‘talking about gene drive’ led by Sarah Hartley? Let’s now take a look.

Etymology and obscurity

My first post was about the metaphorical origins of ‘gene drive’. The etymology of this strange phrase is quite obscure and totally hidden from the public eye. It does not influence what people may think about gene drive in any way. What would it mean to public debate if we knew that gene drive is etymologically linked to trains (which it is)?. This does not mean that this is unimportant though. Phrases like gene editing, genetic engineering, genetic modification etc. are much more accessible in this way; they are etymologically transparent and motivated. People immediately get a handle on these concepts because they are built out of relatively well-known conceptual components, for good or for ill.

Having this immediate grasp does not mean understanding what genetic modification actually means or is. It might actually hinder rather than help achieving such an understanding. But with gene drive there isn’t any handle to grasp in order to achieve even a semblance of understanding. And this has implications for public understanding of science and also for translating this phrase into other languages, which, again, has implications for diversity of public participation in science and innovation.

Translation and confusion

I addressed some of these issues in a blog post on gene drive communication, its obstacles and opportunities. I looked at the French words for gene drive, “forçage génétique” or “guidage génétique” (which makes slightly more sense), and the German “Genantrieb” – all as confusing as gene drive! The situation is not helped by the fact that, as an article by Brossard et al. from November 2017 has pointed out (and that is even more true now): mainstream media coverage of ‘gene drives’ is still rather low, which means not a lot of people are exposed to the topic or the term.

In such a situation it will be difficult to engage in discussions about the ethics and impacts of ‘gene drives’ in any language, a common paradox for emerging technologies and responsible language use or responsible communication (see Nerlich and McLeod, 2016).

Even when you want to do media analysis of gene drive, you sometimes encounter technical obstacles and I explore some of them in my post on ‘the road to gene drive’… a long road indeed.

Some headlines in newspapers don’t help either, as for example “Wiping out the daughters: Burkina Faso’s controversial mosquito experiment”! That was rather chilling when I first read it. I have written about this in one blog post, explaining that the headline referred to the daughters of mosquitoes, not people. Confusion abounds.

Communication and confusion

Communicating gene drive really is not easy, especially since there is a lot of confusion regarding the difference between genetic modification and gene drive on the one hand and the use of microbes and gene drive on the other. I tried (and possibly failed) to explore these issues in two blog posts.

Most of the field trials currently happening or about to happen involve traditionally modified GM mosquitoes, not gene-drive modified mosquitoes. So most of the societal narratives around genetics and mosquitoes (not mammals, pests etc.) are dominated by stories about such endeavours, spearheaded by one company. This is quite confusing as there are also efforts to eradicate mosquitoes using gene drive funded by a charitable foundation, efforts that have not yet advanced as much.

One article recently (July 2020) told readers about a further step in the ongoing development of GM mosquitoes: “The federal Environmental Protection Agency has approved a plan by a British biotech company called Oxitec to release about 1 billion genetically modified (GM) mosquitoes in the Florida Keys and, next year, Texas. The mosquitoes (code-named OX5034) will only be male — the gender that does not bite humans — and will carry a new gene that will be passed on to their female offspring and cause them to die while they’re still larvae.” This is not gene drive, but easier to get a handle on, even metaphorically. A recent article about this development mentions “a Jurassic Park experiment”* and a “‘Robo-Frankenstein’ mosquito” – what Matthew Cobb rightly called ‘scare metaphors’.

The same article uses a metaphor that is quite widespread in discourses about GM and gene drive mosquitoes, namely that of the ‘Trojan horse’. It says: “Repeated releases of such ‘Trojan horse’ mosquitoes should kill, in theory, 90 percent of the local population of the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which is capable of transmitting the Zika and West Nile viruses, as well as dengue and yellow fever.”

Trojan Horses and multiple meanings

I had come across this metaphor before and written a blog post about it. It can be enlightening but also confusing, as it can be used in multiple ways — to explain the science but also to criticise the science and its corporate or charitable backers. But there is more. When I saw the latest use of Trojan horse metaphor used in the article cited above, I googled the metaphor again and found it’s also used, for example, as a metaphor for the workings of the Dengue virus itself, which is transmitted by mosquitoes. Trojan horse is truly polysemous – it has multiple meanings; it’s a bit of a shapeshifter.

