Jenomics

Learning Scientist, Lover Of All Things SciFi & strong-ass coffee. BS in Molecular Biology, Functional Genomics Practitioner in training. @BrainCelling

[Mike Netter @nettermike]

This article was written by a 26 yr old college student by the name of Alyssa Ahlgren, who's in grad school for her MBA. What a GREAT perspecitve..👍🏽

My Generation Is Blind to the Prosperity Around Us!
I'm sitting in a small coffee shop near Nokomis (Florida) trying to think of what to write about. I scroll through my newsfeed on my phone looking at the latest headlines of presidential candidates calling for policies to "fix" the so-called injustices of capitalism. I put my phone down and continue to look around.

I see people talking freely, working on their MacBook's, ordering food they get in an instant, seeing cars go by outside, and it dawned on me. We live in the most privileged time in the most prosperous nation and we've become completely blind to it.

Vehicles, food, technology, freedom to associate with whom we choose.These things are so ingrained in our American way of life we don't give them a second thought.

We are so well off here in the United States that our poverty line begins 31 times above the global average. Thirty One Times!!!

Virtually no one in the United States is considered poor by global standards. Yet, in a time where we can order a product off Amazon with one click and have it at our doorstep the next day, we are unappreciative, unsatisfied, and ungrateful. ??

Our unappreciation is evident as the popularity of socialist policies among my generation continues to grow. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez recently said to Newsweek talking about the millennial generation, "An entire generation, which is now becoming one of the largest electorates in America, came of age and never saw American prosperity."

Never saw American prosperity! Let that sink in.

When I first read that statement, I thought to myself, that was quite literally the most entitled and factually illiterate thing I've ever heard in my 26 years on this earth. Many young people agree with her, which is entirely misguided.

My generation is being indoctrinated by a mainstream narrative to actually believe we have never seen prosperity. I know this first hand, I went to college, let's just say I didn't have the popular opinion, but I digress.

Why then, with all of the overwhelming evidence around us, evidence that I can even see sitting at a coffee shop, do we not view this as prosperity? We have people who are dying to get into our country.

People around the world destitute and truly impoverished. Yet, we have a young generation convinced they've never seen prosperity, and as a result, we elect some politicians who are dead set on taking steps towards abolishing capitalism.

Why? The answer is this,?? my generation has only seen prosperity. We have no contrast. We didn't live in the great depression, or live through two world wars, the Korean War, The Vietnam War or we didn't see the rise and fall of socialism and communism.

We don't know what it's like to live without the internet, without cars, without smartphones. We don't have a lack of prosperity problem. We have an entitlement problem, an ungratefulness problem, and it's spreading like a plague."

[GP Q @argosaki]

BREASTMILK
She thought she was studying milk.
What she uncovered was a conversation.

In 2008, evolutionary anthropologist Katie Hinde was working in a primate research lab in California, analyzing breast milk from rhesus macaque mothers. She had hundreds of samples and thousands of data points. Everything looked ordinary—until one pattern refused to go away.

Mothers raising sons produced milk richer in fat and protein.
Mothers raising daughters produced a larger volume with different nutrient balances.

It was consistent. Repeatable. And deeply uncomfortable for the scientific consensus.

Colleagues suggested error. Noise. Statistical coincidence.
But Katie trusted the data.

And the data pointed to a radical idea.

Milk is not just nutrition.
It is information.

For decades, biology treated breast milk as simple fuel. Calories in. Growth out. But if milk were only calories, why would it change depending on the sex of the baby?

Katie kept digging.

Across more than 250 mothers and over 700 sampling events, the story grew more complex. Younger, first-time mothers produced milk with fewer calories but significantly higher levels of cortisol—the stress hormone.

The babies who drank it grew faster.
They were also more alert, more cautious, more anxious.

Milk wasn’t just building bodies.
It was shaping behavior.

Then came the discovery that changed everything.

When a baby nurses, microscopic amounts of saliva flow back into the breast. That saliva carries biological signals about the infant’s immune system. If the baby is getting sick, the mother’s body detects it.

Within hours, the milk changes.

White blood cells surge.
Macrophages multiply.
Targeted antibodies appear.

When the baby recovers, the milk returns to baseline.

This was not coincidence.
It was call and response.

