From: Charles Hixson (charleshixsn@earthlink.net)
Date: Wed Mar 19 2003 - 08:59:24 MST
Ramez Naam wrote:
>From: Emlyn O'regan [mailto:oregan.emlyn@healthsolve.com.au]
>
>
> ...
>
>>One niggling point... is this going to make the immune system
>>attack any cell with the Telomerase gene turned on? What
>>about if we find out down the track that there are really
>>good reasons to sometimes turn telomerase on??
>>
>>
>There certainly are. Adult stem cells in the body have telomerase
>turned on. So this is a reasonable concern about a vaccine of this
>sort.
>
There's a lot more than just stem cells... I believe that the cells
lining the intestine have it turned on, and the cells at the base of the
epidermis. But there are MANY. If it has this effect, then the first
rat you try it one will suffer one massive case of peritonitis and
disappearance of the skin. And, I believe, the liver. And a few other
major organs.
Plus not all cancers turn on the telomerase gene. But comparatively,
that's a small niggle.
-- -- Charles Hixson Gnu software that is free, The best is yet to be.
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