Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!bu.edu!bu-bio!colby
From: colby@bu-bio.bu.edu (Chris Colby)
Newsgroups: sci.bio
Subject: Re: Reconstructing cells from DNA
Message-ID: <80395@bu.edu.bu.edu>
Date: 28 Apr 91 21:19:19 GMT
References: <18637@csli.Stanford.EDU> <79788@bu.edu.bu.edu> <18841@csli.Stanford.EDU>
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Reply-To: colby@bu-bio.UUCP (Chris Colby)
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In article <18841@csli.Stanford.EDU> cphoenix@csli.Stanford.EDU (Chris Phoenix) writes:

>Here's a possible example:  Prions do not contain nucleic acid, but can
>make more prions inside a cell.  If a prion is introduced to a cell, and 
>the cell then produces offspring, the offspring will presumably have 
>the prion in them.  From then on, the descendants would all have the 
>prion (plus whatever effects the prion had), whereas the ancestors didn't.
>But the cell's nucleic acid would be unchanged.

	I assume you are talking about the putative cause of mad
cow disease (I just read in Discover about this). Do you have any
scientific references that confirm they are autonomously replicating?
(BTW, it's a question not a challenge)

>BTW, can you give me an example of genetic material that is not in the
>form of nucleic acid?

	Not unless prions check out. I only read about them in
Discover so it's hard to tell what the scoop is.

>Chris Phoenix		cphoenix@csli.stanford.edu

Chris Colby
email: colby@bu-bio.bu.edu