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Biotech / Medical : Ionis Pharmaceuticals (IONS) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: David Bogdanoff who wrote (2340)	11/5/1998 10:00:00 PM
From: jackie	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 4676

David, For the same reason an infective agent such as a bacterium or virus has to be found, sometime, in a pre-infective tissue. The cause of the infection has to be present before the infection. Likewise, if MAG is the cause of malignancy, it would entirely consistent and necessary to find MAG in pre-malignant tissue. If it were found only in malignant tissue, how would we know it wasn't the result of, rather than the cause of the malignancy? Correlation is not the same a causality. Lengthening boys pants is not the cause of the growth spurt in puberty. It is a consequence of the growth spurt. Police speeding tickets are not the cause of speeding, they are a consequence. All of this was worked out by Robert Koch, the nineteenth century genius who was faced with the daunting task of determining some means of distinguishing between disease caused by a real pathogen and a mere contaminant or poison. He developed what are known today as Koch's postulates: 1) the organism must be regularly found in the lesions of the disease, 2) the organism must be isolated in pure culture (hence the need for sterile technique), 3) inoculation of such a culture of pure organisms into the host should initiate the disease, and, 4) the organism must be recovered once again from the lesions of this host. - From Viruses, Scientific American Library. How could we apply these rules to MAG? 1) MAG must be regularly found in the lesions of the disease (malignant cancer), 2) MAG must be isolated in a pure culture, 3) inoculation of such a culture of pure MAG into the host should initiate the disease (malignant cancer), 4) the MAG must be recovered once again from the lesions of this host. So we have a report from some scientists suggesting very strongly MAG satisfies Koch's first law. Now we have to isolate it, inoculate it, and recover it from malignant lesions produced by its introduction into otherwise healthy subjects. We have a ways to go. After that, we need to develop a way to get the antisense into the cells where it can do its job, etc. The first application of these rules was made by Koch himself when he proved anthrax in cattle was caused by Bacillus anthracis. He later on determined the bacteria produced spores resisting even boiling in water or could lay dormant for years, causing the disease in cattle in fields free of cattle for years. Now we were in the position of saying for the first time in history, "This disease is caused by this living organism. Not by witches, casting of spells, misread chicken bones, or bad luck. If I expose the host population to this pathogen, the disease will result." It is predictive. If MAG satisfies Koch's postulates, we not only can predict the future of malignant cancers, we can also say, if we stop the MAG (antisense technology), we can stop the malignancies. Pretty heady stuff wouldn't you say? Regards, Jack Simmons