Author
|
Topic: Mendel's Law May Be Flawed (Read 534 times) |
|
Mermaid
Archon
Posts: 770
Reputation: 8.44
Rate Mermaid
Bite me!
|
 |
Mendel's Law May Be Flawed
« on: 2005-03-24 06:03:36 » |
 |
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,66995,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_7
Mendel's Law May Be Flawed
In the Purdue experiment, researchers found that a watercress plant sometimes corrects the genetic code it inherited from its flawed parents and grows normally like its grandparents and other ancestors.
Scientists said the discovery raises questions of whether humans also have the potential for avoiding genetic flaws or even repairing them, although they said the actual proteins responsible for making these fixes probably would be different in plants.
Can someone tell me why this is a 'spectacular' discovery?
|
|
|
|
|
rhinoceros
Archon
Gender: 
Posts: 1318
Reputation: 8.40
Rate rhinoceros
My point is ...
 
|
|
Re:Mendel's Law May Be Flawed
« Reply #1 on: 2005-04-06 05:38:52 » |
|
[Mermaid]
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,66995,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_7
Mendel's Law May Be Flawed
In the Purdue experiment, researchers found that a watercress plant sometimes corrects the genetic code it inherited from its flawed parents and grows normally like its grandparents and other ancestors.
Scientists said the discovery raises questions of whether humans also have the potential for avoiding genetic flaws or even repairing them, although they said the actual proteins responsible for making these fixes probably would be different in plants.
Can someone tell me why this is a 'spectacular' discovery?
[rhinoceros]
One might call it spectacular or unsettling or challenging. People get excited in different ways. The bottom line is that, if it is confirmed, there seems to be inheritance of genes which did not exist in the parents. It should make biologists doubt their tools of the trade, which is extraordinary enough for anyone interested in biology. Now they are trying to figure out where the heck these genes were encoded.
A couple more points from the Nature article:
http://www.nature.com/news/2005/050321/pf/050321-8_pf.html
- An evolutionary comment (Evolutionary arguments always help to form a framework of coherence... even when the facts are not fully checked):
<quote>
Indeed, the process could exist because it helps plants to survive whenever they find themselves in difficult condition, such as when water or nutrients become scarce. Such stress could trigger plants to revert to the genetic code of their ancestors, which is perhaps more hardy than that of their parents. To test this, Pruitt is examining whether stressful situations do indeed prompt the same phenomenon.
<end quote>
- A human-related comment:
<quote>
A similar process might even go on in humans. This is suggested by rare cases of children who inherit disease-causing mutations but show only mild symptoms, perhaps because some of their cells have reverted to a normal and healthier genetic code.
If humans do correct their genes in this way, Pruitt suggests that the procedure might be usefully hijacked by researchers or doctors. They might be able to identify the RNA molecules that carry out the repair and use them to correct harmful mutations in patients.
<end quote>
- And of course...
<quote>
But for now, Pruitt and other researchers in the field are expecting the paper to prompt a lot of scepticism. "The immediate response is that they must have made a mistake," Weigel says, "but I don't think so."
<end quote>
PS: I didn't notice this post earlier because Mermaid's posts are not distributed in the mailing list. If I recall correctly, this is caused by something related to hidden emal addresses.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Logged
