Posted on 01/21/2006 7:10:20 PM PST by djf
I had heard of these people a couple of decades ago and lost all my references. THANK YOU SO MUCH for finding and posting it!
Well if this is related to protein "misfolding"...
If I can thread poach a little... I know some of the people on this thread are already "FOLDING" but for those who aren't, there is now a major project by FReepers and others regarding protein folding and distributed computing. The effort is dedicated to Ronald Reagan.
http://vspx27.stanford.edu/cgi-bin/main.py?qtype=teampage&teamnum=36120
FReepers are ranked nationally (almost top 400) in our efforts to help this massive science project. Please join us if you would like to contribute and "Fold one for the Gipper". Here is one of several threads that can help point you to start donating your unused CPUs if you are interested.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1558526/posts
I seem to remember some folks in Okinawa also have a life-lengthening gene of some kind. Anybody got something on that?
Yes, but I'm sure there nowhere in the prophacy does it say WHEN.
It's in the script!
I understand what you are saying, and I suppose I could call it semantics. But that is not the major issue, if you ask folks about their cholesterol, many will say "My LDL is yadayada..." so it's a common part of the nomenclature.
And if you never ever ate a single food containing cholesterol, your liver would make some for ya!
And in fact you NEED cholesterol, because sitting in the sun converts some of your cholesterol to chole-calciferol, otherwise known as vitamin D3. And the recent findings with vitamin D and cancer are almost as stunning as this one. I think cholesterol plays a role in collagen synthesis too.
ping
I had an "attack" that may have been rheumatoid arthritis. The local doctors didn't think about a blood test to check for C reactive protein for two weeks. Too late. It peaks in the first 36 hours of the attack and drops off rapidly.
My local medical community isn't real sharp. I really hate getting sick because the first big trip to the doctor plants a big $1500 co-pay (my annual minimum) bill in my mailbox. A big bill and no definitive diagnosis or treatment.
You're talking to the choir.....I've been through "interesting times" in the past 18 months with 6 different doctors.....4 of whom said I had RA or Fibromyalgia.....HA....went and found myself a "new age" doc.....got me some good bio-id hormones and the right kind of thyroid meds.....and VOILA....along with vitamins and minerals, I walk 3-4 miles (FAST) a day, and no longer hobble around.....but, it cost us BIG time.....although we are learning how to play the "insurance" game. Best of luck to you. You gotta MANAGE your OWN health CARE!
Interesting. Thanks for posting.
All six billion of us inferior mutants on the planet made it, and only a handful of the folks with the "good" genes are left and all stuck in a town in Italy, eh?
Sorry, your scenario is unworkable.
placemarker
That's not how population genetics works.
This sort of thing happens more often than people might think -- families who are found to have a rather recently mutated gene which turns out to give some beneficial advantage. Evolution in action.
True. But sadly, in this particular case, the benefit comes too late in life for it to have an effect on the population dynamics.
Unless them Italians start getting real randy when they're like seventy or so...
> Isn't it possible that those without the beneficial cholesterol are the result of a mutation?
Possibly. More detailed examination of the DNA would show one way or the other. However, the fact that it's rare and can be traced argues to this being a new mutation.
I remember reading up on this some years ago. At the time they were trying to isolate the protein so they could figure out how to produce it in quantity. I hadn't heard any updates and assumed it had been a dry hole. I'm hoping that this is a sign that this may still be a viable treatment option some time in the future(sooner better than later) Thanks for putting this up.
My memory on this could be faulty, but I seem to remember that a study of the population of this town in Italy was able to trace the gene in question to a single common ancestor not that many generations ago. It would appear that, in this case, the continued diversification of our species is going to point the way.
For those wanting to turn this into another flame war on the evolution topic, be aware that this is not the rise of a new species. This is only an adaptation in an existing species and neither proves nor disproves evolution or creation.
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