RNA May 'Run' Genetic Coding

leonbrooks writes "First a Stanford Medicine Magazine article speaks about RNA 'produced by plants that turn genes on and off', and now a Science Magazine issue says 'For a long time, RNA has lived in the shadow of its more famous chemical cousin DNA and of the proteins that supposedly took over RNA's functions in the transition from the 'RNA world' to the modern one. The shadow cast has been so deep that a whole universe [of RNA] has remained hidden from view, until recently' and speaks of 'an order of magnitude more transcripts than genes', suggesting that more actual coding is done through RNA than DNA. Is everything we know about genetics off-base? (no pun intended)"

Comments

Kerry Mullis and Retroviruses

[Baldrson]

IIRC Kerry Mullis (the guy who invented PCR and got virtually zip royalties for it) had this idea that we're all stewing in seething pile of RNA viruses (retroviruses) that do all sorts of strange things to us.

He thinks AIDS might not be caused by HIV but by some critical mass/combination of retroviruses.

If that's a strange thought, consider the possiblity that retroviruses alter social structure after reading this about AIDS neuropathy:

As with rabies, it appears some sexually transmitted diseases have evolved the ability to alter the amygdala of their victims so as to facilitate their transmission. In the case of rabies, the amygdala alterations generate aggressive behavior, matching the mode of transmission of the virus which tends to be via bites. Sexually transmitted diseases should produce different changes in the amygdala enhancing, not aggressive, but rather sexual behavior.

Here is evidence that increased indiscriminate sexual behavior is an extended phenotype of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus affected by amygdalar damage in the infected population:

Kluver-Bucy syndrome is described below as involving: "a profound reduction in the animals aggression and fear, a hypoemotionality, a tendency to over react to any visual stimulus, hypersexuality and an excessive oral tendency (i.e. mouthing any objects). The monkeys also tended to eat meat and feces." Note further that " destruction of the amygdala alone was sufficient enough to produce the symptoms of the Kluver-Bucy syndrome."

Finally note although the full hypersexuality component of Kluver-Bucy syndrome in humans is rare and may require damage to tissues adjacent to the amygdala, as well as the amygdala, that damage from HIV (HTLV-III) infection focuses on the amygdala, radiating outward in its degenerative effect to include all tissues destroyed in the 1930's experiments of Kluver and Bucy .

http://www.aegis.com/pubs/aidsline/1987/jul/M87702 77.html
"Subacute encephalomyelitis of AIDS and its relation to HTLV-III infection."
...
Subacute encephalitis was mainly distributed in the frontal (58%) and temporal (69%) lobes, basal ganglia (77%), amygdala (80%) , and hippocampus (64%).

(It should be noted that Simon LeVay also observed systematic differences in the brain structures of homosexuals who died of AIDS although he did not attribute such differences to HIV infection per se but rather to congenital homosexual orientation. LeVay appears not to consider the possibility that changes in brain structure might be due to a pathogen in addition to HIV.)

http://neuroscience.ucdavis.edu/amaral/Emery_Home_ Page.html
"I recently joined the lab of Dr David Amaral, Center for Neuroscience, University of California, Davis, where I am further investigating the role of the amygdala in monkey social behavior. We are looking at whether excitotoxic lesions (ibotenic acid) of the whole amygdala disrupt normal social behavior and communication in rhesus monkeys. The link between the amygdala and social behavior began with the work of Kluver and Bucy in the 1930's, when they lesioned the entire anterior temporal lobe (including temporal pole, amygdala, hippocampal formation and basal ganglia). They found a profound reduction in the animals aggression and fear, a
hypoemotionality, a tendency to over react to any visual stimulus, hypersexuality and an excessive oral tendency (i.e. mouthing any objects). The monkeys also tended to eat meat and feces. These results were replicated many times and it was found that destruction of the amygdala alone was sufficient e

Re:Question.

[Physician]

You sound like you would benefit from reading "Servants or Friends? - Another Look at God http://www.pineknoll.org/graham/sof/index.html An Introduction: Some of the greatest cruelty has been perpetrated in the name of religion. Everything seems to depend on the kind of god people worship. Arbitrary, tyrannical gods tend to produce followers like themselves. Millions who see no sense in worshipping such a god, have simply turned away. What kind of neighbors would a friendly god produce--a god who values nothing higher than freedom and individuality, a god who would rather treat his followers not as servants but as friends? Servants or Friends? takes another look at the evidence. Is the God of the Bible a friendly person--eager to restore people's dignity and self-respect? This has not been a hasty study. The book is based on 135 year-long trips through the Bible in company with thousands of people, young and old. On these trips through all sixty-six books, nothing is overlooked--including the "dark speech" and the most forbidding stories! Questions and suggestions from the Bible readers in 118 different lands have contributed to the preparation of Servants or Friends?

Re:Obligatory.

[cashman73]

Imagine what a beowulf cluster of these would do?

Oh wait! We already have a beowulf cluster of these in our own cells! Damn! God must be a real genius! :-)