It can be hard to grow up. You wind up wherever you are and flail around in a panic, and if you’re unlucky there isn’t anything to grab onto – nothing but the saline tragedy of lost opportunity. I can only comment from my own experiences, but there is a tendency too to lose yourself in the massive blur of the other many billions of people around you, and this loss of self is often complimented by shattering of ego and fear of the future. It can be hard to live with a fear of the future.

The commodification of the human body is hardly a modern issue – the concept of valuing people on labor and contribution to society has long been used and abused. But now that money is involved it’s a little bit more, if you would, quantifiable. Some people reject this, but many embrace it, for such is life and you either make it or don’t. For those that don’t make it, that too is life.

I once watched a video on YouTube of a large bird of prey eating a deer alive. The poor creature was just standing, exhausted, staring emotionless away into the distance as its entrails were ripped from its body and devoured. This is reality: pain, suffering at the hands of another, and the final concession of defeat in the face of death.

Another time I was hiking in the Cascades and turned a corner in the forest to see an entire mountainside of yellow wildflowers basking in the afternoon sunlight, every so slowly turning to follow their God as it lazily drifted West, where presumably more flowers to illuminate resided. There are few words for moments like those, but if one must make an attempt, then: the feeling of beauty in simplicity and in nature, where exertion and thirst and hunger is just for the smallest bit forgotten in the face of beauty, or as Nabokov would refer to it (albeit in reference to writing), aesthetic bless. This too is reality: pleasure, love, and hiking.

I once visited a place in Oahu called Kahumana, an organic farm that attempted to rehabilitate homeless or troubled natives of the island by having them work on the farm for food and housing and eventually apply to minimum wage jobs. It seems ironic that the solution to the most ostracized and outcast of society are necessarily made to rejoin it, but what exactly is the alternative? To die of exposure or hunger or tuberculosis?

So what, though? What do we care of reality, or transients, or idealistic critiques of the modern world? To that, I can only say that people are people, just as reality is reality, and people should be valued because it is a terrible thing to suffer. Everyone has suffered, and everyone will suffer, and I think that it is in everyone’s best to minimize suffering, both their own and others. However, that is simply the musings of someone who is lost at sea with less to grab onto than he might like – a passing thought in the mind of a drowning man that maybe he left his oven on at home.

A week later I was sitting down with Tia Grace and Miguel. I knew there would be shouting so I chose somewhere private – but not so private that either of them felt obligated to start a fight. In the end I found us a quiet restaurant off the 5 and got there an hour early to ease Tia Grace into the meeting. She came in her work clothes, blazer and dress skirt, and I made her order some food even though she wasn’t hungry. Tia Grace was the rogue factor, and I needed to make sure she would remain as calm and content as possible so that she would agree to be there when Miguel went to talk with his mom. I told her as much and, glancing towards the door, she laughed gruffly.

“I hope you’re as good at working people as you think you are, Carlos. Anyways, I’m the one waiting to be impressed – I hope you told Miguel to make a good impression.” I had – and to my pleasant surprise he walked in very smartly attired, presumably donning one of the outfits he used to court his ex-sponsor. He was clean shaven and confident – shoulders back, efficient and controlled gait, not to mention he wasn’t coughing anymore. Well, to be more accurate he was suppressing the urge to cough somehow, but I didn’t care how so long as he looked the part. He strode over to us and sat down across from his adoptive sister.

“Grace,” he greeted politely.

“Miguel,” she responded, putting down her fork and pushing her plate away. She stared at him, and he stared back, and nothing happened until I became uncomfortable and intervened on my own behalf.

“Miguel… Why don’t we start with what we talked about. I think it would be best if we understood both sides of the story and then moved forward from there.” Miguel looked at me, and a hint of nervousness glimmered in the turquoise marbles of his eyes before he turned back to Tia Grace and started to talk. He talked of his mother, of his art, and finally, of his fear, revealing the depths to which his insecurities commanded his life. He admitted to depression and anxiety and regret, and to the illness that likely would take his life soon anyways. He pleaded towards her humanity, and to their relationship as siblings, and to the shared pain of being raised impoverished and in destitution. He wanted only to spend his last days with his family. Grace listened politely and actively, affirming her understanding and compassion. I saw her face change over time from a polite distrust to an empathetic acceptance – finally she had made some sort of common ground with a brother she could never see eye to eye with. So when Miguel had finished, brought to tears by his own recollection, Tia Grace pulled a gun out of the folds of her coat and pointed it at him.

In a blind panic I jumped across the table and tackled her to the floor, food scattering everywhere. Refried beans and rice and a half eaten enchilada compressed between me and my aunt as we fell, and I became aware of a door slamming shut somewhere off in the distance. Once we hit the ground the gun flew out from Tia Grace’s grasp and slid across the ground towards a terrified waiter who jumped away as if from a bomb.

“You crazy, lunatic motherfucker!” I screamed at Tia Grace, who was clutching her head at its point of impact into the cheap tiling that was now covered in a surprisingly thick enchilada sauce that must have followed us down off the table. “You goddamn fucking hypocrite!”

It wasn’t until I coughed blood onto her face that I realized that the door slamming was a gun shot and the viscous condiment pooling ever more rapidly across the floor was in fact my own. Tia Grace opened her eyes and cursed and then saw my wound and screamed. That’s when the pain hit me, and I clutched at my ribs and rolled myself off her onto my back. In between coughing fits I saw Miguel desperately calling someone on the phone, and then more pain when somebody pressed their coat onto my wound, making me scream and cry in response. I was rolled onto my side, and began to feel light headed from the blood loss. Minutes of agony passed, accentuated by fire in my chest every time I coughed, before the sweet relief of unconsciousness dragged me under and I slept.

***

I woke up in a hospital bed with bandages swirled around my chest and needles in my arms, my mother asleep on a recliner in the corner of the room, although I could barely make her out in the dark. I could feel the catheter inside of me. It still hurt very much to breathe, but the morphine I saw overhead did manage to help, somewhat. I heard rustling in the corner opposite of my mom, and then a toilet flush and running sink. More rustling, a flick of a light switch, and then annoyed mumbling as someone groped around at the door trying to find the knob. Eventually it opened, and Abuelita shuffled out of the wall and over towards a seat at the side of my hospital bed I hadn’t noticed. She gently reached her slightly wet hand to mine and stroked the back of it with her thumb, sighing.

“Oh, Carlos,” She whispered morosely, “What did I tell you?”

I didn’t say anything back.

I ended up cleaning up the broken plate. I didn’t mind so much, though, having gotten my way. Even better was the voicemail I saw after I had gone home – it was from Miguel. He told me he trusted me, and wanted to meet in person at a park in Chino Hills. So I made myself another cup of coffee and started driving. I had so many questions – and for some reason I wasn’t scared. I had known Miguel my whole life, and I knew that any anger he may have had against Abuelita was reserved for her and her alone.

I arrived at the meeting spot at just after midnight. The park was well-manicured: perfectly even grass, rows of wildflowers with dampened color in the darkness, gray-white cement that had recently been cleaned. There were a couple of lamps scattered across the walkway – I walked to the third one down and sat down on a bench just outside the reach of the light. I only had to wait a few minutes before I saw a figure in the distance approach me. It was Miguel, of course, but instead of his usually confident gait he was walking slowly and deliberately, and I could hear him coughing from my perch in the middle of the park.

Eventually he reached me and sat down, and in the dim lighting I could see he had lost weight. He looked at me and gave a weak smile, and then pulled out a napkin and coughed into it, spitting something out afterwards. It was hard to see in the poor lighting, but it looked green and slimy – phlegm. I looked away in disgust, unconsciously leaning away from him until I noticed my side was hitting the handle of the bench. I forced myself back into my original position and started talking.

“It’s good to see you Miguel. You look terrible!” I laughed nervously, and got an affirmative grunt in response.

