Obesity Caused by Genetic Mutation

A result of a couple studies investigated that weight control is related to genetics and not will power as must of us believe. The study was realized on people that have been thin their entire life. Their opinion on the subject was that they “did not care much about food”. These individuals only ate small amounts of food. The gene MC4R was used by Dr. Sadaf Farooqi, professor of metabolism and medicine at the University of Cambridge and Nick Wareham, and epidemiologist at the same university. Researchers from Britain found that some people carry a “genetic alteration” that mutes appetite. This includes a low chance of getting heart disease or diabetes. The study used data from the U.K biobank. These included half million people aged 40-69; their DNA samples and medical records was helpful information that enable researchers to track their health. The same data was used for a second study, which was used to make predictions as early as childhood. According to the researchers, there are biological reasons why some people struggle with overweight and others do not. This is related more towards appetite and not metabolism.

Obesity can be a cause of a genetic mutation, but personally I think many of the individuals who suffer from obesity is because they were introduced to junk food in their early childhood usually from parents. Lack of physical activity plays an important role as well, technology keeps the kids and adults entertained. Another cause could be stress in adults due to family issues or work.

Gene-Altering Leukemia Treatment

An article in the New York Times discusses the recent recommendation on approval of a gene-altering Leukemia treatment.  The recommendation came from the FDA panel and it would allow allow the genetic alteration of a patients cells to fight their own cancer.  If the FDA accepts the recommendation, it will be the first gene therapy to reach the market in the United States.  Novartis is the drug company that will likely be first; they target the treatment of Leukemia but are currently working on other types of cancer.  Emily Whitehead was the first child to revive the treatment, as a clinical trial, and it saved her life; Whitehead grew very ill and came close to death but she emerged cancer free.  This is one of the main reasons there has been hesitation with this therapy.  In some cases the patients suffer from life-threatning illness; however, this treatment can be an alternative to the toxic treatments like chemotherapy.  There are still questions about the short-term side affects as well as the chances these cells can cause secondary cancer later in life.  In the current studies the cancer has not reappeared but the study will continue continue until fifteen years from treatment.  This could be a huge breakthrough on curing cancer, this is so important because cancer is hard to fight and the current toxic treatments further break down the immune system making it hared to patients to stay healthy.  This is a huge step in the right direction and will most likely be approved by the FDA.

Gene-Altering Leukemia Treatment, F.D.A Recommended for Approval

A F.D.A panel has recently recommended a new gene therapy that allows a cancer patient's own cells to fight their illness. Novartis may be the first company to have a cancer gene therapy reach market. Their treatment is for leukemia and is created separately for each individual patient. The FDA has recommended it for B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia that has resisted treatment or relapsed in patients, 3 to 25 years of age. The first child ever given the treatment Emily Whitehead, is now cancer free after the treatment, despite suffering through the severe side effects of fever and lung congestion. Emily and her family were seen at the panel in order to advocate for the treatments approval. Another study was presented to the F.D.A panel as evidence, where 82.5% of the patients went into remission, showcasing the treatment effectiveness. However, the panel voiced concerns with the possible secondary side effects of the treatment and quality control as the number of treatments increases. The evidence in support of this treatment looks promising and I hope this moves towards advancements in treating other types of cancer. This article shows the continuing progress that science is making towards treating grave illnesses.

Article

Fructose alters hundreds of brain genes, which can lead to a wide range of diseases

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/04/160422091900.htm

Fructose is used in foods that are sweetened by high-fructose corn syrup. Americans consumed about 27 pounds of high-fructose corn syrup in 2014, so it is used frequently and Americans are making themselves susceptible to diseases and conditions that are caused from a change in genes in the brain. These diseases range from Alzheimer’s to diabetes, hyperactivity disorder, and more. The cause of this changes in genes is the consumption of fructose; however, scientists have found good news as well. The omega-3 fatty acid docosahexaenoic acid appears to be able to reverse the effects of fructose to genes in the brain. In order to tests these hypotheses, researchers divided rats into three groups and trained them to escape from a maze. One group drank water with a high concentration of fructose over it, one group drank water containing fructose and the omega-3 fatty acid, and the third group only drank water. Over the course of six weeks, they drank the water and were put into the maze again. Those who consumed fructose figured out the maze half as fast as the other groups. The other two groups had similar results, suggesting that docosahexaenoic acid does in fact reverse the effects of fructose. Researchers then sequenced 20,000 genes in rats’ brains and out of the 900 genes that they identified that were altered by fructose, two in particular (Bgn and Fmod) are among the first genes that fructose alters in the brain. Once those are altered, the rest follow, so these will be the targets for new drugs to treat diseases that are caused by fructose alterations of the genes in the brain.

