The second wave was the mutated, super killer wave.

It's a hot topic around there. Like you mutated or something. I just...

Regular unprotected intercourse with a HIV infected man, even if the woman herself has already contracted HIV, exposes her to the possibility of reinfection by a mutated version of the virus.

Women carrying a mutated BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene have roughly an 80 risk of developing breast cancer. A mutation in these genes also leads to an increased risk of developing ovarian tumors.

The virus has mutated dramatically in the last two years to form two distinct families, if you will, of the H5N1 viral tree with branches in them, and with different attributes that are worrying.

Disappointingly, no new treatments have yet arisen. As a result, many women with a high level of mutated BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes face the tragic choice of having their breasts and ovaries surgically removed to pre empt cancer.

So the thought is, hey, maybe what we should do is just immediately we hear there is H5N1 spreading from human to human, the virus has mutated to be a human to human transmitter let's shut down the airports.

In fact, this aromatase is so important in breast cancer that the latest treatment for breast cancer is a chemical called letrozole, which blocks aromatase, blocks estrogen, so that if you developed a mutated cell, it doesn't grow into a tumor.

And I'm starting this at a mutation rate that is so high that, even if you would drop a replicating program that would otherwise happily grow up to fill the entire world, if you drop it in, it gets mutated to death immediately.

The damage arising when copying the DNA is repaired with recombination, involving the BRCA1 and BRCA2 proteins. But cells with mutated BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes are unable to undergo recombination and are therefore much more sensitive to an increased level of unrepaired single strand breaks.

For example, scientists have known for decades that certain drugs can cause severe and precipitous anemia in people with a genetic deficiency of the enzyme G6PD. More recently, researchers have learned that certain cancer drugs are ineffective in fighting tumors containing the mutated variant of the gene KRAS.

Recently, my research group, along with researchers in London, provided some real hope for carriers of mutated BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes. Both research teams describe how the use of a chemical inhibitor can kill tumor cells that have either a BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene defect causing hereditary breast cancer.

Similarly, a genome wide analysis of malignant cells from four kidney cancer patients showed that, while they were related, they had mutated in many different directions. Two thirds of the genetic faults identified were not repeated in the same tumor, let alone in any other metastasized tumors in the body.

Cynics explain this by saying that our AOrange ideals were never anything but the rationalizations of one set of oligarchs struggling to overthrow another. Once masters of the situation, it is said, the zeal of those who promised reform mutated into a zeal to preserve their private wealth and that of their friends.

(This is perhaps the first indication that self sacrifice may be an intrinsic human trait!) Damaged by the sun, but not quite able to commit suicide, the mutated cell continues to proliferate at the expense of normal surrounding cells, resulting in a pre cancerous growth that can progress to a full blown squamous cell carcinoma.

Some anti Japanese demonstrations which featured rioting, looting, and the destruction of Japanese businesses mutated into anti government protests. By allowing social tensions to mount to such a degree, the Chinese government may also be partly responsible for the recent rampage among thousands of workers at the Foxconn plant (where components for Apple iPods and iPads are made) in Taiyuan.

The mitochondria are the energy producing batteries of the cell, containing the only DNA outside of the cell nucleus 37 genes, or roughly 0.2 of a person s genetic makeup. Given that these genes are contained in the egg, and thus are inherited only from the mother, the new techniques aim to replace the mother s mutated mitochondria with that of a healthy female donor of eggs without the mutation.

But, while the number of people affected by such mutations is estimated to be between one in 200 and one in 400, mutations do not translate to serious diseases in most cases. Because the harmful changes are often only present in low levels, and because a single cell can contain both mutated and normal mitochondria, it is widely believed that only one person in 5,000 or even one in 10,000 will be affected by mitochondrial disease.