“I feel terrible. I haven’t eaten anything in days, I have fever, my chest hurts. I’m afraid to go to the doctor though, don’t want to get caught. Not yet at least.” His voice was deep and raspy, and lacked a lot of the authority it once commanded. Even if Abuelita saw him as weaker than her other children, he still learned how to carry himself. We made eye contact, and I was reminded again how painfully blue his eyes were, a genetic anomaly among the family. They were beautiful, just like Miguel himself, but now there was a newfound layer of unmasked pain.

“I need to tell you why. Gabriel and the others wouldn’t understand, not really. It needs to be you. Of everyone else I knew you would understand – you and, and, well, Alejandro maybe. But he has his children, he has… better things to worry about.” Miguel paused to take a ragged breath.

“My mother hit me. Not for a very long time, but she used to. Whenever I talked about painting, she would hit me. I learned pretty fast not to do that. But then she would find my drawings. Or my painting supplies. Worst one time the teacher called me to compliment a sketch. I had no idea until I walked downstairs for dinner. Usually it was a sandal, or her hands… but this time she had a rolling pin, the one she used to make tortillas. She beat me hard that day, right in front of my brothers and sisters, as a lesson. I was always a lesson. She hit them too, but they never gave her as many reasons as I did. Instead she would hit me again and again, ‘God forbid you waste your time on art!’” He emulated sarcastically.

“I know she was just raising me the way she had been. People need money to live comfortably, it’s just the way the world works. But that’s how I grew up, and even if I should have known better, I didn’t. Years later, two months ago, I go to her and tell her I finally made it big. Found a rich man that liked my work, gonna set up a venue, finally, finally. But she got so mad – instead of happy, mad, said I never could take her advice, that I was lying, that she would make sure I was done with painting forever. And she takes the rolling pin, same one all those years ago, and she grabs me and puts my hands on the table… I didn’t think she would – could. But she could… she could and like I always did, I took it and did nothing. But I go to my guy after, seven fingers useless, and he says there’s no point to a painter that can’t paint.

“I was so angry, and in so much pain. Then my fingers are better, but it’s not the same, some kind of nerve damage I thought, shaking too much I can barely hold a brush. But I go in and the doctor says there’s nothing wrong, that it’s all in my head. And I realize that I’m just afraid, so afraid, but that I know what I can do to not be afraid. So I get the gun, this ugly plastic thing, and I shoot it a couple of times in the mountains, and my hand isn’t shaking so the doctor was right it was in my head and I know I can do it I can do it I can do it and I’m at her house and I tell her she was wrong and I can do it and then I raise the gun and I can do it and then I can’t. I’m the scared little child I always was and I can’t. She was right, my mama was right all along and I can’t.”

Miguel devolved into a fit of coughing, tears streaming down his face while he clutched the napkin to his face. He sobbed in between fits, and I knew I should have held him and comforted him and told him it was all going to be okay but instead I just sat there and stared.

The party was good – family trickled in around one in the afternoon, and fell into familiar interactions. The kids ran around in the gigantic backyard, screaming in delight as water balloons hit their marks. Tia Grace and Abuelita sat talking in the living room while a game of football blared in the background on the oversized TV. Usually Miguel and Tio Alejandro would drink beer and whine about the Rams, but now the latter was humoring his wife in the kitchen. I made small talk most of the time with my grandmother’s various other children, killing time until I could eat. I was nursing my fourth cup of coffee, starting to feel the effects of my early morning stakeout.

            Alma’s gifts were all piled up on a table outside, but I couldn’t see Miguel’s. Tio Alejandro must have set it aside for later. It was probably a smart call, family as a whole would not take kindly to even that shallow intrusion. I could overhear Abuelita in the back telling Tia Grace for the hundredth time about the fall of Grenada that ended the Moorish reign. Finally, Alejandro’s wife called the family together for food. Francesca was a god-send, the best cook in the family, and this time she had made tamales, although there was pizza too, for the kids.

As family swarmed the kitchen, Alma spoke up and asked where her favorite Tio Miguel was. The room fell silent, and before Tia Grace could start an oratorial crusade I crouched down and told her he wasn’t feeling well. My aunt would disapprove of the lie but if I handled the issue correctly my cousin wouldn’t yet need to know the harsh truth about her uncle. Fortunately Alma handled the news well, and I knew she would be pleased to receive her present later.

The question had upset Tia Grace though, and she was outside fuming on the patio furniture. I brought her a plate of food and sat with her, eating silently until she felt ready to talk. Just as she started to say something, though, Tio Alejandro walked over and made the mistake of defending Miguel.

“Grace, I know you’re mad about Miguel, but Carlos and I have been talking, and we think there must be something more to the story.” Tia Grace swiveled furiously to glare at me and I cringed and looked away.

“It’s probably some drug issue, and he needs our -,” Alejandro was continuing, until he was interrupted sharply by a bark from his adopted sister.

“Don’t even think about it! That man is a lunatic! You may defend him because he spends all his money on your daughter but he finally snapped and this is the last straw!”

“Watch yourself Grace, Miguel was my brother, don’t presume to know my relationship with him. What did you expect was going to happen anyways? The poor man was pushed to his limit!”

“His limit of what? He’s just too immature to handle reality, and then he gets mad when people tell him how life really works. I can’t believe you would defend him, what is wrong with this family? You would let him get away with murder!”

“Attempted murder – he missed!”

“All that matters is that he tried! You wouldn’t like him so much if he actually shot your mom.”

“You’ve just always hated him because he was poor. You’re classist Grace, and you should care more about the people you grew up with. People are more complicated than their career.”

“Classist? I’m the only one with any fucking ethics around here!” Tia Grace threw her plate on the floor, shattering the blue ceramic.

“Okay, Jesus, would you both calm down?” I interjected. Grace’s voice was starting to project too, and I hated it whenever family made a scene.

“Look, our opinions on this don’t matter that much. Abuelita is the one who was attacked, and she is the one who should decide what we do about Miguel. Grace, have you talked with her at all about this? I think she wants to bring him back! No matter what he did, Miguel is her son!”

Alejandro nodded in agreement, but Tia Grace was only getting more frustrated. At least she wasn’t shouting anymore. I told them to wait outside and I went back into the kitchen to collect my grandmother and steer her outside to talk some sense into her daughter. This took longer than I would have preferred, as she was in the middle of lecturing family while they were trapped with their food, but in the end it gave Tia Grace time too cool down. By the time Abuelita made it outside, my aunt and uncle were talking civilly.

“Abuelita,” Tia Grace asked, “Are you sure about this? I just don’t understand why you want him back. What’s so good about him, mama? He doesn’t deserve your love.”

“Grace,” my grandmother sighed and tutted, an oddly loving smile on her face, “You are such a jealous child.” She bent down slowly and cupped Tia Grace’s cheek in her hand.

“You all are my children. No one deserves better treatment, even if some are more deserving. Family is family – no matter how we got here. And family gets special treatment – that is what makes us family in the first place.”

Sander, Sylvia G. and Koschinsky, Andrea. Metal flux from hydrothermal vents increased by organic complexation. Nature Geoscience 4:145-150. 20 February 2011.

            The concentration of metals such as iron and copper is highly relevant to biological and chemical processes throughout the ocean, and as such understanding where exactly these come from is vital to a holistic comprehension of the deep ocean. This paper was written to challenge the contemporary understanding that the primary contribution of hydrothermal vents to the greater metal concentration in the open ocean was negligible, almost all of the metals presumably forming sulphide and oxide compounds upon contact with seawater and so fairly localized to the surrounding sea floor. These two authors realized that, in addition, there is also the possibility of these ions forming highly stable ligands with organic molecules (formed either biologically or through interaction of organic carbon compounds with increased H₂ present in hydrothermal fluid), which would allow for the spread of molecules into the greater deep ocean, potentially contributing a significant portion to the observed concentrations of metals. This was tested using a modeling path called REACT, in which organic ligands’ binding proficiency was simulated to predict metal solubility in ocean water using metal flow data from the Turtle Pits and Rainbow field vent systems. The model found that solubility of both metals increased with the presence of ligands, with ‘assumed’ hydrothermal ligands playing a greater role in complexing with copper in anoxic conditions, and seawater ligands contributing more significantly when oxygen is introduced to the system. Iron binding ligands were found to be more effective with the iron was oxidized to form Fe(III). This experiment demonstrates the complexing ability of organic ligands, and the required diversity of ligands to complex in varying conditions. This strongly suggests that hydrothermal vents indeed act as a source of metal, potentially making up 14% and 9% of the dissolved deep ocean copper and iron concentrations respectively.

