An Arch of Trees

An Arch of Trees

Dr Abe V Rotor

 

An Arch of Trees in acrylic AVR 2011

 

I passed under the Arch of Constantine,

      the emperor’s commemoration;

 

I passed under the Arc de Triomphe,

     victory of the French Revolution;

 

I passed under the Triumphal Arch of Tyre

     Lebanon’s necropolis station;

 

I passed under the Tijuana border Arch,

     marker of Mexican- American union;

 

I passed under the Arch of the Centuries,

     UST’s 400-year celebration;

 

 I passed under natural rock arches

    that have survived time and erosion.

 

I pass under the arches of the rainforest

      seat of biodiversity and evolution.

 

 I passed under an arch of trees at home,

     sweet  nature and human union.~

 

 

Morning at the UST Botanical Garden

Morning at the UST Botanical Garden

Dr Abe V Rotor

An On-the-Spot Painting at the UST Botanical garden by the author, 

with the tallest tree Alstonia scholaris, locally known as dita. as subject.

Morning at the UST Botanical Garden

It is misty, it is foggy, here at the garden,

or it must be smog in the city air;

and the early rays pierce through like spears,

yet this is the best place for a lair.

But the artist must be provoked, challenged;

for peace can't make a masterpiece;

only a troubled soul do rise where others fall,

where ease and good life often miss.

This lair is where the action is, the battlefield,

where pure and polluted air meet,

where a garden in a concrete jungle reigns,

where nature's trail ends in a street.

Art, where is art, when the message is unclear,

colors, colors, what color is blind faith?

what color is rage, what color is change?

colors be humble - black is your fate. ~

High-rise Waterfall

High-rise Waterfall

By Dr Abe V Rotor

 Convergence in Nature, detail of mural by A V Rotor

How many falls do you tumble all the time?

And songs you sing in rhythm and rhyme?

Oh, you are simply filled with awe and joy.

And I, I wish I were forever a boy -

I ride on your crest, plunge into your floor,

Inside your womb I'm a child once more,

Together we flow, and I'm weaned out to sea

To tell the world of a beautiful story. ~

Tropical Rainforest on a Wall Mural:

Tropical Rainforest on a Wall Mural:

Bringing Nature into the City

Dr Abe V Rotor

A Tropical Rainforest Wall Mural (3.5 ft x 15 ft) in acrylic by Dr Abe V Rotor at his residence in Lagro, Block 61 61, Lot 55 (corner Kudyapi St and Lam-ang St) 2015. The mural is an integral part (3rd panel) of a larger mural (7 ft x 30 ft).

The mural is made up of three sections as shown in the above photos: Emergent trees and their tenants (top); Exploring a forest stream (middle),

Food web and energy flow (lowermost)

Among the countless creatures of the tropical rainforest that comprise its rich biodiversity are: a rat, giant among its kind in the lowland, lives in a hollow of a tree; boa constrictor adapted to arboreal life, transient gulls adapted to both sea and forest life; tree iguana that branched out of marine iguanas, and those that live in dry conditions; chameleon the master of camouflage and mimicry; sloth, mother and young, clinging on a tree motionless and sleeping most of its life.

My grandson, Markus Andrei, 6 months old and his nanny - 

guardians of this rainforest wall mural. Lagro QC~

Part 1: Genetic Engineering - another Frankenstein monster in the making, this time real

Abe V Rotor

Animation today, monsters tomorrow. Genetic engineering is building another Frankenstein monster - this time it is real.
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A Genetically Modified Organism (or GMO) is a result of rapid genetic pooling or buildup of desirable traits by means of genetic engineering, rather than through the conventional method.
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The conventional agricultural breeding methods are tedious, and subject to uncertainty. Today’s biotechnology opened a frontier whereby the genes of organisms can be transferred and combined according to the traits one wishes to combine. It is actually opening a floodgate of possibilities, spectacularly including cross-species or cross-phyla transfer of genes. This could mean a firefly gene implanted in a rat can make the rodent glow in the dark.

All these have their early beginning with the DNA model proposed by Crick and Watson in the fifties who later shared the Nobel Prize in biology. So precise is the model that with modern tools, all one does is to cut and insert a bit of the genetic material carrying a desired trait. Thus the Bacillus thuringiensis gene into corn produced the Bt corn. Protein gene of one legume to increase the protein nutrients of another. Beta-carotene gene in daffodils into rice resulted into golden rice. (See Figure I )

But what is the extent of modification? What kind and which direction? Would an organism reach a level of modification that it does not only lose its genetic identity but become alien to its adopted environment?

We ask these questions in the light of the following premises:

1. A trait may be controlled by a single gene, but there are more traits that are controlled by multiple and blending genes. Besides, the collective expression of various gene combinations, not to mention the effects of disturbance of the loci of traits in the genes, will take time to be well understood if they inflict any harm or not to human and the environment.

2. Every trait of an organism in one way or the other affects the environment, and vice versa. This means that if the protein is elevated, the higher will be its uptake of nitrogen so that there is need of fertilizer subsidy. Increase in milk output necessary means more feeds, and more antibiotics to protect the animal from milk production stress. There is a saying in ecology that there is no such thing as “free lunch”,

3. Ecologically how will a GMO relate to the natural members of the environment? How will it fit into the ecosystem in which its “parents” were once a part, integrally built by seres and evolution? We may just be interested on how the organism serves our purpose, but not so much as on its usefulness in its own community and the ecosystem as a whole.

4. Genetic engineering will definitely increase the number of plants and animals that now depend entirely on man’s care and attention - and making those presently under cultivation and domestication more and more dependent. Many breeds and varieties can no longer live and prosper in the open. This is indeed an antithesis of natural farming.

Continued...