[Aztlan] Mexico's Flu Epidemic & Possible Maya Correlation

[John Pastore]

> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Jaime Andres Pretell" <jaime_pretell at hotmail.com>
> To: "John Pastore" <jpastore at email.com>, aztlan at lists.famsi.org, mjfinley at shaw.ca
> Subject: Re: [Aztlan] Mexico's Flu Epidemic & Possible Maya Correlation
> Date: Wed, 13 May 2009 23:45:45 -0400
> 
> 
> My emphasis was not on the claims of the article on the flu which 
> were of course ridiculous.  Just the claim that there is an 
> admixture gradient of more European to more Indigenous from North 
> to South. The article acted like this was new info. All they were 
> doing was corroborating multiple other studies of which I gave the 
> resume of results.  I also forwarded the actual study, which did 
> not make the claims of the article.  That is why youlook at primary 
> sources instead of journalistic claims.


"Journalistic claims"? I can assure you I never accept any AP reporting regarding Mexico or anything Mexico-related stateside, on any subject, as little, if anything, more than re-signed press releases authored by the Mexican Government to, one-way-or-the-other, hype political agendas of the Mexican Government.

In this case, to redress the MGDP's report originally intended for a highly specialized and compromised readership, as AP's report, for governments and the general publics outside of Mexico.

AP's report---or, as I certainly do see it, the Mexican Government's press-release---is a derivative (also) of the longer Mexican Genetic Diversity Project report, Analysis of Genomic Diversity in Mexican Mestizo Populations to develop Genomic Medicine in Mexico.pdf, with both important and telling exclusions.

For only one example: the MGDP press-release states and the AP report excludes in its entirety:

"Today, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences are publishing truly a landmark representation of the genomic variation in the Mexican populations,' former Mexican Minister of Health and current Harvard School of Public Health Dean Julio Frenk, who was not directly involved in the research, said during a conference call with reporters yesterday."

Why? Because any mention of "former Mexican Minister of Health and current Harvard School of Public Health Dean Julio Frenk," obviously present to lend credence to the study or at least aura to the ceremony, would have to include his disassociation from the study:"...who was not directly involved in the research"? 

Just as the "cite" and even "title" of the "prior" report, remains welcome, so would, for the list also, a web address for the MGDP's Analysis of Genomic Diversity in Mexican Mestizo Populations to develop Genomic Medicine in Mexico.pdf  Likewise any number of "prior" reports.

As it stands: the MGDP's report certainly appears to be a derivative of "prior" reports as your one "prior" report already indicates: where the "Oaxcans" of one report could become "the Zapotecs" of the final, Mexico's "own populations" in ""Arizona," "Colorado," "California" and "Nevada" of one report becomes "other Latinos" in the MGDP's report and so on for the very intention and very title of a projected consolidation of the MGDP's original investigations to become the new intention and even new title of the current report.

While the appearance that the MGDP's sudden report may very well have been intended for the President's commemorative work remains, it remains less important then the sheer fact of the Mexican President being the titular head of the Mexican Government's "Mexicans Abroad Program." 

The mere possibility of such dupliciousness is a serious detriment to society---much less just science.

Aside from the "Boletin Urgente" already cited please note, even as Calderon was declaring "repression and discrimination" and *"we ask for nothing,"* please note the following. Literally enough to equip an army. To supply clinics and hospitals left bare since the instructions (since 1981) to use U.S clinics and hospitals throughout Mexico to simply restock them? For an on-going or projected calamity?  To even just sell and cash-in? And despite reportedly, by the Mexican government, unprecedented economic growth: lots of their own money:

Donations of medical supplies and equipment welcomed in Mexico

May 5, 2009 - 8:23 PM
By Emma Perez-Trevino, The Brownsville Herald

As the outbreak of the H1N1 flu virus continues to spread throughout the
world, Mexico's consul in Brownsville said donations of medical supplies
and equipment would be welcomed in his country.

Consul Victor Manuel Treviño Escudero said he and his staff are available
to fully support and assist in arrangements required to contribute supplies
to Mexico.

The World Health Organization noted that as of approximately noon Tuesday,
Mexico had reported 822 laboratory-confirmed H1N1 Flu cases, including 29
deaths.

"If community groups or persons want to help, items that can be accepted
include latex gloves, masks, protection equipment for health care
personnel, goggles, disposable surgical wear, alcohol gel, paper towels,
and liquid soap among other supplies," Treviño said.

