Slashdot Mirror


DNA Differences Observed Between Blood and Organs

Scrameustache writes "Researcher working on a rare type of aortic abnormality found that the DNA from diseased tissue did not match the DNA from the blood of the same patients So far it's unclear whether these differences in the blood and aortic tissue are the consequence of RNA editing, which changes the messenger RNA but not the gene, or DNA editing, which involves differences in the gene itself. Based on the evidence so far, the researchers believe the differences resulted from developmental rather than somatic DNA alterations. 'Traditionally when we have looked for genetic risk factors for, say, heart disease, we have assumed that the blood will tell us what's happening in the tissue,' lead author Bruce Gottlieb said in a statement. 'It now seems this is simply not the case.'"

3 of 85 comments (clear)

  1. complexity by martas · · Score: 2, Funny

    is there an end to the human body's complexity? first they tell us dna has all the answers, then they tell us its dna + environment, then they find out its genes + weird stuff everyone thought was garbage and didn't have any functions, now this? WILL IT EVER END?

    1. Re:complexity by nbauman · · Score: 2, Funny

      I came away envisioning our genetic programme as a Bach Fugue that develops various voices from an initial set of themes.

      More like John Cage.

  2. good old days by Dayofswords · · Score: 2, Funny

    what happened to the days of pre-history and we didnt need this, we just ate grass if we didnt feel good

    --
    Someday we'll hit the human carrying capacity. And the band will just play on.