As Y Chromosomes Vanish With Age, Heart Risks May Grow (nytimes.com) 51
A new paper, published in the journal Science, found that when the Y chromosome was gone from blood cells in male mice genetically engineered to lose their Y chromosomes, scar tissue built up in the heart, leading to heart failure and a shortened life span. The New York Times reports: Because there was a direct cause-and-effect relationship between the loss of Y and ailments of aging in the mice, the study bolsters the notion that the same thing can happen in human males. Researchers have documented an increase in risk for chronic diseases like heart disease and cancer related to loss of the Y chromosome in many studies over the years, including the new one, which used data from a large genetic study of the British population. The loss of Y could even account for some of the difference between the life spans of men and women, the authors of the Science study say.
At least 40 percent of males lose the Y chromosome from some of their blood cells by age 70. And by age 93, at least 57 percent have lost some of it. The chromosome is lost sporadically from blood cells during cell division, when it is kicked out of some cells and then disintegrates. The result is what researchers call a mosaic loss of Y. There is no way, other than to stop smoking, to reduce the risk of losing the Y chromosome. And the condition is unrelated to men having lower levels of testosterone in their bodies as they age. Taking testosterone supplements would have no effect, nor would it reverse the consequences. [...]
It is too soon to say what men should do -- other than to stop smoking -- to protect themselves from losing their Y chromosomes or to alleviate the consequences. Those in [the researcher's] group found they could protect the hearts of the mice without Y chromosomes by blocking TGF-beta, a key molecule involved in the production of scar tissue. Dr. Stephen Chanock, the director of the division of cancer epidemiology and genetics at the National Cancer Institute, said the mouse study was "really cool." But he noted that there was no evidence yet that drugs to block TGF-beta would be effective in men who lost their Y. And, for now, there is little point in testing men for loss of Y, Dr. Chanock said, adding, "the over-interpretation of these data for monetary purposes worries me deeply."
At least 40 percent of males lose the Y chromosome from some of their blood cells by age 70. And by age 93, at least 57 percent have lost some of it. The chromosome is lost sporadically from blood cells during cell division, when it is kicked out of some cells and then disintegrates. The result is what researchers call a mosaic loss of Y. There is no way, other than to stop smoking, to reduce the risk of losing the Y chromosome. And the condition is unrelated to men having lower levels of testosterone in their bodies as they age. Taking testosterone supplements would have no effect, nor would it reverse the consequences. [...]
It is too soon to say what men should do -- other than to stop smoking -- to protect themselves from losing their Y chromosomes or to alleviate the consequences. Those in [the researcher's] group found they could protect the hearts of the mice without Y chromosomes by blocking TGF-beta, a key molecule involved in the production of scar tissue. Dr. Stephen Chanock, the director of the division of cancer epidemiology and genetics at the National Cancer Institute, said the mouse study was "really cool." But he noted that there was no evidence yet that drugs to block TGF-beta would be effective in men who lost their Y. And, for now, there is little point in testing men for loss of Y, Dr. Chanock said, adding, "the over-interpretation of these data for monetary purposes worries me deeply."
Sex is stupid (Score:2, Funny)
Reproducing via sex is dumb. Humans should be created programmatically with IVG (in-vitro gametogenesis). Basically, a totipotent cell is constructed using a customized assortment of genes. You, or better yet, a computer selects the optimal set of genes for the human given various factors such as what planet or environment the kid is going to live in. A long strand of DNA is concatenated together and then inserted into a totipotent cell which is turned into a sperm or egg cell, or wait .. directly into an e
Re:Sex is stupid (Score:5, Funny)
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Yeah, in that kind of situation, the experts in charge of the process could make sure that we have exactly as many Grade Alpha geniuses and Grade Delta-minus semi-morons as society needs! It truly would make for a Courageous Novel Earth.
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Re:Sex is stupid (Score:5, Insightful)
Reproducing via sex is dumb. Humans should be created programmatically with IVG (in-vitro gametogenesis).
We don't have the technology for that.
You, or better yet, a computer selects the optimal set of genes for the human given various factors such as what planet or environment the kid is going to live in.
We don't have the knowledge for that.
Carrying babies around for 9 months like a kangaroo is stupid and dangerous.
The technology has not been fully developed to do otherwise and there isn't much demand for it. Secondly, we don't know the side-effects of doing so, both on the child and the parents.
Making kids via sex is dangerous.
I'll give you credit for proving this point by making such an awful post but for now fertilization is the only game in town.
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Seriously. I know a woman who was infertile (cancer at a young age), and adopted a young boy and raised him as a single mother, and they get along fine. I know another woman who so busy as a doctor that she never found someone that she clicked with, and has had 2 babies via IVF with her parents assisting in the child care.
The nuclear family concept has long had
Re: Sex is stupid (Score:5, Funny)
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If you're stuck for more than 4 hours, consult wit a doctor.
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I tried installing the RPM but I get an error about a missing SO.
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You should have installed Deb.
I got 99 problems (Score:3)
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You've got a wall with a switch and a light.
You don't know what's behind it, but you know if you flip the switch, the light changes state.
You have a magical machine that can replicate whatever exists in the backend, even though you don't know what it is.
But you can make it so that the switch doesn't come along with.
When you do this, the light never turns on.
Ergo, the switch controls the light.
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Ergo, the switch controls the light.
Yes... probably
https://xkcd.com/552/ [xkcd.com]
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Observing the statistics that show that the light switch behavior is correlated with the light switch, and inferring causative nature from that would be making that mistaken.
Which is why you then devise an experiment to establish causal nature. Which this is.
