Know the Peas in your Family Pod -- Degrees of Separation of Genetic Relatives.

Don’t think ancestors separated from you by many degrees could have passed down influential genes? Oh, do I have some true stories for you. But ahead of International Day of Families on May 15th, I’ll skip that (for now) and just post this infographic for anyone interested.

You can download a PDF of the poster here. 

Germline Mutations: Illustrating the Cycle of Hereditary Cancer in Families.

Germline Mutations are genetic changes that are present in genes in sperm or eggs (germ cells) at the time of conception. Some germline mutations in tumor suppressor genes can increase the risk for developing hereditary cancer. 

Genetic testing looks for changes in genes that have been linked to hereditary cancer. These particular inherited genetic changes are called pathogenic germline mutations.

To learn more about germline mutations and to download the infographic, go to genetionary.org.

Do You Know Peas about DNA?

For Deoxyribonucleic Acid Day!

Download a PDF version of this free coloring/activity book at www.markix.net/DNA

A poster for DNA Day and Every Day.

This poster can be downloaded at
www.markix.net/dna-poster

A Short Story about DNA, Genes, Mutations, and Hereditary Cancer Prevention.

You can download a poster at www.genetionary.org/story

Using humor to reduce information avoidance of cancer risk? It actually works. In a 2024 study they used comics and humor to reach people who otherwise avoid colorectal cancer or other health messaging.*

Trust me, as a hereditary cancer advocate, I’d love to be sharing scorched-earth, profanity-filled rants about how my wife died horribly and needlessly of a cancer that was very, very preventable. But I have found that using a simple, lighthearted approach can garner more attention that a more serious, fact-heavy one. Or an angry one.

Anything related to cancer can be very scary. And, unfortunately, a lot people simply don’t understand basic genetics. To make things worse, these topics are often presented in ways that are too complicated and detached for many to understand. The way genetics and hereditary cancer are talked about desperately needs to change.

With DNA Day coming up on the April 25th, I figured this would be a good time to share this reworked and updated version of this simple and lighthearted introduction to DNA and its relationship to hereditary cancer. Please pass it along if you know of someone or some family that needs to see it.

*Reducing Information Avoidance: The effectiveness of humour, cute animals and coping messages from The British Psychological Society
https://bpspsychub.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bjhp.12748 

National Banana Day

Forget about your taxes, today is National Banana Day. Go bananas – it’s in your DNA!

Available at most online bookstores. See www.MendelCat.com for more info. For ages 6 and up.”

KOKOBUNNY -- The Arizona Version of the Easter Bunny

Being a Native Arizonan, I envision the Easter Bunny a little differently. 

 

Originally created in what seems a lifetime ago, when life was a little more carefree (yeah, there’s kind of a double meaning to that), I thought I’d post it just because I think a lot of kids (and a lot of grown-ups) need a whimsical distraction right now. 

 

You can download the coloring page here. 

 

BTW, the Kokobunny typeface was also designed by me. It was a winner years ago in a Chartpak International Typeface Design Competition. It was originally called La Fiesta but might be called "Tijuana" or something else on your system or elsewhere because it was pirated several years ago by a software company and unofficially renamed. (It’s another one of my long stories about life as a professional artist.)