[Crosspost from geneticfuture.org]
Here’s an article that brings up some tricky cause/effect questions:
Genes May Determine Who Developed Gulf War Syndrome [U. Buffalo news wire, Aug 9 2004]
The research showed that a certain gene predicted whether or not veterans who served in the Persian Gulf War would come with Gulf War Syndrome:
External or environmental factors do play a role in Gulf War Syndrome, said Vladutiu, but likely as triggers in those with a genetic predilection, rather than as the initial cause.
These triggers may be extreme exertion, heat, chemical exposures, infections, multiple vaccinations, emotional stress and a combination of these conditions or something else entirely.
This reminds me of another set of controversial studies, those focusing on people infected with Simian virus 40.
“Simian virus what?” Take note! SV40 is something YOU may have! Simian virus 40 used to be exclusively a Monkey Thing, but during the 1960’s the virus hitched a ride into our species when we had the bright idea to manufacture polio vaccines from ground-up infected monkey kidneys. (Vegans take note.)
SV40, like HIV, can’t be cured, and it probably spreads through sexual contact. Unlike HIV, it doesn’t seem to harm you on its own. (There’s a little controversy on this issue, however.) Without a doubt, SV40 doesn’t kill you, so the chances are that someday it will become pretty much ubiquitous among humans, as will herpes and a whole host of other non-debilitating viruses.
So here’s the problem with Simian virus 40. While on its own, SV40 may not be harmful to humans, when combined with asbestos, it’s deadly. For a long time, researchers were puzzled by the fact that while some people who had minimal contact with asbestos died of asbestos-related cancer, other people who lived, worked, and breathed asbestos all day long for years never had any such problems. The breakthrough came when we realized that if you carried SV40, this made you susceptible to asbestosis. Our government, which was responsible for infecting millions of its citizens with SV40, tends to be a little hesitant to admit fault in all this. Understandably, there is some concern that people might not look kindly on preventative vaccination practices if this news got a lot of attention.
Anyhow, what’s interesting about both these diseases — Gulf War Syndrome and Asbestosis — is that they seem to express themselves exclusively in the presence of certain environmental conditions. It kind of makes you wonder what other genes we have lurking inside of us, just waiting for the right circumstances for them to expose their secret nature…
Posted by canton at 11:29 AM