A Trojan horse is of course a mythical beast. What about real mammals? How do they fit into the gene drive narratives, mainly populated by insects and pests?

Mice and metaphors

Gene drive research has now moved from insects to mammals and when that happened I devoted one blog post to this feat. In this context, the scientists involved used a lot of really helpful metaphors which, however, don’t seem to have seeped through in any major way into the even most rudimentary public/media debate about gene drive, namely those of ‘loading dice’ and ‘flipping coins’…

One Press Association article/press release explained for example: “Under normal circumstances, genes come in pairs, one inherited from each parent. Gregor Mendel, the ‘Father of Genetics’, discovered this fundamental principle of heredity in the 19th century as he experimented with pea plants. It means an offspring has an equal chance of inheriting a particular genetic variation, or mutation, form either its mother or father. A gene drive loads the dice, making it more likely that the offspring will be born with a chosen trait, such as fur colour.” That explanatory metaphor works!

Squirrels and metaphors

In January 2020, when the world was still an innocent place compared to what it is now, I came across an article on gene drives and their potential use in eliminating non-native pests or ‘invasive species’ (something that is heavily discussed in the Australian press, for example).

When you read the article in The Biologist you’ll be hard pressed to find any interesting metaphors, apart from, perhaps, the title: ‘Accelerating Evolution’ – which is quite an accurate description of ‘super-Mendelian inheritance’ which characterises gene drive.

What about the news reporting on this article, also based on interviews with various stakeholders? I was not surprised to see that the articles all use the language of war and battle, of killing and of enemies, something that, it seems, the scientists in particular had tried to avoid in the original article and in the interviews. This is still the predominant framing of gene drive reporting and debate.

In contrast with the newspaper reporting, the scientists themselves not only avoided gory metaphors, they also wrote about the risks of their work and the need for community engagement, saying in their article: “Although gene drive technology still faces significant scientific, political and social hurdles, we are optimistic of its future potential and as such have chosen to highlight prospective applications of the technology in this article. However, it must be noted that before any of these proposed applications are deployed there is a requirement for in-depth analysis of the ecological implications, as well as the need for broad community engagement with those that may be affected by the release of a gene drive.”

This was, strangely, not really picked up in the press reporting. This type of media silence on discourses of responsibility rather than war is concerning, as it entrenches views about the relationship between animals and humans, as well as science and society, that might not help when thinking about the challenges posed by gene drives.

Gene drives and journalistic dilemmas

Some of the dilemmas of science journalism in this domain are meticulously explored in a guest post by Rebecca Hardesty which you should all read.

It ends by saying: “While the recent New York Times Magazine article is, in my opinion, fantastic and highlights the excellent work at the University of California, it is time to rethink science journalism’s preoccupation with the most abstract and extreme moral issues associated with scientific research. Not only are they not particularly urgent issues, focusing on them occludes the realities of genetics research. Two of which are: being able to do small modifications consistently in a controlled setting is different than doing large-scale modifications to a genetically diverse species in the wild – and biologists know this. Second, there needs to be a massive and coordinated effort between researchers, governments, and industry to pull off something like eradicating malaria by genetically modifying mosquitoes. This would be a possibly unprecedented act of international communication and coordination.”

And there are even more challenges. Rebecca points out: “With all this in mind, I’d like to see more on the following challenges of gene drives: a) the difficulties communicating between researchers in different sub-specialties; b) the challenges of industry/governmental/academic collaborations; and c) issues of recruitment for diverse human genetic material.”

Gene drive communication: Confusion and challenges

Communicating gene drive is fraught with difficulties. How to convey the complex science behind it – and that in various languages? Which metaphors to use that help and don’t hinder understanding of theory and potential applications? What issues to foreground or background?

In general, the little media coverage that gene drives have received, has stuck to a war framing endemic in reporting on science and medicine, as well as some ‘scare metaphors’ ubiquitous in reporting on advances in genetic and genomics, side-lining efforts by scientists to foreground responsibility, openness, transparency and caution. Metaphors too seem, on the whole, to have swerved round explanatory metaphors offered by scientists, such as ‘loading the dice’.

