Researchers Find a Way to Give Plants "Meaty" Nutrients

     Plants Now Have "Meaty" Nutrients:

    Our body needs certain vitamins and nutrients to keep it powered. In meat we can get so many more benefits, than just eating plants and veggies. Recently, in the month of February researches have been working on a study to take some of those same benefits found in meat and give them to plants. It is said in the article, "This might one day let vegetarians and vegans rely on plants for the full range of nutrients their bodies need." In order to get the animal-type nutrients, the plant leaves need certain enzymes that they don't typically have. Enzymes are proteins that typically speed up chemical reactions inside living things. The team made up multiple sets of genetic instructors and each different set had a different combination of amino acids and nutrients that they can make. The treated leaves gave two kinds of animal-type nutrients with one being creatine and the other created was carnosine. 

    It is just incredible what technology we have today, and the vast things we can accomplish. I knew plants don't have as many nutrients and benefits as eating meat, but I didn't know we could inject plant leaves, and boom, they now have similar/same benefits. There are a lot of individuals that are vegans or vegetarians like mentioned in the article who just eat plants and not meat. Meat is crucial in our diet and they aren't getting the same benefits. It is a game changer that they can still participate in what they believe in and now get more nutrients you wouldn't be able to receive before. 

Sources:

https://www.snexplores.org/article/plants-make-meat-nutrients-vegetarian

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10408398.2023.2241541#abstract

How genetics combined with red meat consumption may raise colorectal cancer risk

In an article written by Jessica Freeborn, she states that colorectal cancer can be challenging to treat as it progresses further throughout the stages. Researchers are looking into ways to prevent the cancer from manifesting through genetics. There is a new study looking into how genetics and environmental factors can affect people’s risks to certain cancers. A genome-wide gene-environment scan was conducted to see how certain genetics interacts with a person who eats red or processed meats. Researchers found that those who are older and have consumed a lot of red meats are at a higher risk for colorectal cancer. In general, they also found that those who consume red meats more were at a higher risk for the cancer. 

There were limitations to this research as it only focused on those with a European ancestry. Studies following this one should look at more diverse genetics to enlarge their sample size. Participants also had to recall when/how many times they ate red meat which introduces a problem of bias. However, they cautioned people to stay away from red and processed meats if they want to lower their chances of having colorectal cancer. As somebody who eats red meat occasionally this information is concerning. My family eats a lot of red meat so making them aware of this is important as it could save their lives. Even lessening your red meat consumption could help a lot with preventing colorectal cancer. 

Main Source: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/how-genetics-combined-with-red-meat-consumption-may-raise-colorectal-cancer-risk

2nd source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4698595/ 

Can genes affect your choice of diet?

    People can stick to a certain diet, change their food preferences, or have no dietary restrictions at all. These preferences can be based on religious affiliation, wanting a change, or simply just a personal preference. Having said that, research is being conducted to determine if your genes can influence diet preferences.

    A study was conducted consisting of 5,300 strict vegetarians compared to 329,000 non-vegetarians who were the control group.  It was found that 31 genes could be potentially affecting diet choices. Then, most of these genes are associated with metabolizing fat and/or brain function. Dr. Nabeel Yaseen a professor at Northwestern's School of Medicine believes that people who prefer a vegetarian diet have a genetic advantage allowing them to synthesize lipids in plants and other foods just as well if they were to eat meat. People have a driving factor for food and drink preferences based on how their body processes it and the feeling they get afterwards. This creates food likes and dislikes.

    About 3% to 4% of Americans are vegetarian. Studies like the one being described not only can provide information about genetic preferences, but better food options and guidance for those who do have dietary restrictions. 

Clean Meats: A multi-million investment

Billionaire icons Bill Gates, and Richard Branson, didn’t get to were they are without making smart, and intuitive investments. So why is it that both of these tycoons are investing in a meat company, called Memphis Meats?  Well it turns out that Memphis Meats is no ordinary meat company, in fact, it is the first organization to produce beef, chicken, and duck meat directly from stem cells. This means that the company produces meat that does not require the breeding or slaughtering of animals, thus coining the name "clean meant".

