Start of Life Gene Discovered

gollum123 writes "The BBC reports that scientists from the UK and France have may found a gene responsible for controlling the fertilization of a new egg." From the article: "The HIRA gene is involved in the events necessary for the fertilisation that take place once a sperm enters an egg. Faults in this gene might explain why some couples struggle to get pregnant despite having healthy sperm ... Although their work in Nature is based on fruit flies, the same genetic processes are present in humans."

Comments

Re:Well...

[NaruVonWilkins]

I acknowledge that it's pretty much the beginning of a new life, but I don't think I or the government have any say over that life or are responsible for any sort of protection of it until it is naturally detached from the mother. Until then, it's her call.

Re:Well...

[grasshoppa]

I've heard some, when arguing for the right of arbortion, call the very early stages of development a "pile of goo" which always struck me as a derogatory understanding of the life.

You'd best sit down, your ego will thank you: That's all life is. From the first twinkly in your mother's eye to the grave, you are simply an eleborate pile of goo.

People have such a grandios idea of what life is, so dramatic and romatic. The reality is quite simply, you are ( and I saw this on a someone's sig around here ) a bunch of cells deciding to be you for a while. And biological material, more often than not, is gooey.

So come on down from your high estimation of yourself and look around. It's a quite lovely world, albeit a bit messy.