A nice linkurl:AP story;http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/H/HATFIELD_MCCOY_SECRET?SITE=PASTR&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT talks about the hypothesis that much of the fuel for the famed Hatfield-McCoy feud might be attributed to Von Hippel-Lindau disease, a rare genetic disorder that predisposes those affected to highly-vascularized tumors. The reasoning is that adrenal tumors might be responsible for many of the McCoys' notorious tempers. There are some great quotes from actual family members in the article. I always liked reading linkurl:and writing about;http://www.the-scientist.com/article/display/13153/ Von Hippel-Lindau. The VHL tumor suppressor deactivates angiogenesis in an interesting oxygen sensing pathway. Normally VHL signals the degradation of hypoxia inducible factor HIF1alpha. In hypoxic conditions, or in the presence of a deactivating VHL mutation HIF1alpha and other protein players initiate transcription of pro angiogenic genes. A book linkurl:I recently reviewed;http://www.the-scientist.com/2007/4/1/57/2/ for the magazine had another take on the famous Appalachian feud. David Sloan Wilson's linkurl:__Evolution for Everyone__;http://www.amazon.com/Evolution-Everyone-Darwins-Theory-Change/dp/0385340214/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-2283572-0016124?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1176135306&sr=1-1 mentions research which reasons that a code of behavior adopted...
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