By Express News Service
NEW THREAT: FAT-FILLED DROPLETS WITHIN CELLS
There is a very real threat perception at the microscopic level, that too, within the human cells that can potentially affect the nucleus and the DNA. That threat is now said to be coming from fat-filled droplets that exist within the cells. University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science researchers went beyond mere buiochemistry and dived into the physics of how these fat-droplets in the cell can threaten the nucleus and the DNA, that could translate into grave health hazards. This is the first-ever study to discover fat-filled lipid droplets’ surprising capability to indent and puncture the nucleus and the organelle which contains and regulates a cell’s DNA.
The study has been published in the August issue of the Journal of Cell Biology. What has triggered this study is the grave increase in metabolic illnesses like high blood pressure, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. It shifted the scientific focus to the effect of chemistry of fat on biology that is yielding valuable information on the working and functions of the fat cells. The implications of this study are extremely serious because of the finding that tiny fat cells have the capability to rupture the cell nucleus, causing damage to DNA, in turn leading to several diseases, including cancer. Fat is soft at the cellular level. But the minuscule fat droplets, which are just a few microns in size as against the hundreds of microns that cells measure are hard, and can puncture the nucleus. The researchers say tha hardness of the fat droplet provides it the capability to deform and rupture the nucleus and affect the DNA with devastating effect on the human body on the whole. When the nucleus gets compromised there is potential for DNA damage, which impacts the individual at a larger level.
Scent of memory
A FOSSIL FIND THAT MAY CHANGE WHERE MAN ORIGINATED
A fossil of a newly identified ape may change long-held belief of where human beings originated, and may shift it in favour of the origins being in Europe and the Mediterranean region rather than in Africa, as held, a research by University of Toronto concludes. The fossil is that of an ape called named Anadoluvius turkae, which was found at an 8.7-million-year-old site in Türkiye, which researchers say will weigh in favour of the now-evolving theory that ancestors of African apes and humans evolved in Europe before migrating to Africa between nine and seven million years ago.
The fossil was recovered from Çorakyerler fossil locality near Çankırı with the support of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in Türkiye. It shows that Mediterranean fossil apes are diverse and are part of the first known radiation of early hominins – the group that includes African apes (chimpanzees, bonobos and gorillas), humans and their fossil ancestors. The conclusion is based on analysis of a significantly well-preserved partial cranium of the Anadoluvius fossil which was uncovered at the site in 2015. The fossil has conserved most of the facial structure and the front part of the skull.
The near-complete facial and cranial structure of the fossil allowed the researchers a broader, detailed analysis by using characters and attributes coded into a program designed to calculate evolutionary relationships. Their research indicated that the Anadoluvius ape dispersed into Africa from the eastern Mediterranean sometime after eight million years ago. The findings point to Anadoluvius turkae being a branch of the evolutionary tree leading to chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas and humans.
NEW THREAT: FAT-FILLED DROPLETS WITHIN CELLS
There is a very real threat perception at the microscopic level, that too, within the human cells that can potentially affect the nucleus and the DNA. That threat is now said to be coming from fat-filled droplets that exist within the cells. University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science researchers went beyond mere buiochemistry and dived into the physics of how these fat-droplets in the cell can threaten the nucleus and the DNA, that could translate into grave health hazards. This is the first-ever study to discover fat-filled lipid droplets’ surprising capability to indent and puncture the nucleus and the organelle which contains and regulates a cell’s DNA.
The study has been published in the August issue of the Journal of Cell Biology. What has triggered this study is the grave increase in metabolic illnesses like high blood pressure, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. It shifted the scientific focus to the effect of chemistry of fat on biology that is yielding valuable information on the working and functions of the fat cells. The implications of this study are extremely serious because of the finding that tiny fat cells have the capability to rupture the cell nucleus, causing damage to DNA, in turn leading to several diseases, including cancer. Fat is soft at the cellular level. But the minuscule fat droplets, which are just a few microns in size as against the hundreds of microns that cells measure are hard, and can puncture the nucleus. The researchers say tha hardness of the fat droplet provides it the capability to deform and rupture the nucleus and affect the DNA with devastating effect on the human body on the whole. When the nucleus gets compromised there is potential for DNA damage, which impacts the individual at a larger level.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });
Scent of memory
A FOSSIL FIND THAT MAY CHANGE WHERE MAN ORIGINATED
A fossil of a newly identified ape may change long-held belief of where human beings originated, and may shift it in favour of the origins being in Europe and the Mediterranean region rather than in Africa, as held, a research by University of Toronto concludes. The fossil is that of an ape called named Anadoluvius turkae, which was found at an 8.7-million-year-old site in Türkiye, which researchers say will weigh in favour of the now-evolving theory that ancestors of African apes and humans evolved in Europe before migrating to Africa between nine and seven million years ago.
The fossil was recovered from Çorakyerler fossil locality near Çankırı with the support of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in Türkiye. It shows that Mediterranean fossil apes are diverse and are part of the first known radiation of early hominins – the group that includes African apes (chimpanzees, bonobos and gorillas), humans and their fossil ancestors. The conclusion is based on analysis of a significantly well-preserved partial cranium of the Anadoluvius fossil which was uncovered at the site in 2015. The fossil has conserved most of the facial structure and the front part of the skull.
The near-complete facial and cranial structure of the fossil allowed the researchers a broader, detailed analysis by using characters and attributes coded into a program designed to calculate evolutionary relationships. Their research indicated that the Anadoluvius ape dispersed into Africa from the eastern Mediterranean sometime after eight million years ago. The findings point to Anadoluvius turkae being a branch of the evolutionary tree leading to chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas and humans.
