Is Emma's Life in Danger?

Re: Possible rejection-reaction with the serum?
by ihavebeenimpure
on Wed Sep 19, 2007 1:38 pm

modelmotion wrote:
"Given that trait positive is based on a hyper mutation that changes in every girl the real question should be whether or not the serum would be effective in a different girl. Probably not."

Very good point. I'm catching up on the details of what exactly we know about this "trait" -- pointers to a summary of the biology or biochemistry behind this would be helpful to me, though perhaps Spencer can fill me in quickly when we talk in person. If anyone else has data on this to share, email me at [email protected].

modelmotion wrote:
"Also, since blood cells continually replace themself it is highly unlikely the the original serum could have worked as proposed in the first place. It would have to penetrate the splean and permanently supress ribozyme production in all blood cells created in the future. That seems highly unlikely."

It takes about three months for blood cells to die, but you're right; every day, your blood cells are dying, and new ones are being made. The effect that a drug which alters blood cells would have would slowly diminish over 10-18 weeks.

Also, this would have to affect the bone marrow to be permanent.

Whether or not the serum has a positive effect on Emma isn't my biggest concern right now -- I'm mostly worried that it may have a negative effect. If she's suddenly loaded up with cellular material derived from Bree's blood, it may provoke a severe allergic reaction -- which could potentially be fatal. Given that Daniel seems to be the only one who is really holding himself together now, I'm hoping he has the good sense to start trying to find her, and I hope when/if he does, he's got an EpiPen and H1 receptor antagonists handy. Promethazine HCl or even Hydroxyzine HCl would be good to have on hand, but they're prescription-only. If he can't get his hands on them, Diphenhydramine HCl, Chlorphenamine maleate or Doxylamine succinate would be better than nothing.

If she does need medical care for a rejection-reaction, another possible course of treatment would be an immunosuppressant such as Azathioprine, though they should be aware that it metabolizes into 6-Mercaptopurine, which is toxic to bone marrow in high doses (reducing the blood's hematocrit count.) It is, however, a gold-standard for preventing transplant rejections, so it may be useful if things go the way I fear.

Let's hope for Emma's sake that it just simply has no effect.

[Also, to be clear -- I am a biochemist, I'm not a doctor. (Or was a biochemist, once upon a time.) This should not be considered authoritative medical advice. I'm just trying to provide Daniel and friends some medical background so they know if the doctors they're dealing with are handling things right. Be warned, guys, that you'll probably have trouble explaining what this serum is. Be careful that they don't think you're actually dealing with illegal drugs -- having you wind up in jail for a few days while they figure out you're not lying about the serum and trait positive stories does no one any good, and it might make the difference between life or death as far as Emma's concerned.]

Hopefully I'll have more data for you when I return from Zürich on Friday (though I'll try to post tomorrow after our meeting.)

Good luck,

Dr T.

P.S. -- If someone would point Danielbeast at this post, I'm not sure he reads Spencer's forum. That, or repost the key information over there for me. I'm in a bit of a rush at the moment, packing for tomorrow's travel.

http://www.lg15.com/lonelygirl15/forum/viewtopic.php?f=124&t=14013&p=492918#p492918