Space Lynx
Astronaut
- Joined
- Oct 17, 2014
- Messages
- 17,503 (4.66/day)
- Location
- Kepler-186f
Processor | 7800X3D -25 all core |
---|---|
Motherboard | B650 Steel Legend |
Cooling | Frost Commander 140 |
Video Card(s) | Merc 310 7900 XT @3100 core -.75v |
Display(s) | Agon 27" QD-OLED Glossy 240hz 1440p |
Case | NZXT H710 (Red/Black) |
Audio Device(s) | Asgard 2, Modi 3, HD58X |
Power Supply | Corsair RM850x Gold |
Generally speaking, our DNA doesn't want to be changed. It does get changed over time (see cancer), but the entire design of DNA is to make it difficult to change. And even then, our immune system is constantly checking on our own cells (and killing cells that have too much DNA damage). This part of our immune system is called "natural killer cells", and they also roam around looking for cells taken over by a virus.
The things that do manage to change our DNA are called carcinogens. There's plenty of them: Smoking, various drugs, Asbestos, UV rays from the sun (UV-A, UV-B), etc. etc. The environment we live in has a large number of carcinogens, but our body still fights off cancer in most cases. (I'm not saying you should start making you next house out of Asbestos or anything, but yeah, our bodies do have some natural defenses against cancer)
DNA doesn't sit in one central place. Every cell in our body has its own copy of DNA relevant for the work it does. To really damage the body, you need to create a cancer, a large enough change to DNA to so many cells such that those cells consume resources and multiply exponentially. If you do "simple everyday DNA damage", our immune system will selectively kill those damaged cells before they take over our body.
The difference with that and end-stage cancer cells is that end-stage cancer cells have reproduced so much that our body's immune system has no hope of killing off the cancer cells anymore. When cancer gets to this point, we hope that we can just go in with a scalpel (or radiation) and have the doctor kill off the cancer through brute force, but that only works if the cancer remains isolated in one spot. If the cancer cells / DNA damage overtakes the body, then there's not much we can do at that point.
I appreciate that post, but again it has nothing to do with new mRNA tech question I asked specifically about. xkm is more the expert in this field, so I am waiting for his response.