Parental Age and Offspring’s life span
Offspring produced by older parents often do not live as long and researchers have now discovered why. The age of the parents influences offspring longevity, in part, through its effects on offspring telomeres, structures of proteins that cap off and protect our DNA at the tips of chromosomes like the aglets or clear tips of shoelaces, says a new study. “Telomeres function a bit like the plastic caps at the ends of shoelaces and protect the coding DNA from loss during cell division. Telomere loss reduces the lifespan of cells and is thought to be involved in the ageing process,” said one of the researchers Britt Heidinger, assistant professor of biological sciences at North Dakota State University, Fargo, US. Individuals with longer telomeres or slower rates of telomere loss have been shown to have greater longevity in a wide range of species. The study was conducted on a free-living population of European shags (Phalacrocorax aristotelis) that breed on the Isle of May National Nature Reserve in the Firth of Forth, Scotland.
Obesity ups colorectal cancer risk
The risk of developing colorectal cancer in obese people is about 50 percent greater compared to the risk in lean people, says new research. “Our study suggests that colorectal cancer can be prevented in obese individuals with use of hormone replacement therapy,” said Scott Waldman, professor at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, US. The researchers have also discovered an approved drug — linaclotide — that might prevent the development of the cancer. “The findings position the use of the pill linaclotide (linzess), which is structurally related to the lost hormone, as a therapeutic approach to preventing colorectal cancer in obese patients,” Waldman added.
Poverty linked to childhood depression
Children raised in poor circumstances are likely to have altered brain connectivity, says a new study. Such kids tend to have poorer cognitive and educational outcomes and are also at a higher risk for psychiatric illnesses, including depression and anti-social behaviour, the study said. In addition, poorer pre-schoolers were much more likely to have symptoms of clinical depression when they reached school age, the findings revealed. Pre-schoolers were more likely to be depressed at age 9 or 10, the study showed. In particular, the brain’s hippocampus — a structure key to learning, memory and regulation of stress — and the amygdala — that is linked to stress and emotion — connect to other areas of the brain differently in poor children than in kids whose families had higher incomes, explained the researchers. The study was led by Deanna M. Barch from Washington University.