12/25/2016

SCIENCE

WhyAntiVaxxersAreWrongAboutMercuryInShots

9/20/2016@2:03PM 3,153views

WhyAntiVaxxersAreWrong
AboutMercuryInShots

Thefirstsmallpoxvaccine.Credit:JamesGathany,CDC.

Itsflushotseason,whichmeansanannual
popupofantivaxmemesinmysocialmedia
feeds.Mostofthememesthisyearareofthe
OMG!Theflushotcontainsmercury!variety.
Whileitstruethatsomeversionsoftheflu
vaccinedocontaintraceamountsof
mercury,suchastatementislargelymeaningless.
Thimerosal,theorganiccompoundusedasa
preservativeinsomevaccines,breaksdownin
thebodyintoethylmercury.Sinceourbodiescan
removeethylmercury,itdoesntbioaccumulate.
Thisisverydifferentfrommethylmercury,
foundintraceamountsincertainfishliketuna.
Methylmercuryishardforourbodiestoremove
andcanbioaccumulate.Itsthebuildupof
mercuryovertimethatcanbedangerous,which
iswhytheFDArecommendslimiting
consumptionofcertainvarietiesoffish.While
bothcompoundscontainmercury,thetwo
moleculesarestructurallydifferentandbehave
differentlyinourbodies.Itssimilartothe
http://www.forbes.com/sites/briankoberlein/2016/09/20/vaccinesmeteorsandwhydetailsmatter/print/

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WhyAntiVaxxersAreWrongAboutMercuryInShots

differencebetweenethylalcoholandmethyl
alcohol.Theformerisfoundinbeerandwine
andusedasasociallubricant,whilethelatteris
usedinthingslikeantifreezeandishighlytoxic.
Simplystatingsomevaccinescontainmercuryis
likesayingOMG!Beercontainsantifreeze!
Theglossingoverofthesekindsofdetailsis
depressinglycommoninpopularsciencewriting.
Forexample,awhilebacktherewerepostsabout
howthereisevidenceoflifefoundinsome
meteorites,supportingtheideathatlifecame
fromouterspace.Whatwasactuallyfoundwas
thatsomemeteorites,suchastheMurchison
meteorite,containmorethan70typesofamino
acids,whicharesometimesreferredtoasthe
buildingblocksoflife.Sincethefallofthe
Murchisonmeteoritewasobserved,andthe
meteoritewasrecoveredsoonafteritreached
Earth,wecanbeconfidentthatthoseamino
acidsarenotduetoterrestrialcontamination.
Itsinthedetails,however,wherethingsget
interesting.

Chiralmoleculescomeinlefthandedandrighthandedversions.
Credit:Wikipedia

Aminoacidsarechiralmolecules.Thismeans
theycomeintwodifferentformsthataremirror
imagesofeachother.Eachtypeofaminoacid
hasalefthandedandrighthanded
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WhyAntiVaxxersAreWrongAboutMercuryInShots

version.Terrestrialorganismsmainlyuseleft
handedproteins(ofwhichaminoacidsarethe
buildingblocks)andrighthandedsugars.The
aminoacidsontheMurchisonmeteoritewere
foundtoberoughlyequalpartsleftandright
handed.Thismeanstheywerelikelyproducedby
anonbiologicalprocess.Weknowfromother
studiesthatcomplexmoleculescanformindeep
space.SotheMurchisonmeteoriteactually
contradictstheideathatterrestriallifebeganin
space.Cosmicaminoacidsmayhaveplayeda
role,butlikelysomemechanismonEarthgave
risetothehandednessofbiologyweseetoday.
Ofteninscienceitsthesmallestofdetailsthat
makeallthedifference.Someevidencecantbe
reducedtoacatchyheadline,anddoingsocan
oftenleadtoheadlinesthataredownright
misleading.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/briankoberlein/2016/09/20/vaccinesmeteorsandwhydetailsmatter/print/

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