From: JeffT
Date: 9/15/00
Time: 10:53:24 AM
Remote Name: 24.163.49.36
I read most of the Merck article, and unless I missed something this all has the ring of marketing attached to it. They are going to use a chip to determine what genes appear to be active in cell tissue from balding areas. That is fine. The kicker that to me sounds like crap is that they are only doing this for a year then project over. Huh?! There is no commitment to actually do anything. Honestly, they won't know much at all in that length of time. Just knowing the genes doesn't explain the process. The more important research is on what is called the proteotome, the body of proteins produced and the transcripitome, the RNA fragements used to produce the protiens. Then we have to consider what genes that affect glands, nads, etc to figure out what is happening. I hope something comes from this, but it has the smell of marketing and not much more. The other angle is, they may simply be lining up the gene patents on baldness so that they can try to rip royalties from anyone else that actually develops a treatment. Don't get me wrong, any research is useful, but don't mistake research in the name of marketing with a real effort to find a treatment. These guys are NOT playing ball.
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