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[ryan-sometimes]

Anon, here’s a quick thought experiment for your aunt:

Why do you think vaccines include pathogens/antigens, and not antibodies or transfer factors? If a vaccine is trying to teach your body how to fight something, why doesn’t it give you those signaling molecules that your immune system makes when it’s learning to fight something?

It’s because your body has to come up with it. Your immune system will “read” the pathogen/antigen, and communicate with itself, in its own language, about what has to be done. If you decide what those instructions are on behalf of your immune system, a lot will get lost in translation. That’s why vaccines don’t include antibodies or factors- your body comes up with them naturally, with a much higher degree of accuracy.

hi! you're the only biochemist i know so i have to ask this

my aunt recently got really into this holistic-sounding thing called healing immunity by transfer factors, tied to a very fishy company, 4life. in my understanding, they're preying on the lack of scientific proof that something /doesnt/ work to convince people that it /does/, based on reports of 'clients' that miraculously healed from various conditions from minor allergies to literally cancer, as well as preventing/curing >autism< 💀 problem is, she totally believes this bulshit and is giving them tons of money and trying to get the whole family to try it too

as a biochemist, I was wondering if you ever stumbled across transfer factors, know about any recent research on this field, or know the scientific explanation for why this is a load of baloney

thank you!

I’m familiar with transfer factors. A transfer factor is a chemical compound (often a protein) that is taken from an organism after it develops immunity against a disease. It’s part of immune cell signaling- it’s how your immune cells talk to each other.

But that’s the issue with pseudoscience. Oftentimes, they take something that has a small fraction of truth to it and then completely invent the rest.

Here’s the rest: transfer factors are often incredibly specific. So specific, in fact, that just two strains of the exact same bacteria could lead to two completely different factors being generated in response to them. Also, two different people infected by the exact same illness could generate different antibodies/transfer factors in response. Your immune system is as unique as your fingerprints.

Even if you took the antibodies/transfer factors from one person immune to a disease and injected them into someone currently afflicted by the disease, there’s no guarantee that it’ll make them immune as well. Cell signaling compounds are essentially words in the language your body uses to communicate with itself- and who knows if other people’s cells speak the same language?

For all you know, that transfer factor is telling your body something it might misunderstand completely. What if it “mishears” what that factor is trying to say? You could trigger an unwanted immune response! And that could potentially be even worse than just developing immunity naturally through exposure.

The field of transfer factors is still rudimentary- all of the real (actually scientific) research on injecting people with transfer factors to boost immunity is still very much in its experimental phase. Any company alleging to sell transfer factors to boost immunity is scamming you. Not even real medical companies are doing that yet, and if they could, they would. You know how money hungry pharmaceutical companies are.

Here’s one thing that’s certain: transfer factors cannot cure non immunity/infection related issues. Autism isn’t caused by a pathogen, how can your body develop an immune response to it when there’s nothing to fight? And regarding cancer, there’s already an existing field to treat cancer using your immune system: it’s called immunotherapy. And that will be given to you by a doctor, not some random company trying to sell glorified supplements. And for allergies? Get some antihistamines and an EpiPen.

The best way to boost your immune system is already available: vaccines. Vaccines prompt your body to make ITS OWN transfer factors and antibodies, which guarantees your cells will understand what those factors mean. And the transfer factors your body makes for itself will always be safer and more effective.

Real science beats pseudoscience.

[ryan-sometimes]

hi! you're the only biochemist i know so i have to ask this

my aunt recently got really into this holistic-sounding thing called healing immunity by transfer factors, tied to a very fishy company, 4life. in my understanding, they're preying on the lack of scientific proof that something /doesnt/ work to convince people that it /does/, based on reports of 'clients' that miraculously healed from various conditions from minor allergies to literally cancer, as well as preventing/curing >autism< 💀 problem is, she totally believes this bulshit and is giving them tons of money and trying to get the whole family to try it too

as a biochemist, I was wondering if you ever stumbled across transfer factors, know about any recent research on this field, or know the scientific explanation for why this is a load of baloney

thank you!

I’m familiar with transfer factors. A transfer factor is a chemical compound (often a protein) that is taken from an organism after it develops immunity against a disease. It’s part of immune cell signaling- it’s how your immune cells talk to each other.

But that’s the issue with pseudoscience. Oftentimes, they take something that has a small fraction of truth to it and then completely invent the rest.

Here’s the rest: transfer factors are often incredibly specific. So specific, in fact, that just two strains of the exact same bacteria could lead to two completely different factors being generated in response to them. Also, two different people infected by the exact same illness could generate different antibodies/transfer factors in response. Your immune system is as unique as your fingerprints.

Even if you took the antibodies/transfer factors from one person immune to a disease and injected them into someone currently afflicted by the disease, there’s no guarantee that it’ll make them immune as well. Cell signaling compounds are essentially words in the language your body uses to communicate with itself- and who knows if other people’s cells speak the same language?

For all you know, that transfer factor is telling your body something it might misunderstand completely. What if it “mishears” what that factor is trying to say? You could trigger an unwanted immune response! And that could potentially be even worse than just developing immunity naturally through exposure.

