Ancient DNA provides new insights into cave paintings of horses

This article focuses on the realism behind ancient cave paintings from the Paleolithic period. Essentially, researchers were searching for evidence supporting that white-spotted phenotypes of pre-domestic horses existed in the Paleolithic period. DNA studies have already produced the necessary evidence proving that bay and black phenotypes of pre-domestic horses existed. The argument in question is whether or not the artists behind these cave paintings were portraying their natural surroundings or if they were simply drawing random abstract images. The paintings in question are “The Dappled Horses of Pech-Merle” in France which shows white horses with dark spots dating back to 25,000 years ago.

The study consisted of researchers from six different countries genotyping nine coat-color loci in 31 pre-domestic horses from up to 35,000 years ago from different areas of Europe. The analysis consisted of bones and teeth samples from 15 different locations. The study found that 6 of the 31 samples (4 Pleistocene and 2 Copper Age) shared the gene associated with the leopard-spotting phenotype. 18 of the 31 had the bay coat color and 7 of the 31 had the black coat color.

Professor Michi Hofreiter, Department of Biology at the University of York said that the “results suggest that, at least for wild horses, Paleolithic cave paintings, including the remarkable depictions of spotted horses, were closely rooted in the real-life appearance of animals.” This in turn means that the paintings found in these caves reflect the natural environment of the humans who painted them. The research was led by Dr. Melanie Pruvost, Department of Evolutionary Genetics at the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research and the Department of Natural Sciences at the German Archaeological Institute. According to Pruvost, “we can already see that this kind of study will greatly improve our knowledge about the past.” Hopefully these findings can help shed light on previous debates regarding whether or not the cave paintings had an abstract, underlying meaning, or whether they were simply a means of portraying what was seen on a daily basis in the European habitat.

Sources: http://www.boston.com/news/science/articles/2011/11/07/cave_painters_were_realists_dna_study_finds/

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-11/uoy-adp110411.php

Gorilla Trekking Experience

Hello everyone,
Professor Bradley gave me the opportunity to share an amazing experience I had with you through the blog. Last spring break, I traveled to Rwanda with a group of Yalies through Reach Out. One of the most amazing experiences I was fortunate enough to have there was going gorilla trekking in Volcanoes National Park on the very northern border of Rwanda.

Already by 6:30am, we were on our way to the national park. Before beginning the trek, we were briefed by our experienced guides about the silverback gorillas and how to behave around them. Then we began our climb up the mountain. The terrain was very muddy, slippery and filled with obstacles. The guide had to use his machete to carve a path for us up the mountain.

Trackers are in charge of locating the gorilla families in advance and therefore our guide knew exactly where to lead us. After about an hour of hiking, we had arrived. I turned my head and suddenly there it was; the first huge gorilla just eating and looking at us.

We could not believe that we were standing within 8 feet of these wild animals. The family that my group visited consisted of 8 gorillas with 2 babies. Every family is lead by one head male whose size is simply unbelievable. The 250 kg of pure muscle were awe-inspiring and also slightly intimidating, especially when the gorilla was walking straight towards us. The guides knew exactly how to behave and were even able to communicate with the gorillas by imitating their sounds of aggression and peace.

The babies were a special treat! Ranging from 1-3 years old, the young gorillas were behaving just like human siblings. They fought, played, climbed, fell, and teased their elders. The hour we got to spent with this gorilla family was truly an unforgettable experience for all of us.

Purging Cells in Mice Is Found to Combat Aging Ills

Article

Scientists studying mice may have found a way to combat the effects of aging, however, there is much more work to be done.  They hope to eventually develop drugs that will help people live longer and postpone many of the diseases of aging.  The senescent cells that prompt tissues to age are the main subject of study and scientists hope to eventually understand these cells much better than they do now.

