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Even normies have many defective genes...

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 12/7/2012 1:16 PM (GMT 0)
www.npr.org/blogs/health/2012/12/06/166648187/perfection-is-skin-deep-everyone-has-flawed-genes?ft=1&f=103537970

Explains why a true cure is so elusive, IMO- the embedded code is messed up, and until science advances to be able to safely fix that (as it eventually will, but not in all our lifetimes) everything is just a band-aid.
Posted 12/7/2012 1:27 PM (GMT 0)
If you took high school biology classes you would know this. Its nothing new just common sense repeated for the sake of writing an article. Everyone has mutated genes but as far as we know they dont do or change much. Its only when youre missing part of chromosomes where things get fun.
Posted 12/7/2012 1:44 PM (GMT 0)
Pro: Look into epigenetics,the way the genes express depending on exogenous factors.
Old Mike
Posted 12/7/2012 1:52 PM (GMT 0)
A mutation isn't always a bad thing -- they can be positive, negative, or have no effect. All organisms also have a lot of "junk" DNA, which doesn't code for anything, and there can be all sorts of mutations in there that doesn't cause any problems.

And if you believe in evolution, which I do, mutations coupled with environmental selection pressure are the keys to the whole process!
Posted 12/7/2012 2:41 PM (GMT 0)
uh oh, the big bag theory :-)
Posted 12/7/2012 2:51 PM (GMT 0)
I know it's obvious to most of us... but there are still many who like to think that genetic defects are just hereditary, when in fact of course random defects also play a big part, just as they do in evolution. Agreed, not all defects are "bad" (witness evolution), and many are harmless as pointed out in the article. Disease= Genes+environment, plus throw in the random factor.
Posted 12/7/2012 3:39 PM (GMT 0)
I think the emphasis on "defects" is too strong. I think OldMike is correct to focus on "epigenetics".

Yes, there are some variations of genes that have been correlated with UC patients. Or sometimes not even genes, just gene neighborhoods called loci.

But other DNA that is not genes, but the switches that control gene expression seems to have even stronger association with active UC.

I think it will be advances in learning how to flip the switches that eventually cures UC. Advances in identifying genes may only help predict who is at risk and how much risk. Treatments that flip just the right switch seem to hold the most promise.
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