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Yes, we can do in vitro protein expression, fairly easily and routinely. D-proteins are mostly used in structural investigations (I am not sure whether any with therapeutic value have been discovered yet). However, smaller peptides including either some or consisting of D-amino acids are either in use or being developed. DADLE is a synthetic peptide that has been synthesized in the 90s, for example. Edit to add: In isolation, mirror protein, amino acids, DNA and so on are not particularly more dangerous than any other drug or synthesized compound. The risk of mirror organism is entirely independent of that, and hinges on the ability on creating that in the first place. Just adding some chirality does not add much. Bacteria routinely use many tricks, such as sugars in many shapes and forms to confuse our immune system. In fact, in their O-antigens one can find D- and L-forms of their subunits to confuse our immune system. I.e., this is not fundamentally new chemistry we are talking about here.

A bit confusing since cold immersion also can cause bradycardia, which lowers BP, as in the MDR which @Moontanman mentioned. From the sources cited by @toucana it sounds like the main effect with cold water, however, is raised BP and accelerated heart rate. So I guess the cold shock "wins out" over the MDR. Better be careful, Genady, hehe. Paul Newman used to immerse his face in icy water, which he said kept him handsome.

If I may make a suggestion: if there is genuine interest, it is always better to build your understanding from the ground up, rather on relying on articles that promise a shortcut to a concept that you might find drawn to. Pubsci articles heavily rely on the surprise factor, i.e. the promise that after reading that you will be privy to some insights that will somehow challenge existing knowledge. But consider this: existing knowledge is built on the work of many many folks, whereas any single article is the work of at best a handful for persons (or only one). It is exceedingly rare that one person will have some insights, missed by the whole community and even rarer to publish it in a no-specialist journal. This also applies to discussion forums. Ultimately, there is no shortcut to knowledge and picking up a good book is still the best way.

Yes, assuming the quotes are not out of context, it does seem to me that it is possible that the author is overselling concepts to lay audiences. However, some of the later quotes are accurate: For example, this link with epigenetics makes sense- yet it was never an either or question, which seems to be implied. I presume that the typo was not part of the original article, though. Here it is acknowledged that there are separate mechanisms and I have no idea why the author would harp on about natural selection in the former quotes. But again, the presented quotes are not great representation of the basics and it seems that certain concepts are overemphasized which is again not great for laypersons.

I've observed that fanning cool air to the face makes me feel just as comfortable in the heat as cooling the whole room with AC. It's like if the face feels cool the rest of the body agrees.

Here is a relevant section from the RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institution) online safety advice on cold water shock: https://rnli.org/safety/know-the-risks/cold-water-shock The body responds to an abrupt loss of heat from a sudden immersion in cold water by shutting down the peripheral blood circulation. This muscular vasoconstriction effect can cause an upward spike in systolic blood pressure. If someone happens to have a latent aneurysm (weak spot) in a blood vessel in their brain, then this spike can cause a rupture and haemorrhage.

No, I didn't consider this connection. Thank you. Interesting, but the connection to the water temperature is not clear to me. It could be a coincidence that the water happened to be cold, couldn't it? Maybe the plunging head-first did it. Or jumping itself, if he had an undiscovered brain aneurysm. Etc.

Light seems to be dawning. Here are the answers, for anyone who is curious. Hopefully everyone's base desires are satisfied.

Being son of a cynical journalist (redundant phrase, possibly), I came early to the belief that all those things are quite fragile. Then I witnessed how often religion bends easily in a totalitarian direction unless a sect takes a specific stand against it. (yay, liberation theology) Omnipotent deity and liberal democracy are not concepts that dovetail easily. Nor late stage capitalism and human-centered ideologies generally. Plus one for your whole post, which I sense is doing double duty as both germane comment on the thread topic and some self-introduction. Single issue voters are the bane of democracy, because they are so easily led off a cliff while following that one attractive carrot dangled in front of them.

It might be so, while the other possibility is that inhaling and holding breath while entering water takes my mind away from the "pain" of being hit by the cold water. Yes, I've noticed it as well. Another "trick" that works for me is, while standing in the shallow, before putting the body in the water, I put my face in or simply splash the cold water on the face. The face does not feel much, but it somehow prepares the whole body, and the shock is diminished quite a lot.

So... The 13th lurks in December but not November?