But this is more than just a publicity stunt, as the company claims to be able to produce the same amount of meat as traditional distributers, but while only using one percent of the land and water. The implications of this could lead to profound effects on our environment, animals, and public health. Which is why billionaire investors are eager to through their money in the “clean meat” pot, 17million to exact. Brason believes that 30 years from now all meat will be clean, and there will be no longer be a need to kill any animals for food, and this all wouldn’t be made possible without the study of genetics.

for the article this posted is based on look here https://www.forbes.com/sites/zackfriedman/2017/08/25/why-bill-gates-richard-branson-clean-meat/#4e9e58bfaf27

and for the Memphis Meats website where you can learn more about the "Clean Meat" process use this link http://www.memphismeats.com/

Dental plaque leads to news about Neanderthal diet

Research done by  Laura Weyrich, a microbiologist at the University of Adelaide in Australia, has shown that plaque found in fossilized teeth proves that Neanderthal diets were a wide range of things. DNA was recovered from calcified plaque on teeth from four Neanderthal individuals. Two groups were found, one from the grasslands and one in the forests. The DNA from the individuals around the grasslands proved to eat woolly rhinoceros and wild sheep and the DNA from forests showed to eat moss, mushrooms and pine nuts. This shows that Neanderthals were neither vegetarian or herbivores. Also found in the DNA were materials from trees that act as aspirin. Any information found in fossils is truly amazing. To further our knowledge on the cavemen, helps us understand evolution and how we are today. This article shows that the Neanderthals were very smart, and knew about medicine way before we thought they did. This is a major break through for us. 



Article: https://www.sciencenews.org/blog/science-ticker/ancient-dental-plaque-tells-tales-neandertal-diet-and-disease
Related article: http://www.pnas.org/content/108/2/486.full.pdf

The article discusses a study done on packaged meats in South Africa.  Geneticists took several kind of meats that were labeled as Springbok, African antelope, and ostrich when DNA testing showed that they were actually horse, giraffe, and kangaroo.  146 samples of meat were tested and over 100 were improperly labeled.  All beef was correctly labeled.  Similar results were found in other countries.  The results will be used to help enforce food regulations.    

I found this article interesting because I'm astounded by how poorly food is regulated in foreign countries.  It makes me feel blessed to live in a country where such a thing is highly regulated.  I never thought geneticists would have to do such a thing.    

Here's the article  

Test for Horse Meat Developed

Scientists have recently developed a method to distinguish horse meat from beef. This is because the fat components of the meats have two different fatty acid compositions. The new method looks at differences in the chemical composition of fat in the meats, using technology similar to that of a hospital MRI scanner. 

The need for a distinguishing method of this nature arises from the horse meat scandal of 2013, when horse meat was discovered in a number of beef burgers. Horse meat was then detected in other meat products, leading to a recall of thousands of pounds of food. This exposed threats to public health and subjected the meat industry to claims of fraud. 

The current method for testing the meat involves DNA, but it is an expensive and slow process. The new method was developed in response to this and involves Pulsar, a high-resolution bench-top NMR spectrophotometer. Usually spectroscopy is expensive, but Pulsar by contrast is based on permanent magnets and ease of operation. Researchers found that a couple of minutes shaking about a gram of meat in a solvent followed by a few minutes of data acquisition by Pulsar was enough to tell horse meat from beef. 

I think this new method will force the meat industry to be more truthful with the manufacturing of their products and will ensure the health of the entire public. 

Article

A genetic reason to eat less (or no) meat

Research has recently found that one in three people (30% of the population) possess a gene variant that increases their risk of colon/rectal cancer with the consumption of meat (especially red meats and processed). There is already an increased risk of these cancer in people who eat red and processed meats but this gene variation increases this risk even more. The study identified the variant as rs4143094 which is on the same region of chromosome 10 as a factor gene known as GATA3, which has a transcription that has already been linked to several types of cancer.
Luckily a plant-based diet can drastically lower this risk for both those with and without the gene variant. In addition to preventing a variety of cancers a plant based diet can improve a persons overall health and help prevent a multitude of diseases and conditions.








http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/10/131024102150.htm