23andMe announces Parkinson's discovery

Recently, the personal genetic testing company 23andMe announced that it has discovered a genetic variation that significantly lowers the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease. 23andMe provides genome sequencing services for individuals, and it is able to use the data it collects to study associations between particular gene variants and phenotypes. Previously, scientists had learned that people with a particular variant on the gene LRRK2 had an extremely high (approximately 55%) chance of developing Parkinson’s. However, as not all those with LRRK2 develop Parkinson’s, 23andMe attempted to find out if there is a genetic basis for LRRK2 carriers not getting Parkinson’s.

They discovered that a variant of the gene SGK1 protects against Parkinson’s in many individuals with the harmful allele of LRRK2. As 23andMe has so much genetic data from basically healthy individuals, they are in a unique position to make discoveries about individuals with harmful gene variants who don’t exhibit the harmful phenotype. CEO Anne Wojciki was particularly excited by the discovery, as her husband, Google co-founder Sergey Brin, has the harmful variant of LRRK2, and she hopes that this research will help develop treatments for LRRK2-linked Parkinson’s.

The announcement was also remarkable for its publicity. Many pharmaceutical companies keep such discoveries secret in order to develop profitable therapies, and the announcement of this research, in conjunction with the Scripps Research Institute, suggests that consumer-driven genetics firms will be more inclined to disseminate valuable gene-association discoveries widely and lead to the more efficient use of genetic information in medical research.

Source article (from Business Insider)

Analysis Reveals Malaria as Ancient, Adaptive and Persistent Foe

The article I found describes recent findings from Oregon State University, showing that malaria and other insect-borne pathogens are much older than their current, modern human hosts. Insects fossilized in amber were analyzed investigate the age of malaria, leishmaniasis, and trypanosomiasis- diseases which still pose serious danger to humans. However, dating of these specimens confirmed malarial parasites existed as long as 100 million years ago. This clearly demonstrated that malaria was not initially a human pathogen, as it predates the earliest humans by millions of years.

The OSU team went on to show that malaria's adaptive protein coating is the reason for this inter-species flexibility. Malaria co-evolved with its earliest hosts, transforming as hosts' systems changed. This way, the ancient pathogen passed from birds, to monkeys, then on to early humans. This is the same reason modern malaria is becoming so resistant to drugs- the protein coating on the virus reacts to immune reactions in vertebrates and changes accordingly. Globally, anywhere from 300-500 million malaria cases are recorded worldwide every year, with the virus killing upwards of 1 million in Africa alone yearly.

Source article: http://oregonstate.edu/ua/ncs/archives/2011/nov/analysis-reveals-malaria-other-diseases-ancient-adaptive-and-persistent-foes

Long -term Aspirin Lowers Hereditary Cancer Chances

The article I found describes the research done over a 10 year period in England on the long term effects of daily usage of Aspirin. As we know, Aspirin is a drug commonly used for muscle pain, head aches and fevers. A pretty standard drug that is used often in peoples everyday lives. However, this study done by the research team in England has proven that Aspirin could have very significant effects in the battle of cancer. Aspirin could very well decrease some major types of cancer such as brain, skin, colon and stomach cancer.

Researchers studied a group 0f 860 people in countries all across the world (43 countries to be exact) with Lynch Syndrome. Lynch syndrome is a rare inherited condition that greatly increases ones chance to be diagnosed with some form of cancer. In order to test Aspirin's effects, the researches blindly gave half of the individuals a daily dose of plecebos while the other half of the testing group received a daily does of Aspirin. After following these people for upwards to 10 years, it was determined that aspirin had more than halved the likelihood of cancer incidence.

Future tests will be completed where the amount of Aspirin taken per day will be compared, along with the effects of Aspirin on people who have other types of cancer inherited syndromes or people with known cancer risks based on family history.

Main article: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/236690.php

The Incredibly Expanding Snake Heart

Read Article Here

I found this article about the snake's heart and its possible connection to a treatment for human heart disease.  The fatty acids in snake blood are the key to this connection and are what molecular biologists and other scientists are studying right now.  It is known that bigger, stronger hearts can improve the blood flow of people with cardiac disease.  Though there is much more work to do, this study could potentially be extremely useful in the future.