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multigenerational Trisomy 21 research
Wednesday, April 5 2017
Ray, Nancy, Jack the Dog, Quentin, Natasha, and Coach Eric Taylor the Dog all came over this morning to join Gretchen and our dogs on a walk in the forest. It was perfect warmish sunny early April day for such things. But, as often happens, Ray decided not to go on the walk. He and I sat in the living room drinking coffee (I made some) and talking about various things. We both follow whatever is happening in Jeopardy, and this led me to mention that recent champion (Abigail Myers) looks a little like she might have Down Syndrome (aka "Trisomy 21"). Then I wondered, are people with Down Syndrome capable of having children on their own? And if they are, is it possible to produce a second-generation person with Down Syndrome (PWDS)? A little research there on my Chromebook revealed that PWDS are often fertile and that the chance of a woman with Down Syndrome passing the extra chromosome on to her child is between thirty and fifty percent. As for men, they tend to have low fertility, though this might be due to "low levels of sexual activity."
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Meanwhile, the acclimation of Charles the Cat continues apace. He's still restricted to just the upstairs bathroom, though I've been letting cats and even Ramona in briefly to check him out and sniff around. Sylvia seems not to care about Charles at all; she likes entering his space to drink his water and eat his food. Something about these things being in a different space makes them more attractive to her even though identical items can be found downstairs in the dining room. As for Charles, he's curious about new cats, and marches up to them with alarming promptness. But the only thing motivating him is curiosity. He just wants a sniff, whether its Sylvia's nose or the nasty dingleberry archipelago of Oscar's ass. Both Sylvia and Oscar seemed to regard Charles as a benign novelty. I would've expected Sylvia at least to hiss at him, but she didn't. As for Ramona, she seemed a bit too eager to approach Charles, and this seemed to freak him out. He hissed and growled at her but didn't make any moves. In response, a wide dorsal stripe of fur formed a mohawk on Ramona's back, an ominous sign that often results in her lashing out. I decided it was best to let their meeting wait for a better day.
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