The field of transfer factors is still rudimentary- all of the real (actually scientific) research on injecting people with transfer factors to boost immunity is still very much in its experimental phase. Any company alleging to sell transfer factors to boost immunity is scamming you. Not even real medical companies are doing that yet, and if they could, they would. You know how money hungry pharmaceutical companies are.

Here’s one thing that’s certain: transfer factors cannot cure non immunity/infection related issues. Autism isn’t caused by a pathogen, how can your body develop an immune response to it when there’s nothing to fight? And regarding cancer, there’s already an existing field to treat cancer using your immune system: it’s called immunotherapy. And that will be given to you by a doctor, not some random company trying to sell glorified supplements. And for allergies? Get some antihistamines and an EpiPen.

The best way to boost your immune system is already available: vaccines. Vaccines prompt your body to make ITS OWN transfer factors and antibodies, which guarantees your cells will understand what those factors mean. And the transfer factors your body makes for itself will always be safer and more effective.

Real science beats pseudoscience.

[ryan-sometimes]

Jennifer’s Body 2009, dir. Karyn Kusama

[ryan-sometimes]

He’s so right. I am in fact a mosaic of every woman I have ever loved or admired

How am I supposed to appreciate a compliment when Dylan once told me: “You look like you love women. You’re like a shrine to women.”

[ryan-sometimes]

My pronouns are “surprise me”

[ryan-sometimes]

How am I supposed to appreciate a compliment when Dylan once told me: “You look like you love women. You’re like a shrine to women.”

[ryan-sometimes]

This is especially true with The Cure. Like what do you mean this wasn’t written by a Renaissance era lesbian after losing her girlfriend to the bubonic plague???

The only men who understand the longing of lesbians are the goth ones… men will become goth and suddenly become possessed by the spirit of 19th century lesbians

Song: Mariam - Sisters of Mercy + The Killing Moon - Echo and the Bunnymen

[ryan-sometimes]

The only men who understand the longing of lesbians are the goth ones… men will become goth and suddenly become possessed by the spirit of 19th century lesbians

Song: Mariam - Sisters of Mercy + The Killing Moon - Echo and the Bunnymen

[ryan-sometimes]

Star crossed lovers? No. Star crossed haters

[ryan-sometimes]

I would lock myself in there occasionally to write poetry or read Dostoevsky

Is it weird that I want the holding cell flat? I wanna put my friends in there and give them puzzles to solve to be let out 🥰🫶

[ryan-sometimes]

Is it weird that I want the holding cell flat? I wanna put my friends in there and give them puzzles to solve to be let out 🥰🫶

[ryan-sometimes]

Sometimes all you need to banish your depression for a couple of weeks is to get a fuckass haircut

[ryan-sometimes]

The need to be a gothic literature man doomed from the start who goes totally apeshit

[ryan-sometimes]

I started knife throwing as a hobby about a month ago and it’s actually insane how fun it is

[ryan-sometimes]

Btw this is a thing he does often. There are so many videos of this guy singing samba at random events. This man really said I’m gonna fuck off to South America and vibe for a living and I’m so happy for him.

Everyone, this is the South Korean ambassador in Brazil. I don’t think this man is ever going back to Korea

[ryan-sometimes]

Everyone, this is the South Korean ambassador in Brazil. I don’t think this man is ever going back to Korea

[ryan-sometimes]

No one:

No one at all:

Not a single soul:

Me: Nick and Amy will be gone. But then we never really existed. Nick loved a girl I was pretending to be. Cool girl. Men always use that, don't they? As their defining compliment. She's a Cool girl. Cool girl is hot. Cool girl is game. Cool girl is fun. Cool girl never gets angry at her man. She only smiles in a chagrin loving manner and then presents her mouth for fucking. She likes what he likes. So, evidently, he's a vinyl hipster who loves fetish manga. If he likes girls gone wild, she's a mall babe who talks football and endures buffalo wings at Hooters. When I met Nick Dunne, I knew he wanted a cool girl and for him, I'll admit, I was willing to try. I wax stripped my pussy raw. I drank canned beer watching Adam Sandler movies. I ate cold pizza and remained a size 2. I blew him... semi regularly. I lived in the moment. I was fucking game. I can't say I didn't enjoy some of it... Nick teased out in me things I didn't know existed. A lightness, a humour, an ease. But I made him smarter, sharper, I inspired him to rise to my level. I forged the man of my dreams. We were happy pretending to be other people. We were the happiest couple we knew. And what's the point of being together if you're not the happiest? But Nick got lazy. He became someone I did not agree to marry. He actually expected me to love him unconditionally then he dragged me, penniless, to the navel of this great country and found himself a newer, younger, bouncier Cool Girl. You think I'd let him destroy me and end up happier than ever? No fucking way. He doesn't get to win! My cute, charming, salt of the earth Missouri guy. He needed to learn. Grown ups work for things. Grown ups pay. Grown ups suffer consequences.