Several questions

On 12 Dec 2006 09:05:57 -0800, "Fragemann" <[Only registered users see links. ]> wrote:




I think several ideas are getting mixed up there.


I have never heard of any suggestion that "the more introns that you
have, the greater your lifespan". That does not mean it hasn’t been
suggested, just that I don't know of it. But it also seems quite
unlikely, at least in any general sense. Perhaps there is some
particular gene that is applies to, for some reason. But as a general
point, does not make much sense.


Second, there is nothing particularly wrong with people having
different numbers of introns. (Again, let's consider a particular
gene.) People do vary in which form(s) of a gene they have; these
forms are called alleles. The various alleles may have different
effects ranging from negligible to major. The difference between
alleles can be a single base change or some different number of bases.
Some allele differences could affect introns. There is no particular
prediction what the effect of such mutations would be.


Third, you say "It seems to me that loci positions would
restrict intron length". Why? Alleles of a gene may be longer or
shorter than usual. So? You may be thinking that genes occur in a
fixed order along the chromosome. Yes, but there is nothing requiring
any particular order or spacing. Merely, it is common that they occur
a certain way.


BTW, you're not confusing introns and telomeres, I hope? There is a
point that longer telomeres might be good for longevity -- though it
is probably not a significant issue in humans.



In simple Darwinian terms, the one who leaves the most offspring. You
can look at that over whatever number of generations you want to.


bob