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Promiscuity Alters DNA and Boosts Immunity In Mice
An anonymous reader writes "Scientists from the University of California, Berkeley found that promiscuous mice have significantly stronger immune systems than monogamous mice, suggesting that promiscuous mice may have developed more robust immunity to protect them against the disease-causing bacteria they are exposed to from mating with multiple partners."
I knew monogamy was bad for you.
"Promiscuity Alters DNA" makes it sound like promiscuity directly causes mutations. It seems, rather, that it results in greater variation in vaginal bacteria, a state which creates selective pressure favouring increased diversity in genes involved in the functioning of the immune system... which isn't quite the same thing.
I bet it's not about the encounters but all about the lesser sexual stress/frustration. I'd argue it's the same with humans, to a certain degree. Mostly men, but women too. Unsafe sex endangers your health, but a solid amount of safe sex is likely to be good for health. That would be my theory at least.
The negative influence that sexual frustration has on ones health is vastly underestimated, I've come to believe. Especially since I've experienced what positive effects a healthy sex life can have.
My 2 cents.
We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca
"Free" birth control is a fundamental human right, DAMNIT!
...hope that's the classic correlation is not causation...
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Those that didn't get killed wound up stronger.
Of course, the ones that did get killed weren't too happy about it...
"...alters DNA...", no. No, it does not. This is a completely wrong headline.
I wasn't cheating, I was just boosting my immune system so I don't get sick as much.
That's the conclusion I draw from the study.
I'll see you later hon, I have to go out and get a booster shot.
Finally! Now Slashdotters have a rational reason to get off their ass and ask a girl out.
(-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
They're just benefiting from more exercise than the rest of us.
...or it suggests that mice with stronger immune systems are more inclined to be promiscuous.
Granted, the hypothesis suggested in TFA is more plausible, but it's not the only possible explanation.
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show that promiscuous mice are at higher risk of contracting disease, I wonder if the other mice were disease-free, what's the point of altering DNA if a mice gets ill and dies before passing on to other mice.
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We just need to stop practicing safe sex and be even more promiscuous to end epidemics like AIDS and incurable forms of Gonorrhea.
I swear to God...I swear to God! That is NOT how you treat your human!
Somehow the real benefits elude me.
Big tumble in population, huge gain in lebensraum?
Does not apply to Slashdot readers. Neither the "mice" nor the "promiscuity".
It's not promsicuous and monogamous mice, it's about a relatively promsicuous species of mouse, and a diffferent, relatively monogamous, species of mouse. These different species have different immune systems. It shows less about mice, than about wishful thinking...
-- Anthony Staines
This was observed in primates earlier. Bonobos are the most promiscuous of primates and also have to devote the most resources to their immune systems.
This study is obviously biased...where are the non-West coast mice studies?
!LIBERAL MEDIA!
Does this mean slashdotters are a dying breed?
does this mean that my I can ask my HMO to reimburse prostitutes as preventative care?
From a biological perspective, unless you reproduce, technically it is "unsuccessful sex." And if you're not trying to reproduce, whatever the encounter is, it isn't sex. Science has spoken.
How evolution works by see more butts.
Or didn't the so-called 'researchers' notice this?
Mice are NOTHING LIKE humans. So why is this bullshit being presented as if it has ANYTHING to do with human promiscuity?
...yeah. You may have something there!
The issue may originate in the people that think of them as "being right and moral" and thus tend to throw too many stones ("he who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her") without realizing they are actually doing it out of frustration accumulated by "living a moral life" (e.g. denying their body what their body asks from them).
Questions raise, answers kill. Raise questions to stay alive.
See, naked wrestling is good for you. Even the ancient Greeks knew that.
To be a little more serious, along ago the form of syphilis shared with others was the one causing only minor skin symptoms. This was passed on with the sharing of resting areas. Having the less severe form of syphilis produced resistance against the sexually transmitted version.
Or it means that mice with better immune systems become more promiscuous. Or that generations of mice that have been promiscuous just happened to have better immune systems, so they survived the mouse versions of venereal diseases longer and multiplied while the monogamous mice had to stay monogamous to avoid death.
Geez, the options on these studies are a lot further ranging than the headlines let on... ;)
Yeah. That's right. I went there.
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
I've got to get in there and give his wife her booster shot!
I'm sure there will be a bunch of folks who read this article and think: "If I have promiscuous sex, it will alter my DNA to have more disease immunity!"
Seastead this.
Remember, kids!
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Bleu Cheese
Er, I've always known it to be spelled "Blue cheese", and apparently Wikipedia agrees. I've never seen it called "bleu(!) cheese" in my life.
Is this some weird pretentious Yank affectation, like the jarring way they don't pronounce the "h" in "herbs" for some reason?
At any rate, I know "bleu" is French for blue, but so what? If you want to use the French spelling, shouldn't you go the whole hog and call it "du fromage bleu"... well, that was my guess, but it turns out that the French don't even use that literal translation, and actually call it "Fromage à pâte persillée". So I'm not sure what the point of "bleu cheese" is at all, except some very silly half-baked and misguided attempt at cod-French sophistication.
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Wow, not I know why I never get sick!