Vokabel:
der Zustand - state/condition
die Verletzung - injury
voraussagen - to predict/prognosticate
sich ereignen - to take place/occur
der Felsen - rock
das Hirn/ Gehirn - brain
geschehen - to happen
der Hubschrauber - helicopter
künstlich - artificial
sicherstellen - to assure
der Sauerstoff - oxygen
erfolgreich - successful
sich verbreiten - to spread (things)
Summary:
This article is about the skiing accident suffered by Michael Schumacher in France. No other skiers were involved and Schumacher fell and hit his head on a rock. Despite wearing a helmet, he sustained a serious brain injury and was taken to hospital by helicopter. After an emergency operation, he was put into an induced coma, and doctors can only say for certain that his brain is receiving enough oxygen. The final paragraph summarises Schumacher's achievements: he is the most successful F1 driver, having been the world champion seven times, and has millions of fans who have been posting "get well soon" wishes on his website.
Showing posts with label wider reading. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wider reading. Show all posts
Monday, 6 January 2014
Saturday, 7 September 2013
Wider Reading: Behavioural Epigenetics
Grandma's Experiences Leave a Mark on Your Genes
This article introduces the idea that genetic information can be influenced by both nature and nurture, suggesting that life experiences are able to alter chemical signals to determine exactly which genes are transcribed. The field of epigenetics is concerned with extra chemicals, such as the methyl group, which attach themselves to the genes that are necessary to produce the proteins required by the cell. Epigenetic changes can occur throughout life and can be triggered by a variety of factors, including diet, and can even be inherited, despite not actually being part of DNA itself; this is known as postnatal inheritance. A methyl group inhibits transcription of the gene it attaches to by tightening the DNA around the histone, making it much harder for DNA helicase to unzip this portion of DNA. To investigate the effect of life experiences on epigenetics, a natural experiment was conducted on rats whose mothers were either very attentive or very inattentive. This study found that genes regulating sensitivity to stress hormones were far more methylated the brains of those with inattentive mothers. This means that, for those with less attentive mothering, the genes which protect against the effects of stress were not transcribed as fully; therefore, the offspring were more susceptible to the effects of stress. In a follow up study, offspring of inattentive mothers were placed with attentive mothers and vice versa, and again the rats raised by the inattentive mothers had the most methylation in their anti-stress genes. Studies of human blood have shown that these changes can be present in humans too, and this could lead to the development of drugs to control or remove methyl groups, which may be useful in treating disorders such as depression. However, there are ethical issues with this type of treatment, most notably, is it right to alter inherited information?
This article introduces the idea that genetic information can be influenced by both nature and nurture, suggesting that life experiences are able to alter chemical signals to determine exactly which genes are transcribed. The field of epigenetics is concerned with extra chemicals, such as the methyl group, which attach themselves to the genes that are necessary to produce the proteins required by the cell. Epigenetic changes can occur throughout life and can be triggered by a variety of factors, including diet, and can even be inherited, despite not actually being part of DNA itself; this is known as postnatal inheritance. A methyl group inhibits transcription of the gene it attaches to by tightening the DNA around the histone, making it much harder for DNA helicase to unzip this portion of DNA. To investigate the effect of life experiences on epigenetics, a natural experiment was conducted on rats whose mothers were either very attentive or very inattentive. This study found that genes regulating sensitivity to stress hormones were far more methylated the brains of those with inattentive mothers. This means that, for those with less attentive mothering, the genes which protect against the effects of stress were not transcribed as fully; therefore, the offspring were more susceptible to the effects of stress. In a follow up study, offspring of inattentive mothers were placed with attentive mothers and vice versa, and again the rats raised by the inattentive mothers had the most methylation in their anti-stress genes. Studies of human blood have shown that these changes can be present in humans too, and this could lead to the development of drugs to control or remove methyl groups, which may be useful in treating disorders such as depression. However, there are ethical issues with this type of treatment, most notably, is it right to alter inherited information?
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