Flashback -- Date Unknown -- Probably Middle School -- March 25, 2026

 

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Papa Reading to Olivia

Flashback: Olivia -- Fourteen Years Old -- CRISPR -- From 2018 -- February 16, 2026

From another blog this date.

Reading this week:

• Matt Ridley's Genome, 1999; and, 
• The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race, Walter Isaacson, c. 2021. Notes here.
• an early post on CRISPR: link here. This was back in 2018! Whoo-hoo!
• CRISPR was all the rage in the 2010s. All of a sudden, the acronym is seldom heard/read in mainstream media. 

I had forgotten I wrote this in 2018:

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Bonus Note For The Granddaughters

CRISPR.

CRISPR-Cas9.

Until this week, I knew nothing of significance about CRISPR. For whatever reason I mentioned CRISPR to our 14-year-old granddaughter on the way to school the other day, and she became incredibly animated. She loved "CRISPR" and knew more about it than I did.

Whatever she knows about CRISPR she learned on her own. I doubt they have yet studied it in high school, although it's possible it's been mentioned

I'll have fun talking to her about CRISPR over the next few weeks.

CRISPR is part of the DNA genome. Back in 1993, a biologist studying bacteria in Spanish swamps, found bacteria whose DNA contained repeated sequences of DNA that did not correspond to anything previously seen.

Because of the nature of these repeated sequences (clusters, regularly interspersed, and short palindromic repeats) he labeled them CRISPR for short.

It turns out that these palindromic repeats of "meaningless" genome were actually pieces of viral DNA -- viruses that had invaded bacteria as pathogens (bacteriophages -- to eat bacteria).

It is hypothesized that by incorporating this "meaningless" viral genome, bacteria are more quickly able to defend against a virus from attacking it (a second time).

And like everything else in biology, there is more to the story.

Molecular biology dogma: DNA makes RNA makes protein.

CRISPER makes RNA but this RNA does not make a protein. By itself, the CRISPR-RNA is worthless.

But, as it turns out, as in a Rudyard Kipling "just so" story, bacteria also contain an enzyme (or protein) called Cas9 -- short for CRISPER-associated protein 9. If the biologists had had a sense of humor, it would be easier to remember as"Mama Cass protein" -- CRISPR-associated protein that loves to eat.

But a very special way of eating.

As noted above CRISPER-RNA by itself is worthless.

But with the Cas9 enzyme "stuff happens." Cas9 enzyme is a "cutter."

CRISPER-RNA guides Cas9 enzyme to the virus with the corresponding DNA genome.

At the viral DNA genome, the Cas9 enzyme gets to work, cutting out the viral genome that corresponds to CRISPR-RNA.

Pretty clever, huh?

Know who connected the dots, figured this out?

A Danish yogurt company. Yup, Danisco -- a Danish yogurt company.

Danisco is now owned by Dow Dupont.

Researchers now use CRISPER-Cas9 to target any region/gene in any DNA genome and cut it out / remove it. By removing a gene, researchers are better able to discern the purpose of a previously non-understood gene.

If a bacteria is able to do what a bacteria normally does and now loses a certain function because it has lost a certain gene, scientists have a pretty good idea of what that gene must be responsible for.

Likewise, researchers can do that to any mammalian genome.

Much, much more to the story but I now have enough to share with our granddaughter and still be able to keep up with her.

This was from "Diary" in the current issue of London Review of Books. Another source is here. 

That 14-year-old granddaughter is now a sophomore STEM student at Stanford University, California, ROTC. 

 

Academic Calendar -- Overview -- December 13, 2025

Olivia is home from Stanford on break. 

Will went out deer hunting. Got at least one buck. Is allowed up to eight deer, a mix of bucks and does. His goal: two or three. 

Deer steak from Will, one year ago: 

Looking at the Stanford website calendar, this is Stanford's quarterly system:

• Olivia started in autumn, 2024: in general
• 1st quarter: Sept - Dec
•  Flavio, Cindy visit on Family Day
• 2nd quarter: Jan - Mar
• 3rd quarter: Apr - Jun
• 4th quarter: July - Aug
• 2025 - 2026
• Autumn quarter: Sept 22 - Dec 12 (just completed; Olivia home on break)
• Olivia passes her ROTC PFA (physical fitness assessment); 91.2%;  
• Winter quarter: Jan 5 - Mar 20
• Spring quarter: Mar 30 - Jun 10
• Summer quarter (generally somewhat shorter): July 22 - Aug 15 (optional)
• 2026 - 2027

Olivia Asked For Papa's Christmas Gift List -- December 13, 2025

 

On Amazon:

Lego, Speed Champions, 2023 McLaren Formula 1 Race Car, Amazon, $26. Click on link. 

