Who is really from Mars?

This week’s column will be a see-saw of sorts. As it happened, two very different science issues marked my mind’s lowest and highest points this week. The lowest point is related to one of the littlest things found in nature – DNA; while the highest point was inhabited by a subject much larger in scale – space exploration.

Naturally, this science/Nature column does not take issue on a specific political issue or person unless it involves a science matter. Recently, I came across one in the local news. It involved candidate Fernando Poe Jr. replying, after being labeled by his critics as Joseph Estrada’s "clone," "Sa pagkaka-alam ko, walang identical na DNA (As far as I know, there are no identical DNA)." And then I heard roaring applause from the audience that would have had a room full of not just scientists but general science readers, scratching their heads.

They will scratch their heads because there ARE identical DNA. "Identical twin births" and "cloning" itself mean identical DNA. Identical twins share the same exact DNA sequence. When scientists speak of differences and similarities in DNA, they mean "DNA sequencing." As for "cloning," it is, by definition, the insertion of DNA from a cell into the nucleus of another cell, in effect producing an organism with the identical genetic sequence as the original DNA bearer. One does not need a Ph.D. to know this. But Mr. Poe also said "sa pagkaka-alam ko…" which would have excused him had he not been a presidential candidate who used this "uninformed" knowledge to make a public statement about a crucial point, in which case, the public should take notice. And please, spare the public of the usual all-too-easy defense that the importance "educated people" place on "formal learning" is elitist and snobbish. That is rubbish. Saying that would show lack of respect for and ignorance of the learning disciplines and what good minds have discovered in all of human history about ourselves and our world inside and outside scholarly institutions. A society that mocks or blames intelligence for failures in the highest form of social organization — politics – probably deserves a leadership, whoever wins, that lacks just that – intelligence. Frightening!

Perhaps, "clone" was used by Mr. Poe’s critics as a metaphor. In which case, he should have understood it that way and replied, "But as we all know, even if our genes are the same, genes are not destiny." It also does not take a Ph.D. to know that. What that takes is a keen mind in observing human affairs to know that we are more than what we biologically inherited from our parents. A keen mind that observes and is able to make sense of the chaotic chain of human affairs is a trait I think any good leader should possess. In any case, ALL candidates could all benefit from scientific reasoning in terms of being clear in their thinking, defining their terms and refraining from using scientific terms that have precise meaning. It confuses the public and aggravates the already very low level of interest in and appreciation for science in our public life.

Recovering from that low point, I watched in awe as the second Mars rover, Opportunity, landed on a site in Mars scientists called Meridiani Planum, Saturday. I immediately remembered what a student in that recent class I conducted wrote in her reaction paper: "Thank you for reminding us to look up. I did not use to look up because I felt it was useless to look at things you cannot reach."

It has been about 27 years since NASA’s Viking landings which first looked at Mars. Those missions gave us little information back then to be hopeful about possible life on Mars. But now these two latest rovers, the Spirit and Opportunity, are giving us glimpses of a world that has never before been seen by humans and it seems, I repeat, it seems, that it will also radically change the way we look at ourselves and our place in the universe!

Traces of water are found on Mars. And we ask, so what? Life on Earth started in the oceans. Water traces would mean that life may have existed, or even now exists, in Mars. We may not be alone. We may not be as special or "central" to the universe as we thought we were! We may have to change our banners and car stickers from "Save the Earth to "Save the Universe," or considering what we have been doing to ourselves, to each other and our own planet, a sticker that calls to wiser beings in other worlds to "Save Us From Ourselves!" Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps. The work has just begun for scientists to analyze data and we wait till we know more. For now, these excellent scientific minds are our planet-mates who spoke in the press conference like giddy boys who seemed to have each just kissed the woman of their dreams, sharing phrases like "can’t wait to have more!", "blows my mind!", "too early to tell," and "I don’t know," with eyes that grow in gaping wonder! One reporter asked Dr. Steve Squyres, the principal scientist of the mission, if this was the stuff of his dreams. Dr. Squyres replied, "This IS my wildest dream!" There are very few things that give me greater pleasure than knowing that someone is living his wildest dream.

Some see the possible discovery of life in other worlds as depressing to the human condition. I refuse to subscribe to this as a reason for depression. I find that the more expansive the notion of "life" is – where it can be found and under what conditions it is possible as well as its evolution in various niches in the universe – the more fluid my notion of peace is with myself, with others and with the universe. As human imagination and ingenuity reach out to the heavens, metaphorically and literally, as the Mars rovers just did, with more evidence that the stars and planets are made of the same thing that I am – calcium in my bones, iron in my blood, among other things – the more I imbibe this to be true: that I am, as the Desiderata put it, "a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars."

So why look up? Because as much as in your lowest points you feel like mud, you are also stardust. Look up and remember.

* * *

For comments, e-mail [email protected].