Wednesday, April 20, 2016
Superhero humans with superhero genes
A group of scientist have been studying a certain type of mutation in DNA. By choosing the people to study , they did not search for the people that have carried the disease, but rather the smaller group of people that have never contracted the disease, and remain healthy. An example would be how some people are genetically mutated to have sickle cell anemia, but will never contract HIV. The scientist have found that the patients were genetically predisposition with cystic fibrosis, but never actually contracted the disease. Some how these patients were resistant to the illness. Out of the 600,00 people these scientist have studied, they have found 13 that lead to the answer for beating a rang of diseases. Ted Talk of these Genetic Heros!
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Resistance and immunity is always a really complex topic, and as a public health major these are some of the things that can really be helpful. There is an idea known as herd immunity, which basically states that in a population where the majority are naturally immune (possibly due to a mutation like this instance), those without genetic immunity are 'immune' because no one in their environment can contract it to spread the disease further. This is another cool little ripple into that idea of herd immunity.
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