In the context where gene drives are used to eradicate disease carrying insects like mosquitoes that spread malaria or invasive species that threaten native biodiversity or pests that endanger farming, it is not surprising that many, journalists in particular, but also some scientists, fall back on metaphors of war and killing, as that’s what we are going to do and it’s really difficult to escape that metaphorical trap.

However, awareness should be raised about its dangers, as it obscures the context and purpose of such killing and some of the dilemmas associated with killing one creature rather than another. More importantly, it blends out other discourses of care, caution and responsibility that many scientists have engaged in from the start of research into gene drives. This, as well as the general complexity of the topic and the many confusions surrounding it, makes it potentially more difficult to foster public deliberations around the processes and products of gene drive research and its applications.

*Interestingly, the cloning of the dinosaurs “was accomplished by extracting dinosaur DNA from mosquitoes preserved in amber” (wiki).

Image by Hans Braxmeier from Pixabay

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campfiresandsandcastles · 6 years

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20 Things to Know Before You Vacation in Cartagena, Colombia

We've learned a thing or two about what you should know before you vacation in Cartagena, Colombia, having lived here for over 7 months now, and having visitors from the States. So, in the spirit of transparentness, I thought it would be useful to share what we've learned.

1. Yes, they really only speak Spanish.

Spanish is the official language of Colombia, and yes, that is the language that most people here will engage you in. Given that this area of Colombia, in particular, is so dependent on tourism, you will find some people who can speak English moderately well. But, expect your restaurant and shopping experiences to be in Spanish. Those of us who are not fluent here are highly dependent on Google Translate. We all have the app on our phone and use it multiple times a day. I highly recommend it.

2. You need a passport to travel here.

I hope this goes without saying, but sometimes it's good to be reminded to go dust off your passport and make sure it's not expired or going to expire while you're here. And Visas are not required to travel here from the States.

3. Know the address of where you are going.

This is a must. You will need it for your Customs and Immigration form and you will be asked by those officers for the address if you leave that space blank on your form. You do not need the exact address, just the name of the hotel and it’s general location is fine (e.g., Casa Eva in El Centro). Or, if you are staying with friends, their building name and area of their neighborhood is fine (e.g., Edificio Charlie in Castillogrande). You just have to write and tell them something.

4. It is hot and humid.

If you ask Colombians from other parts of the country what they think of Cartagena, the first thing they will always say is that Cartagena is hot. It is a tropical location and we live near the equator, so expect humidity and heat. This also means you will need hats, sunglasses, and lots of sunscreen. And, if you don't have any of these items when you arrive, there are plenty of vendors who are more than happy to sell them to you (see “you need to learn no gracias” below).

5. Beware of foreign transaction fees.

Before you arrive check with your ATM and credit card to verify that they will not charge you any "foreign transaction fees." Or, if they do, you're prepared to pay them. And, inform them that you will be traveling to Colombia, so they don't put a security hold on your card.

Plus, make sure that your credit card will actually work in Colombia. We have had some visitors whose credit cards were supposed to be international cards, but actually only worked at certain stores. We have a Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card that works great, as does the Marriott credit card (also by Chase). I'm sure there are plenty of others, but I am confident that these cards always work here.

6. Colombian money is in pesos.

The exchange rate from US dollars to Colombian pesos is currently and pretty consistently about $1 USD = $3,000 COP. When you are shopping, the easiest way to roughly convert a price here from COP to USD is drop off the last three zeros of the price and divide by 3 (i.e., essentially divide by 3,000). So, a box of cereal for $21,000 COP is about $7 USD. I always use this quick conversion, or you can certainly download conversion apps on your phone to get a more exact price too.

Also, commas = periods, and periods = commas in Colombia when you are talking about money. So, $21,000 COP is actually written $21.000 COP. So, something that costs twenty-one thousand and four hundred and fifty pesos is written $21.450.

7. You'll probably need some pesos.

Speaking of pesos, you'll need some. Plenty of purchases you make here are small, from a roadside vendor or stand, or a taxi that won't take credit cards, so it is good to have some Colombian cash and coins here. Some places in El Centro (the Old Walled City) will take US dollars, but there is no guarantee that they will give you a good exchange rate, so get some pesos. It’s easy to get cash from ATMs here (at reputable places such as banks, grocery stores, and malls). They also have money exchanges in the airport when you arrive to exchange your country’s currency.

