Stephen, Not a case of old news but re-interpreting news much as history is re-interpreted and placed in a different light.
Yes on the methylation issue, can't remember off-hand but I think adding methyl groups switches off a gene. Yes, inter-uterine development, early childhood years and whether we are exposed to feast or famine conditions has a lot to do with the development of type II diabetes for instance. This happens a lot with 3rd world people coming to 1st world countries. My father had a pretty Spartan existence walking 10 miles round trip to school every morning, swimming and lots of sports that any Caribbean youngster would have. The body gets tailored to this lifestyle and the only remedy is lots of exercise throughout life - he's as fit as a fiddle. Apparently humans are a bit odd on the telomeres issue I believe we have 7 bites at the cherry before the cell shuts down. Also 'senescent' cells say from a 100 year old are really quite viable. Aging appears to be a system wide thing to do with bio-chemical signalling - I heard. Yes cloning is scary until they crack this issue they shouldn't, perhaps attempt it on humans. Just imagine a 10 year old with the biochemistry of a fifty year old. That would be cruel. Oh yes, I think it's Richard not Rupert. Sub-consciously I didn't want to label him a 'Richard' - if you see what I mean. Remi. -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Stephen A. Lawrence Sent: 09 January 2006 18:16 To: [email protected] Subject: Re: Rupert Sheldrake [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > OK, > You caught me p.ssing about and dossing today. Here's a semi serious one: > > They imply that there is a genetic mechanism other than sexual selection. > This one is going on about smoking knocking off methyl groups on DNA and the > effects persisting for generations. Sounds like Sheldrake's acquired > characteristics to me - definitely non-Darwinian. There are a number of non-Darwinian effects on the offspring, starting with variations in the intrauterine environment, which has a big impact, and which can end up carrying extra-genetic effects forward for a couple generations. The fact that such influences exist isn't new news, but new examples of that kind of thing are news. Methylation is an issue, too, but I generally had the impression that the methylation situation got "reset" during meiosis -- something like the situation with the telomeres, which are generally patched up for each new generation (except after cloning, of course). Certainly all forms of IVF and cloning tend to leave rather bolixed methylation in their wake; for IVF and ICSI there appear to be, at worst, only minor effects on the children (whom, one assumes, would not have been conceived without the intervention). The consequences in some animals appear to be more severe, with sheep, in particular, showing odd problems in a number of the lambs after some processes which mess with the methylation of the genome. I recall in particular a problem which might be called big-floppy-lambs syndrome but I disrecall the actual name just now. > > http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg18925334.000;jsessionid=NJMKLCBMNHFF > > I like the way the establishment kinda subsumes controversial stuff quietly > without ever admitting it was wrong. Same old some old is the Americanism, I > think. > Remi. > ....................................... > Website > http://luna.bton.ac.uk/~roc1 > ....................................... > >
