NOS Themes
Science is Collaborative
Role of Motivation and Curiosity
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/05/140508121359.htm
Thursday, May 8, 2014
Polar Bear's adaptation to high fat diet
Polar Bears have been linked to Brown Bears as a recently as 500,000 years ago. Since then they have had many adaptions that allow them to live in the harsh arctic climate. Scientists uncovered some of the genes that are responsible for these adaptations. The genes that were identified are related to fatty-acid metabolism and cardiovascular function. The scientists hope to find insight into how Polar Bears can survive on such a high fat diet while avoiding the negative effects humans suffer from, which include Cardiovascular and Heart Disease. The study was started by Eske Willerslev and Rune Dietz who are danish scientists.
NOS Themes
Science is Collaborative
Role of Motivation and Curiosity
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/05/140508121359.htm
NOS Themes
Science is Collaborative
Role of Motivation and Curiosity
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/05/140508121359.htm
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I fond it interesting how people come up with questions like these to study– it's about things we know somehow in the back of our minds but nobody bothered to ask! But anyways.... I found a related article about polar bears and how they've adapted to live on such a high fat diet. The scientists have tracked down some genes that have been altered in the process of evolution to create these fat-related issue resistant creatures. However, different studies trace back the split between polar and brown bears to different time periods. I believe that once this time frame is narrowed down, the study will become much easier. (article: http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2014/05/08/310731287/if-polar-bears-can-eat-a-ton-of-fat-and-be-healthy-why-cant-we)
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