Malnutrition Exacerbates Diabetes Cases in Cameroon

Early-life malnutrition can cause long-term changes in gene expression.

Figure 1: Patients in Cameroon typically fail to follow through with their diabetes treatments, as treatment options are not affordable.

    Type 5 Diabetes has recently emerged as a new form of diabetes from chronic malnutrition in fetal development or early childhood. Long-term malnutrition impairs pancreatic development and the pancreas's ability to produce insulin. This divergence is not caused by a mutation in the genome but rather by epigenetic changes, or changes in gene expression, that limit insulin production and the body's ability to regulate blood sugar.

    In Cameroon, chronic undernutrition is more common in rural and low-income areas. Doctors in Cameroon began to notice something unusual with their diabetes patients: they have no autoimmune deficiencies, no obesity, and they are often young and thin. This lead researchers to identify a divergent form of diabetes, known as Type 5.

    Properly treating diabetes in low-income countries has proven to be impossible with a month's wages covering one month of insulin for adult patients. International healthcare funding is geared toward communicable diseases, such as HIV/AIDs, tuberculosis, and malaria. This leaves individuals with non-communicable diseases with less funding and no infrastructural support to afford care.

Sources:

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/23/health/diabetes-africa-cameroon-type-5.html

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12224508/

Toxin-Induced Changes in Gene Expression: New Findings in Zebrafish

 An RNA-sequencing investigation of zebrafish exposed to the environmental contaminant, Aroclor 1254.

Figure 1: Zebrafish, Danio rerio, are a common freshwater fish, frequently used in biomedical research for their rapid development, as an ethical alternative to mammals, and high genetic homology to humans.

    Aroclor 1254 is an environmental contaminant present in aquatic environments, made up of various PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls), sourced from old shipwrecks, antifreeze, and plasticizers. Last year, a study from the University of North Texas determined that exposure to Aroclor 1254 in zebrafish embryos caused induced eye tremors in larvae. To further investigate this difference in gene expression, a group of geneticists from UC Riverside and the University of North Texas studied the molecular signaling pathways responsible for this impaired sensory system. 

    The updated study affirmed that, upon exposure to this environmental factor, an eye-tremor response was induced in 7ph Zebrafish. Specifically, at 173 micrograms per liter of this contaminant, impaired optokinetic responses and decreased eye diameter were observed in the fish. Specific doses of the contaminant were found to directly impact the species's equivalent to a Parkinson's signaling pathway. This presents further implications for humans, due to our 70% shared genome with Zebrafish. Long-term or early life exposure to pollutants could directly interfere with neurological development and function.

Sources:

Magnuson, Jason T., et al. “Aroclor 1254 Impairs Visual and Neurosensory Signaling Pathways Independent of the Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor in Larval Zebrafish.” Aquatic Toxicology, vol. 291, 2026, p. 107695. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0166445X2500459X?via%3Dihub#sec0017 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). “New Research Identifies Impacts to Developing Zebrafish Exposed to Contaminants.” NOAA Office of Response and Restoration, 12 Mar. 2026. https://response.restoration.noaa.gov/new-research-identifies-impacts-developing-zebrafish-exposed-contaminants 

How Stress Affects Our Response to the Environment

In this study done on rhesus monkeys, female monkeys were slowly introduced to each other to form a group of five female monkeys. The point of introducing them one after another was to play to their concept of seniority. The monkeys earliest in the group were considered socially superior to the ones introduced to the group later. After a year, they mixed up the members and reintroduced them so they would have different rankings. Blood was drawn from the first and second round of groups to compare how they are affected by bacterial and viral disease. The data showed that more than 5,000 genes were expressed differently in the blood collected from the second round fighting off a bacterial infection, and almost 3,000 genes were expressed differently from viral infection. Both of these changes are a result of social ranks the monkeys first had, to the change in behaviour when their rank shifted. It shows conclusively that past experiences do impact how we respond to our world, even as an adult.



original link: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/326755.php#6
related link: http://primate.uchicago.edu/2011CayoBook02.pdf

Break a leg... and repair it?

   Don't tell PETA, but researchers are amputating frog legs in the name of science! While this may seem disturbing just know that the street value for frog legs is pretty decent; someone has to pay for the funding of research! On the bright side, there is no reason to worry as these frogs can grow back their limbs. Known as the African clawed frog, these little guys have the ability to regenerate limbs, though not as good as the original. Luckily for the frogs, researchers have come up with a device that can assist the healing process to help grow back their limbs. Using a 3D printer, scientists created a bioreactor device made out of silicon and inserted a hydrogel. The gel itself has "hydrating silk proteins that promote healing and regeneration" but scientists also added progesterone, a hormone that can "promote nerve, blood vessel, and bone tissue repair" (1).

   In order for the bioreactor device to work, the researchers sutured the device where the limb was amputated for a total of 24 hours before removing it. At this point, the goal was that the device would release progesterone where the limb was amputated and increase the frog's regenerative abilities. With different test groups to ensure that the bioreactor device was the cause of any positive outcomes, the experimental group did grow a stronger and better limb. Typically, the frog grows a limb that is subpar, something the article describes as a spike-like structure. However, with the bioreactor in place, the frog regenerated a limb that was noticeably different from the other groups, essentially resembling an almost fully healed limb. This can be attributed to the change in gene expression from the bioreactor causing an upregulation in healing factors and a downregulation in scarring factors.

   Ultimately, due to the change in gene expression from the bioreactor device, the frogs were able to swim again as if they had never lost their leg. While this is only a laboratory setting for a device that is working on frogs, imagine the implications this could have on humans. Obviously we do not regenerate limbs, but regeneration has been something of wonder in the realm of science for a while. I think that once scientists become more familiar with how regeneration works, that maybe one day there could be procedures to help those who had lost limbs. However, there may be a parallel to my last post in which I talked about the ethics of CRISPR for humans. Would regeneration yield a  stronger and better limb? I would hope so, but then comes the argument of genetic modification and enhancement. What if other body parts or organs could be regenerated? Stay posted, just might see my name in a paper one day...