            This paper does a good job of identifying an issue and seeking to contribute to its resolution – in this case the lack of knowledge surrounding hydrothermal vents’ contribution to metal concentrations in the deep ocean. However, as useful as modeling systems are, the paper did not itself conduct any concrete experiments to support their theory, merely noting that their model appears to line up, more or less, with the observations. The authors also admit that their model did not take into account the breaking up of sulphide compounds, or biological processes that could affect iron or copper solubility. What is needed now is a series of experiments that validates the predicted complexing ability of ligands in hydrothermal vent systems specifically, as well as a study into the two unaccounted processes mentioned before, as it is often found that in situ behavior can differ radically from modeling or in vitro experiments. The paper also brings up a possible interaction between sulfide nanoparticles that also bind to metals, acting as a potential medium as they travel to increasingly oxic waters, at which point organic molecules would steal the bound metals and keep them dissolved. This is an area worth studying as well, to promote the complete understanding of the chemical processes required to transport these metals long distances.

Glover et al. ”World-wide whale worms? A new species of Osedax from the shallow north Atlantic”. Proceedings of the Royal Society B. University of Hawaii, 272: 2587-2592. 18 October 2005.

               Whale falls present a unique landscape of organisms that feed off decaying whale carcasses, including Osedex species known for their ability to root themselves within whale bones. However, studies done up to the point of the paper have focused exclusively on very deep portions of the Northeast Pacific ocean, and no experiments done out of the laboratory have focused on shallower north Atlantic waters. In order to shed new light on the diversity of species that surrounds whale falls in that area, the authors dumped a Minke whale carcass near the southwestern coast of Sweden at a depth of 125 meters in late 2003. In August of the following year, and twice in 2005, a remote operated vehicle Phantom XL was used to collect samples of the whale remains and a novel species Osedex mucofloris. Genetic sequencing of their mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase 1 and the 18S rRNA subunit gene demonstrated a close relation to Osedax frankpressi, although significant morphological differences including variation in palp and root system color, size, and distinguishing genetic difference of CO1 and 18S rRNA sequences established the species as unique. This identification the growing understanding of the phylogenetic relationship these worms share with vent and sediment worms. For example, Osedax mucofloris is also shown to derive from vent worms sucha as as Riftia and Tevnia, just like the other Osedax sp. The geographic distribution of the worm, which is also present in the Northeast Pacific, appears to be at odds with the phylogeny however, as the two northeast Pacific species of Osedax were present on the Swedish whale fall, even though they don’t act as sister clades to mucofloris, which according to the authors implies an unexpected method of distribution.

               The significance of this phylogeny suggests the species were transported through some sort of dispersal or migration event, as opposed to the more common movement of tectonic plates that commonly determines the diaspora of these types of worms. This paper also brings into question current knowledge of the many species found in the deep sea, or around whale falls. In addition, the authors point out that the specifics of symbiont related feeding have not been explored, although presumably these worms also utilize sulfur oxidizing chemoautotrophs.

Robert et al. “Small-scale thermal responses of hydrothermal vent polynoid polychaetes: Preliminary in situ experiments and methodological development”. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology. Elsevier, 420-1: 49-76. 3 May 2012.

               The authors of this paper were concerned with the specifics of temperature regulation among two types of worms from the family Polynoidae. These creatures depend very heavily on the temperature of their environment to regulate their own internal temperature, a physiological condition of which applicable organisms are termed ectothermic. These polychaete worms must first remain within survivable temperature ranges, but then additionally maneuver on a much smaller scale of centimeters or decimeters to optimize temperature and access to food. The authors specifically were looking to confirm predictions on movement patterns based on optimal temperatures and the influence of past temperature exposures on these locomotive trends. Based on previous polychaete studies, the Branchinotogluma family and Lepinotopodium piscesae species could not be distinguished, and instead identification was divided into worms with and without visible epibacterial growth on their scales. The human operated submersible Alvin was outfitted with cameras and thermometers and deployed three times on the Grotto chimney of the Main Endeavour Field, and once at the Axial Volcano. Tracking of the worms was then mostly automated in ImageJ after editing in Adobe Photoshop to increase contrast between polychaete scales and the background. Observed walking patterns were compared with a simulated randomized walking pattern, while a temperature map within the camera’s field of view was constructed through Kriging interpolation, which models likely temperatures at points in the area that were not directly measured. The effect of previously encountered temperatures was analyzed by comparing the time interval between experiencing an extreme temperature and subsequent movement to a more comfortable area, and comparing each time’s respective temperatures. Finally, movement patterns were analyzed using a certain modeling technique that determines the degree to which previous behaviors of eating or migrating influence more recent behaviors. When movement was compared with random motion across the constructed temperature maps, worms with epibacteria tended towards the 35-40 ^oC range less than predicted with a random model, and worms without epibacteria demonstrating similar behaviour in the 30 – 40^oC range, while both tended towards the more moderate 5-10 ^oC or 20-25^oC range, depending on the dive. This suggests that polychaetes do exhibit smaller scale temperature optimizing ectothermic activity. There was unfortunately no conclusive data found on the impact of previously exposed temperatures on displacement or velocity of the worms in the area – they tended simply to stay put. There was also no conclusive evidence of migrating behaviors, in which worms were expected to stay localized sometimes or move relatively quickly at others, based solely on temperature. Overall, the study confirmed a preference for milder temperatures, but also strongly suggested that there must be other environmental factors that trump temperature when determining location.

               This paper explores very interesting possibilities in worm behavior and modeling techniques. There clearly must be more motivating factors, aside from temperature, that determine location. There is also much left to be explored when distinguishing polychaetes with and without a layer of epibacteria, as some differences in temperature range where demonstrated. Future studies would need to address this, as well as providing a more detailed sea floor layout, as the one used in the study was not able to accurately account for three-dimensional variability along the temperature map. In the end this paper does contribute to an exploration of poylchaete behaviour within the vent systems, a worthy pursuit in the name of understanding the intricacies of their biology.

Chen et al. “The ‘scaly-foot’ gastropod: a new genus amd species of hydrothermal vent-endemic gastropod (Neomphalina: Peltosporidae) from the Indian Ocean. Journal of Molluscan Studies. The Malacological Society of London p. 1-13. 20 April 2015.

               Academic familiarity with the scaly-foot gastropod has existed since 2003, when a survey of the Central Indian Ridge revealed a gastropod characterized by pyrite and greigite surfaces along its foot. Despite this, and subsequent identification of other regional gastropods that are within the same species, there has been no formal naming of the organism. This paper acts as a review of previous work investigating this particular species of gastropod, and in the process seeks to solidify its name in future literature officially as Chrysomallon squamiferum. Characterization of the new species involves morphologic and genetic identification, as well as locating geographic distribution. Genetically, as with sequencing the new Osedex sp., focus includes the mitrochondrial cytochrome oxidase 1 gene, in addition to histone 3, 16S rRNA, 18S rRNA, and 28S rRNA genes. The Chrysomallon family is subsequently characterized by the pyrite that covers the surface of their shell and foot, as well as the unique combination of no distinct sex organs or thus malleable limbs along with no clear sexual dimorphism. Specific teeth-like assemblies in curved rows at the ending of its marginal teeth also aids placement within the Peltosporidae family. C. squamiferum is described to live along the Longqi, Kairei, and Solitaire vent fields, although species in this latter field, while genetically the same, notably lack a covering of iron sulphide sclerites, likely due to a lack of iron rich smokers in the area. Cytochrome oxidase I genetic and morphological similarities are used as evidence to support this. Consistent interspecies interaction between these fields is questioned due to the immobile nature of other Peltosporidae larvae that presumably is shared by Chrysomallon. This paper overall characterizes and names this species by connecting many other studies together, and illuminates the many areas of research possible even after current knowledge is assembled.

