Improving Animal Welfare Through Gene-Editing

 

    Researchers at Kent State University have newly found a way to gene edit and create fully female and fully male litters of mice with 100% efficiency. This could be incredibly useful in dairy and egg production. Seeing as the females in both of these industries are the required sex and the males get disposed of. In chickens, the roosters are culled and in dairy, the bulls are sent to auction or slaughtered. If we could create a herd of 100% females there would be no need to slaughter any males. This is not only profitable for the farmers but improves the welfare of these animals. Researchers also brought up the idea behind the use of these litters for science. Generally, in research, only one sex will be studied they explain and the others are removed and disposed of. In this case, they can genetically create research litters of the sex they prefer, therefore not "wasting" any animal. Decreasing the slaughter rate of many animals that were not specifically bred for that reason. This is a huge step in the way of animal welfare and quality of life. A note to make is that there were also no harmful effects to the surviving gene-edited offspring. The researchers make clear although this is a big step in genetic research, any future use in agriculture would have to be studied extensively before use on any farm.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/12/211203081525.htm

https://www.science.org/content/article/gene-editing-produces-all-male-or-all-female-litters-mice

Men only think about "one thing", but is it really their fault?

        Don't worry boys; this study is not specifically about you. Male nematodes have a newly found pair of neurons in their brain.  Female worms do not have these neurons, which gives male worms extra brain cells. These neurons, "MCMs", enable male nematodes to have a higher recollection of sex and to desire it more.  MCMs stand for mystery cells of the male. Being sex-driven is not entirely in the control of male nematodes. In this experiment male worms possessing these "mystery cells of the male" and hermaphrodite worms were deprived of food and mating. After being conditioned to associate high salt concentration with sex and low concentration with food, the nematodes were set forth to pick one environment or the other. When finally given the free will to move into one of the new spaces, the male worms chose the environment with more salt. The male worms could have chosen to move towards food but they preferred being able to mate. Male nematodes desired sex more than their own survival (being able to eat after being starved). The hermaphrodite worms chose the lower concentration of salt associated with food. Another study was done with male nematodes that lacked the "mystery cells of the male". These males chose the food over mating. The MCMs must control the male nematodes' constant desire for sex.
      The difference in behavior is what has scientists and many others intrigued. Even a small worm can help us to comprehend the way humans behave. More studies like this one can add insight about gender identification, and sexuality in humans. Other studies are also being done to help us understand the behavior and genetic connections behind human sexual orientation. With each study, we are getting closer to breaking ground on why males and females behave so differently. I think this discovery is very interesting.  I did not expect the reason male nematodes to have extra brain cells. It might be far-stretched, but maybe there could be a similar explanation for human sexuality.
For the full article, visit here!

New Evidence Shows that Genetics Influence Sexuality

A new study that involved 800 homosexual brothers and twins has shown that 2 genes are linked to male sexuality.  One of these genes is on the X chromosome while the other is on a different chromosome.  While this does not give definitive proof that sexuality is determined by genetics, it brings many people one step closer to the accepting the idea that sexuality is not a choice.  For a long time, people have debated the idea of nature vs. nurture; which one determines sexuality? Many people believe that being gay is a choice or that the environment influences sexuality.  This study has brought forward evidence that sexuality is determined by genetics, just like hair color.  It is a possibility that the environment influences sexuality when a person has a genetic predisposition for a certain sexuality.

I think it is morally wrong to believe that sexuality is a "choice" and that a person has chosen to be attracted to men, women, or both.  This study gives more evidence that people do not have a choice in their sexuality and who they are attracted to.

Genetic Differences Found in Female Athletes with ACL Injuries

              Almost everyone knows of someone who has injured their anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), as it is a very common injury in sports. However, people may not know that females are two to eight times more likely to injure their ACL than males. But, why is this true? Is it because of an anatomical or hormonal factor, or is it based on genetics?

