-Mike
Certified Mad Doctor and HoP High Priest of Nutella
A buckuht n a hooze! -Valura
-James
"How do you know if you're happy or sad without a mask? Or angry? Or ready for dessert?"
Written by: Doc Lightning
NYC, the "good of the species" thing is generally rejected in evolutionary biology. It's more a "selfish gene" thing.
Besides, if evolution is about the "good of the species" then how can we explain YOUR presence?
Well, shall we go?
Yes, let's go.
[They do not move.]
Written by: NYC
Besides, if evolution is about the "good of the species" then how can we explain YOUR presence?
-Mike
Certified Mad Doctor and HoP High Priest of Nutella
A buckuht n a hooze! -Valura
Written by: Doc Lightning
Although...
I could be the pinnacle of evolution...the ultimate goal. In which case there'd no point in further reproduction, would there?
Ok, y'all aren't buying that line, eh?
After much consideration, I find that the view is worth the asphyxiation.
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I may disagree with what you have to say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.
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Written by: newgabe
OK I'm not posting this as a fact, but as a question.
The immune system primarily deals with 'foreign' stuff eg viruses that come into the body. True?
Cancer cells are not 'foreign'. They are a massive proliferation of some of own body cells (that have made a mistake in the process of division, which is incredibly complex and happens so many times per second that it's hardly surprising that occsionally it goes wrong)
So most of the time our immune system does not destroy our own cells,even cancerous ones, even when it is functioning well. If it did, we would have some sort of auto-immune disease. Our immune system is not designed to recognise the exact type of mutation that leads to cancerous proliferation... expecting it to would be like asking the washing machine to make our toast.
Am I on track here?
"vices are like genitals - most are ugly to behold, and yet we find that our own are dear to us."
(G.W. Dahlquist)
Owner of Dragosani's left half
.....Can't juggle balls but I sure as hell can juggle details....
"I want to know if you can see beauty even when it's not pretty, every day,and if you can source your own life from its presence.." - Oriah Mountain Dreamer
"I want to know if you can see beauty even when it's not pretty, every day,and if you can source your own life from its presence.." - Oriah Mountain Dreamer
"I'm quite good at darts, though i often miss" - Kylie
"I'm not a bad driver, I just panic when theres other cars around" - Sarah
.....Can't juggle balls but I sure as hell can juggle details....
Written by: Doc Lightning
Ok, done a bit of reading and now I have a taste of what this is about.
It's interesting stuff, this RNAi bidnezz. However, the problem is that you have to get each and every cell to express an siRNA specific against the mRNA you want to destroy. That's gene therapy.
It does show us how we could use gene therapy to treat a virus or cancer. However, it doesn't help us with the overriding problem of gene therapy: how to get a gene into every cell in the first place.
Methinks me has more reading to do. Thanks again, Sparkey. You're helping me stay up to date.
Just to give you an idea of what I'm wading through:Written by: Gadkari DA, Indian J Med Res 121, March 2005, pp 147-150
JC virus, a member of the genus polyomavius, causes progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy. It is also activated in immunocompromised hosts, such as AIDS patients. Human astrocyte cells were transfected with siRNAs directed against T antigen or agnoprotein coding mRNAs. Individually, siRNAs were partially effective but combined treatment of both siRNAs completely abolished JC virus capsid protein production. Similarly, siRNAs mediated inhibition of viral capsid protein VP1 and agnoprotein resulted in marked inhibition of JC virus production in human glial cells.
Actually, a very clear and well-written review.
"God *was* my co-pilot, but then we crashed, and I had to eat him..."
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