I knew that fructose and other -ose sugars were bad for the body, but I was unaware that fructose could actually alter your genes. The brain controls everything in your body, so it is alarming that the genes are being altered simply from consuming food products with high-fructose corn syrup. Other food additives including MSG (monosodium glutamate) have also often been said to have an effect on the brain and memory in particular. These findings are alarming and shows that people should watch what they eat not just because of body weight, but also, because of overall health and long-lasting effects. The research with the rats clearly shows that fructose has an effect on alertness and memory, because they finished the maze half as fast as the other two groups. It is good, however, that docosahexaenoic acid can reverse the effects. Omega-3 fatty acids have also been said to be good for your heart. While I will probably not completely cut out fructose from my diet, perhaps I will consider taking a supplement containing omega-3’s in order to improve my health and prevents the effects of fructose.

Pigs Could Be the Perfect Organ Donors

More than 123,000 people wait on transplant lists in America alone that if received, could save their life. It is said that on average every 12 minutes another person is added to a life saving organ transplant list. 

Scientists have been manipulating and editing the genes of pigs for years in order to potentially making them the perfect organ donors for humans. After modifying 62 different genes in pig embryos, scientists think they have finally found a way to make pigs the ideal and suitable organ donors. Although pig organs are similar in size to humans, pig embryos posses 62 porcine endogenous retroviruses (PERVs) which once in humans is not treatable (potentially causing more issues in the human body such as blood clotting). Companies are working together to attempt to breed pigs genetically edited before even born in order to try and reduce the amount of PERVs in the pig embryo.

With more research throughout the years, I believe that this is a great step taken to possibly use pig organs for human transplants. The pigs organ size is already ideal, it is just the genetics that need to be altered. With the right genetic editing and modifying this could lead to an increase in available organs for transplant and the saving of thousands of lives.

Link to Article:

http://www.popsci.com/edited-genes-could-make-pigs-perfect-organ-donor

Link to supporting article:

http://exclusive.multibriefs.com/content/powerful-gene-editing-could-make-pigs-perfect-organ-donors/medical-allied-healthcare

Gene Drive Reversibility

Would it be incredible to genetically alter mosquitoes so they would not harm you? Such idea is already being tested. In 2003, Austin Burt, a leading geneticist, proposed the idea of gene drives. Gene drive is defined as the process of stimulating biased inheritance of certain genes to alter entire populations. In other words, they are genes that are inherited throughout a species almost 100% of the time. This process relies on endonucleases (restriction enzymes that cut DNA sequences) and CRISPR/Cas9, an enzyme from bacteria that can be used to alter any DNA sequence or genome. As an organism's DNA is cut, guided RNA sequences will take the place of the cut-out sequence and drive the "RNA guided gene"into an organism's genome. This imposed gene will be passed down throughout generations, altering an entire species. For example, a particular species of mosquitoes that carry malaria may not be able to carry the disease any more. 

While there are many questions and concerns about gene drives, scientists have recently made an important discovery. On November 16, 2015, a team of researchers at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University and Harvard Medical School (HMS) experimentally showed that the effects of gene drives on populations can be reversed, and the team developed safeguards for using gene drives. First, by separating guided RNA from Cas 9 enzyme or inserting an artificial gene into an organism, gene drives could only be activated in the laboratory. This means the organism cannot survive in the wild. Also, by experimenting on yeast, gene drive traits have been reversed by reversing the gene drive machinery.  

This is a fascinating discovery. Much experimental work and research must still be accomplished, and safeguards and reversibility of using gene drives must be further explored. Gene drives could be used for great good in an ecosystem, but scientists are also tampering with an incredibly designed DNA code for life. I will choose to remain optimistic about this work. "Gene drive technology has great potential to solve global problems, such as malaria, for which we have no solutions today," says Wyss Institute Founding Director Donald Ingber, M.D., Ph.D…" 

Original Article: http://www.sciencenewsline.com/news/2015111617430047.html

Other Article: http://hplusmagazine.com/2015/03/10/gene-drives/

Gene alteration makes an ordinary stomach bug a dangerous virus

Tourists from the Yosemite National Park were diagnosed with a virus assumed to be the Black Plague. The plague, caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, has spread to multiple Western Americans through flea transmission. Recent findings suggest that the Y. pestis became lethal after altering the gene pla. The gene pla is originally responsible for preventing blood clots. Any bacterium with pla would be capable of preventing the body from forming clots during an injury and prevent further bleeding. The gene alteration made pla more virulent, so it could spread more easily with human contact or flea transmission. With the gene alteration in pla, Y. pestis can cause pneumonia at an alarming rate, and kill any person who hasn't receive proper antibiotics.

Oriental rat flea with Y. pestis in its intestinal tract

With findings in how the plague became more dangerous, scientists began to how the plague came to occur. They found that the plague existed for over 20 million years after finding an amber encased flea carrying an ancestor bacterium of Y. pestis. Other findings revealed that Y. pestis had an evolutionary precursor pathogen strain called Y. pseudotuberculosis, which at worst could cause slight diarrhea. After an experiment with the two pathogens, it was shown that the Y. pseudotuberculosis was poisonous to fleas, which made it impossible to carry to other organisms. On the other hand, the Y. pestis was not poisonous to fleas, so that could easily carried to other living organisms, such as humans. This made Y. pestis a more effective virus strain. Further research is being performed, but all that is known now is that Y. pestis has become a dangerous strain because of only one small gene alteration.

Original Article

Secondary Article