               This paper is a review of C. squamiferum in recent literature, but despite the current level of understanding there are many questions left unanswered. Primarily is the questionable necessity of iron sulphide as a structural component on the gastropod’s surface, since they exist as a population without it in the Solitaire vent field. Extensive detailing of the feeding habits is also missing, as well as the extent of symbiont activity, or specifics on larval dispersal. This paper did do a good job, though, in the way it provided extensive macroscopic and microscopic visuals of the organism in questions, especially of the most identifying characteristics, such as the construction of the marginal teeth.

Introduction

λ has been widely studied for decades as a model bacteriophage, providing invaluable information on the inner workings of phages and their potential use in the modern world. In spite of this thorough investigation, there are still many unanswered questions regarding the exact method of DNA injection into gram negative cells by λ phage – such as the driving force behind the phage genome entry into the cytoplasm. In order to fully understand the significance of this, it is imperative to review the first few steps of λ infection among its host organism Escherichia coli.

There are three general steps at the beginning of the infection cycle for all phages: adsorption, breaching of the outer membrane, and DNA entry into the cytoplasm. Considering the morphology of the victim cell can complicate matters however, as infection procedures necessarily differ between gram positive and gram negative cells due to their difference in external cell layers. The focus of this paper is on λ phage, and its host Escherichia coli falls into the latter category. Gram negative cells are defined by their results during the Gram straining process, which is due to their smaller proportion of peptidoglycan relative to gram positive bacteria. It is also worth noting that said layer of peptidoglycan is located between the outer and inner membrane of these gram negatives, as opposed to being directly exposed to the environment such as in gram positive bacteria.

So, with consideration of gram negative cell morphology, DNA must pass from the λ phage through the outer membrane into the periplasm, past the thin layer of peptidoglycan, and through the inner membrane in order to reproduce and spread. The appeal of membranes being their selective permeability, λ phage depends on integral membrane proteins of both the inner and outer membrane for successful infection. However, the consequence of said layer of peptidoglycan, and what method is required to transverse it, is as of yet unknown.

λ Phage Adsorption to the λ Receptor

Before injection of DNA can occur, the first step of phage injection must be attachment to some sort of receptor along the surface of the cell. In λ phage’s case, this receptor is the maltoporin LamB, used for transporting small hydrophilic molecules, most notably the sugars maltose and maltodextrin (1). The LamB protein itself is a homotrimer, composed of three identical polypeptides, that form a beta-barrel that acts as the transport medium in question. λ phage interacts with this protein via the phage J protein portion of the tail fiber of the phage, forming an initial reversible interaction. This attachment is referred to as a Type 1 complex, which is defined by a gap of about 20 nm between the phage and the liposome covered in LamB receptors used for the study and notable interaction between it and the λ tail fiber. Type I complexes also significantly still retain the phage genome and can potentially detach and reattach at a different site (2). This reversible binding has been correlated with rapid dissociation and re-association, often taking multiple instances before irreversible adsorption takes place (2).  

Once λ has attached to LamB, in vitro studies have shown that upon meeting temperatures of around 37^oC, and in the presence of chloroform, the phage will undergo a structural shift (2). This structural change results in the banded tail portion directly attaching to the surface of the membrane, and the loss of DNA from inside the phage capsid heads. Importance of the LamB protein as the sole λ receptor on the outer surface is confirmed by attempting infection on cells that do not express the protein. When a plasmid containing the relevant gene and ampicillin resistance is inserted into the cell, phage susceptibility is restored (3).

Temperature plays a role in adsorption of the phage as well. Measurement of the rate of adsorption at different temperatures shows that adsorption rates are significantly lower as temperature decreases (3). Further investigation via fluorescent imaging of phages surrounding bacterial cells at higher and lower temperatures demonstrates an aggregation of phages in patches around the cell when temperature is low, implying that the LamB protein demonstrates clumping formation, leading to the decreasing rate of adsorption relative to warmer environments (3). In fact, comparison of the rate constant of phage desorption (detachment after adsorption) is double the rate constant of irreversible adsorption, so it can be assumed that it is twice as likely for the phage to attach and detach compared to attaching and staying permanently (3). This further emphasizes the significance of host temperature ranges for successful λ infection.

LamB Mutants

There are three types of mutants for the maltoporin that confer different level of resistances to λ phage. The first are Class 1 mutants, which are defined as resistant to λ phages with a normal host range, but susceptible to one and two-step host range mutants λh and λhh* (1). Class II mutants are resistant to λ wild-type host range and one-step host range mutants, but susceptible to two-step host range mutants (1). Finally, Class III mutants are resistant to all types of λ phage but lose maltoporin function entirely (4). The relevant section of the host genome is of particular note, because they are clustered around a specific region of the lamB protein, such that 12 amino acid residues were found to be absolutely essential for λ phage adsorption (1). Similarly, the host range mutations for λ phage are clustered around the last 4-10% of the J protein genome. When comparing the mutations of the λh mutants, correlations can be found among the J proteins. Specifically, for the Class I mutations Ser-247 -> Leu, Gly-245 -> Arg, and Glu-148 -> Lys, the associated λ phage on host mutants all had the mutation Leu-1127 -> Pro on the J protein gene. Although simply speculation on the author’s part, it is worth considering that the relevant genes may be related to an “accessibility gate” of the LamB receptor that shrinks the entrance, thus rendering the phage unable to adsorb properly to the protein (1). This would also explain why the host range mutants, which presumably shrink their J protein tip to an appropriate size, are also able to infect wild type cells with a normal maltoporin (1).

Another study focusing on lamB mutants that denote λ phage resistance found that none of the mutations were found in regions I through IV, out of XI, spread out sequentially along the genome from N-terminal to C-terminal (4). This means that mutations that affect λ infection are not present on the first third of the N-terminal side of the genome (4). To elaborate upon the clustering observed by the previous experiment, the Class I mutations are found in intervals X-XI, which is towards the C-terminus of the genome. This is notable because the C-terminus is not responsible for reversible (Type 1 complex) binding of λ phage, which implies the mutation affects Type 2 complex formation (4). Class II mutations are entirely focused in interval V, much earlier than the Class I mutations; the only other notable mutants were those resistant to phage K10 are found on interval VI, but these were λ sensitive – mutations in intervals X-XI, on the other hand, were resistant to λ but did not affect K10 sensitivity. Finally, none of the 18 λ resistant mutations significantly affected dextrin consumption, meaning that the mutations relevant to λ adsorption are not necessarily related to normal maltodextrin functionality. What is important about this study is the understanding that, within the limits of the mutations that were found, each mutation was found within intervals V and VIII-XI, implying that these areas are on the outer part of the outer membrane (4).

DNA Ejection

A true understanding of the mechanics behind λ DNA ejection is frankly lacking. However, there is some research that allows for educated extrapolation. Study into the relationship between DNA ejection from the phage capsid and surrounding temperature reveals that DNA packed inside the capsid undergoes a structural change itself at 33^oC (5). The phage capsid is packed to the brim with DNA, at 55% by volume, otherwise filled with mostly water. The problem with this enormous potential energy inside the head is the risk of premature genome ejection, which introduces the concept of viral metastability, in which the virus must be able to detect the right moment to release its DNA. By examining DNA structure as a function of temperature, SAXS measured diffraction peaks directly related to DNA ordering was shown to decrease as temperature increased, showing that DNA disorders inside the capsid head at the right temperature, priming it for ejection. Otherwise, the DNA remains highly ordered at colder temperatures, correlated with much less intrastrand repulsion, and therefore a greatly reduced chance of DNA ejection (5).

