The Bigger the Nostril, the Hotter the Air

It has been found through a study by a team of scientists from Pennsylvania State University that the shape of one’s nostril may share a relationship with the climate of the region that that person’s ancestors descended from. While noses are used for smelling, they are also used to warm and humidify the air that we breathe. It had been found that the more narrow the nostril, the more efficient the nose would be at warming and humidifying the air. Thus, people that descend from colder climates have more narrow nostrils, as they need noses that are more efficient at warming the cold air, and people that descend from warmer climates have wider nostrils, as they do not need noses that are as efficient at warming the already-warm air. It is stated, however, that the climates of past ancestors’ regions are not deciding factors on nose width; other genes may come into play that affect the shape of one’s nose. 

I love studies that center around the morphology of humans, so of course I was very interested reading this article. Reading articles that center around humans evolving to have advantageous traits is so interesting to me because I love to think that there are some humans out there that for some reason have higher-functioning noses than I do. It intrigues me that a larger-nostriled friend might have an easier time breathing in the Canadian wilderness than I would, simply because of the morphology of their nose. The study does make sense, anyhow, that humans in colder regions would evolve to breathe easier, and humans in warmer climates would evolve as to not have noses that are too efficient at heating already-warm air. It makes sense that someone like myself, who descends from a tropical country like the Philippines, has such large nostrils. 

Is it a Boy or a Girl?- Baby Sea Turtles

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/03/170330092817.htm

http://www.sciencenewsline.com/summary/2017033117100021.html

        New research has come about that is able to help determine the gender of baby sea turtles. In most species the gender is determined if there is and X and Y chromosome present or just two X chromosomes. This however is not the case with sea turtle since they do not have sex chromosomes. Instead the sea turtles gender is determined as they develop in their incubation state. The biggest contributing factor that influences the gender is the environment the turtle is living in. It has been found that warmer weather and sands leads to females and colder temperature and sand produces males. It is hard to conform this due to the fact that the sea turtles sexual anatomy isn't distinguishable until they are full mature.

       Scientists from Florida Atlantic University have recently begun using immunohistochemical (IHC). This practice allows researchers to identify the sex without harming the species, take into account sex ratios, and acknowledge the relationship between the environment and the sex.

       Research as also found that the RNA binding protein, CIRPB could be responsible determining the sex of the turtles. CIRPB is temperature responsive which supports the idea that certain temperatures produce a male while others produce a female.

Climates Shape our Noses

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/16/science/ancestral-climates-may-have-shaped-your-nose.html

http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/16/health/nose-shape-climate-genetics-study/

        The human nose contributes more than just smell to us. The nose is used to humidify and warm the air we breathe as well as help prevent illness and damage in the airways and lungs. No one nose is exactly the same. Everyone has a slightly different nose, although people claim they got their nose from one of their parents. Many people believe that genetics plays a huge role in the shape of the nose. It is believed to be hereditary trait and that parents can envision their child's nose before they are even born. Research done at the University of Pennsylvania have recently discovered that this is not the case.

       New research as shown that human nose shape is effected by the climates in which our ancestor's once lived. Researchers compared nostril widths from different regions around the world and found that they all significantly differed. The widest nostril widths were found in geographical locations where the temperature was high and had high humidity rates. In comparison the narrowest width nostrils were in cold, less humid regions.

      While nose shape is found to be a heritable trait, it is greatly influenced by climate and geographical location one lives in. Further research on the effects of climate and regional location are being conducted to see if they influence other parts of our body.  

The Climate (and Genetics) Shaped Your Nose!

Climate shaped your nose!

Noses undoubtedly, and sometimes unfortunately, get passed down from parent to offspring. This article sheds light on research showing how nose shapes are sculpted overtime in response to local conditions of our various ancestors. Although there are a wide variety and diversity of nose shapes, when we take a closer look we can see many similarities that happen to be linked to climate. The research conducted on this topic analyzed the dimensions, angles, and protrusions of 2,637 noses of individuals of four populations: North Europeans, South Asians, East Asians, and West Africans. By comparing this data to local climates and humidity levels of those different populations, researchers were able to define what nose shapes thrived in what areas. It is believed that natural selection called for narrow nostrils in cold/ dry climates because long narrow nostrils better humidify and warm the air in cold and dry areas.

