50th Anniversary of discovery of genetic cause of Down syndrome

Although Dr Jerome Lejeune,to his horror soon discovered that this important discovery, along with the discovery of amnio-centesis was used to abort 90% of babies with DS, it is a victory nonetheless, as it has improved the lives of the thousands who have Down syndrome. This was the topic of discussion at the Ponitifical Academy of Life in Rome this week.

Prof Bruno Dallapiccola recalled how Down syndrome children were previously ostracized, but now, 50 years later, "kids with trisomy have managed to reach an autonomy never seen before […] and can discreetly integrate themselves into society. They earn degrees. Professor Lejeune's discovery permitted this victory.
"Now, despite that in some countries as many as 90% of Down syndrome babies are aborted, the professor noted that every year, he meets 10 to 20 families who welcome a Down baby.
Dallapiccola recalled a visit to Lejeune in Paris in 1963. Since his discovery, he said, "something important changed in history," and "that mustn't be regretted."
To celebrate this important discovery and the fact that the Church has given Dr Lejeune the title of Servant of God, which has put him on the path to sainthood, read my article at the National Catholic Register, and send me an email at marysjoys@yahoo.com with your mailing address and I'll send you a holy card of Dr Lejeune with a prayer for his intercession for a miracle.
Read the entire story on Zenit.

Special Exhibition of the Shroud of Turin

Our beloved Holy Father has such a pastoral sensistivity; he has arranged a public viewing of what many belive to be the Miraculour Burial Shroud of Jesus Christ before it would normally be shown. In this world of doubt, where many former believers demand "proof", the Shroud has mysteriously confounded those doubts, and though no one can prove it was the burial shroud of Jesus, it certainly passses the most amazing tests.
For an explanation of those tests click here.
HT Reuters

The History of Eugenics is in "Expelled"

The dark history of the shameful movement underpinning the biggest human atrocities of the 20th century was powerfully outlined by Ben Stein in his important documentary which is a must-see for anyone serious about science, about faith, and about freedom. See the trailer here.
Did I leave anybody out?

Stein followed the scientific community's lockstep loyalty to Darwinism backwards in time, and ended up at the Nazi gas chambers, which first killed disabled people. They were just practicing Darwinism, by speeding up the process of natural selection, formerly called survival of the fittest, by eliminating "useless eaters". Society bought into this toxic mentality because it came from doctors and scientists.
He followed their trail to Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger, who was a dedicated eugenicist, working overtime to rid the world of people like my immigrant grandparents. While she was ostensibly offering women choice, secretly she was seeking to rid American society of the 'unfit'. More Darwinism in action. We are still in the midst of the nightmare of Sanger's legacy; 46 million Americans have died of abortion, far surpassing the darkest dreams of Hitler and Stalin together.
Ben Stein did us the invaluable favor of holding a spotlight of truth on some of society's darkest secrets, and those valiant scientists who have dared to reveal them to academia. They were expelled from their positions and blacklisted from obtaining further employment. Oxbridge and Ivy League graduates who have produced world renowned work. They mentioned Intelligent Design once and they were gone. Nothing but strict Darwinism will be tolerated by academics. What happened to scientific inquiry and academic freedom?

Stein then exposed the utterly laughable theories of scientists who would rather make up some fairy tale about Extra Terrestrials coming to earth and planting "human seeds" from which we emerged, to life's beginnings as molecules bumping together as they "rode the backs of crystals".
With his trademark aplomb and vintage film clips adding humor and highlighting the outrageous statements captured by his camera, Ben Stein has created a classic which will one day be appreciated, as the film that drew society bent on self-destruction, back from the precipice.
If it's not too late.
If we continue to allow ourselves to be dominated by militantly atheistic scientists whose agenda blinds them to the fact that evolution is a 150 year old theory which has NOT withstood scientific advances, we will find ourselves in a totalitarian state. The scientists themselves admitted on camera that they wish to destroy the power religion holds on culture, and relegate it to an innocuous hobby, like knitting.
Global warming and political correctness will have replaced the Judeo-Christian belief in the dignity of man, the pinnacle and master of God's creation. We will find ourselves enslaved to a materialistic ideology. Our very right to exist will be determined by what the powerful consider a worthwhile contribution to society, against our carbon footprint. Many of us may not make the cut.
Terri Schiavo didn't.
46 million unborn American didn't.
See "Expelled" before it is banned by the Obama administration.

What a courageous teacher!

A California science teacher has been placed on administrative leave after coming under fire following the showing of a pro-life film, The Silent Scream, that details an abortion procedure. First-year teacher Randy Yang showed the movie to five eighth-grade classes at Russell Middle School.

