The Dangers of Research...

[alfreda89]

There you are, researching when humans figured out that iron was in our blood, and you stumble onto genetic questions about why one population has more occurrences of a genetic condition than others. And you lose the time it takes to read the article. If you're inspired to keep going, oh, the time lost!

There must be an explanation for why hereditary hemochromatosis is 30 times less common in blacks and 11,000 times less common in Asians than in non-Hispanic whites. A founder effect, the relatively young age of the mutation, and other unidentified demographic factors may explain this discrepancy. And perhaps, the allele may have discouraged iron deficiency or disease at a particularly vulnerable time in northern Europe.

The why is so important, as it raises fundamental questions regarding our own future.

Comments

[dancinghorse.livejournal.com]

My mom has hemochromatosis, which means I'm probably a carrier. Doctor said it probably survived in our Irish/English ancestors because it seems to have gone along with or else conferred a natural immunity to the Plague.

Is that what the article was about?

[alfreda89.livejournal.com]

It did refer to that, Judy, and said they are no longer sure that is what was happening. Clearly something was happening--it has too high an incidence in the population, but a narrow population. But is it a byproduct of something happening on a neighboring gene? It may cause a bad reaction to a huge attack on the immune system (how this doctor died) or it might build iron reserves for a settled community not eating enough meat, and so forth. But it is giving them insights to our early evolution.

[sheilagh.livejournal.com]

sorry :( it just caught my eye in that snippet...

[alfreda89.livejournal.com]

Not a problem--that shiny lure of research... ;^)

[6-penny.livejournal.com]

I have enjoyed the new paper edition of Night Calls. And I like the few tweeks that I have spotted.
(It has been a nice treat as I am housebound with a cold. I need Allie!)

[alfreda89.livejournal.com]

So glad that she's keeping you company, and glad that the tweaks are not intrusive. The problem with people loving a book is, they may have practically memorized it. I remember not liking the new version of Close Encounters of the Third Kind, after loving the first version.

Get well soon!