October is a month of darkness, mystery, and dread. Only one holiday brings joy in October and even then, October joy is distilled through fear and apprehension. In the early evenings the sun hurries home and once familiar objects loom ominously in the dark. Giant spiders appear out the fog, lurking on webs that span our walkways and doors. Even Mendel’s Garden is dark and malevolent when October greys our skies.

genetics, Mendel’s garden, blog carnival.

Horror stories for adults
October looks bleaker than usual if you’re out of work and not getting paid. If your income matches this fellow’s, check out Dr. Hsien-Hsien Lei’s post at Eye on DNA, on Salaries for Jobs in Genetics to find out how scientists fare in the working world.

Being out of job is scary, but so is the prospect of having a child with a serious disease. Mary Meets Dolly describes a study where couples get the results from genetic tests but don’t understand what they mean. Check out Study shows couples choose to abort after prenatal genetic testing with no counseling.

Trick or Treat?
Before you dive into that bowl of leftover Halloween candy, consider for a moment, Fitbuff‘s thoughts on What Do Chocolate Cravings Say About You? Or perhaps, what the Journal of Proteomics (which is usually overlooked in the horror genre) has to say about your bacterial inhabitants. In “Human Metabolic Phenotypes Link Directly to Specific Dietary Preferences in Healthy Individuals,” the authors propose that your craving for chocolate and other foods is related to the bacteria living in your gut. That’s right. My bacteria made me do it.

Frankenstein’s monster and the creature from the black lagoon
To some people, biotechnology is scarier than anything out HP Lovecraft or Edgar Allan Poe. This post, Dow and Monsanto to Create SmartStax Genetically Modified Corn, from Dr. Hsien-Hsien Lei won’t change anyone’s mind, but does provide good information on a complex and important subject.

Crime and Punishment
In the criminal element category, originsgenomeresources questions if we can be exempt from guilt by virtue of our genes, in Ancient Greeks bear gifts rejecting the “my genes made me do it” defense.

Ed Yong, from NotExactlyRocketScience , looks at this issue from the side of those who dish out the punishment in Genes affect our likelihood to punish unfair play. Time to get out the whip? Or should we release the spiders and see what their genes make them do?

What secrets lie buried within our genomes?

Edgar Allen Poe’s grave in the cemetery at Westminster Presbyterian Church. Source FoxNews