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RE: Elephants and blue whales
Don't forget that in the wild the lifespan of these animals may be shorter
than the time it would take cancer to kill them.
The above comments and opinions are mine and mine alone. They do not
intentionally represent the views of any other being, living, dead, or
yet-to-be.
Jerry Falo, Ph.D., CHP
HMJF Professional Associate
Health Physics Program
USACHPPM
410-436-3548
gerald.falo@apg.amedd.army.mil
-----Original Message-----
From: Dukelow, James S Jr [mailto:jim.dukelow@pnl.gov]
Sent: Tuesday, March 14, 2000 1:43 PM
To: Multiple recipients of list
Subject: Elephants and blue whales
This raises the obvious question, Why aren't all the elephants and blue
whales
dropping like flies?
Some possible answers.
Shrews, mice, men, elephants, and blue whales all have the same number of
cells.
Possible. I don't think so, but would have to admit I don't know. Some of
the
physical and chemical processes in cells are scale-dependent, so it doesn't
seem
very likely, but ...
If the elephants and blue whales were dropping like flies, How would we
know?
Elephants are famous for disappearing before they die -- elephant graveyards
and
all that. I suspect we don't have much information on how blue whales die,
except, of course. the one's we shoot.
Or, perhaps, the supposition is wrong and the probability of a malignancy is
not
directly proportional to the number of cells in the organism. This answer
seems
most likely to me. Although the "obvious question" above seems flip, it is
my
understanding that it contains a serious objection to theories of
carcinogenesis
that assume linear dependence on some sort -- any sort -- of exposure.
Best regards.
Jim Dukelow
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Richland, WA
jim.dukelow@pnl.gov
These comments are mine and have not been reviewed and/or approved by my
management or by the U.S. Department of Energy.
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