Hair loss culprit found - it's a gene

London: Here is good news for those thinning at the top--a gene that prevents regeneration of hair has been identified. People losing their hair can now hope for medicines to inhibit this gene. A healthy individual loses about 100 hairs daily. That's okay, as the bulk of them are replaced. The problem begins when the shedding goes beyond that number, and replacement lags. Now, scientists at the University of Bonn have, after six years of research, identified a gene that causes a rare hereditary form of hair loss--Hypotrichosis simplex--throwing open the possibility of regenerating hair. The defective gene was found to inhibit receptor structures on hair follicle cells from forming correctly. Such receptors play a specific role in hair growth that was previously unknown. As part of the study, dermatologist Khalid Al Aboud of the King Faisal Hospital in Makkah examined a Saudi Arabian family with Hypotrichosis simplex. DNA samples from the parents and from nine of their 10 children, including four sufferers, were analysed, providing the researchers the key to understanding some of the fundamental mechanisms of hair growth and loss. The researchers now hope that this individual genetic case will lead to developments that can benefit more patients.
"Although Hypotrichosis simplex is uncommon, it may prove critical in our search to understand the mechanisms of hair growth," said project leader Regina Betz.

Sun ‘will vapourise Earth’ unless our orbit changes

New York: Astronomers at the University of Sussex claim to have calculated that the Sun will vapourise Earth in about 7.6 billion years unless our planet's orbit is altered.
According to them, the Sun’s slow expansion will cause the temperature on the surface of the Earth to rise — oceans will evaporate and the atmosphere will become laden with water vapour, which is a very effective greenhouse gas.
Eventually, the oceans will boil dry and the water vapour will escape into space. In a billion years from now the Earth will be a very hot, dry and uninhabitable ball.
The team previously calculated that the Earth would escape ultimate destruction, although be battered and burnt to a cinder. But they did not take into account the effect of the drag caused by the outer atmosphere of the dying Sun.
“We showed previously that, as the Sun expanded, it would lose mass in the form of a strong wind, much more powerful than the current solar wind. This would reduce the gravitational pull of the Sun on the Earth, allowing the Earth’s orbit to move outwards, ahead of the expanding Sun.
“If that were the only effect the Earth would indeed escape final destruction. However, the tenuous outer atmosphere of the Sun extends a long way beyond its visible surface, and it turns out the Earth would actually be orbiting within these very low density outer layers.
“The drag caused by this low-density gas is enough to cause the Earth to drift inwards, and finally to be captured and vaporised by the Sun,” astronomer Dr Robert Smith was quoted by the ScienceDaily as saying.

Green tea extract's Janus Effect on stomach health

The green tea polyphenol (-)-epicatechin-3-gallate (ECG) may slash the risk of gastric cancer among women by 75 per cent, suggests a new study from Japan. The study adds to an ever-growing body of science supporting potential health benefits of green tea and its polyphenols, previously linked to a lower risk of certain cancers, weight loss, heart health, and protection against Alzheimer's.
It also highlights the need to consider the sexes separately when undertaking scientific studies in order to identify potentially gender-dependent interactions.Green tea contains between 30 and 40 per cent of water-extractable polyphenols, while black tea (green tea that has been oxidized by fermentation) contains between 3 and 10 per cent. The four primary polyphenols found in fresh tealeaves are epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), epigallocatechin (EGC), epicatechin gallate (ECG), and epicatechin (EC).The new study, which used a case-control design, matched 494 people with gastric cancer (cases) with 494 healthy people (controls). Blood samples were taken and polyphenol levels measured using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC).Sasazuki and co-workers report that blood levels of ECG between 0.32 and 9.2 ng/mL were not associated with any change in gastric cancer risk among women. However, blood levels of 9.3 ng/mL were associated with a 75 per cent reduction in risk in women, compared to women with blood levels below the detectable limit.On the other hand, "for men, a high plasma level of (-)-epigallocatechin was associated with an increased risk of gastric cancer," said the researchers.

