-----Original Message-----
From: Andrew Priest [mailto:apriest_at_netidea.com]
Oh, and just in case no one realized this: Contrary to popular Sci-Fi
movies you could not change the DNA of a developed organism, that's you, and
have that organism mutate or morph into another organism. Such a radical
alteration to the DNA would result in the host's death, or permanent
illness. I'm sure this is quite the blow ;)
[Andrew Greene]
Actually, we change the DNA of developed organisms all the time. This
is done by the use of retroviral vaccienes, as well as what has been come to
be called 'gene therapy'. The techniques are relatively new, but they hold
the promise of cures for everything from AIDS to diabetes. And, of course,
nature changes your DNA all the time, and for the most part you never
notice. If you've had chicken pox, for example, your DNA's been hijacked by
the virus, and there's a snippet of DNA in your cells just waiting for the
right time to turn on and produce more virus. You don't get sick (Well,
you MIGHT get sick, the result is caled 'shingles'), but you've got all the
instructions to convert your cells to virus factories, sitting there in your
DNA.
Received on Fri Aug 08 2003 - 10:23:11 CDT