A biological dialogue refined over millions of years. Invisible—until someone thought to listen.

As Katie reviewed existing research, she noticed something unsettling. There were twice as many scientific studies on erectile dysfunction as on breast milk composition.

The first food every human consumes.
The substance that shaped our species.
Largely ignored.

So she did something bold.

She launched a blog with a deliberately provocative name: Mammals Suck Milk.
It exploded. Over a million readers in its first year. Parents. Doctors. Scientists. People asking questions research had skipped.

The discoveries kept coming.

Milk changes by time of day.
Foremilk differs from hindmilk.
Human milk contains over 200 oligosaccharides babies can’t digest—because they exist to feed beneficial gut bacteria.
Every mother’s milk is biologically unique.

In 2017, Katie brought this work to a TED stage. In 2020, it reached a global audience through Netflix’s Babies. Today, at Arizona State University’s Comparative Lactation Lab, she continues reshaping how medicine understands infant development, neonatal care, formula design, and public health.

The implications are staggering.

Milk has been evolving for more than 200 million years—longer than dinosaurs walked the Earth. What we once dismissed as simple nourishment is one of the most sophisticated communication systems biology has ever produced.

Katie Hinde didn’t just study milk.
She revealed that nourishment is intelligence.
A living, responsive system shaping who we become before we ever speak.

All because one scientist refused to accept that half the story was “measurement error.”

Sometimes the biggest revolutions begin by listening to what everyone else ignores.

[Jenomics @JLittleFleck]

@jan_murray 2

[Jenomics @JLittleFleck]

This child already has better communication skills than most people I know. https://t.co/Y3xCpkSIEl

[Jenomics @JLittleFleck]

@WakeUpPatriott B) Starship

[Jenomics @JLittleFleck]

Big thanks to all the ER doctors and nurses lucky enough to work the 4th of July and rack up some good cautionary tales. #4thofJuly #fingerslost

[Jenomics @JLittleFleck]

@lakeboss Not sure it has not occurred to people on this thread that we women with trucks can’t often lift 30+ lbs high enough to get into the back of the truck. 50lb bags- forget it. That’s half my body weight.

As a small female truck owner with a busy husband- I think she is AWESOME.

[Jenomics @JLittleFleck]

The practice farm has begun! I asked for a chicken coop and ended up with a chicken condo 🤣 https://t.co/vfJrxz7ruB

[Jen's BrainDrop @braincelling]

Anyone else think the innate wisdom the human body is just amazing and largely undiscovered? Check out some of these gems and how we are uncovering them.
https://t.co/ZqgYa5y9Iy

[Jenomics @JLittleFleck]

A little teaser for Episode 2!

[Jen's BrainDrop @braincelling]

The Autobiology Bits podcast has launched! Check out https://t.co/uhV5ewtt9W to submit your questions to be answered on the Autobiology Bits podcast! https://t.co/6EaxqgoGc3

[Jen's BrainDrop @braincelling]

One week until Autobiology launches! Check out https://t.co/uhV5ewtt9W to submit your questions to be answered on the Autobiology Bits podcast! https://t.co/0jMfFGzr7K

[Jen's BrainDrop @braincelling]

Join me and my kids to learn why some people fart more than others! Podcast launch September 8th! https://t.co/xwM5aPpIv6

[Jen's BrainDrop @braincelling]

One week to launch! https://t.co/yWh0VntABz

[Jenomics @JLittleFleck]

Congratulations!

[SpaceX @SpaceX]

Liftoff!

[Jenomics @JLittleFleck]

Curious? Take a listen. https://t.co/xTVrbmXo7a

[Jenomics @JLittleFleck]

Best baby workout EVA

[Arctic Friend @FriendEden100]

#SundayThoughts
Babies are great!
#SundayFunday
https://t.co/0a0oNaXMuh

[Jenomics @JLittleFleck]

OK - I think MANY of us can now technically add 'Homeschool Teacher' to our resumes—but should you? Make sure it fits with your story.
How to Make Your Skills Look Exciting on Your Resume (Because That List You Have Now Is Meh)&via=@TheMuse @jlittlefleck https://t.co/nLRhKh1iS2

[Jen's BrainDrop @braincelling]

https://t.co/UW9BBADsN4

[Jen's BrainDrop @braincelling]

https://t.co/UW9BBADsN4