Scientist at the University of California at San Diego have found eight new genes in Drosophila, fruit flies, that play a roll in wound healing according to sciencedaily.com. These genes were found to be active in areas where wounds have recently occurred. These eight genes that are found in the fruit fly's exoskeleton are also found in processes in human skin. Many of the key molecules and proteins used to heal wounds in fruit flies are the same in healing in mammals. Using these genes could help promote skin diseases and help wounds heal quicker in humans.
These eight new genes were found by puncturing the exoskeleton of fruit fly embryos and looked to see what genes were turned on and off in response to the healing process. The examined 84 genes that were turned on and 78 genes that got turned off, and out of the 162 total genes they found that eight of them were expressed at very low levels or not at at all during the development process but were present near the puncture wounds. Which leads them to believe these genes were only used to help heal the wounds. The scientist were shocked that the immune response was triggered as soon as the epidermis was punctured. The flies immune system sent out antimicrobial peptides and other compounds incase there was bacteria or fungi in the puncture wound. Trypsin was released, which activates the genes used in the healing process.
The scientist now have to see if these genes play a role in the human healing process. If so scientist believe it will help build a better bandage that has these compounds in them to promote healing, promote better healing in ulcers and skin graphs, or help treat chronic skin diseases such as psoriasis, dry skin, and eczema. This would be a major break through for the medical field and wounds and surgical incisions will heal better and fast. It would also lead to less infections while the wound is trying to heal. It would help out the medical field significantly if these scientist assumptions are right.
The study was published in PLOS ONE, a peer reviewed article database.
This would be a great discovery for the medical field. There are so many cases of patients needing surgery who have already comprimised immune systems so their wounds beceme infected. This at times can lead to death. It is amazing to see the contribution that something like a fruit fly can give to humanity.
ReplyDeleteI agree completely with Lauren. I have always found it fascinating that a mere fruit fly can have such a huge impact on the scientific world. There have an numerous studies done on fruit flies and not they can actually help with wound healing. I am really excited to know how they will be able to extract these genes and use them in human healing. It is also remarkable that it would reduce infections because that is one of the most crucial problems in the medical field.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great discovery. Fruit fly are inexpensive, small, easy to raise. This will help with the rising cost of health care.
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