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Genetic ‘control panel’ of human body revealed Computers lower dementia risk by 40 per cent Prof Yash
Pal THIS UNIVERSE Trends |
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Genetic ‘control panel’ of human body revealed THE genetic “control panel” of the human body that regulates the activity of our 23,000 genes has been revealed for the first time in a scientific tour de force that could revolutionise the understanding and treatment of hundreds of diseases. Scientists have once and for all swept away any notion of “junk DNA” by showing that that the vast majority of the human genome does after all have a vital function by regulating the genes that build and maintain the body. Junk DNA was a term coined 40 years ago to describe the part of the genome that does not contain any genes, the individual instructions for making the body’s vital proteins. Now, this vast genetic landscape could hold hidden clues to eradicating human disease, scientists said. Hundreds of researchers from 32 institutes around the world collaborated on the immense effort to decipher the hidden messages within the 98 per cent of the human genome without any genes and was thought, therefore, to have no function. They have concluded in a series of 30 research papers, published simultaneously in Nature, Science and other journals, that this so-called junk DNA is in fact an elaborate patchwork of regulatory sequences that act as a huge operating system for controlling the genome. Knowledge gained from this important insight, which has been largely hidden from view ever since the structure of DNA was revealed nearly 60 years ago, will prove critical to the future treatment of more than 400 diseases, scientists said. Ewen Birney of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Cambridge and one of the leaders of the international ENCODE consortium said the work has demonstrated conclusively that more than 80 per cent of the genome works as a kind of control panel packed with genetic dials. “Our genome is simply alive with switches: millions of places that determine whether a gene is switched on or off,” Dr Birney said. Deciphering the human genome revealed that less than 2 per cent of the 3 billion building blocks of human DNA actually consists of working genes. The ENCODE consortium has shown that the rest of the genome still has an active, biochemical function in the cells of the body. “We see that 80 per cent of the genome is actively doing something. We found that a much bigger part of the genome — a surprising amount in fact — is involved in controlling when and where proteins are produced,” he said. Defects in this part of the genome could be responsible for a range of illnesses, from diabetes and Crohn’s disease to disorders of the immune system, such as lupus. Knowing about them could lead to a fundamental reappraisal of what goes wrong in scores of difficult conditons, said John Stamatoyannopoulous of Washington University in Seattle, another leader of the consortium. “Genes occupy only a tiny fraction of the genome, and most efforts to map the genetic causes of disease were frustrated by signals that pointed away from genes,” Professor Stamatoyannopoulos said. “Now we know that these efforts were not in vain, and that the signals were in fact hidden in millions of locations around the genome. The findings provide a new lens through which to view the role of genetics and genome function in disease,” he said. Many of the genetic switches occur at sites on the long DNA molecule that are well away from the genes they control, which has hampered past attempts at identifying them. The new work exposes these hidden connections and lays bear the inner workings of the body’s genetic control panel, the scientists said. “This is a major step toward understanding the wiring diagram of a human being (and) helps us to look deeply into the regulatory circuit that tells us how all the parts come together to make a complex being,” said Professor Michael Snyder of Stanford University in California and a principal investigator on the ENCODE project.” — The Independent
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Computers lower dementia risk by 40 per cent COMPUTERS do have their plus points, despite all the bad press — the desktop, for instance, lowers the risk of dementia in the aged by a maximum of 40 per cent, suggest latest findings. “As the world’s population ages, the number of people experiencing cognitive decline and dementia will increase to 50 million by 2025,” said study co-author Osvaldo Almeida, professor at the University of Western Australia (UWA). Almeida with colleagues undertook an eight-year study of more than 5,000 men aged from 65 to 85 years. “But if our findings are correct, the increase in the number of cases of dementia over the next 40 years may not be as dramatic as is currently expected,” added Almeida, also research director at the UWA-affiliate Centre for Health and Ageing, the journal Public Library of Science ONE reports. Some of dementia’s early symptoms are forgetting names and appointments, losing things, difficulty performing familiar tasks such as driving, managing personal finances, mood swings with anger or rage, paranoia and suspiciousness. Almeida said previous studies showed that cognitively-stimulating activities decreased the risk of dementia but there was little evidence on the likely effect of computer use over many years, according to an UWA statement. “So it got us thinking, with personal computer ownership on the increase, could it make a difference? We found that it did, and that there was a significant benefit,” he said. Researchers found that the risk of dementia was about 30-40 per cent lower among older computer users than non-users and that their findings could not be attributed to age, education, social isolation, depression, overall health or cognitive impairment. They found that computer users were younger than non-users, had completed at least high school, had a more active social network and were less likely to show evidence of depression or poor physical health. Older people should therefore be encouraged to embrace computer technology as long as they understand the dangers of prolonged physical inactivity and the many advantages of a balanced and healthy lifestyle, the researchers suggested. The study was part of Australia’s longest-running longitudinal study of men’s health and ageing. It has been following a group of more than 19,000 men since 1996. — IANS
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THIS UNIVERSE How did water first form on earth and how did the water cycle start? Water is fairly abundant in the planetary system. This is not surprising because both hydrogen and oxygen are fairly abundant elements. When we look at other planetary bodies, we do find evidence for significant presence of water. One of the attractive hypotheses for water on earth is that it was brought to our planet through the impact of a large number of comets; we know that most comets are composed of water and dust. Water in liquid form that form our oceans is the result of the temperature profile of our planet and the fact that water is such an interesting liquid. Not only the liquid but also the solid form of water in the temperature range found on the earth surface makes for a very interesting and biologically important happening. The so-called water cycle is the result of interaction of the water in various forms with the atmosphere and the solar radiation; its richness is greatly enhanced by the biological presence and activity. Do zero gravity and space mean the same thing? No, zero gravity and space are not the same. Zero gravity condition can be achieved in a freely falling body. That cannot be done for long periods of time. You can move in the direction of low gravity, even micro gravity by working in water, also using appropriate clothing or other encasing material. Readers can e-mail questions:to Prof Yash Pal at palyash.pal@gmail.com
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Spineless creatures, from worms to bees, under threat Spacewalking astronauts fix station’s power system |
Steve Connor