 In a study recently performed at the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, a biopsy of ruptured ACL tissue was obtained from seven male and seven female athletes. There were thirty-two differentially expressed genes isolated from the tissue, fourteen of which were not linked to the X or Y chromosome. These fourteen genes were grouped according to skeletal muscular development, function and growth. In females, altered responses in signaling pathways that regulate cartilage and tissue growth were found. Researchers believe that these findings will help determine the role of genetics in ACL structure, and the tendency toward increased injury in female compared to male athletes.

I found this article to be interesting, especially because I work with injured athletes on a daily basis, working at an athletic training room. However, I think more research needs to be done on this topic involving athletes of various ages and cultural backgrounds for the research to be considered substantial. Studies should be performed on much larger quantities of athletes, as well, as opposed to only fourteen being used in this study.

Article: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/03/140313092609.htm

Related Article:  http://www.aaos.org/news/aaosnow/nov10/research3.asp

Unemployment in Males Can Cause Shorter Lifespan

Unemployment is known to take an emotional toll on most people. However, researchers at Imperial College London and the University of Oulu, Finland have found that males who have been unemployed for over two years have shown signs of accelerated aging in their DNA. They took the DNA samples from 5,620 men and woman born in Finland in 1966, and measured the telomeres, which are located at the ends of the chromosomes. Telomeres are structures that protect the genetic code from losing base pairs and stop the chromosomes from fusing into each another. Over time, it undergoes cell division multiple times, in which it eventually loses 25-200 base pairs per division. Once the telomere becomes too short, the chromosome reaches a “critical length” and can no longer undergo replication. This would result in the aging of the cell and it’s eventual death due to apoptosis. Dr. Jessica Buxton, a member of the Imperial research group, says that shorter telomere are linked to higher risk of age related diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, which lead to an earlier death. Experiencing too much stress during childhood and adulthood has shown to be linked to accelerated telomere shortening.

During their studies, they looked at telomere length in blood cells samples collected in 1997, when all the participants were 31 years old. They compared the samples collected in 1966 with the sample collected in 1997 and discovered that the unemployed men were more than twice as likely to have shorter telomeres in comparison to men who were constantly employed. The study includes other social, biological, and behavioral factors that could have affected the results, to prevent the speculation that short telomere were linked to medical conditions that could have played a part in preventing the participants from working.  The results from this study have shown that long-term unemployment may cause a physical toll as well.

The reason why this pattern was seen specifically in only males may be because there were fewer unemployed women than men in the study group. Further research may reveal whether long-term unemployment can be more harmful for men than women. This study is one of the first to link long term unemployment with poor health at a cellular level, meaning that the focus on decreasing the unemployment rate may prove to be crucial for a healthier future generation.

Original article: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/269145.php

SRY Gene's Role in Aggression

According to Science Daily,Australian Scientists believe a gene called SRY plays a huge role in a Males response to stress.  Dr Joohyung Lee explains that men tend to express the aggressive "fight or flight" response much more frequent than women in a stressful situation.  The SRY gene is found on the Y chromosome and is understood to be vital in forming the testes for males.  Recently SRY protein has been found in the brain "controlling movement via dopamine".  According to Medical News Today , Dopamine is conventionally understood as a product of a rewarding stimuli.  Recently it has been discovered that aggression is processed as a reward in the brain; therefore, dopamine is produced.  This may explain the presence of the SRY protein in the brain with dopamine activity.  Science Daily also found SRY protein in the heart and lungs, which proves it serves a purpose further than sexual determination.  Since the heart and lungs are involved in stressful situations this clearly indicates SRY could prime the organs to respond to stress in a different way to prepare for aggressive behavior.  An increase in catecholamine and blood will enter the organs allowing a fight or flight response to take place.  Females utilize oestrogen and opiates to remain calmer in stressful situations.  It is amazing that the SRY gene originally believed to only form the testes plays such a role in a male's aggression during a stressful event.  I certainly believe other factors play a role in an individuals response to stress; however, it is pretty clear that the SRY gene has a major influence on a Male's behavior.