XPost: sci.military.moderated   
   From: rboleyn@paradise.net.nz   
      
   On 31 Mar 2004 15:37:13 GMT, nmm1@cus.cam.ac.uk (Nick Maclaren) carved   
   upon a tablet of ether:   
      
   > No, I am not.  If you work out the statistics for sexual and asexual   
   > reproduction, you can see why we have very little mitochondrial   
   > variation.  Variety within our mitochondrial DNA isn't a major   
   > factor in our survival.  I don't know the exact figures involved,   
   > but there is effectively no mitochondrial variation in quite a lot   
   > of human populations.   
      
   I'd imagine that's because there's pretty much only one best way to   
   produce ATP. Mitochondrial DNA doesn't have a lot to do with   
   immunities, etc., so the only time variation would be of much benefit   
   would be if something started blocking the action of some vital   
   protein in the chain, and not a variation of that protein.   
      
   --   
   Rupert Boleyn    
   "Just because the truth will set you free doesn't mean the truth itself   
   should be free."   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)