8. Check if your cellular service will work in Colombia.

T-Mobile is international and their basic service works pretty okay here for no additional fee. Downloading websites and checking Facebook or Instagram is difficult, but texting is just fine. You can pay for an International plan from T-Mobile for only $20/month more per phone line while you're here to be sure you have T-Mobile's fastest speed service.

But, all other cellular services from the States, if they work here, charge you fees just to use your basic cellular service here, as far as I know. Some may have the option to turn on a International plan temporarily while you're here.

Also, many places around town have WiFi so you can rely on that at times, but in an emergency it's nice to have cellular service.

The cellular companies here such as Tigo, Movistar, and Claro also have pay-as-you-go plans where you can change out your SIM card while you're here to one of theirs. But, you will have a Colombian phone number.

9. Review your Immunizations.

If coming from the United States, there are currently no vaccinations that are required to enter Colombia. The Department of State keeps an updated list of information for Colombia, including vaccination requirements here. Plus, CDC keeps a list of recommended vaccinations for traveling to Colombia here. Currently, on their recommended list is Hepatitis A and Typhoid. For some travelers (especially if you'll be traveling to jungle regions) they recommend Hepatitis B, Malaria, Rabies, and Yellow Fever.

Based on the CDC's recommendations for Cartagena in particular, we only received vaccinations for Hepatitis A, Typhoid, Hepatitis B, and Yellow Fever. Yellow Fever is difficult to receive in the US, and is not needed if you're traveling to Cartagena, but we got vaccinated because of some of the traveling we plan to do, and because it is often recommended if you are visiting any of the National Park areas here, some of which are nearby.

10. Learn the phrase "no gracias."

If you do not learn any other Spanish while you are here, at least learn the phrase "no gracias." Cartagena is notorious for its street vendors and beach vendors. So, expect that you will be approached multiple times, and sometimes by the same persistent person, when visiting the beach, or El Centro...well, anywhere really.

11. Car seats appear optional here, so bring your own.

Traffic laws in general here are lax. In fact, I have never seen anyone pulled over and given a ticket for their driving, or lack of wearing a seat belt, or for having 8 people jammed into a 4 person vehicle, or driving on the wrong side of the road, as some examples. So, if you have littles and would like them to be in a car seat in the car, then bring it with you.

12. Bring life jackets if you have little kids.

If you plan on partaking in any adventure that requires you to board a boat while here and you have small children, then bring your own life jackets. Professional tour and boat companies will most likely have life jackets for everyone, but if you have very small children, they likely will not have one that will fits them well. And, yes, they need them, for your own peace of mind. My son is 11 years old and uses the smallest life jackets they offer on the boats here, to give you an idea of the smallest size they typically have.

13. ADA compliance is not a thing here.

The sidewalks and streets are not smooth and not conducive to pushing a large stroller or even a wheel chair. And the "handicap ramps," if they even have them, are about two feet long and at a 45 degree angle, so not really useful for their intended purpose unless you want to send Grandma on the ride of her life.

14. A light long-sleeved shirt or thin jacket for restaurants is a good idea.

I mentioned above that it is hot and humid here, but some places, such as restaurants, are not afraid to crank up the A/C. So, I often carry a light wrap with me to dinner. And, if you're arriving during any of our rainier seasons (e.g., July, October), maybe bring a light rain jacket too.

15. There is no need to rent a car.

I honestly do not even know if there are car rental places here or what it would take to actually rent a car. Instead, there are taxis everywhere. Most people who own cars here, including ourselves, take taxis regularly because parking can be a pain.

However, again, traffic laws are loosely followed here, and this especially applies to taxis. So, when you get in one, be prepared for a potentially wild ride with no seat belts. Oh, and have cash to pay them.

16. Download WhatsApp.

WhatsApp is an app that allows you to text and make phone and video calls using your data plan. And EVERYONE uses it here. It is the form of communication. Even businesses, doctors, and dentists will display their WhatsApp numbers. Most businesses here don't have websites and may only have a Facebook or Instagram page.

