Researchers Discover the First 'Heart Attack' Gene 28
jimi1283 writes "A group of researchers recently conducted a study on 100 members of a family that had a high percentage of heart attack and other coronary disease. The study lead to the discovery of the gene responsible."
Never a single gene (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Never a single gene (Score:4, Insightful)
The gene makes a protein that regulates some other genes and Topol said those will now be analyzed to see if they can be linked generally to heart disease.
So no, it's probably not just that gene, but in general it seems the problem starts from here and cascades down.
I'm not a biologist, but I think until they've mapped out every single gene and know exactly what it does, it might be wise to refain from words like "never" and "always".
=Smidge=
Re:Never a single gene (Score:1)
no, they have basically mapped out the human genome, but they have no clue what most of it is.
ATGC...uh yea...very meaningful.
The way they find genes is that they take a specimen that exhibits a specefic characteristic.
say, pigmentation of the skin.
then they find a specimen that doesn't show tht characteristic: an albino specimen.
They take the albino specimen, map out its gene, take the "normal" specimen and map out its gene.
then its a matter of "hunting" dow
What? How about sickle cell, CFTR, PKU, etc., (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Never a single gene..WRONG! (Score:2, Informative)
Examples include sickle cell, cystic fibrosis, phenylketonuria (PKU), some forms of retinitis pigmentosa (night blindness), etc. etc.
Re:Never a single gene..WRONG! (Score:1)
Your subject header is incorrect (Score:1)
Perhaps you meant "almost always". But if you meant that, then should have said that in your subject line.
Thus, I stand by MY response, i.e. "Never a single gene..WRONG" is is factually correct.
Cheerios
Great news!!! (Score:2)
Wonder how many people will use this finding as a reason not to work out / eat right.
100 members of a family... (Score:2)
-psy
Gene knowledge has an ugly impact on ethics (Score:5, Interesting)
The existence of distinct genetic susceptabilities to high-fat foods, smoking, carcinogens, medications, etc. makes it hard to create uniform regulations for food, medicine, and occupational conditions.
Re:Gene knowledge has an ugly impact on ethics (Score:3, Insightful)
If my genetic test shows that the cyanide in almonds can cause me lung damage, and somebody else's test shows that the aflatoxin in peanuts will cause her liver damage, then I'll eat peanuts and she'll eat almonds and everyone will have a healthy, nut-enhanced existence.
The argument for ignorance says that we should ban genetic testing, criminalize pean
peanuts (Score:2)
Since it's
What this gene does (Score:3, Funny)
Scientists will now attemp to remove that gene and see how things develop...
How long before... (Score:3, Interesting)
DNA testing is required to get a job, health insurance, etc....
Gattaca isn't far away...
Re:offtopic but I don't care - avoid sugar (Score:1)
Then I too get one of those cool replacement hearts like Captain Picard!
Beside I'll die of some STD caught in a big orgie at age 125.
Re:offtopic but I don't care - avoid sugar (Score:2)
Ewww...
Re:offtopic but I don't care - avoid sugar (Score:2)
Never that easy (Score:2)
Things are never that easy. Most people (at least Americans) get far too much suger. However sugar is a nessiary part of life, and if you ate no sugar you would have a lot of problems. Even diabetics need to get a minimal amount of sugar, just that the real food we normally eat contains too much. (and that is before you get into junk food)
Eat a well balanced diet, avoid too much of anything. Don't overeat, don't under eat. (But a fast once in a while might or might not be benificial) Anytime someone
managed it for a week (Score:1)
was mostly living off Tuna, mackrel, lettace, ham omlettes and chicken.
Wasn't as hard as was expecting, but then I'm a student so I've got time for this messing about. In fact the only problem is the fruit and veg that you need of course, if it wasn't for that I'd try to carry on doing it at such an extreme.
The suprise wa
Re:Never that easy (Score:1)
Which sugar? (Warning: contains rambling prose) (Score:3, Interesting)
From the first post, I assume we are referring to sucrose but not the more commonly occurring sugars like glucose, fructose (the major sugar in most fruits - to the troll), lactose, etc. Sucrose does not occur in large concentrations in nature except in a few specific cases - sugar beets, sugar cane, etc. From a bio-historical perspective it is quite obvious that we are not well adapted to e
Heart attack gene and lifestyle (Score:4, Informative)
Think about some other famous last words than It is all genetic [...]
Nature of Genes (Score:1)
Nomenclature Meets Pop Culture (Score:2)