Recent content by Mongpoovian

Ok, where to begin? First - AZT is NOT a methylating agent, no matter what Google says. the drug's mechanism of action is to inhibit reverse transcriptase and to be incorporated into newly-synthesized viral DNA, terminating viral replication. The first link under a google search for "azt...

But AZT isn't a methylating agent. It doesn't even interact with DNA - it inhibits reverse transcriptase. The drug itself is incorporated into the DNA created by viral proteins, stopping further production of the viruses. Methylation never comes into the picture.

Wait a minute, did you say "If you believe that HIV is caused by a retrovirus?" All the pages I see with "information" about this state that selenium deficiency is a primary cause of HIV, which is fundamentally related to oxidative damage. Selenium depletion is involved in HIV, sure, but...

I meant dogmatic faith, I swear! :wink: I was certainly not implying that a person of faith cannot be an effective or unbiased scientist, just that the cross-contamination common to the literalists is poison to true science. I know many people of faith who are excellent scientists, both social...

And what about the great mathematicians of the middle east? Or the astronomers of old? What about the alchemists or the Chinese sciences? Any scientist is motivated by his cultural background. Whether it be God(s), personal experiences, or just plain old secular curiosity. The mark of a good...

And how is that any different, any more comforting than the belief that the only thing governing our actions is the laws of physics? I desire the lack of a "big brother" that provides me with free will, constantly watches my actions, and then judges those freely chosen actions as acceptable or...

I think the Onion said it best: Billions of people have died from natural disaters over the course of human history. I think you can come to a number of conclusions from this. 1.) There is a god - He kills people and causes suffering for some indeterminable omnipotent reason. 2.) There is a...

It is worse than that. One of the professors here spent the first 15 minutes of his symposium talking about how the flooding have caused "an analytical chemist's nightmare". That floodwater, besides being a breeding ground for flood-related disease, is also a stew of chemical toxins. Lead...

Science may be conservative, but the thing that people forget is that the conservatism of science is different from the political definition of conservative. Science is based on constant change. Without change, discovery, and innovation, science is no different from its polar opposites...

All living creatures have instances of homosexual relations; it's only humans (and only some humans at that) that have a problem with that.

ID is much different than Young Earth Creationism (YEC). However, it's more like granny smith apples and red delicious apples. YEC evolved into the day-age creationism, which turned into "scientific" creationism, which has turned into ID. None of them are scientifically supported, none of them...

And antiviral resistant strains have popped up. You can thank the Chinese for using human antiviral drugs on their poultry for that one.

I think the democratic party doesn't need an association with that kind of dictatorial megalomaniac.

I find the suggestion that drug companies are trying to supress medicinal marijuana use outlandish. Don't you think drug companies would be practically salivating at the potential profits they could tap into with the medicinal mary jane market? If the government did legalize marijuana, it...

If you study drugs for any length of time, one thing you'll be amazed by is the remarkably arbitrary line drawn between "acceptable" and "unacceptable" drugs. Tobacco is regulated less than alcohol even though nicotine is highly toxic. Marijuana is medicinally illegal, even though drugs derived...