The Accidental Catholic

In the meantime...

I have been unable to make any posts lately due to an illness in the family. I should be back in a few days. Until then, a thought from our Holy Father, and an excerpt from an article on vaccines that are connected to the pro-life issues. (Full article linked in title.)

"Each person is meant to exist. Each person is God's own idea." - Pope Benedict XVI

"This paper explores abortifacient vaccine technology and the repercussions on abortion, the vaccine recipient, and the prolife movement. This paper strongly urges that the Church and the prolife movement prepare clear teachings on the evils of this technology, the resultant abortion effects, and the health hazards involved with this technology.

II. Types Of Abortifacient Vaccines
A. Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (HCG) Vaccine
Several variations of the abortifacient vaccine are under development: the hCG vaccine and the TBA vaccine.
The first generation vaccine research led by Dr. Vernon C. Stevens 1 at Ohio State University and by Dr. G.P. Talwar 2 at the National Institute of Immunology, New Delhi, India, have brought closer the dawn of a new form of abortion.
Since the 1970's, under support from the World Health Organization (WHO), research has been directed at immunologically blocking conception or the immunological termination of a pregnancy. One key target has been the hormone, human Chorionic Gonadotropin (hCG). This hormone created by the developing embryo signals the maintenance of the corpus luteum which provides progesterone and estrogen to maintain the vascularization of the uterine endometrium during the first few months of pregnancy. Should hCG levels drop in the first critical 6 to 10 weeks, the uterine vascularization would break down resulting in the death of the developing embryo while the uterine endometrium sloughs off the uterine wall. HCG is similar in structure and chemistry to other glycosylated peptide hormones (e.g. Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH), Luteinizing Hormone (LH), and Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH); being composed of two glycosylated peptide chains (alpha and beta). While the hCG alpha chain is nearly identical to other glycosylated peptide hormones, the hCG beta chain is more distinct biochemically.
Early studies to develop a vaccine against hCG were hampered by immunogenic cross reactivity with FSH, TSH, or LH, due to nearly identical alpha peptide chain sequences, Research focused on the hCG beta chain, but it shares 85 per cent sequence commonality for the first 110 amino acids with LH. Therefore, the focus shifted to the last 35 amino acid sequence of hCG which is sufficiently different from LH. This subunit of the hCG beta chain, now referred to as the hCG beta peptide fragment, has served as the focal immunogen in the development of a hCG vaccine. Further versions have included linking the hCG beta peptide fragment to various carrier molecules (e.g. tetanus or diphtheria toxoids) to enhance immune responses to the hCG peptide. "

posted by David @ 04:50 UTC