If your argument is that causality cannot be established until the entire system dynamic is known, then I've got some bad news for you about how science works.
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Sorry I guess I'm too dense to see where correlation/causation was explained away. My comment was merely to express my sensitivity to the notion that the science is good-enough to declare a new fact, as long as the probability is exceedingly high.
After all, it is reasonable to expect that some would find the observation [switch-off] --> [light-off] proves that the neutral wire on the open switch is definitely not hot.
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The logic is:
Effect A happens when event B happens.
This is a correlation, and mistaking it as causation would be a mistake.
I.e., is there a hidden event C, that merely triggers B as well?
By assuming control over the assertion of B, we can isolate it as a causative factor.
Is it "more complex than that?" almost certainly. Which is why the assertio
Smoking? (Score:3)
Is this just tobacco smoking or does it include other drugs? Does vaping count?
Mojo? (Score:2)
Maybe natural killer cells are the missing piece? (Score:1)
Not sure how the y chromosome fits in, but maybe blocking TGF-B restored NK activity and that fought off DNA damaging viruses? Its a bit of a stretch admittedly. This is maybe too complex for humans (definitely for me). We need GPT-3 to work on health related research
abstract
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SARS-CoV-2 is a single-stranded RNA virus that causes COVID-19. Given its acute and often self-limiting course, it is likely that components of the innate immune system play a central part in controlling virus replication and determin
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Apparently the paste didn't preserve the "Beta" character after the "TGF-"
Anytime you see "TGF" in the above, assume the original article i copied it from said TGF-B (beta)
Stop wasting resources trying to save old people (Score:5, Insightful)
"And by age 93, at least 57 percent have lost some of it." ...and honestly, nobody should give a shit. At 93 you've had a good run, and whatever is going to get you is going to get you.
I'm only 55 and I barely give a shit some days, usually the ennui in direct proportion to whether I bothered to read the news that morning.
I have to believe that in the unlikely event that I last another 38 years I'll be very much looking forward to meeting the Grim Reaper.
Re: Stop wasting resources trying to save old peop (Score:2)
Just in case you were being serious or more likely some reader takes you serious...
YES, let's bring back Bubonic Plagues, bloodletting, leeches, Leper Colonies, unwashed masses, scurvy, rabies, smallpox, STDs, etc etc!
Because if you got or couldn't survive any of those... tough luck, none of us luckily healthy people should have to give up a dime to help those people.
All societies with a multi-class system are bastions of stability, progress, innovation, and happy people! They would never be considered the
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Oh shut up.
We understand that the last two years have been an advanced class for "quivering under the bed in fear of all the nasty things in the world" for progressives.
Congrats: you tanked the economy, wrecked (at least) 2 years of education and development for children who had basically no risk whatsoever from the disease. I think you've done enough. Hey, you're winning politically, so maybe the cost was worth it to you?
To your point, however: Not every forum is twitter, where "escalating shit to 11" co
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I'd absolutely give you +1 funny if they let me mod my own thread. I don't know what's wrong with this place any more.
Re:Stop wasting resources trying to save old peopl (Score:5, Interesting)
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Well, "I" for one would be MORE than willing to give it a try.
Please sign me up for the longest lifespan I can possibly attain.
Hell, if vampire was a real thing, I'd go for that.
I'd want to lose a bit of weight first...don't want to go through eternity overweight.
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Fits with previous cross-species comparisons (Score:3)
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It's not raid 1. It's JBOD, and you've lost a drive.
Now that isn't automatically a bad thing- there was a guarantee that your blood cells needed any proteins encoded on the Y.
There does, however, seem to be a correlative consequence to those blood cells not having their Y.
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" the Y chromosome doesn't contain copies of any genes that are on the X"
not quite.
https://www.science.org/conten... [science.org]
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Males generally express both X and Y homologs of those 36, and if you take away just the Y, you have Big Problems.
Homologs aren't copies. They're non-recombinant, meaning they evolve separately (and as such, X homologs have a "most recent common ancestor").
Freedumb of Speech (Score:1)
That's a valid concern after seeing how Covid BS made the pandemic worse.
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Le Huh?
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I think I might agree, although I'm not opposed to the idea of gaining knowledge for knowledge's sake. I'm just a little puzzled by the ambiguity in the last statement of the summary.
- Do you think he means "monetary purposes" as in selling quackery or alternative cures to the 'Y' situation?
- Or does he mean "monetary purposes" as in, your life insurance premiums just went up because you have the 'Y' mark of doom?
- Something other perhaps?
Easy Fix - Blood Transfusions (Score:2)
There's already been several studies showing putting biological material from young mice into old mice has beneficial effects:
https://www.science.org/conten... [science.org]
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/p... [nih.gov]
https://microbiomejournal.biom... [biomedcentral.com]
This is just another example of the phenomenon of replacing degrating parts in a machine with newer parts and it seems to help. Surprising!
Let's get the blood banks providing ser
...In (irradiated) Mice. (Score:2)
First, blood transfusions are not zero stress events, just because it is better than not having blood doesn't mean your body is happy about it, that's why autologous blood donations are still a thing. A single donor blood transfusion will hang around for a couple of months maximum, that's a lot of extra stress on the immune system to keep doing.
Second this paper is talking about clonal hematopoiesis a.k.a. bone marrow making bad cells. Go ask a leukemia patient how
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Thanks for replying without reading the three articles I linked. Why didn't you even read the article you linked? That one's about the effects of removing the Y chromosome from mice using CRISPR. Where did bone marrow replacement come from? My guess is you are projecting something personal you're facing, I'm sorry you're going through it. Good luck to you!