Deleting a Single Gene Reduces Fat Mass and Extends Lifespan of Mice by 20%
By deleting a single gene, FAT10, researchers could reduce fat mass of mice and expand their lifespan by 20 percent. FAT10 belongs to a family of genes that act as recyclers of cellular proteins and was found to be induced by inflammation. The immune system response that produces inflammation is crucial to protect organisms from infections. If you reduce inflammation (the damaging inflammation associated with obesity), this may reduce the growth of fat tissues or age-related weight gain and increase longevity.
Mice without the FAT10 gene was used to study its role in sepsis, a devastating and sometimes fatal inflammatory response to infection. Mice lacking the FAT10 gene aged more slowly than normal mice and were fifty percent leaner. Mice that lacks FAT10 also has a higher metabolic rate, burned fat as fuel, and reduced glucose and insulin levels. The DNA and protein sequences of the FAT10 gene are highly conserved between man and mouse. This study could possible lead to new medications and therapies.
Mice without the FAT10 gene was used to study its role in sepsis, a devastating and sometimes fatal inflammatory response to infection. Mice lacking the FAT10 gene aged more slowly than normal mice and were fifty percent leaner. Mice that lacks FAT10 also has a higher metabolic rate, burned fat as fuel, and reduced glucose and insulin levels. The DNA and protein sequences of the FAT10 gene are highly conserved between man and mouse. This study could possible lead to new medications and therapies.
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| Deleting a single gene can reduce fat mass and extend lifespan of mice by 20 percent. |
The research was headed by scientists at Yale and the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University Tufts University. For more information, visit http://scitechdaily.com/deleting-single-gene-reduces-fat-mass-extends-lifespan-mice-20/
Nature of Science
Science is collaborative: Many researchers from numerous universities conducted this experiment together.
Science is based on evidence: The scientists provided many evidence to support their findings.
Role of credibility: providing evidence ensures reliability and reason to trust the ideas.
Importance of repeatability: Repeating the experiments and getting a similar results ensures that the experimenter did not make any mistake and the results are not obtained just by chance.
Role of motivation and curiosity: Researchers' passion and desire to experiment will lead to new findings; in this case, new therapies. 
This is a great discovery, are they going to do a human trial? It would be amazing if we could remove it from the human genome, i read here http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2682237/ that FAT10 also is a cause for gastric cancer! If we found that getting rid of it in a human could do the same things it did for mice, and help stop gastic cancer that would be great. I was curious as to how they remove a gene and i found it very interesting, site here http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK7563/
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