Tag Archives: genes

Do you have control over your weight loss?

 

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There’s always a new dieting trend around the corner. Photo Source: Flickr Commons By: Alan Cleaver

Dieting pills, the latest workout trend, juice and tea cleanses, there’s a lot of advertising claiming a certain method is a surefire way for you to lose weight. Countless people fall for these claims, joining the latest bandwagon in the hopes of achieving their dream beach body.

Then there are those who feel like they are losing the never-ending battle against their genes. Yes, their genes – and not their jeans. They don’t even bother trying the latest weight loss trend because they feel like their weight is at the mercy of their genes.

Benjamin Cheung and the members of his research team sought to answer the question “Can merely learning about obesity genes affect eating behaviour”, which is the title of their upcoming research paper. Our video highlights the main points of his research.

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Video Source: UBC SCIE 300 212 Scientific Outreach Project Group 4

Although they mainly studied the implications of beliefs about obesity, Cheung also connects his research to weight loss. Take a look at what he has to say:

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Video Source: UBC SCIE 300 212 Scientific Outreach Project Group 4

The weight loss industry and the media are hugely influential when it comes to physical activity, weight loss, and the genetic vs. environmental debate regarding obesity. Since the media is part of why people have been led to believe their weight is controlled by their genes, our podcast covers the media’s influence.

Podcast Source: UBC SCIE 300 212 Scientific Outreach Project Group 4    Podcast Photo Source: Flickr Commons By: Yutaka Tsutano

Some have indicated there is a strong evidence for specific genes causing obesity. Knowing that certain mutations can be responsible for a lack of fulness after eating a meal and craving of fatty foods, there is good support for a genetic source of weight loss struggles.

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Craving fatty foods can come along with those who have the so called ‘fat gene’. Photo Source: Flickr Commons By: reynermedia

However, there is a huge environmental impact on your ability to lose weight. In fact, it has been proposed that very little of our weight can be blamed on our genes. The main question is: do we really believe we can lose weight?

While there are influences on both sides suggesting weight loss is genetic or environmental, from Cheung’s work we realize it isn’t that simple. We simply don’t know how much genes and the environment  control your weight loss. So for those out there seeking to shed some pounds, don’t loose hope!

– SCIE 300 212 Group 4                                                                                                 Selamawit Joseph, Samantha Mee, Manpreet Takhi, Kevin Nand

Do we get our genes from fish and mushrooms?!

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Simple figure of how HGT occurs.

We acquire all our genes from our ancestors, right? Hmmm, maybe not. Recently, came across an article in the news expressing that we may have more than 100 genes from other species. You are probably wondering what the heck I am talking about. When we think of transferring genes, we imagine a family tree with branches pertaining to different members of the family, with a direct transfer of genes from parent to offspring. What we don’t consider at all is Horizontal Gene Transfer. This phenomenon, shortened to HGT, refers to when DNA is transferred between species through bacteria-infected viruses, genes that “jump” around cells and various other methods. The YouTube video below provides a quick summary of HGT with animations.

It is common to see this in action in single-celled organisms such as bacteria, where the foreign genes enter and get embedded in the recipient’s cell. However, recently scientists have found that this process occurs in animal cells as well. In this scientific article, Alastair Crisp and his research team examined HGT in detail in 26 animal species, including primates. Many genes, including the ABO blood group gene, were transferred to humans through other vertebrates. This article discussed more of Crisp’s finding in detail. Crisp and his team inferred that HGT between primates did not happen in the most recent common ancestor of all primates, but way back when our common ancestors were fish. Crisp also identified some genes as emerging from fungi!

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We have genes from mushrooms……

 

What does this mean for us humans? Are we going to start growing gills like fish, or decomposing dead matter like fungi? This second scientific paper looks at the implications of HGT in evolution. The author, Michael Syvanen, discusses how how the origin of animal cells could be a form of HGT, and that structural genes that are fundamental to everyday life were adapted from genes of prokaryotes.

Don’t worry, we won’t be growing gills anytime soon. That already happened thousands of years ago when we evolved into vertebrates!

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