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To: Paul C. Jesup; VxH
It's interesting that you completely ignored the previous example I gave of several environmental factors that lead to birth defects which you seem to believe are invariably genetic. At any rate, your argument that hormonal effects can be lumped together with "genetics" simply because genes code for protein expression is a vast oversimplification. Environmental cues are what trigger the upregulation and downregulation of genes, resulting in more or less of a certain protein being produced. The effect of environmental stimuli on gene expression cause all of the birth defects that I listed before. Since they are caused by a irregularity in gene expression, does this mean that they are heritable and the affected person's genes are somehow deficient? No.

For another example, in an interesting new technique for gene silencing, small segments of RNA matching in sequence to RNA coding for the protein to be silenced are injected into a cell. The cell recognizes these RNAs as possible viral RNA and procedes to degrade the introduced RNA and the normal RNA with the same sequence. The result is the silencing of gene expression for that protein. If this protein is vital, the cell dies. Since the cell death was related to gene expression, does that mean it was genetic? No--again, environmental.

96 posted on 02/28/2004 7:04:15 AM PST by ahayes
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To: ahayes
>>It's interesting that you completely ignored the
>>previous example I gave of several environmental
>>factors that lead to birth defects which you
>>seem to believe are invariably genetic.

The defect in question, as related to this thread, was chimerism.

You attempted to expand the scope of discussion to "ALL" birth defects in order to prop up your flailing position.

I simply ignored your, less than masterful, attempt at baiting.

Nowhere did I state that ALL birth defects are genetic.

Simple.
103 posted on 02/28/2004 9:59:27 PM PST by VxH (This species has amused itself to death.)
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