Osmotic pressure of the bacterial cell also plays a role in DNA ejection. E. coli has a putative osmotic internal cell pressure of around 2 atm, far below the minimum inhibitory pressure required to prevent DNA ejection, which can vary between 15-25 atm depending on genome length (6). This suggests that stronger ejection forces are desirable for phages – however, too high of ejection forces can lead to premature genome ejection, which corresponds with increased DNA ordering (and therefore decreased ejection force) at colder temperatures (6). Also notable is that pressure inside the capsid cannot be the only mechanism for DNA ejection from the capsid head. When measuring DNA ejection rates, via spectrophotometer, it was found that the initial 50% or so of DNA was ejected relatively quickly. The remaining though, was removed at a remarkably slower rate. If DNA ejection depended entirely on capsid pressure, ejection rate should in theory be more consistent (6). This means that there is some unexplained mechanism that is contributing to final removal of remaining DNA (6).

David Valen, among others, provided unique insight into some of the possibilities of translocation mechanisms by measuring rates of DNA ejection compared to amount of DNA inside and outside the viral capsid. By using SYTOX Orange to stain phage DNA, and measuring absorbance within the capsid, DNA ejection velocity could be measured and then compared to the remaining fluorescence within the capsid head in vivo (7). DNA ejection velocity showed great variety between cells, at a rate of 5.4 ± 4.1 min in λ strain c160, and when mean velocity at given percentages of ejected DNA between phage genomes of different length were compared, significant overlap was found. This is significant because it means that velocity does not correlate with amount of genome inside of the capsid, and instead with the DNA now inside of the cell (7). What is also particularly interesting about this experiment is that the shorter phage genome of strain b221 encountered ‘stalls’, or ejections that did not finish during the course of the recording. This is significant because similar stalls have been associated with DNA-based motors, which have been considered as potential translocation mechanisms for λ phage (7). The pauses observed were much longer than those seen for motors, however, and were permanent, so this is not especially conclusive.

DNA Translocation Through the Inner Membrane Generally Among Phages

DNA movement through the cell is still missing one layer at this point – the inner membrane. In order to transverse it, λ phage must utilize the IIC^Man and IID^Man integral membrane protein of the mannose phosphotransferase system (8). This protein spans the periplasm and cytoplasm, providing access after transfer of the DNA through the outer membrane. What is known is that the relevant proteins are subunits of a larger structure that receive phosphoryl groups, and that both proteins have three membrane spanning sections in total (8). The ability to transfer particles through the inner membrane is clearly an important aspect of the mannose transport system’s utility for λ phage, but there remains the question of how the phage interacts with the protein without adsorbing directly to it as with the maltoporin.

This is addressed by the study of certain E. coli strains deficient in a protein pel are shown to be resistant to λ DNA penetration (9). Mapping of these mutations have found they are in the same place as the ptsM gene, which is a component of the mannose phosphotransferase system, demonstrating at the very least very high correlation and affinity, if not outright showing that they are the same gene (9). Further mutational analysis has shown that pel^– mutants can be accessed by λhp mutants that have altered tail components pV and pH, located along the shaft of the tail, which suggests these two proteins must interact with the mannose phosphotransferase system during injection (10). Specifically, adsorption was still allowed, but DNA injection was inhibited, meaning that the mannose transport system must be correlated with DNA transfer into the cytoplasm, not initial adsorption, which makes sense because it is an integral membrane protein that doesn’t reach the outside of the cell (10). Gathering from this that the tail genes pV and pH are involved in some channel mediating DNA transport, an additional protein gpGT has been demonstrated to interact with gpV by radio-labeling proteins and examining correlation via SDS-PAGE, a type of gel electrophoresis (11). Furthermore, gpH – which has been identified as a tape-measure protein that extends a channel to control DNA movement – expression was tested using plasmids mixing and matching gpGT and gpG functionality, and gpH function was shown to only occur when all three were expressed together. This demonstrates strong correlation between gpGT, gpG, gpH, and gpV proteins to collectively mediate DNA transfer into the cytoplasm (11). Since the gpH and gpV proteins were correlated with interaction with the pel protein, it can be deduced that there is some interaction between these channel proteins of λ and the mannose phosphotransferase system, the latter very likely acting as a portal at the end of a constructed channel for DNA entry into the cytoplasm.

With regard to the thin layer of peptidoglycan that remains within the periplasm, study of other phages can potentially provide insight into possibilities for λ. Three proteins that are connected with murein hydrolase activity, which degrades peptidoglycan, have been identified as T7gp16, P22gp4 and gp3, all three of which are found among phages that can penetrate gram negative cells, and phages o6, PRD1, and PM2 are known to have hydrolase activity as well (12). This was verified by experiments similar to one that shows P22 phage virions lacking in gp4 lack the ability to degrade peptidoglycan (12). Both T7 and P22 infect E. coli and Salmonella thypimurium respectively, which suggests peptidoglycan degradation is a vital part of gram-negative cell infection. However, phage λ has not been shown to exhibit homologous hydrolase genes, which means that their mechanism could be significantly different from other phages that infect similar targets (12). The λ phage’s method for traversing the layer of peptidoglycan therefore remains unknown. While exact methods of insertion vary drastically between bacteriophages, some insight might be obtained upon comparison to a very different method of DNA insertion.

Mechanisms of entry are much better defined in other bacteriophages, such as the dsDNA phage T7. Initially, upon adsorption to the cell wall, T7 appears to eject some sort of channel proteins to allow for DNA to have a clear pathway into the cytoplasm of the host cell, which is similar to λ (13). The DNA travels around 850 base pairs forward and is then is clamped by the gp16 protein to prevent further expulsion from the capsid, and this is where major differences began to pop up. This strip of DNA has three promoters for host RNA polymerase, which then attaches to this initial strip and propels about 7 kbp of the genome into the cell – this second strip then codes for a T7 RNA polymerase, which propels the rest of the DNA into the cytoplasm (13). When gp16 mutants are studied however, the entire phage genome has been shown to inject into the cell at a constant rate (14). Study of this mutant reveals that this protein acts as a clamp that prevents constant DNA transcription, which turns out to be integral to the T7 infection strategy that avoids type 1 restriction enzymes, which are bacterial defense systems that would otherwise invalidate phage infection. This necessary process stretches out what would normally be less than a minute to around 20, making up two thirds of the thirty-minute latent period of wild-type T7 (14). This could potentially be of some relevance to understanding plausible injection mechanics for λ phage, because gp16 mutants translocate their DNA at a constant rate, which is inconsistent with the notion of a purely pressure based DNA injection mechanism, which would have a constant negative acceleration after the initial ejection (14). It is also worth noting how T7 uses channel proteins to overcome the length between the outside of the cell and the cytoplasm, just as λ phage has – this highlights the importance of recognizing common problems each phage must overcome, even if they do so differently.

Conclusion

What is notable about λ phage is the gap in complete knowledge on its ability to translocate DNA. Other phages, such as T7 and P22, have better understood mechanisms, such as those involving murein hydrolases or DNA polymerase that have not been found among λ phages. In a similar vein, even the process of DNA ejection from the capsid is poorly understood, despite the study of the roles of temperature and turgor pressure of the host cell. Some information can be gleaned from the mechanisms of other phages, but often homologs have not been found in λ. λ phage has been a model for understanding phage mechanics, and research could potentially be beneficial by use in understanding phage lysis as a potential alternative treatment for bacterial infection. Comprehension of λ’s ability to infect cells could also be useful in the development of antibiotics in vitro by elaborating upon the vulnerabilities of gram negative pathogens.

For now, research should focus specifically on all of the requirements for DNA ejection within the capsid, to maximize efficacy of phage therapeutics, especially on the mechanism behind DNA movement into the cell. Specifically, it is still unclear how exactly λ phage ejects its DNA from the capsid, as ejection rates have been inconsistent with a simple ‘uncorking reaction’. It is somewhat how λ guides its DNA into the cytoplasm, in a similar way other phages such as T7 which have specific mechanisms like channel proteins to address this problem. The role of murein hydrolase should be explored among phages in general as well, as it is required for the phages that have it in their genome – so why λ can get away without it is unclear. Despite the information on the role the mannose phosphotransferase system plays in the process of injection, there is still much to be elaborated upon, such as λ’s channel proteins maneuvering around the afore-mentioned cell wall to reach it.

