143
votes
Accepted
Is 8% of human DNA from viruses?
Normal viruses infect cells in order to take advantage of cellular mechanisms to reproduce themselves. A class of viruses known as "retroviruses" have a slightly peculiar mechanism to achieve this - ...
- 6,678
132
votes
Can an RNA vaccine change your DNA permanently?
Later in that video the claim is specified a bit more, mentioning that mRNA with CRISPR/Cas will modify our genetic code. You can edit DNA with CRISPR, but that is not what is in an mRNA vaccine. The ...
- 43.6k
12
votes
Accepted
Have paleontologists systematically ignored dinosaur DNA that does not match the evolutionary model?
The short answer: No
The long answer: Also No
Here is why this does not hold water:
Until recently we were not able to extract soft tissues recently as in last 10 years. This is to the best of my ...
- 362
9
votes
Accepted
Has a bone marrow transplant caused confusion in criminal investigations?
Bone marrow transplants can change a person's blood type because blood cell progenitor cells are transplanted into the recipient. That's pretty much the whole point: to remove cancerous progenitor ...
- 3,078
8
votes
Is 8% of human DNA from viruses?
I wish to add to the above answer. Approximately 9% of the genome is viral in origin, but current research suggests there is less of 'you' than there are other viral related sequences. Here is a very ...
- 637
8
votes
Can an RNA vaccine change your DNA permanently?
It is currently unknown whether this occurs, though it is considered unlikely and unimportant. There is a plausible mechanism which could cause it, but as of February 2022, it seems no experiments ...
- 3,289
8
votes
Was X-ray crystallography used in DNA sequencing mostly developed by the wool industry?
Ridley is cherry-picking to an enormous extent, such that even if his statements are technically true they are without meaning.
Analysis of fibrous materials using X-ray crystallography did indeed ...
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7
votes
Was X-ray crystallography used in DNA sequencing mostly developed by the wool industry?
Short answer, this statement has a few facts in it, but they are out of order, and misrepresent the history around the work, as well as where the money was coming from. In my mind, the ...
- 1,146
7
votes
Are DNA testing companies building a DNA database for commercial applications?
This isn't exactly a secret.
23&me talk about it on their blog.
They seem pretty proud of it.
One of the options when you send your sample to them is a box for whether you consent to your data ...
- 9,466
6
votes
Was human DNA found in a sample of Priorix Tetra MMRV vaccine?
While I can't find info directly related to the Corvelva site claim, there are numerous articles that criticize the claims made by Dr Theresa Deisher.
Such as, via healthfeedback.org
Article claiming ...
- 2,639
5
votes
Do commercial DNA synthesis labs maintain a "watch list" of dangerous DNA sequences?
Yes, DNA sequencing labs monitor sequences ordered for certain "sequences of concern".
At least two gene synthesis companies claim to follow the U.S. governmental Screening Framework Guidance for ...
- 18.7k
4
votes
Has a bone marrow transplant caused confusion in criminal investigations?
There was a very confusing case in Poland in 2011: Grzegorz G. was suspected of murder of a young woman. There was plenty of non-DNA evidence, but DNA from blood found on crime scene showed 2 ...
- 139
3
votes
Length of uncoiled human DNA
@Sklivvz posted a good back of the envelope theoretical answer, but it is off by a factor of 10 for the following reason:
An estimation of the number of cells in the human body Annals of Human ...
- 105k
3
votes
Did DNA, in a quartz container, absorb every photon in the room?
As noted in the comments, this summary of the experiment comes from several books by David Wilcock, an influential lecturer in the New Age circuit. Wilcock cites a PDF entitled "Crisis in Life ...
- 44.9k
2
votes
Can an RNA vaccine change your DNA permanently?
This is an open-ended question which invites speculative scenarios - most and hopefully all of which will have been carefully considered during vaccine development. In concept the vaccine could alter ...
- 317
1
vote
Is 8% of human DNA from viruses?
The question assumes that organisms came before viruses. From the latest attempts to deduce what happened many years ago, a current belief is that viruses and organisms had a single originating ...
- 1,146
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