WhatsApp is truly amazing because even if you have very limited cellular service you will be able to send a text, even with a photo. Plus, it's encrypted. And, most importantly, you can communicate from a US number to a Colombian number with ease. Just add the +57 Colombian country code before the Colombian number, and you are all set. And, as far as I can tell, all communications are free (it is possible that if your cellular plan charges for data use you could be charged).

17. There is always a guy.

Things here work very much by word of mouth and on a personal level. If you need anything at all, someone probably knows a guy who could help or perform the task for you. We have a meat guy, a water guy, a painting guy, a paddleboard guy, a favorite driver, a guy who weaves outdoor furniture, etc.

18. Drink bottled water and be smart with what food you eat.

We only drink bottled water, but the water out of the tap is fine for brushing your teeth, showering, and washing your fruits and vegetables. And the food here is quite good and reliable. Just be smart about what you choose to eat. For example, eating ceviche from a beach vendor whose cart has been out in the sun all day, may not be the best idea.

19. Leave your pooch at home.

Actually, leave your cat, parrot, hamster, or any other pet you might be thinking of bringing at home. Getting them here and home will be the most stressful part of your travels if you decide to bring them. There are many requirements to bring a pet to another country, and Colombia is not exempt. Dogs do not have to be quarantined here, but that is about where the benefits end. Check with the airline and the USDA to see all the requirements for transporting a pet overseas and then expect that at every step of the process you will face problems and have to convince or argue with someone to get your pet on the plane, or even in the country. It's just not worth it for a vacation. And, vacations are supposed to be stress-free, right?

20. Be sure that they are charging you in COP.

Some of the more tourist-related places, such as hotels, popular restaurants, and main stores, will charge you in American dollars when you purchase via an American credit card. That sounds great and awful nice of them, but it will cost you 3.5% to do so. And it is not required for your international credit card because your credit card company will convert it to American dollars for you at no cost to you. So, before a waiter or receptionist charges your credit card, be sure to ask them to charge you in Pesos (COP), not dollars.

21. Get reimbursed for your IVA.

Ok, so I thought of one more point…everyday items you purchase here are taxed at 19%. It will be listed on your receipt as “IVA.” You can be reimbursed for this tax. We have not had a visitor do it yet, but we have been told that at the DIAN desk inside the Cartagena airport, you can show them your receipts, fill out a form, and you will receive the tax back. So, if you have made a large purchase here, perhaps jewelry, it may be worth your time to visit the desk and fill out the form. For 2018, the total value of your purchases must be greater than 331,560 pesos (about $110 USD). Be forewarned that the person at the desk does not speak English, only Spanish. Plus, you need the full detailed receipt (“factura” in Español), not just the receipt they hand you from the credit card machine. For more information, see this handy summary by Medellin Guru.

I hope that this list answers at least some of the main questions you have before vacationing here. Feel free to comment if you have any others and I'll answer the best I can.

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makingscipub · 5 years

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The GM/gene drive communication confusion

The other day, I was at the airport waiting for a plane back to the UK, when I noticed on twitter that there was some kerfuffle going on about a field trial in Brazil intended to eliminate disease carrying mosquitoes, which had had, it seems, some unintended consequences (see study).

Here is a short summary: “A field experiment in Brazil that deployed genetically modified mosquitoes to control wild populations of the pest may be having unintended consequences. According to a genetic analysis of mosquitoes in the area, it appears the engineered stock has bred with wild mosquitoes and created viable, hybrid insects, scientists reported in Scientific Reports last week (September 10).”

Reading various tweets about the matter (especially this one), I immediately thought of ‘gene drive’ (a topic that I have covered before on this blog).

It turned out I was wrong, and if I had read the title of the study that people were tweeting about, I might have realised that, as it contains the word ‘transgenic’. Once back home and reading stuff properly, I started to think about why I got confused (jumped to conclusions) and why this might be important for science communication/gene drive communication. But first some background.

Diseases and mosquitoes

At the moment nearly 700 million people get a mosquito-borne illness each year resulting in over one million deaths. Mosquito-borne illnesses are diseases caused by bacteria, viruses or parasites transmitted by mosquitoes. Diseases transmitted by mosquitoes include malaria, dengue, West Nile virus, chikungunya, yellow fever, Zika and much more (Wikipedia). In the past, mosquitoes, and the diseases they spread, were confined to specific regions of our planet. However, international travel and global warming contribute to mosquitos, people and diseases globally.