Significant quantities are needed. The list that the consulate's office
released shows that 100 million bottles of alcohol gel are needed and 20
million disposable sterilized long-sleeved surgical gowns. Seventy-five
percent of the gowns needed are medium-size and 25 percent large-size.

Other items include 1,000 ventilators for hospital use, 42 million
antiseptic towels, 20,000 thermometers, 35,000 syringes, 20 million gel
dispensers, nearly 20 million boxes of tissue paper, 10 equipped mobile
hospitals, 5.4 million latex and surgical gloves (medium and large size)
and nearly nine million normal and high-efficiency masks.

The list also calls for 12 million masks with double reinforcement, 500,000
ice chests, one million bags for the disposal of bio-hazardous waste and
one million waste-receptacles.

http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/news/city-97731-ramirez-cocaine.html

Isn't it time to get things straight?

Cheers,
John Pastore


> ----- Original Message ----- From: "John Pastore" <jpastore at email.com>
> To: <aztlan at lists.famsi.org>; <mjfinley at shaw.ca>
> Sent: Wednesday, May 13, 2009 10:40 PM
> Subject: Re: [Aztlan] Mexico's Flu Epidemic & Possible Maya Correlation
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: MICHAEL FINLEY <mjfinley at shaw.ca>
> To: aztlan at lists.famsi.org
> Date: Wed, 13 May 2009 10:36:47 -0600
> Subject: Re: [Aztlan] Mexico's Flu Epidemic & Possible Maya Correlation
> 
> >
> > John Pastore wrote:
> >
> > "What I find surprising about today's release of the "Mexican
> > Genetic Diversity Project" is its being publicized as if it unique
> > and had just occurred in response to Mexico's flu outbreak when it
> > could just be a derivative of the "prior" studies that you refer to
> > below.
> >
> > In any case, by itself any genetic relation of the virus to Mexican
> > populations without comparative reports on just what the fatality
> > incidence from the virus is to Mexican populations outside of
> > Mexico City, there can be no real determination. . . ."
> >
> >
> > Thankyou, John for this informative response. I also thought it was
> > interesting that the story focussed on possible application of the
> > genetic study to the 'flu outbreak, when in fact the relevance is
> > small.
> 
> When I read the AP report so I thought so too while taking keen 
> interest in the following statements of AP's report (*s for 
> emphasis my own):
> 
> "Researchers led by Dr. Gerardo Jimenez-Sanchez studied the genes 
> of 300 mestizos for the
> 
> Mexican States chosen for the mestizo sample groups, Sonora, 
> Zacatecas, Guanajuato, Guerrero,
> 
> Veracruz and Yucatan [plus] 30 Zapotecos from Oaxaca."
> 
> "The study was formally presented at the presidential residence in 
> Mexico City Monday. At the
> 
> presentation, Mexican President Felipe Calderon praised the work as 
> a step toward making medical
> 
> diagnoses more accurate, fighting illness more efficiently, and 
> preventing common diseases."
> 
> "The results of this study will improve and accelerate the medical 
> research of hundreds of
> 
> Mexican scientists, and that will contribute, for example, to 
> identifying genetic risk markers
> 
> in order to develop treatments and prevention for diseases like 
> diabetes, hypertension, obesity,
> 
> cancer and some kinds of infections," Calderon said.
> 
> ttp://www.examiner.com/a-2010345~Mexican_genomes_show_wide_diversity.html?cid=s-Science
> http://snipurl.com/hz2nt
> 
> Already knowing however of Mexico City's orders of May 1st already 
> cited ('Boletin Urgente')
> 
> that the study could have no direct relation to the flu epidemic 
> itself, though tauted as if it
> 
> were by the President of Mexico himself, I had to immediately 
> consider the traditional practice
> 
> of Mexican Presidents in the commissioning of signature works 
> commemorating their own terms in
> 
> office, early in their terms; and the very "Mexican Genome 
> Diversity Project" study was to be that
> 
> commemorative work.
> 
> But hardly for a flu-epidemic that obviously could not have been anticipated.
> 
> Then came Jaime Andres Pretell's repsonse to my original post on 
> the subject listing Mexican
> 
> states *plus* the *U.S. states* of "Arizona," "Colorado," 
> "California" and "Nevada" of an
> 
> *untitled* and *uncited* study.
> 
> " I'm afraid this is evidence of the current tendency to reduce
> > everything to genes. Genetic studies like the one reported are
> > interesting and useful, but it's really quite disturbing when the
