Remember that Star Trek episode in which a planet of children were found, and that when they finally hit puberty, the 'longevity virus' they'd been given morphed into a killer? (blue skin nodules, madness, character 'Miri') This gene might have been the target of that made-up virus:
http://my.webmd.com/content/Article/75/89851.htm?printing=true "...The mice won't mature sexually because they lack a crucial gene. Some humans who never hit puberty have mutant forms of the same gene. Dubbed Gpr54, the gene appears to be a key part of the mysterious machinery that turns children into adults... "...Paradigm was looking for new drug targets by creating mice that lack genes whose function is not yet known. Genetically engineered mice lacking these so-called orphan genes are called orphan mice. The Paradigm team names each strain of these mice after famous orphans. The Harry Potter strain, as it happened, lacked Gpr54. "Gpr54 isn't the only factor in the complex chain of events that leads to puberty. But puberty can't happen without it. The Harry Potter mice were normal in every way -- except that they never became sexually mature..." I couldn't find the abstract in PubMed, so maybe it isn't officially published yet. Debbi VFP Foolie ;) __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Exclusive Video Premiere - Britney Spears http://launch.yahoo.com/promos/britneyspears/ _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