Considering the mystery behind this process, it should be noted that new hypotheses are becoming increasingly refined as data comes in. In particular, Ian Molineux, an expert featured in many of the papers in this review, has come to a particular opinion on the ejection method of single-step DNA injections. Options being considerably limited by the incomplete theory of pressure-based ejection, and the λ injection rate too inconsistent with a motor-based mechanism, Molineux proposes the phage utilization of the osmotic gradient to pull water from the environment through the phage capsid and into the cell, pulling the phage genome along with it (15). This predicts a relatively constant rate that fits somewhat closely to what is observed with λ phage – however previous studies have shown that λ phage ejection is ejected at two different rates, which potentially conflicts with this mechanism (6). Regardless, it is a more viable theory than what has previously been proposed and should be investigated further in the future.

References

1. Werts, Catherine et al. 1994. Adsorption of Bacteriophage Λ on the LamB Protein of Escherichia coli K-12: Point Mutations in Gene J of Λ Responsible for Extended Host Range. Journal of Bacteriology. 176: 941-947.

2. Roessner C.A, Ihhler G. M. 1987. Sequence of Amino Acids in LamB Responsible for Spontaneous Ejection of Bacteriophage Λ DNA. Journal of Molecular Biology. 195: 963-966

3. Moldovan, R. et al. 2006. On Kinetics of Phage Adsorption. Biophysical Journal. 93: 303-315.

4. Hofnung, Maurice et al. 1981. General Method for Fine Mapping of the Escherichia coli K-12 lamB Gene: Localization of Missense Mutations Affecting Bacteriophage Λ Adsorption. Journal of Bacteriology. 148: 853-860

5. Liu, Ting et al. 2013. Solid-to-fluid-like DNA transition in viruses facilitates infection. PNAS. 111:14675-14680.

6. Grayson, Paul et al. 2006. The effect of genome length on ejection forces in bacteriophage λ. Virology. 348: 430 – 436

7. Valen, David Van. 2012. A Single-Molecule Hershey-Chase Experiment. Current Biology. 22: 1339-1343.

8. Huber F, Erni B. 1996. Membrane topology of the mannose transporter of Escherichia coli K12. European Journal of Biochemistry. 239: 810 – 817.

9. Elliot J, Arber W. 1978. E. coli K-12 pel Mutants, which Block Phage λ DNA Injection, Coincide with ptsM, which Determines a Component of a Sugar Transport System. Molecular General Genetics. 161: 1 – 8.

10. Scandella D, Arber W. 1976. Phage λ DNA injection into Escherichia coli pel^– mutants is restored by mutations in phage genes V or H. Virology. 69: 206-215.

11. Xu, Jun et al. 2014. Chaperone-protein interactions that mediate assembly of the bacteriophage λ tail to the correct length. Journal of Molecular Biology. 426: 1004-1018.

12. Moak M, Molineux I. J. 2004. Peptidoglycan hydrolytic activities associated with bacteriophage virions. Molecular Microbiology. 51: 1169 – 1183.

13. Kemp, Priscilla et al. 2004. Bacteriophage T7 DNA ejection into cells is initiated by an enzyme-like mechanism. Molecular Microbiology. 53: 1251 – 1265.

14. Struthers-Schlinke, J. S. et al. 2000. The Internal Head Protein Gp16 Controls DNA ejection from the Bacteriophage T7 Virion. Journal of Molecular Biology. 301: 35 – 45.

15. Molineux, I. J. 2006. Fifty-three years since Hershey and Chase; much ado about pressure but which pressure it? Virology. 344: 221 – 229.

Brave New World constructs a dystopian interpretation of London by identifying gripes about happiness inside the industrialized world and ‘solving’ them with eugenics and extreme government control. Despite the many levels of manipulation used to create this, certain people still find a way to break open the new found moral issues of Brave New World by exploring their own individuality. Huxley displays incredible imaginative power by constructing an entire world simply to pose the question of suffering as inescapably fundamental to human existence.

The premise of the novel stems from a series of interpretations as to the cause of suffering in greater society. The problems that need to be solved are not so much physical ailments as they are mental – difficulty in accepting and enjoying one’s place in a given hierarchy. This is outlined by Mustapha Mond himself, the Resident Controller of Western Europe, as he asks a collection of upper-echelon students, “‘[h]as any of you been compelled to live through a long time-interval between the consciousness of desire and its fulfillment?'” to which a student responds “‘I once had to wait nearly four weeks before a girl I wanted would let me have her.” (45). For Huxley much of the distress of modern life is specifically sexual, a major frustration found in the denial of sexual gratification. In order to fix this, the ‘hypnopaedic’ grooming lessons inscribed in the minds of every child includes a demonstrably odd encouragement of completely non-discriminatory sexual practices. Earlier on in the student tour children are seen playing around in a garden, “Naked in the warm June sunshine… running with shrill yells over the lawns, or playing ball games, or squatting silently in twos and threes among the flowering shrubs,” (30). More explicitly, a child in question is admonished by a nurse for being “…’rather reluctant to join in the ordinary erotic play… I’m taking him in to see the Assistant Superintendent of Psychology,” (32). The cost of creating a society that expands beyond sexual denial necessarily becomes one of forced sexual experiences, where children not willing to take part must see a psychologist to solve what targeted hypnosis and upbringing could not. Consent even among the willing participants comes into question as well, as conditioning through hypnopaedic lessons and relevant conditioning fight against an arguably natural aversion to a constant openness to sex. This is emphasized especially when Bernard comes into question, of which a friend of his lover exclaims “‘He’s so ugly!… And then so small,'” (46). Even in this post-discriminatory society there exists preference among mates – and familiar physiological traits that correlate with attraction. Coercion and manipulation attempt to fight this notion of choice, and such a world that demands freedom of sex must use these tools to subvert human nature.

More so than simple delivery of sex, the major underlying motivation of this world is a means of ensuring stability for the convenience of its rulers. Unhappy people lead to an unhappy government, so there is a major drive to ameliorate the daily woes of the individual – and what more efficient way to address these inherently individualistic issues than to abolish the individual. The Bokanovsky process is described as a scientific technique that takes advantage of accidental fertilized egg divisions, anywhere “… from eight to ninety-six embryos,” of identical siblings, therefore becoming “… one of the major instruments of social stability,” (7). Here too stems the foundation of dystopia, where each citizen’s very humanity is put into question, specifically of wondering at which point on the hierarchy one finds themselves too far below the rest to even be considered human. Hierarchy is itself a major source of discontent – especially in conjunction with social mobility. Mond puts this in perspective succinctly at the end of the novel: “‘The optimum population,'” he claims, “‘is modeled on the iceberg – eight-ninths below the water line, one-ninth above,” (223). This betrays a troubling truth about society that often manifests itself economically. There always seems to be an upper and lower class – as there is now, even in this supposedly utopic society. The question is not about establishing equality, but pacifying the lower class. In this case hierarchy can now be bred into people, and now that the said lower class has been established and homogenized in each distinct category, all that is left is a finishing touch for complacency – soma.

Brave New World criticizes escapist habits of the modern world, and is all too aware of the potent potential drugs can have on the populace. Sometimes there are unpleasant truths about life that cannot be escaped, and this itself becomes a source of discontent. Dealing with these issues is, perhaps, a part of existence – but there exists alternate possibilities to delay this unpleasant inevitability. As Mond describes of the people that make up these “advanced” civilizations,

“‘They’re well off; they’re safe; they’re never ill; they’re not afraid of death; they’re blissfully ignorant of passion and old age; they’re plagued with no mothers or fathers; they’ve got no wives, or children, or lovers to feel strongly about; they’re so conditioned that they practically can’t help behaving as they ought to behave. And if anything should go wrong, there’s soma,'” (220).

