Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
Toggle light / dark theme

Blog

Category: genetics

Neanderthal DNA could be the cause of some modern brain malformations

If you regularly experience headaches, dizziness, balance problems and blurred vision, our Neanderthal cousins could be to blame.

These are common symptoms of Chiari malformations, structural defects in which the lower part of the brain extends into the spinal cord. People with this condition have skulls shaped like those of our ancient relatives, leading to a hypothesis (known as the Archaic Homo Introgression Hypothesis) that it may be a genetic legacy from interbreeding between and Neanderthals.

To investigate this, Kimberly Plomp of the University of the Philippines Diliman and colleagues zeroed in on Chiari 1, the mildest form of the condition, which affects around 1 in 100 people.

Late eating is associated with impaired glucose metabolism

Our metabolic processes differ depending on the time of day and many of them are more active in the morning than in the evening. Although studies show that eating late in the day is associated with an increased risk of obesity and cardiovascular diseases, little is known about how the time we eat affects glucose metabolism and to what extent this is genetically defined.

Prof. Olga Ramich from the German Institute of Human Nutrition Potsdam-Rehbrücke (DIfE) and her team recently investigated this using data from a twin cohort from 2009-10. Their article was published in the journal eBioMedicine.

The is a hierarchically structured 24-hour time control system in the body that regulates behavior and metabolism via a central clock in the brain and peripheral clocks in organs such as the liver or pancreas. As a result, our differ depending on the time when we eat, which leads to diurnal fluctuations in glucose metabolism and the release of hormones after a meal.

China regrows mouse ear using genetic switch, eyes human organ repair

Wang Wei and Deng Ziqing, the co-corresponding authors, determined that a shortage of this retinoic acid prevented mice from regenerating their ear pinna (the outer ear).

Researchers have demonstrated that a genetic switch for organ regeneration exists, after restoring damaged outer ears in mice.

This has ignited hope that similar switches might exist for other organs, even in humans.

The study conducted by the National Institute of Biological Sciences, Beijing, zeroes in on a crucial molecule: retinoic acid, a derivative of vitamin A.

Healthy lifestyle linked to lower diverticulitis risk, irrespective of genetic susceptibility

Maintaining a healthy lifestyle—specifically, a diet rich in fiber but light on red/processed meat, regular exercise, not smoking, and sticking to a normal weight—is linked to a significantly lower risk of diverticulitis, finds a large long-term study, published online in the journal Gut.

What’s more, these five components seem to offset the effects of inherited genes, the findings indicate.

Diverticulitis occurs when “pouches” develop along the gut and become inflamed or infected in the wall of the large intestine (colon), explain the researchers. It’s a common cause of hospital admissions and a major reason for emergency colon surgery, they add.

Chinese scientists find genetics shapes brain’s balance linked to mental ability

There is extensive evidence that brain criticality – the balance between neural excitation and inhibition – enhances its information processing capabilities.

But despite the significance of brain criticality and its potential influence on neurological and psychiatric disorders, the genetic basis of this state had been “largely unexplored”, according to researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ biophysics and automation institutes. “We demonstrate that genetic factors significantly influence brain criticality across various scales, from specific brain regions to large-scale networks,” the team said in their paper published in the peer-reviewed journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences last month.

They also established a link between criticality and cognitive functions, suggesting a shared genetic foundation.

“These findings position brain criticality as a biological phenotype, opening broad avenues for exploring its implications in brain function and potential dysfunctions,” the team wrote.

Brain criticality is characterised by neuronal avalanches, or cascading bursts of neuron activity in brain networks.

“At the critical state, the brain exhibits scale-free dynamics, with avalanches observed across various scales ranging from local networks of individual neurons to the global network of interacting brain areas,” the paper said.

Continue reading “Chinese scientists find genetics shapes brain’s balance linked to mental ability” | >

First large-scale stem cell bank enables worldwide studies on genetic risk for Alzheimer’s disease

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a common, debilitating neurodegenerative disease affecting about 10% of people over the age of 65 and one third of people aged 85 and above. Besides environmental factors, the genes have a strong influence on whether or not a person develops AD during their lifetime.

Through genome sequencing of DNA from large groups of healthy people and people with AD, some naturally occurring small changes in the DNA, known as genetic variants, were found to be more frequent in AD patients than in healthy people.

As more and more of these AD-associated genetic “risk” variants are discovered, it is now possible to calculate a person’s individual polygenic risk score (PRS), meaning the likelihood of the person developing AD, with high accuracy.

New IQ research shows why smarter people make better decisions

Smarter people don’t just crunch numbers better—they actually see the future more clearly. Examining thousands of over-50s, Bath researchers found the brightest minds made life-expectancy forecasts more than twice as accurate as those with the lowest IQs. By tying cognitive tests and genetic markers to real-world predictions, the study shows how sharp probability skills translate into wiser decisions about everything from crossing the road to planning retirement—and hints that clearer risk information could help everyone close the gap.