Lego, Speed Champions, 2023 Pagani Utopia Race Car, Amazon, $27. Click on link. 

At Belk next to our house, Grammy will help you if necessary:

1. Lights for bike. These are very expensive but they've been 60% off; now selling for maybe $20 on sale. I don't know. But if not on sale, don't consider. Walmart always has nice selection. These are Belk in the dad's gift selection; kind of hard to find; may need to ask.

4. My favorite choice, just one set of four, about $36; again at Belk, in the kitchen section:
 

Thanksgiving Break -- To Portland, OR -- Via The Cascade Mountain Range -- Mt Shasta -- November 23, 2025

Olivia's visit. Olivia and friend(s) drove up to Portland, OR, from Palo Alto, CA, to visit Judah and Levi.

 Cascades.

 

Mt Shasta in the background.

Olivia in the white jacket. 

Fact-Checking Stories On Acceptance Rates At The Elite Schools -- November 23, 2025

Google Gemini prompt: 

Stanford suggests it is loosening its acceptance standards because the pool of students is getting smaller? Is there a source for that statement? 

Google Gemini reply:

There is

no evidence to suggest that Stanford is loosening its acceptance standards because the pool of students is getting smaller; in fact, its admissions process remains extremely selective. The number of applicants has generally increased over the years, though there was a slight decline in a recent cycle. 

Key points regarding Stanford's admissions:

• High Selectivity: 
• Stanford consistently maintains one of the lowest acceptance rates in the U.S., with recent data showing rates as low as 3.68% for the Class of 2026. Olivia is in the class of 2029 (?).
• Application Numbers:  
• The number of applications has generally surged dramatically over the past few decades, indicating rising interest and not a shrinking pool of students.
• Recent Trends: 
•  For the Class of 2027, the number of applicants (53,733) actually declined slightly from the previous year's record high (56,378) -- Class of 2026, but the acceptance rate still only increased marginally to 3.91%.
• Policy Shift on Reporting: 
• Since 2018, Stanford no longer publicizes real-time application numbers or early admission statistics during the admissions cycle itself to de-emphasize the perceived importance of low admit rates and the "hyper-competitiveness" surrounding them. 
• The data is still reported annually to the federal government later.
• Reinstatement of Test Scores: 
• Contrary to loosening standards, Stanford has recently decided to reinstate the standardized test requirement for applicants, indicating a continued emphasis on traditional academic metrics. 

The notion of a shrinking national pool of college-bound students is a general trend that affects many non-elite universities, causing some to ease their admissions processes, but it has not had that effect on highly selective institutions like Stanford. 

Pottery -- 2025

 

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Pottery by Will and Olivia

Thrown and fired, June, 2025. Euless, TX.

Olivia's Team At The Chavín Site In Peru Made The Reuter's News Earlier This Month -- July 26, 2025

In early 2025, Olivia saw a request for an engineering student to join this team on a message board. She wrote to John W. Rick and was selected to be the only engineer on his team this year.

Link here.

Link here.

Background:

Antique (?) Panasonic AM-FM Radio -- From Great-Grandmother Ruth -- For Olivia's Antique Museum -- February 26, 2025

Link here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGm1zoYSnmY.

From AI:

Comparing VFIAX With VFIFX -- How To Compare Different Ticker Symbols

How to compare different stocks or different funds.

In google (or the URL line): type in ticker vfiax

You will get this:

At the upper right corner of that screen shot above, note the box compare, as below, at the #1 arrow. Click on the compare icon, and then you will get the screenshot below. At the #2 arrow, type in FVIFX.

Type in VFIFX in the box designated with the #2 arrow like this:

And hit return after you type in VFIFX.

You will get this: 

 Note that it compares VFIAX with VFIFX for the past three months.

You can click on any time period to compare. If you click on max, you will get this:

The difference is not trivial.

With the more conservative VFIFX, you get a 100% return, or you doubled your money over the past sixteen years (2008 to 2024).

On the other hand, with the more aggressive VFIAX (Admiral), you get a return of nearly 400%, which it means it doubled three times (?) in that same time period.

The red and blue lines start to separate as the lines move to the right, because the life cycle funds increase bond holdings as you get older, decreasing the volatility and the risk, but also potentially decreasing return. The theory is that when you are getting ready to retire you want to have a more conservative fund so you don't have wild swings from year-to-year. 

We can discuss what this means at later.

One option: diversify. That's what I did.

This year invest in the life cycle fund, VFIFX.

Then next year invest in the more aggressive fund, the VFIAX (Admiral).

Then starting in your third year, fund both IRAs up to the max allowed and change allocations over time as you feel more comfortable with investing.