by frankthetank » Tue 04 Sep 2007, 23:14:19
When one looks at this through the eyes of PO and impending doom, its probably not helpful to have. I'm over 6ft tall and less then 140pds, and eat healthy, but don't starve myself. I think i may have it considering i'm almost 30.
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'A')nd in an interesting twist, Graff notes that this gene was originally discovered by a graduate student at Yale University more than 50 years ago. The student, Winifred Doane, was studying fruit flies and noticed that some were particularly fat while others were quite skinny. Doane, now a professor emeritus at Arizona State University, traced the differences in fly fitness to a single gene that she named “adipose.”
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '')The gene was more like a volume control rather than an on/off switch,” Graff says.
Graff and his colleagues wondered how good copies of the gene would impact survival in the wild. So they subjected the skinny flies to famine-like conditions. Not surprisingly, they did poorly. From an evolutionary perspective, this gene is the one that helps animals do well in affluent times — very much like the situation in western countries today, says Graff.
“In times of plenty, these super skinny, sleek and fast flies can easily get away from predators,” Graff adds. “But in times of shortage, they don’t make it.”
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')his gene appears in cells all over the body, Ravussin says. This means that scientists will need to carefully look for side effects when they change levels of the gene or the protein it encodes.