Sukies response to the idea that there is a genetic reason for "aging"
of the cells and the possibility that neural crest defects can damage
that.

>Gosh, that must have come up in a long ago discussion I don't recall.

Dang if I can find anything about it now?on the fly. Sheesh. Something
to keep in mind and look up when I have some spare time I suppose. It
would explain a lot if it is so.

>Probably, it predated the research that shows that neural crest
>genetic disorders appear to damage the sympathetic nervous system.

Translation: if you try to "make pretty" animals (ferrets) by mucking
around with the genes to make unnatural fancy markings and such, you
are really screwing with mother nature ... and if you do that, YOU
will be screwed ... royally. This can greatly affect the nervous
system throughout their wee bodies.

>One thing which has not been looked at enough is which of the neural
>crest genetic disorders ferrets can get. Remember, too, that different
>genetic locations can be involved so an individual can have more than
>one of these problems simultaneously. For those who don't know, the
>Neural Crest is an early fetal area which predates organ development.
>Early crests lead to a range to later cell types in a number of
>specific locations depending of which crest is involved so altering
>those fetal progenitor cells alters many things in the individual.

Translation: neural crest defects ... bad. By altering these (neural
crest) cells you can get blazes, Pandas, mixed and other unusual
markings. And there is no way to create these animals without doing
that. The problem with this is that the cells need to not just develop
normally, but travel to the right places in a growing ickle wickle. If
they don't, all kinds of sh*t can go wrong.

Wolfy, da smart ass...

[Posted in FML 6376]