Yes, I saw this program as well. I really should not have mentioned "urban legend" in regard to the plague survivor/AIDs resistant connection, because it is based on solid scientific evidence, or at least so it appeared in this program. The village of Eyam realized that they had been infected by plague as a result of some infected clothing that had arrived from London, or some such thing. Rather atruistically, they cut themselves off from the rest of the area, having a neighboring village leave food at some place outside the village for them. After plague had gone through the entire village and killed the majority of the population, those who survived were, per se, the survivors. Some had been ill and recovered. Some had not gotten the plague at all, even though they nursed family members who had it. They then married and had children, all of which appeared in the church records. A scientist tracked down some people in the village who were the descendents of the survivors and examined them. It appeared that many of them had a gene or two genes with mutations (defects- mind you, not superiorities) that somehow made it hard for the plague virus to latch on to the cells. Somehow they were able to tell that people who had two defective genes didn't get the plague or AIDs at all. People with one defective gene would get the plague or AIDS but would not be killed by it. Apparently, in them, the disease could latch on, but progressed slowly enough that the person's immunilogical defenses could defeat it. Excuse my non-scientific explanation of this. I am sure I haven't really stated the study very well, or the disease mechanism. But I found it fascinating, partially because we too have a genetic problem in the family that I am hoping we will someday see a solution to. The study was intended to discover why some people don't get AIDS or live with it for many years and why this is not true for others. The purpose of the scientist was to discover why this was so in the hope that the benefit might be extended to everyone. It was not intended to denigrate any groups. Devon
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