Many efforts are being made to reduce the population of mosquitoes and to protect human populations from their bites.

Dealing with mosquitoes through genetic modification

Measures to deal with this health threat include sprays, nets but also genetically modifying mosquitoes. This can be done in two ways:

“The first is ‘population replacement’ in which a mosquito population biologically able to transmit pathogens is ‘replaced’ by one that is unable to transmit pathogens. This approach generally relies on a concept known as ‘gene drive’ to spread the anti-pathogen genes. In gene drive, a genetic trait – a gene or group of genes – relies on a quirk on inheritance to spread to more than half of a mosquito’s offspring, boosting the frequency of the trait in the population.

The second approach is called ‘population suppression’. This strategy reduces mosquito populations so that there are fewer mosquitoes to pass on the pathogen.”

(A good definition of gene drive can be found here Weiss, 2019; and more info here)

Unintended consequences

What about the genetic modification used in the case I read about at the airport? The insects created by the firm Oxitec and released in Jacobina, Brazil, are genetically modified to be sterile, but do not contain a gene-drive – so we are dealing, it seems, with population suppression. I had been wrong to jump to the gene drive conclusion (population replacement) when I first read about this case at the airport. As one article points out:

“Oxitec, a UK-based biotechnology company, has been testing whether genetically modified (GM) mosquitoes can suppress a population of non-modified mosquitoes since 2009. The strategy: deploy (non-biting) sterile male Aedes aegypti mosquitoes bearing a lethal gene that is passed onto the offspring and, as a result, will see the population plummet.”

The word ‘lethal’ is important here, and seems to be important to Oxitec, too. They used it prominently on a webpage in 2016 (now defunct) (see Nerlich and McLeod, 2016). On that webpage cells were metaphorically framed as machines. And…machines can be controlled! This means the ‘lethal’ (gene) can control the ‘deadly’ (diseases). In theory.

However, the study I read about seems to have shown that there were some problems (unintended consequences) with this ‘control’, namely that the transgenic or genetically modified mosquitoes transferred genes into the natural population – it seems. A widely reported article had the headline: “Failed GM mosquito control experiment may have strengthened wild bugs”.

This caused quite a lot of disquiet and started a conversation about risks relating to the release of GM mosquitoes, be they modified in conventional ways or through gene drive. As Kat Arney said in a twitter exchange about this experiment and gene drive: “yes, not a gene drive but a dominant lethal gene. interesting to ponder whether a gene drive would have behaved in the same way…”.

Lessons for science communication?

I won’t go into the disputes and discussions following the publication of the study, which are really interesting and deserve a separate and more thorough study. However, as somebody interested in how people communicate about gene drive, I think there are some lessons to be learned from this episode and some questions that need to be asked in terms of science communication.

Before I come to these lessons, let me just say that I don’t know whether the paper published in Nature Scientific Reports is overhyped or not. It may be. It has inevitably led to some overhyped headlines, talking for example about a mosquito apocalypse, about super-mosquitoes and mutants. That’s to be expected, however dangerous it may be.

When reading such reports, I came to realise how little I actually know about GM and gene drive mosquitoes. The question is: Would that matter if I was confronted with a choice of having mosquitoes in my locality managed using GM and/or gene drive methods?

And if I knew more, would I prefer one method over the other? The straight GM one, modifying genes and genomes, or the gene drive one, modifying ways of genetic inheritance (and one leading to suppression of insect populations and the other to replacement?). And what about the word ‘lethal’ used in communicating the first?

Beyond that, is it important to make clear that all gene drives are genetic engineering/modification but that not all genetic engineering/modification is gene drive? It is certainly important to point out that ‘gene drives’ are not the same as ‘genetically modified mosquitoes’, despite the fact that some genetically modified mosquitoes have been genetically modified using gene drive technology.

And finally, what would be the impact of such knowledge or lack of knowledge be on conversations about risk and about rejecting or accepting such technologies of insect and disease control in particular circumstances?

(I would like to thank Aleksandra Stelmach for her helpful comments on this post)

Image: Mosquitoes, Pixabay

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