Down's gene boost fights cancers

This is not a blog dedicated to genetic matters, unless you consider the researchers, docs, diet gurus, media types, government officials and other fitness morons to be genetically stupid.

In which case, who can argue?

I include this article just to highlight how little we really know about the sick care stuff despite the hype pushing it and why it is so important to guide your weight control (and physical fitness) efforts by things that we do know with virtual certainty, e.g., Calories in and Calories out, the Laws of Thermodynamics, Oprah is a fat person and her experts will cause you to fail, etc.

The results of relying on what is known are also virtually certain - get to a BMI between 18.5 and 24.9 and your likelihood of developing certain bad diseases diminishes, i.e., you are healthier.

"People with Down's syndrome are less likely to get some cancers - and scientists hope to exploit this to help other people at risk.

Most cases of Down's happen because the baby is carrying an extra chromosome packed with genetic information.

But Johns Hopkins University experts, writing in the journal Nature, say the additional copy of one gene might help block cancers.

But another scientist said boosting the gene might actually help cancer spread."

See?