Understanding the mysteries of birth and death is a complicated affair that has preoccupied mankind from time immemorial. Escaping from the miseries inherent in the cycle of birth and death has been propounded as the ultimate goal of life in eastern religions. Nirvana or liberation from the "beginningless cycle of repeated birth, mundane existence, and dying again" is something that countless spiritual seekers aspire to attain. Attaining liberation requires the utmost faith and effort and is never available to those who doubt everything. In fact, the Bhagavat Gita goes so far as to say, "sanśhayātmā vinaśhyati." in chapter-4.40. Hence, the doubting soul has happiness neither in this world nor in the next.
Yet, one can have a doubting soul that fails to understand this sublime transcendental knowledge. Escaping from something simpler may be possible for such doomed souls. A recent pre-print by Sharma et al. focuses on the escape from the MAC (Membrane Attack Complex) encoded by the TCP (Terminal Complement Pathway). In their manuscript titled "Birth and Death in Terminal Complement Pathway," Sharma et al. investigate the emergence of the terminal component pathway in early vertebrates using sequence similarity analysis, comparison of exon length, phase, and domain order. Starting with "Four possible scenarios for the birth of the terminal complement pathway (TCP)," the authors evaluate each scenario against available data to find the most supported aspects. As part of their investigation, the "Status of terminal complement pathway (TCP) components" is identified in representative species from various vertebrate clades. Their research discovered that the complement C9 gene has been duplicated in several species of the order Squamata and potentially degraded in Galliform birds.
The complement C9 of chicken and other Galliform birds has escaped MAC's TCP. Death does not mean liberation. So how do we know that C9 is liberated and not simply dead? Sharma et al. find that the chicken repeat 1 (CR1) element is inserted at the C9 locus in the intronic regions and in the middle of exons. The presence of CR1 elements within the exons disrupts the coding frame and will continue to do so until it is removed. Hence, the re-birth of the C9 gene would require a careful excision of the CR1 elements to reestablish the reading frame. Based on the relatively special type of gene death seen in C9, one could argue a scenario of liberation. But how permanent is liberation? Can a liberated soul be again condemned to a cycle of birth and death?
Does the soul merge with god after liberation, or does it just become part of a cosmic soul distinct from god? Liberation is even more challenging to understand than birth and death as it remains a primarily theoretical concept for us mere mortals. Nonetheless, C9 is dead; long live the TCP!
