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Research from Texas Scottish Rite Hospital

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  • Research from Texas Scottish Rite Hospital

    I don't know whether the substance of this research has been posted before. The research is about genetic markers related to scoliosis. The article in the link is partly about the research doctor who leads the team and her connection to her home town.

    http://www.courier-gazette.com/artic...n/news/266.txt

  • #2
    Her team has discovered two new genetic markers associated with the disease, which affects 3 percent of children in the United States and is mostly diagnosed in adolescents undergoing a growth spurt.
    If it's independently confirmed by 2 more teams it's probably the real deal. Until then the odds are stacked against these types of discoveries.

    But even if this discovery is confirmed will these genes tell us anything about Scoliosis? Maybe, maybe not. Most of you know that I lean heavily towards "maybe not."

    Here's why.
    Example:
    It's widely believed that dog breeds with black or brown fur are more at risk for Parvo then dog breeds with light colored fur. It's not understood why. First of all as most of you already know Parvo is caused by a virus, not dark fur or the genes that cause dark fur.

    If scientists discovered the genes that caused fur to grow black or brown would it help your sick dog? No.
    Would these hair color genes explain why puppies infected with Parvovirus become dehydrated and die? No.
    Would knowledge of these genes help scientists create a better vaccine against Parvovirus? Probably not.

    Heredity is interesting, but for the most part this stuff goes nowhere because it has little or nothing to do with the disease itself. Just because a gene correlates with a higher risk of contracting a particular disease does not mean this gene is defective or in any way causes the disease.

    Put simply, dark brown fur does not cause Parvo.
    Last edited by Dingo; 10-21-2011, 03:32 PM.

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