When studying genetics, it is important to consider all external causes for a trait, condition, illness, etc. Our environment plays an important role in who we are and what we look like.

Related NY Times Article

Your Birth Season May Affect Your Health (Sorry Fall Babies)

While spring is often associated as allergy season, a new study done by the University of Southampton, UK, suggest that the season in which an individual is born may make a difference in their allergy development. By measuring whole blood epigenome-wide DNA in 367 participants it was found that there were correlations between the seasons in which the individual was born and what allergies and diseases they later developed.

For example, the study found that autumn and winter babies had a higher risk of developing asthma as well as eczema.  One of the more general trends observed was that babies born specifically in the month of October usually had a higher risk of developing certain allergies and diseases than those born in the summer. Overall, 55 diseases were found that correlated with the season of birth.

The university is now trying to understand what it is about being born during a certain season that affects an individual’s risk for disease. As of now it is believed that factors such as temperature, sunlight exposure, and diet may play a large part and these factors are being studied now.

The article stated that the individuals involved in the study were from the Isle of Wright (located off of the coast of the southern UK). While looking at the seasonal climate in this specific location I began questioning a few things about the study. First of all, I wonder what the study would have found if the DNA was taken from individuals residing in a location with more extreme temperature differences between seasons? Also, what the study would have found having taken DNA from individuals residing in a location where the seasonal temperatures were almost constant (they only experience one or two seasons in a year)?

Even with these questions I found the study to be interesting however I personally believe a lot more goes into developing a disease than merely the month you were born. I also hope that studies like this do not influence more and more parents to have children in the summer months because I do not believe that alone will make a healthy human. Fall babies need love and recognition too, even with our asthma.

Pineapple genome offers insight into drought-tolerant plants

 

The production of pineapples began in 

southwest Brazil and northeast Paraguay. Pineapples have been cultivated by humans for more than six-thousand years and are now produced in more than eighty-five countries. In a recent study, scientists are homing in on the genes and the genetic pathways which allow the pineapple plant to prosper in environments that are water-limited by sequencing the juicy plant’s genome. Similar to many plants, the ancestors of pineapple and grasses experienced several doublings of their genomes. Although, the analysis shows that unlike the grasses that share an ancestor with pineapple, the pineapple genome has one-less whole genome duplication. This information indicated that pineapple plant is the best comparison group for the study of cereal crop genomes. Overall, the findings provided evidence of two-whole genome duplications in the pineapple plant’s history and a new opening on the evolutionary history of grasses. 

A majority of crop plants make use of a type of photosynthesis called C3. The juicy pineapple plant uses a special type of photosynthesis, called crassulacean acid metabolism, also known as CAM. CAM has evolved in more than ten-thousand plant species independently and the pineapple plant is valued the most economically out of all ten-thousand. Biology professor Ray Ming states “CAM plants use only 20 percent of the water used by typical C3 crop plants, and CAM plants can grow in dry, marginal lands that are unsuited for most crop plants.” By looking more closely at the pineapple genome, it was revealed that some genes which contribute to CAM photosynthesis are actually regulated by the plants circadian clock genes. Circadian clock genes allow plants to distinguish between day and night and alter their metabolism as a result. 

This study allowed scientists to find a link among regulatory elements of CAM photosynthesis genes and the circadian clock regulation for the first time. “CAM photosynthesis allows plants to close the pores in their leaves during the day and open them at night,” states Professor Ming, illustrating how that contributes to the pineapple plant’s resilience in hot climates and that the plant loses very little moisture through its leaves during the course of the day. CAM plants greatly reduce water loss by keeping their stomata closed during the day.

The team involved in this study wrote “All plants contain the necessary genes for CAM photosynthesis and the evolution of CAM simply required rerouting of pre-existing pathways.” The team is responsible for the discovering in which CAM photosynthesis evolved by reconfiguring molecular pathways involved in C3 and CAM photosynthesis. 

Having many farmers within the family and understanding how devastating a drought can be for the crops and overall production for that year, this article was attention-grabbing. The scientists now look to use their understanding of the evolution of the different types of photosynthesis in effort to develop drought-tolerant crops. “Higher water-use efficiency is a highly desirable trait, given the need to double food production by 2050 in the context of a changing climate,” stated Ray Ming. Furthermore, the adaptation of food crops to be more tolerant of a drought will also help humans become accustomed to climate change. 

Original Article