Sterols play major role in dietary portfolio for hearts

Almost one-third of cholesterol reductions achieved by consuming a heart-healthy diet are due to plant sterols, suggests a new study from Canada that supports the ingredient’s efficacy. Forty-two subjects with high cholesterol levels were assigned to eat a diet high in soy protein, viscous fibres, and almonds for 80 weeks, and supplemented with plant sterols. At the end of the study, significant reductions were observed in LDL cholesterol levels, report the researchers in the journal Metabolism. High cholesterol levels, hypercholesterolaemia, have a long association with many diseases, particularly cardiovascular disease (CVD), and the cause of almost 50 per cent of deaths in Europe.In the context of a low-saturated fat diet and in combination with other cholesterol-lowering dietary components, plant sterols appear to exert a very significant effect on LDL-C reduction of the order of 10 per cent for two grams per day of plant sterols,” wrote lead author David Jenkins from St Michael’s Hospital, Toronto. Numerous clinical trials in controlled settings have reported that daily consumption of 1.5 to 3 grams of phytosterols/-stanols can reduce total cholesterol levels by eight to 17 per cent, representing a significant reduction in the risk of cardiovascular disease. The new study, which was partly funded by Unilever and many of the scientists admit ties to the company, adhered to the guidelines set out by the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III (ATP III). According to these guidelines, LDL cholesterol reductions of 25 to 35 per cent are estimated. Jenkins and co-workers prescribed the 42 subjects (average age 63) to a diet containing viscous fibres (10 g/1,000 kcal), soy protein (22.5 g/1,000 kcal), and almonds (23 g/1,000 kcal) for 80 weeks. In addition, plant sterols were taken (one gram per 1,000 kcal), except during weeks 52 to 62. Over the course of the study, LDL-cholesterol levels decreased by an average of 15.4 per cent, while such reductions were only 9.0 per cent in the absence of plant sterols. Plant sterols therefore appear a good fit with other cholesterol-lowering components in a dietary portfolio to reduce CHD risk.

'NO TEARS' Onions

Scientists in New Zealand and Japan have created a "tear-free" onion using biotechnology to switch off the gene behind the enzyme that makes us cry, one of the leading researchers said Friday. The discovery could signal an end to one of cooking's eternal puzzles: why does cutting up a simple onion sting the eyes and trigger teardrops?
The research institute in New Zealand, Crop and Food, used gene-silencing technology to make the breakthrough which it hopes could lead to a prototype onion hitting the market in a decade's time.We previously thought the tearing agent was produced spontaneously by cutting onions, but they proved it was controlled by an enzyme," he told AFP from his home outside Christchurch."Here in New Zealand we had the ability to insert DNA into onions, using gene-silencing technology developed by Australian scientists."The technology creates a sequence that switches off the tear-inducing gene in the onion so it doesn't produce the enzyme. So when you slice the vegetable, it doesn't produce tears."Eady said that by stopping sulphur compounds from being converted to the tearing agent and redirecting them into compounds responsible for flavour and health, the process could even improve the taste of the onion."We anticipate that the health and flavour profiles will actually be enhanced by what we've done," he said."What we're hoping is that we'll essentially have a lot of the nice, sweet aromas associated with onions without that associated bitter, pungent, tear-producing factor."The gene silencing system can also be used to combat virus diseases, and biotechnology in general can help us produce more robust crops."

Embryos created with DNA from 3 people

British scientists have created human embryos containing DNA from two women and one man, a procedure that could potentially prevent conditions including epilepsy, diabetes and heart failure. Though the preliminary research has raised concerns about the possibility of genetically modified babies, the scientists say that the embryos are still only primarily the product of one man and one woman.We are not trying to alter genes, we're just trying to swap a small proportion of the bad ones for some good ones," said Patrick Chinnery, a professor of neurogenetics at Newcastle University involved in the research.
The process aims to avoid passing onto children bad mitochondria genes, which are contained outside the nucleus in a normal female egg. Mitochondria are a cell's energy source, but mistakes in their genetic code can result in serious diseases like epilepsy, strokes, and mental retardation.In their research, Chinnery and colleagues used normal embryos created from one man and one woman that had defective mitochondria in the woman's egg. They then transplanted that embryo into an emptied egg donated from a second woman who had healthy mitochondria.
"The proportion of genes in the mitochondria is infinitesimal," said Francoise Shenfield, a fertility expert with the European Society of Human Fertility and Reproduction. Shenfield is not connected to the Newcastle University Research.
Only trace amounts of a person's genes come from the mitochondria, and experts said it would be incorrect to say that the embryos have three parents.