This wraps up the major themes fairly well – happiness itself comes at a price. In a world that constantly believes there was more happiness in the past, and more to come in the future, here lies a suggestion that the only way to be happy all of the time is to lose the individuality and true freedom to choose one’s place. It is by examining happiness that the implications of Brave New World crack open all of the questions that plague modern society today. Huxley’s hypnopaedic lessons and Bokanovsky process are corollary, if not direct references, to advertisement and genetic editing – a combination of nurture and nature based controlling schemes to further exacerbate a modern trend towards specialization. In a world of limited resources there is a tendency to hoard – and it is only in this space of plenty does their exists the potential for success. Often the major complaint of the lack of access of education in developing nations is a productive one – a claim that geniuses exist everywhere, and so an equal education to parse through the masses and locate the most capable the world has to offer will pay back the investment overall. However, even among Huxley’s world, the notion of breeding people into a certain place is inherently disturbing. Their existence is set, predetermined, and Mond even claims that they are content – and yet the sense of being born specifically to have no greater potential other than a work horse feels inhumane. While there exists comfort in knowing one’s place and purpose in the world, there too can exist dread and depression; a void of hope when maybe hope is more important to inspiring life than contentedness. To churn out bodies exclusively for productive purposes, to commodify them in the most extreme way, is then dystopia, where it is individuality and freedom that is auctioned off for predictability and safety.

Huxley does not miss his chance to make a point on the necessity of suffering for freedom, and he does this in a couple of interesting ways. The first is a relatively straightforward expression of the way happiness manifests after strain. Once Bernard comes to term with his own removal to an isolated island where radical free thinkers can commingle, and is faced with the separation from his friends, “[t]here was silence. In spite of their sadness – because of it, even; for their sadness was the symptom of their love for one another – the three young men were happy” (242). Here outlines the understanding that a truer, more healthy, happiness exists intertwined with pain. Finally Bernard could be free of the society so determined to reject him, but more importantly he found in shared pain a sense of connection through that very sharing which he did not before. Similarly John isolated himself in a lighthouse and toils away at small projects, and “[after] those weeks of idleness in London, with nothing to do, whenever he wanted anything, but to press a switch or turn a handle, it was a pure delight to be doing something that demanded skill and patience” (247). Here Huxley explores pleasure through work, less cathartic than the suffering of separation or loneliness, but instead the pleasure of labor – more so the execution of something practiced and learned. The notion of suffering bringing pleasure is taken to a final climactic extreme when the Savage begins to inflict physical pain on himself. John would consistently take off his shirt and begin hitting “…himself with a whip of knotted cords. His back was horizontally streaked with crimson, and from weal to weal ran thin trickles of blood” (248). Penance has been expressed throughout religion multiple times over the course of history, founded on a notion of punishment for doing wrong; a cathartic exercise to relieve mental anguish and guilt. This is the extreme execution of the idea that suffering leads to happiness, glorifying the high of absolution. However, in spite of this newfound clarity, John can not escape civilization so easily, and once a couple of witnesses report back to London he finds himself swathed in attention, and faced again with the horrible temptation and suffering of his not-quite-paramour Lenina. He hits her: “‘Strumpet… Fitchew!’ [he yelled]. Like a madman, he… [slashed] at her with his whip of cords,” (257). In spite of his superior understanding of human nature, John never fully reconciles Lenina’s sexual habits. Perhaps this was meant to criticize a liberal interpretation of sex, a claim that one’s own jealousy should be rationalization against openness, especially in context with the disturbing images of child sexual play at the beginning of the novel. However, nowadays it can be read more as the understanding that a knowledge of suffering and its necessity for freedom does not necessarily confer any mental stability or clarity. Even those aware of the system cannot extricate themselves from it.

What is worrying about this novel is the greater implication that suffering is something that humans will simply have to live with – with a Brave New World as the unacceptable alternative. To some extent that may be true – there are unavoidable ups and downs that need to be faced with courage. Perhaps pain, either from the withholding of something desirable or from existential crisis, is truly unavoidable. But there are undertones regarding the cycles of hierarchical violence as well, suggestions that freedom from oppression never really exists. Each character finds themselves at odds one way or another in spite of and because of this brave new world, and the blatant discrimination among the tiers of society are impossible to ignore. Let this novel be warning that some measure of pain must be maintained, and that regardless of public claim there is always motivation to control.

I got up at three in the morning and drove to my uncle’s. Tio Alejandro was a small man in a big house. He took after the Castilla aesthetic: jet black hair, brown eyes, and an unattractive aquiline nose, sharing in the family’s heritable professional success as a tenured professor at a local university. He loved his daughter dearly, and because of that developed a love for Miguel himself in his later years. I was curious to see how he would handle the reception of his brother’s gift.

Just after five, one of Miguel’s old friends, Gabriel, appeared around the corner with a package slung under his arm. It was composed of two individually wrapped rectangles, one large and thin, the other stout and short – probably a sketch pad and pens. I slowly got out of the car and approached him, causing him to freeze in place in front of the house. He watched me carefully, and as I got closer I could see his nostrils flare and his body tense up. I put my hands up and called out to him.

“Gabriel, it’s good to see you. I don’t want to start a fight, I just want to know where Miguel is. I want to talk to him about what happened.”

The man did not relax, instead slowly crouching to place the present on the sidewalk.

“I can’t tell you anything man. I’m just here to drop off the present, see? I promised.”

“I won’t call the cops on him, I just need to understand. Please, Gabriel, I know he must have a reason. I think I can convince family to forgive him.”

This last part made Gabriel pause. His face scrunched up, and looked at the floor before looking up again to me.

            “There’s no way, dude. Miguel says he knew he wouldn’t be able to come back anyways. He’s made his peace.”

            “He didn’t kill her. Abuelita is okay. She’s mad, but she loves her son.”

            Gabriel shook his head at this, responding, “It doesn’t matter. He tried, that’s what counts. Look I’ll tell him you asked about him, but I don’t want to get any more involved,” and with that he turned and sped away. I sighed and picked up the package. I walked up through the small garden that preceded the patio and rapped twice on the intricate glass door that stood tastefully off center on the front of the house. As I knew he would, Tio Alejandro answered after a minute of shuffling around; he always woke up around this time, claiming he was most productive in the morning before any of his children were awake. He opened the door in a dirty white shirt and pink pajama bottoms and ushered me inside, not at all surprised by my early house call. I followed him to his kitchen where he poured me a cup of coffee in silence, adding just a hint of cream as I’ve always liked. I traded him Miguel’s present for the mug and he cleared away a mess of papers on the table top.

            “Is this from Miguel?” he asked, mud-colored eyes alert despite the hour.

            “Yeah, Gabriel delivered it. I tried asking him where Miguel was, but he wouldn’t say. I want to ask him why he did it.” I took a sip of my coffee and sighed. Maybe I’ve been trying too hard to play the hero.

            Tio Alejandro rattled the present thoughtfully and, apparently deeming the contents satisfactory, allowed it to balance upon his scientific article hill.

            “Miguel has always been a kind man. What happened was…. uncharacteristic of him,” the professor responded, “I also think that that there is something we don’t know yet.

            “He called me that night,” he continued, looking at me intensely. “He asked if Abuelita was okay. His voice was breaking – I think he was crying. I told him she was fine and he was so relieved. Somebody must have pressured him. It’s not as if I don’t see where he’s coming from, though.” He shook his head and leaned back in his chair, letting his fingers toy with the handle of his coffee up.

            “My mother did some truly terrible things to him – funny, because I don’t think she realizes how terrible they were. Miguel’s passion was everything to him, and even though he doesn’t like to show his art, it’s good. He painted what he loved: people, using these thick brush strokes kind of like van Gogh. He would tell me people were more than their faces, more than their details, and that he wanted to capture that essence through texture and location. He would take these barren landscapes and fill them with the most vague outlines, sometimes just a few strokes in detail, but you could tell anyways that they were people enjoying themselves. To him it was most beautiful when people were together, not alone. Magic in community and relationships. In family.

