Middlesex+Book+1+journal+1

__**Middlesex: Book One**__ __Family Heritage__ I do not know my family heritage, I believe that my father's side is german, but other than that I do not know much. Clearly, I do not have a strong tie to my family history, and I do not feel it in my daily life. I consider myself an American because this is the only culture I was raised with. But what is the American culture exactly? Aren't we a mixture of all nationalities? We're developing an identity, but as of now I think that American citizens who do not have a tie to a particular nationality consider themselves American as a lack there of more than anything else. Yes we have freedom and equality and feminism and the rise of the common man, but I still think that there are many more people from other nationalities that have such a strong tie to their nationality, not only their country (because we have that here too) but rather a particular culture with a ton of customs and traditions (which I think we have here, just more individualized).

__Taboo__ A taboo is something that is considered bad by society, like it will jinx you when you break it. I think they were originally simple traditions or standards that grew to contain negative effects if broken as a way for maintaining the customs. I think that when a custom is developed so strong that everyone in a society follows it, it becomes taboo, or unseemly, to break the norm. Marriage between relatives, for example, is considered taboo, wrong. But we dod not know why this is other than that it goes against our society's beliefs. Or for some cases, there can be a reason why something becomes taboo, but over time the reason why has become less known. Using the same example, not marrying one's relatives could go back to evolution. Animals mated to maintain survival and diversity, which made species develop and become stronger and better adapted to various environments. Proof exists today, that incest often leads to genetic mutations. I believe that many taboos' rational is no longer clear or is no longer necessary in a new society from which they were created. When it is broken, people feel uncomfortable, disgusted, or afraid, depending on the taboo and the breach of norm and how society perceives it.

__Princess Si Ling-chi pg 63__ The reference to Princess Si Ling-chi and silk was pretty clear but I was still fuzzy on the historical context of the time period. First of all, she is well known and the stories Cal says coincide with what i found on the internet. there are more examples of how it was smuggled out of china, which may be interesting to see why Cal did not use one of them. This took place during all of the dynasties and the silk road. there was also the reference to the discovery of gravity which i thought was funny (and punny) and demonstrated the interest between tradition/historical and science/modern. http://www.imperialtours.net/silk_road.htm http://www.womeninscience.org/transcript.php?storyID=1 http://macaulay.cuny.edu/eportfolios/sexuality11/2011/05/02/silkworms/

__Chromosome 5__ I was also interested to find more about chromosome 5. It is believed to be the cause of many health conditions and diseases and mutations, including cancer. It is believed to have between 900 and 1300 genes on it, out of a total estimated 20,000 to 25,000 genes. Incest does increase a chance of gene mutations since family members have similar/share more of the same genes and therefore mutations. If a mutation on the chromosome were to be recessive, a family with incest is more likely to develop a disorder because the are picking from a smaller gene pool and have a higher risk of both passing on a recessive mutation. http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/chromosome/5 http://www.merckmanuals.com/professional/special_subjects/general_principles_of_medical_genetics/single-gene_defects.html