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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.'"

7 of 85 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Chimera by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Don't be ridiculous. Obviously the devil wanted to trick the scientists to think that blood and organs could have slightly different DNA. Or maybe god just made it that way so that the scientists could have something to discover! Yeah, yeah that's the ticket.

  2. Re:good old days by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 2, Insightful

    We died, a lot, mostly early.

  3. What about the rest of the body? by Tubal-Cain · · Score: 2, Insightful

    DNA from diseased tissue did not match the DNA from the blood

    And which (if either) matched DNA from the rest of the body?

  4. Re:good old days by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Not all mutations are "all good" or "all bad". Granted, many are instantly fatal others cancerous, and some serve no known purpose. But to propose that we should limit the genetic diversity to include only genes that we currently think are "good" is foolhardy. Our species - or it's descendants - are best served by having a large base of mutations in the inventory. This way, when nature throws us a curveball, we may have an existing population of humans with the genetics to survive. For example, there are supposedly some tribes in the Amazon who have a mild form of Cystic Fibrosis, which prevents them from sweating their salt out. It seems like a bad idea, until you consider they are living in an extreme environment where sweating is a poor method of cooling due to the high dew point, and it would kill most "healthy" people who lived there. Malaria resistance is improved by being a heterozygous carrier for sickle cell anemia. Et cetera.

    As for your link, I see your IMDB and raise you an XKCD (http://xkcd.com/603/).

  5. Re:good old days by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Please don't say "backwards evolution". I know what you mean, and you know what you mean, but it confuses a lot of people who don't fully understand evolution into thinking that evolution has a direction, while we know that it does not.

  6. Re:complexity by E++99 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Just because there is "nothing magic" doesn't imply that we will ever understand it all.

  7. Re:good old days by znerk · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Not to put too fine a point on it, but you are an idiot.

    Fixed that for you. Do yourself a favor - when trying to show how someone else is intellectually inferior, try not to make yourself out to be an idiot with the first line.

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