Now they are going to fire him.

So much for the First Amendment, it's suspsended at the classroom door. If that had been a terrifying global warming film or explicit gay sex film, Yang would getting tenure. My daughters were attending a filmaking class at a local library, and the teacher bragged about meeting Obama, and asked them whether they wanted to make films to stop global warming. He proceded to show clips of a global warming film and Michael Moore's film, "Sicko" at which point my daughters and their friends walked out. The teacher confronted them, "Why are you leaving?" to which Gabbi responded,"we don't believe it, why should we watch it?" He gave her a dirty look. Had he been her science, health, social studies or English teacher, she would have been a captive audience. Mr. Yang gave his students a choice of films, and they chose, "The Silent Scream".

I was a bilingual science teacher, and didn't have his guts; I was pregnant and needed benefits. But I did show "The Miracle of Life" which shows the beauty of an unborn baby throughout his development with an emphasis on closeup shots at 16 weeks. The kids were very impressed, and no one will be able to tell them that an unborn child is just tissue.
Once I made a casual comment to my First Holy Communion Class that I didn't believe in global warming, and I heard a collective gasp. These were limited English proficient first graders. They may not know how to read and write English yet, but they had already been exposed to the propaganda of the left.

Read the entire story.

HT Life News

Scientist who cloned Dolly has change of heart

Over at Adult Stem Cell Awareness there is a discussion about geneticist Ian Wilmut, who cloned Dolly the sheep. No, he hasn't converted to Catholicism, as far as I know. He simply recognizes the fact that Adult Stem Cells are far more promising and worth the effort of scientists.

Family Research Council reports below:
Here Goes 'Mutton': Dolly Creator Rejects Cloning
This past weekend, the movement to ban cloning got some help from an unlikely source--the scientist most famous for attempting it.

Professor Ian Wilmut, the creator of Dolly the sheep, publicly announced his decision to abandon "therapeutic cloning" and turn his attention to pro-life alternatives such as those being perfected in Japan with adult stem cells. He believes the "socially acceptable" approach "represents the future for stem cell research," rather than the nuclear transfer method he and his team used 10 years ago in creating Dolly. Although Wilmut was given the go-ahead to pursue human cloning in 2005, the professor has since declined. His decision, on the heels of last week's news that scientists had successfully cloned primates, should put a serious damper on any enthusiasm for projects that require the creation and destruction of cloned embryos.
For all of the hype surrounding the monkey breakthrough, a couple of key details were lost on the media. For starters, the team leader of the Oregon primate program, Dr. Shoukhrat Mitalipov, admitted that the "efficiency is low" for the research and it is "not yet a cost effective medical option." Also, some reports estimated that it took over 15,000 monkey eggs to yield just two lines of embryonic stem cells, only one of which is normal. Meanwhile, as scientists waste precious time and resources on a procedure that the majority of the world considers morally unacceptable, pro-life alternatives are effectively treating everything from juvenile diabetes to spinal cord injuries--without the ethical headache. We can only hope that Wilmut's conversion will pull the wool from the eyes of the public, which should result in Congress turning away from spending more taxpayer money on embryonic stem cell research that is both unethical and ineffective.

More About Dr.Jerome LeJeune, future saint

The Curt Jester posted about this wonderful article in MercatorNet on Dr. LeJeune. His cause for canonization has been introduced by Parisian Bishop Andre Vignt-Trois. I posted about him here.

Sanctity Meets Science

For those of you who want to fund good, pro-life genetic research, I reccommend The Michael Fund. Rebecca Taylor at her blog, Mary Meets Dolly has a great post explaining their work.
Next time someone puts down the Catholic Church when it comes to genetic research, saying we want to go back to the old days, I have a name for you: Gregor Medel, the Austrian monk who for his work with pea plants in 1856 is considered a pioneer of the study of genetics.
I have another name for you: Dr. Jerome Lejeune who discovered Trisomy 21, commonly known as Down Syndrome. He is called "The Father of Modern Genetics" and has had his case for beatification opened. His biography, Life is a Blessing, written by his daughter Clara, tells how his life's goal was to uplift the dignity of individuals with Down Syndrome. As the mother who has a child with Down Syndrome, I consider him a pro-life hero. I'm not the only one.
Jerome Lejeune was one of the most highly regarded geneticists of modern times. He discovered numerous sicknesses of genetic origin, of which Down Syndrome (Trisomy 21) is the best known, and he was an ardent defender of life and of the dignity of "those who are mentally wounded", as he called them, to whom he dedicated his entire life, his energy and his talents. Jerome Lejeune was a "sign of contradiction for our time" according to the words of Pope John Paul II.