Science proves it: South Islanders are genetic mutants
No, not the feral gene, or even the Ginger gene, but another with serious potential health issues.
Many South Island melanoma patients have a different gene mutation than North Island patients and may end up being treated by different drugs.
A large study of patients led by the University of Otago has found similar BRAF gene mutation rates in both the North and South Island, but stark differences in the NRAS gene.
Mutations to the NRAS were found in 38 percent of South Island melanomas, but only in 21 percent of North Island ones.
Study co-leader Professor Mike Eccles of the Dunedin School of Medicine says the South Island rate sticks out “like a sore thumb”, and is out of line with results in other countries as well.
Researchers don’t think ethnic differences explain the mutation rates of the NRAS gene but sunburn or strong exposure to UV-radiation, especially during spring, may.

As much at home writing editorials as being the subject of them, Cam has won awards, including the Canon Media Award for his work on the Len Brown/Bevan Chuang story. When he’s not creating the news, he tends to be in it, with protagonists using the courts, media and social media to deliver financial as well as death threats.
They say that news is something that someone, somewhere, wants kept quiet. Cam Slater doesn’t do quiet and, as a result, he is a polarising, controversial but highly effective journalist who takes no prisoners.
He is fearless in his pursuit of a story.
Love him or loathe him, you can’t ignore him.
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