Our climate crisis, not merely pollution, may impact Genomic integrity

Post date: Jan 28, 2021 8:18:48 AM

While headlines and hopes still point to exposure to pollution as a strong driver of mutational hits and eventual health problems, the link between DNA repair and RNA folding, combined with changing temperatures, makes it seem likely that our genomic integrity would suffer more as temperatures climb.

The idea that RNA can act as a thermosensor was already supported by 2010, in work around regulation of cold shock protein expression through alternative conformations at 10 vs. 37 degrees Celsius...

Epochs of RNA folding research provide perspective. Furthermore, could it have mainly been the RNA world which survived epochs of 'snowball' earth?

All of this is certainly something to look into in further detail, also to help people become more aware in general, and to help policy makers to make better choices.