Euros resistant to HIV?

02005-03-16 | Uncategorized | 0 comments

Steve sez, ‘Devastating epidemics that swept Europe during the Middle Ages seem to have had an unexpected benefit – leaving 10% of today’s Europeans resistant to HIV infection.’

The mutation, which affects a protein called CCR5 on the surface of white blood cells, prevents HIV from entering these cells and damaging the immune system.

Around 10% of today’s Europeans carry the mutation, a significantly higher proportion than in other populations. Why is it so common in Europe? One possibility is that it favours carriers by protecting them from disease. But geneticists know that the mutation, called CCR5-Delta32, appeared some 2,500 years ago – long before HIV reared its head.

‘You need something that has been around for generation upon generation,’ explains Christopher Duncan of the University of Liverpool, UK, who led the latest analysis. Plague fits the bill, he and his colleagues conclude from a mathematical modelling study published in the Journal of Medical Genetics.

Link
(Via BoingBoing.)

Everybody go marry a European.

0 Comments

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published.

Archives

Images

Concert Dates

Fri, May 5 2023 in Sedona AZ
@ Sound Bites

Sat, May 6 2023 in Sedona AZ
@ Sound Bites

Sun, May 7 2023 in Phoenix AZ
@ MIM

Mon, May 8 2023 in Tucson AZ
@ Rialto Theater

Wed, May 10 2023 in Portland OR
@ Alberta Rose Theater

Thu, May 11 2023 in Seattle WA
@ Jazz Alley

Fri, May 12 2023 in Seattle WA
@ Jazz Alley

Sat, May 13 2023 in Seattle WA
@ Jazz Alley

Social

@Mastodon (the Un-Twitter)