Monthly Archives: February 2017

Wild plan is taking shape to visit the nearest planet outside our Solar System !!!

Posted on February 26, 2017 by DWN

In August 2o15, researchers discovered a potentially habit­able, Earth-sized planet orbiting the Sun’s closest stellar neighbor — Proxima Centauri, a mere 4.22 light years away.  To some, this challenge is an irresistible destination. Sending a spacecraft to the planet, dubbed … Continue reading →

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Evidence for “the prion” (common to mammals) actually existing in a bacterium !!

Posted on February 22, 2017 by DWN

A “PRION” is an infectious agent comprised only of protein, called PrP (abbreviation for “Prion Protein”).  Prions are remarkable in that they can fold in multiple, structurally distinct, means –– at least one of which is transmissible to other prion proteins, … Continue reading →

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Tracing the “Peopling of the World” (The Great Human Diaspora) through genomics

Posted on February 22, 2017 by DWN

One of the (less predicted) benefits of The Human Genome Project (that started in Oct 1990) –– was the amount of DNA sequence, and perhaps especially including informative DNA sequence data that could be retrieved from ancient bones uncovered all … Continue reading →

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WHY does CRISPR-Cas exist? How many types are there, and how common is it ???

Posted on February 22, 2017 by DWN

We hear so much about “CRISPR/Cas9 gene-editing” and the (independent, nearly-simultaneous) co-discoverers (Emanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna) have won dozens of prizes and recognitions, and they highly likely to win the Nobel Prize soon.  On the other hand, some of … Continue reading →

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Rare and low-frequency coding variants that alter human adult height

Posted on February 22, 2017 by DWN

Multifactorial traits are phenotypes –– having hundreds, perhaps thousands, of genes plus epigenetic effects plus environmental factors –– ALL contributing to the trait. A multifactorial trait can be height, weight, autism spectrum disorder (ASD), attention-deficit hydractivity disorder (ADHD), mental depression, … Continue reading →

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Immune system stimulation by the native gut microbiota of honey bees

Posted on February 22, 2017 by DWN

It is now well known that “the human microbiome” (the bacteria that colonize the COLON, one’s large intestine) comprise 92% of all the DNA –– if a body becomes incinerated after death. Human DNA makes up the remaining 8%. And … Continue reading →

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COMMENT: The threshold vs “linear no-threshold” (LNT) showdown: Dose rate findings exposed flaws in the LNT model part 2. How a mistake led BEIR I to adopt LNT

Posted on February 21, 2017 by DWN

Dan: Thought your chat group might be interested in this 2009 study with dibenzo[def,p]chrysene (dibenzo[a,l]pyrene), a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) in 40,000 rainbow trout [see attached 2nd pdf].  We were able to statistically calculate the dose resulting in 1 cancer … Continue reading →

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Diets derived from maize monoculture cause maternal infanticides in hamster, due to vitamin B3 deficiency

Posted on February 19, 2017 by DWN

From the 18th century (1735) to 1940 –– maize-based diets were observed to lead to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people from PELLAGRA. Pellagra is a complex disease caused by tryptophan deficiency and vitamin B3 (niacin) deficiency. The … Continue reading →

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Shedding light on the grey zone of speciation along a continuum of genetic divergence

Posted on February 15, 2017 by DWN

“Species” used to be a clear-cut definition that meant one group of animals was no longer able to breed with another group of animals. For example, for a long time it had been believed that the Neaderthal man (Homo neanderthalensis) … Continue reading →

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Reply Reply All Forward Move Delete Close Previous Item Next Item Close The threshold vs “linear no-threshold” (LNT) showdown: Dose rate findings exposed flaws in the LNT model part 2. How a mistake led BEIR I to adopt LNT

Posted on February 15, 2017 by DWN

This paper (2o17 publication in Environ Res; preprint attached) reveals that –– almost 25 years after the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiation (BEIR) I Committee (1972) used Russell’s dose-rate data to support the adoption of … Continue reading →

Posted in Center for Environmental Genetics | Comments Off on Reply Reply All Forward Move Delete Close Previous Item Next Item Close The threshold vs “linear no-threshold” (LNT) showdown: Dose rate findings exposed flaws in the LNT model part 2. How a mistake led BEIR I to adopt LNT