> > immediate emphasis is placed on genetic factors rather than
> > environmental, even when the environmental factors are, as in this
> > case, very obvious. Of course, the slant in the article is
> > probably a journalistic rather than scientific contribution,...
> 
> I think the "slant" may be the result of the original intent of a 
> larger project, already completed,
> 
> colliding with the urgent need for Mexico City to come up with 
> something to show both that it
> 
> was doing something regarding the epidemic and toot their own horn 
> at the same time. Following
> 
> is a direct quote of the opening paragraphs from the Mexican Genome 
> Diversity Project's own
> 
> report sent to me by a fellow listero of their study released May 15th:
> 
> 
> "'Today, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences are 
> publishing truly a landmark
> 
> representation of the genomic variation in the Mexican 
> populations,' former Mexican Minister of
> 
> Health and current Harvard School of Public Health Dean Julio 
> Frenk, who was not directly
> 
> involved in the research, said during a conference call with 
> reporters yesterday.
> 
> 'It is the first time in any developing country that a local 
> institution has been able to
> 
> understand the genetic variability ***in its own populations.'***
> 
> 
> Frenk said such research is particularly pertinent in the wake of 
> the recent influenza outbreak
> 
> in Mexico...The Mexican government created INMEGEN *five years 
> ago,* with the goal of not only
> 
> developing world class genetic research, but also training people 
> in related fields and taking
> 
> advantage of the medical applications of the human genome, INMEGEN 
> Director Gerardo
> 
> Jimenez-Sanchez, senior author on the new paper, told reporters.
> 
> 'This resource will be useful to develop strategies for the genetic 
> analysis of Mexican and
> 
> related admixed populations, such as marker selection for optimal 
> coverage of common genetic
> 
> variation in [genome-wide association] and targeted association 
> studies," Jimenez-Sanchez and
> 
> his co-authors explained, "and also for the adequate application of 
> tagging and imputation
> 
> approaches and for [admixture mapping] in Mexicans...
> 
> ..***and other Latino populations.'***
> 
> 
> > but the
> > fact that genetic reductionalism has leverage with the public
> > reflects and exaggerates a vogue for sexy genetic explanations in the
> > biosciences.
> 
> I'm afraid it may be worse than that. Bear in mind the Mexican 
> Government had, in 1996, in effect, nationalized *all* Mexicans 
> abroad in, and still to arrive, in the U.S.A., their antecedents 
> and even decendents.
> 
> Unless Jaime Andres Pretell can cite the source and even title of 
> the "prior" report,to even begin to dispel report's inherent 
> incredibility, as marked by the Mexican Government itself, and the 
> reason for the omission of the "prior" report's cite and even title:
> 
> I think it not unreasonable to speculate that the current report of 
> the Mexican Genome Diversity Project---originally a very possible 
> commemorative work of the President of Mexico himself---had been 
> suddenly and radically changed, to fit a new and desperate 
> circumstance from an older intent that had nothing to do with 
> "medicine" and, instead, everything to do with an attempt to 
> establish a genetic claim to the "mestizos" (..."other Latinos"...) 
> "in its [Mexico's] own populations" in ""Arizona," "Colorado," 
> "California" and "Nevada."
> 
> Even while there are no "Mexican" indigenous, or their possible 
> admixed decedents, even in Mexico, other than the Mexica (Aztecs) 
> and their's.
> 
> Though there can very well be a genetic element to the peculiar 
> fatality rate for Mexico City's residents (so far), the sheer 
> embarrassment it must be for Mexico City itself, right down to its 
> very foundation, and not even the whole of Mexico, to be ground 
> zero for this flu epidemic cannot drive scientific inquiry.
> 
> While the history of science is testimony enough that political 
> agendas can pose as even scientific inquiry and at times even drive 
> science recklessly, most hopefully not via this list group.
> 
> Meanwhile: Has anyone ever looked into how prolonged drought in 
> zones with stagnant and porous water cisterns---natural or 
> man-made-- to set airborne fetid particulate might relate to the 
> sudden disurbanization of the ancient Maya?
> 
> Cheers,
> John Pastore
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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