Confession: I’ve been hoarding Terry Pratchett novels ever since he first announced he had Alzheimer’s disease. I’ve been doling them out to myself as rare and hard-to-earn rewards because I knew there would come a day that he wouldn’t be able to write any more. And on that day, I would lose forever the joy of reading one of his works for the very first time. I read Snuff as my treat for finishing the…

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Tech Support is cranky. When we decided to move to Ontario, our primary concerns were: Being close enough to Toronto to get there if we wanted, but far enough away that the hordes of people wouldn’t make me too ragey Being close enough to Toronto to get there when we needed, while still being able to afford a house.   When we researched the town we now live in, we thought we’d lucked out. Everyone…

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*emerges from hiding* *checks to see whether anyone is still here* *pulls out bullhorn and confetti cannon* I’M WRITING A BOOK FOR KIDS CAN PRESS. KIDS CAN PRESS, PEOPLE.   Unless you’re in the biz, you may not know that Kids Can Press was named Best Children’s Publisher in North America for 2017. You might not know that Kids Can Press publishes beautiful, wonderful, ground-breaking books by some seriously awesome Canadian authors and illustrators, including…

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Welcome to Part 3 of my series on gene therapy and genetic engineering. If you haven’t already, I’d suggest reading Parts 1 and 2 before you continue: Introduction to Gene Therapy: It Sounds Simple, But It’s Sure Not Easy Gene Therapy: Vectors, Viruses, and Why CRISPR Will Change Everything Today, we’re talking about the second major challenge with gene therapy – getting replacement DNA into EVERY affected cell in a patient’s body – and why…

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Welcome to Part 2 of my series on gene therapy! If you haven’t already, I recommend that you read Part 1, Introduction to Gene Therapy: It Sounds Simple, But It’s Sure Not Easy, before continuing with this post. Ready? Here we go. Viruses: FedEx For Genes Gene therapy involves repairing or replacing a faulty gene that has led to disease. In order to do that, one major hurdle must be overcome: getting new DNA into…

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NOOOOOOOOOOOO!   HOW CAN YOU KILL THAT MANY KEY CHARACTERS IN A SINGLE EPISODE ARE YOU KIDDING ME WITH THIS THERE HAD BETTER BE SOME SERIOUS RESURRECTIONS COMING IN THE PREMIER OF SEASON 13 OR THERE WILL BE RAAAAAAAAGE!!! Am I overreacting here? The post Thoughts on Finishing Season 12 of Supernatural on Netflix appeared first on L. E. Carmichael.

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Muscular dystrophy, hemophilia, Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA), cancer… they all have one thing in common. They are genetic diseases, ultimately caused by missing or malfunctioning genes in the patient’s DNA. Until recently, we could treat the symptoms of many genetic diseases, but not the causes. There was no way to reach inside a person’s genes and repair the faulty code that started the whole problem. Research into gene therapy aims to change that. What is…

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So I live in Ontario now. It’s not a whole lot different yet, probably because I spend 90% of my time in the house and when I leave, it’s for Home Depot or groceries. Because new houses need curtain rods and shelving, and, well, there is only so long a person with food allergies can survive on even the most well-researched take out. Last weekend, though, Tech Support and I decided it was time to…

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*looks around* *blows cyber dust off the blog* *tries to remember how to write a post* It’s been a year. In some ways a wonderful year, in some ways a really rough one. Most of all, a very full year, both schedule-wise and emotionally. A lot of things I would otherwise love to do didn’t happen, because I had to lighten my schedule or lose my mind. Other things I would otherwise love to do…

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The stuff, how it does accumulate. Thanks to cupboards and closets and storage spaces, we don’t even realize how much… until we have to move it. The last time Tech Support and I moved, we had five days between completion of the sale and possession date. We called professional movers and they loaded every single item we owned, because we simply didn’t have time to do things any other way. Our new house wasn’t ready…

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