As promised!

A drabble! Inspired by "Valediction," the word of the day!

The passing of November is the passing of adventure. November is a time when anything is possible, when the sun still shines through the crystalline winter cold. In November, there is still time for this year to surpass all others, still time for one more frantic burst of energy before the long nights and short days of winter curtail our efforts. December is the beginning of the end; December is the bells tolling, slowly, counting down the days, hours, minutes, seconds until the New Year: another year gone, and where are we now?

What have we done that was worthwhile?

In other news, we discussed the Immortal Strand Hypothesis in journal club today. It postulates that stem cells retain older copies of DNA in their cells, thus preventing or at least reducing the risks of DNA lesions and mutations. Which implies, in turn, that sister chromatids segregate non-randomly. Which is pretty cool, and pretty weird, at the same time. I might edit this post later tonight to explain, if that isn't clear. (One common question is "If each chromatid is made up of one mother and one daughter strand, how can you have newer or older copies?" -- for now, the short answer is: think of the next cell division.)