Robert Karl Stonjek wrote:
> Just how normal is normal?
> 18 November 2003 16:00 GMT
> by Helen Dell
> 
> Studying the variation between so-called normal lab animals could help
> explain how seemingly minor differences between people can produce major
> differences in how they respond to their environment, suggests systems
> biologist Joe Nadeau.
> "There is an enormous amount of genetic variation among humans," said
> Nadeau, chairman of the Department of Genetics at Case Western Reserve
> University in Cleveland, Ohio, speaking at the autumn meeting of the
> British Genetics Society in London.
> 
> "We focus on disease genes and think about the genetic heterogeneity in
> disease, and we treat everybody else as 'normal'," he said, "as though
> there is one homogenous mass of people who are healthy."
> 
Next they'll be suggesting that this genetic variation might lead to 
differences in survival.  Indeed (although this sounds far-fetched), it 
might be one reason why there are a lot of species in the world.

Bob

-- 
Bob O'Hara

Rolf Nevanlinna Institute
P.O. Box 4 (Yliopistonkatu 5)
FIN-00014 University of Helsinki
Finland
Telephone: +358-9-191 23743
Mobile: +358 50 599 0540
Fax:  +358-9-191 22 779
WWW:  http://www.RNI.Helsinki.FI/~boh/
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