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Dark Matter and mutations

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  • 01-10-2009 12:09am
    #1
    Kevster
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,980 ✭✭✭


    Hi,

    I meant to bring this point up on Sunday nighht but forgot to. I was in Middlesbrough on Sunday (just nosing about as I do... ...) and ended up at the Dorman Museum. They had a 'Space' exhibition there and one 'fact' caught my eye: On a poster it claimed that dark matter is believed to be the cause of 'spontaneous' mutations in the DNA of animals and bacteria.

    Now, I have a strong biology and chemistry background and was always lead to believe that mutations are caused by an inefficient DNA copying mechanism, which makes a lot of sense.

    I dunno... ...any of you guys ever hear of this?

    Kevin


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    #2
    squonk
    Registered Users Posts: 9,100 ✭✭✭squonk


    I am no biologist but I always thought too that free radicals had some role in mutations. Maybe a small scale cause but a cause on some level.


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    #3
    dbran
    Moderators, Business & Finance Moderators Posts: 2,094 Mod ✭✭✭✭dbran


    Hi

    Since we do not even know what dark matter is and by its very nature it only interacts with ordinary matter via gravity I would think that the chances of it being the dominant effector of DNA (which is ordinary matter) would be slim.

    Dose not sound true to me. But ya never know.

    dbran


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    #4
    Kevster
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,980 ✭✭✭Kevster


    Yeh, thanks for the opinions. It just bugged me because - as you've said (dbran) - we don't know what dark matter actually is yet. Also - as you've said (squonk) - it may still play a part in mutations. We simply can't know though. It was just the way that they portrayed it as a fact in the museum that got to me.


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