blood transfusions change dna

[niyad]

I am not making this up, and I figured we needed something else to focus on today. a friend was telling me yesterday about some real whackos in florida, who believed that a simple blood transfusion would overcome dna. the people in question had wolf-hybrids, and were being ordered, supposedly, to put them down. they claimed that, since the hybrids had had transfusions of straight canine blood, they were now pure canine.

just THINK of the possibilities!!

[lisa58]

1. wow

[Bacchus39]

2. red blood cells have no DNA

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_blood_cell

Mammalian erythrocytes
Erythrocytes in mammals are anucleate when mature, meaning that they lack a cell nucleus and as a result, have no DNA. Red blood cells have nuclei during early phases of development, but extrude them as they mature in order to provide more space for hemoglobin. In comparison, the erythrocytes of nearly all other vertebrates have nuclei; the only known exception being salamanders of the Batrachoseps genus.<7> Mammalian erythrocytes also lose their other organelles such as their mitochondria. As a result, red blood use none of the oxygen they transport; they produce the energy carrier ATP by fermentation, via glycolysis of glucose followed by lactic acid production. Furthermore, red cells do not have an insulin receptor and thus glucose uptake is not regulated by insulin. Because of the lack of nucleus and organelles, the red blood cells cannot synthesize any RNA, and consequently they cannot divide or repair themselves.

Mammalian erythrocytes are biconcave disks: flattened and depressed in the center, with a dumbbell-shaped cross section. This shape (as well as the loss of organelles and nucleus) optimizes the cell for the exchange of oxygen with its surroundings. The cells are flexible so as to fit through tiny capillaries, where they release their oxygen load. Erythrocytes are circular, except in the camel family Camelidae, where they are oval.

In large blood vessels, red blood cells sometimes occur as a stack, flat side next to flat side. This is known as rouleaux formation, and it occurs more often if the levels of certain serum proteins are elevated, as for instance during inflammation.

The spleen acts as a reservoir of red blood cells, but this effect is somewhat limited in humans. In some other mammals such as dogs and horses, the spleen sequesters large numbers of red blood cells which are dumped into the blood during times of exertion stress, yielding a higher oxygen transport capacity.

[niyad]

3. thanks for the info--but do you seriously expect that people who believe what I posted

are capable of even READING, much less comprehending, that info>

it never ceases to amaze me the number of people who walk around without their keepers.

[Bacchus39]

8. yeah, you're right, I got that. the urban legend thing.

n/t

[Richard Steele]

4. Isn't it amazing that in a country with SOOOOO much access to information...

...so people are still walking around with medieval,
flat-earth notions of SCIENCE?

Kinda sad, actually.

[blondeatlast]

5. Imagine the recombinant fun we could have! Come to think of it, the blonde

came after the first transfusion (I've had four), but it came from a bottle--or so I thought.

Things that make ya go hmm...

[Warpy]

6. Some people are just stunningly stupid

and yes, I find I'm stunned.

They always seem to like things like wolf hybrids and other designer animals, too.

Some of them will even end up on the "almost a Darwin Award" list.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

7. Too bad there isn't a transfusion

for grey matter. Sounds like the "wolf-hybrid" people could do with a couple of them.