Revisiting an old Gaffe

Workout notes yoga with Ms. Vickie, then 6 mile treadmill run in 55:30 (started off with about a 10 minute mile; raised the incline to 1 at .5 miles then gradually raised the speed; 29:00 at 3 miles. That went ok.

Then 3 mile walk in 38:15 on the track; had to dodge lots of old people. On the last .5 miles my inner leg (right) started to bother me somewhat; I got some tightness in it.

Did I tell you that I hate winter? Actually, many people here don’t like it either; that surprises me a bit.

Well, check this out:

Brown University researchers have identified a cellular mechanism that could someday help fight the aging process.

The finding by Stephen Helfand and Nicola Neretti and others adds another piece to the puzzle that Helfand, a professor of biology, molecular biology, cell biology and biochemistry, first discovered in 2000. Back then, he identified a mutation in the Indy (”I’m Not Dead Yet”) gene that can extend the life span of fruit flies.

Subsequent studies of the Indy flies have led to the new finding that a mechanism in those genetically altered fruit flies appears to reduce significantly the production of free radicals, a cellular byproduct that can contribute to the aging process. This intervention takes place with few or no side effects on the quality of life for the fruit fly. The discovery could lead to the development of new anti-aging treatments.

“There are very few, if any, interventions that are known to dramatically extend healthy lifespan,” Helfand said. “Understanding how … the Indy mutation alters the metabolic state of the fruit fly would allow someone to come up with pharmacological interventions that could mimic it and give you the benefit of genetic manipulation without having to do genetics.”

The findings are detailed in new research published Jan. 21 in the online Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Titled “Long-lived Indy reduced mitochondrial reactive oxygen species production and oxidative damage,” the piece includes a number of collaborators. Helfand served as senior author and Neretti, assistant professor (research) in Brown’s Institute for Brain and Neural Systems, served as lead author. Other researchers collaborated from the University of Chicago and the University of Connecticut Health Center.[...]

Note that this change did not decrease the energy in the cell; continue reading the article.

The whole point of this post is that some research, which might sound ridiculous to the lay-person, is indeed valuable.

Why I think Evolution is complicated

One of the things I keep hearing is that “evolution is easy to understand”. I disagree with that; in fact there are many, many factors which go into evolution.

Here is a link to a study which gives evidence for human evolution from being affected by the fixation of harmful mutations!

The researchers identified fast evolving human genes by comparing our genome with those of other primates. However, surprisingly, the patterns of molecular evolution in many of the genes they found did not contain signals of natural selection. Instead, their evidence suggests that a separate process known as BGC (biased gene conversion) has speeded up the rate of evolution in certain genes. This process increases the rate at which certain mutations spread through a population, regardless of whether they are beneficial or harmful.

“The research not only increases our understanding of human evolution, but also suggests that many techniques used by evolutionary biologists to detect selection may be flawed” says Matthew Webster

BGC is thought to be strongest in regions of high recombination, and can cause harmful mutations can spread through populations. The results lead to the provocative hypothesis that, rather than being the result of Darwinian selection for new adaptations, many of the genetic changes leading to human-specific characters may be the result of the fixation of harmful mutations. This contrasts the traditional Darwinistic view that they are the result of natural selection in favour of adaptive mutations.

Sports: swimming. Here is a discussion of some of the issues affecting open water swimming. This sport, which might have been once seen as “fringe”, is becoming more popular.

My guess is that open water swimming will never completely go the way of running, which has opened itself up to even the slowest and least experienced pedestrians (which is a good thing in many ways!). The reason is this: in a running/walking event, if a participant gets tired, they can slow down and rest.

In swimming, if the distance is too much for you….well, let’s just say that the price of failure is just a bit higher. Yes, there are lifeguards on boats, but a swimmer should be savvy enough to know how to handle fatigue, a cramp, how to tread water with a limb all cramped up, etc. You simply need more experience to participate in an open water swim meet than you do to participate in a large public run/walk.