            “You can see how hard he worked to make good friends, too. Who else would know anyone willing to drop off his niece’s birthday present right after he tried to murder someone? Those men would do anything for Miguel.” I glanced down at the articles my uncle had been reading – humanities stuff, theories on power structures, stuff I had taken classes on in college. Not the usual papers on protein folding or purine synthesis.

            “Tio,” I hesitated, then asked, “Is it okay to forgive someone if they’ve done something bad?” My uncle looked away and didn’t say anything for a while. Eventually he turned back to me and sighed.

            “That depends on the person. It’s a lot easier to forgive someone when it wasn’t you they wronged,”

After an hour of silence, I cleaned the dishes and left. I didn’t have the answers she was looking for, and her moment of hopelessness disturbed more than endeared me. Abuelita was the head of the family – I grew up with her calling the shots. It was unsettling to see someone so decisive at such a loss. By the time I left I had decided that something must be done, some sort of reconciliation. Maybe my Tio Miguel would apologize… but an apology can not erase the past. It might be for the best if Miguel was simply banished from the family – he was, after all, doing his best to avoid Abuelita’s financial support. In which case, I had no need to see him, and could wash my hands of the matter. My other family could deal with him, could tell him he wasn’t welcome anymore. But then I would never really know why he tried to kill the most important person in his life. Besides, it was often my job as the people pleaser of the family to solve interpersonal conflict, and something of this magnitude cannot be left unresolved.

Three days later I arranged to get coffee with Tia Grace to ask her what I should do. Her approach to life was similar to Abuelita’s: inexorable and ambitious. It made her very successful, but it also made her very difficult to connect with as a person. She too shared a distaste for unmotivated people, but held none of the familial attachment of her adoptive mother, so it was no surprise when, upon prodding, she condemned Miguel to expulsion.

“Not even worth debating. That dirty good for nothing bastard is dead to me. God knows I’ll kill him if I ever see him again,” she said hotly, whacking her paper coffee cup unimpressively onto the table. Her carefully manicured pale-blond eyebrows furrowed in frustration, darkening the already too-dark chocolate of her irises.

“Some things are not forgivable. He thinks he can get away with anything just because he’s family? No one treats family like that. If you do somehow find him, you tell him that. It won’t matter what he says, do you understand?”

I squirmed underneath the intensity of her gaze. As much as I agreed with her in principle, there was something not right about the whole ordeal. Miguel’s motivation didn’t make any sense – surely there was something else going on. What if he was being extorted, or manipulated? I sheepishly told Tia Grace as much, but her decision was final.

“Abuelita is right, you give people too much credit. Why should we care? He tried to murder her! What great loss is a murderer? What if he had killed her? Would you still be so willing to give him a second chance? You better be careful, maybe he’ll try to kill you too. He’s probably on drugs, not able to think correctly, totally beyond our help. Regardless, the cops are out looking for him. If he somehow survives that, he’ll be beyond any of us anyways.”

“I’m not saying we have to forgive him, Tia,” I responded, “But we should understand, at least! He is – was – family, we owe him that much. You have to admit it doesn’t make any sense – even if he hated her, his own mother!” Tia Grace shook her head, her golden hair gently rocking in response.

“What good can come from trying to understand someone like him? There’s nothing to learn there, just failure. He was a pest, so good riddance. Besides, family is not about fulfilling some biological duty – you don’t owe your uncle anything. Family is a choice. Look at me – Abuelita saved me from an early death as an abandoned child. She chose to bring me into this family, and I choose now to pay back her kindness. Miguel never wanted any of it – he left as soon as he could. As far as I’m concerned he stopped being family the moment he decided he didn’t owe Abuelita anything. I owe your grandmother my life, and Miguel does too, even if he’s too short sighted to see it. He should be grateful for being given a life at all.”

I chose not to argue with Tia Grace, realizing I wouldn’t get anything useful out of her. I changed the subject to her work, and after a while of polite listening I excused myself under the pretense of buying my youngest cousin’s birthday present. Tio Miguel may not have been good to his mother, but he was good to his nieces and nephews. Whatever cash he made from his art that he didn’t use for food and rent was spent on expensive toys for the holidays. He especially loved to give gifts to my 10 year old cousin Alma, who also shared a love for painting. He would supply countless watercolors and paint brushes, and on her last birthday surprised her with a particularly income-denting brand of oils, although their value went way over the child’s head. It was Alma’s 11^th birthday tomorrow, and while Miguel wouldn’t dare show his face, I knew he wouldn’t miss a chance to give her a gift.

I got to go hiking with friends for the first time in a couple of months again this Sunday – this time to a series of lakes an hour and a half drive north east of Seattle. The drive there was miserable – I gave myself a headache from staring at my phone, and forgetting to eat breakfast left me a nausea that lasted all 90 minutes there. It was a relief to get out of the car, but I dreaded the return trip – I was not especially accustomed to long car rides.

The trail itself was curiously divided into three distinct parts – two flat and one not-so-flat. Almost 1500 ft of elevation within a mile and a half – huffing and puffing indeed, just as the WTA website promised. It was this that really made the experience. I was out of shape: hell, I was already sweating during the few miles of flat trail, so it was a whole other beast to start the ascent. I pushed myself to that point you get to when you haven’t run in a while – that migraine that sits in your temples and behind your eyes that is somehow purifying, cleansing the mental fog of inactivity. I admit I had to stop a couple of times to break for water, but by the 33rd (36th? 40th?) switchback I was done with the hard part, according to the friendly couple on their way back down. I must have been quite the sight – absolutely drenched in sweat, my oft-questioned choice of yellow-green workout shirt sticking to every unflattering angle; a black school backpack covered in dirt from the breaks; a giant liter-large plastic bottle of Kirkland Signature water excavated from my parent’s basement half a year ago to achieve its final destiny of replacing what was lost in only an hour of the hike.

I was happy though. In that one moment, after most of an hour thinking of nothing but the next switchback turn after turn, the satisfaction of reaching the top was incredible. It was the happiest I had been in weeks, I think. Then just another few minutes to the first lake viewpoint, and I sat down on a rock jutting into the side and let every muscle in my body relax, and I just was. No self-deprecation or regret or irritation. I just was.

It was good. It was so, so good.

Eventually my friend caught up to me and we ventured off to find the trailblazer of the group that shot up the mountain in record time. We rendezvoused at the final lake view and ate.

Perfect time for Cliff bars and banter. A butterfly even landed on my friend’s head. A dog came over from a few feet away explicitly to shake itself dry on my shoes. An older hiker asked if there was any real trail left – there wasn’t, although it was supposedly possible to scramble up the three peaks, the third more to the left behind us.

I don’t know if I can describe why I had so much fun. Maybe it was because I had spent the past few weeks inside, and the change of pace made all the difference. I certainly needed the exercise, and the associated endorphin rush that follows a good workout. But also, the view. The smell. The sounds of birds chirping and flies buzzing and friends talking. The silence of my own mind.

To be overly analytical, there is a theory that plant biodiversity has some sort of impact on mental health. There must be something to complexity, and, conversely, simplicity. Much of art is supposed to be representations of patterns found in nature, after all, and then of course this is subverted by intentional simplicity. Same way realism gets subverted into the abstract. But the best way I can put it is as texture. In a landscape it can, to a degree, be pleasing to have stuff that draws the eye, as long as crowding is avoided. The layers too – contrast between the lake and the trees and the distant peaks.

Something so good can only last so long – the high was pretty much over by the time I made it back to my apartment. The drive back wasn’t so bad though. I got a chance to just stare out the window and day dream, like I used to on day trips with my parents as a kid. It was good while it lasted, and I want to do it again. I think that perhaps the secret it is finding things that make you happy like this and doing them consistently. Maybe then perspective on life will change a little bit for the better. But get back to me once I’ve made it.