DNA Methylation Provides Accurate Genetic Clock To Measure Biological Age of Tissues and Organs

A scientist at the University of California- Los Angeles, has discovered a genetic biological clock that accurately measures the biological age of tissues and organs in the body. Using a ntural process called DNA methylation and monitoring 353 biological markers, the clock can measure how each part of the body and its age is comparable to others. The scientist, UCLA geneticist and biostatistician Steven Horvath, Ph.D., noted for example that a woman's breast tissue, age faster than the rest of the body.

DNA methylation is a genetic process that alters the expression of genes in cells as cells divide and differentiate from embryonic stem cells into specific tissues. As mentioned in the embedded video, DNA methylation is similar to a light dimmer switch where it can suppress a specific type of gene from expressing itself.

Using 8,000 samples of 51 types of tissue, Dr. Horvath narrowed focused on 353 biomarkers that change with age and are present throughout the body. These markers measure the biological age of the target tissue rather than its chronological age.

The next step in the research would be to find out if stopping or halting this clock can also stop aging.

Brain Neurons In The Lateral Intraparietal Area Discovered To Keep Track Of Time

Scientists have discovered neurons in the Lateral Intraparietal Cortex that helps the brain keep track of time.

The Intraparietal Sulcus (IPS) is responsible for perceptual-motor coordination and visual attention. IPS is located on the lateral surface of the parietal lobe

Within the IPS region is an area called the Lateral Intraparietal Cortex (area LIP). This part of the brain controls the visual attention and saccadic eye movements. Saccadic eye movements are fast uncontrolled movements of the eye so that an object being observed can be processed by the brain with greater resolution.

Eating Schedule and Biological Clock Important Factor In Obesity

The human body follows a daily schedule when it comes to its regular internal functions. This biological clock is based on a 24 hour time period and is heavily influenced by light.

This schedule is also known as the circadian rhythm. It covers any biological process which displays an endogenous, entrainable oscillation of one day or about 24 hours and is widely observed in living organisms like plants, animals and even in fungi and certain bacterium.

Circadian rhythms are internally scheduled but can be adjusted to the local environment. The most common and most important influencing adjusting factor is daylight.

Common processes influenced by the circadian rhythm are hunger, bowel movement, and sleeping and waking hours. Not all biological functions follow or are considered circadian in nature. For it to be circadian, the process should be repeated once every 24 hours, it should not be influenced by external factors (endogenous), the process is aligned to a schedule (entrainable), and that the process still holds true despite changing temperature conditions.

When you eat matters, not just what you eat

When it comes to weight gain, when you eat might be at least as important as what you eat. That's the conclusion of a study reported in the Cell Press journal Cell Metabolism published early online on May 17th.

When mice on a high-fat diet are restricted to eating for eight hours per day, they eat just as much as those who can eat around the clock, yet they are protected against obesity and other metabolic ills, the new study shows. The discovery suggests that the health consequences of a poor diet might result in part from a mismatch between our body clocks and our eating schedules.

"Every organ has a clock," said lead author of the study Satchidananda Panda of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. That means there are times that our livers, intestines, muscles, and other organs will work at peak efficiency and other times when they are—more or less—sleeping.

Social Jetlag May Result In Obesity, Sleep Depravity, and Is A Health Risk

Social jet lag is the slowdown of mental and physical functions people experience after a period of irregular sleeping, eating and stress. This is usually associated with holidays and extended vacations from work or regular activity. It can also be connected to activities such as extended work periods, cramming, other activities that impact and disturb a body's regular sleep schedule.

This schedule that the body follows is called the circadian rhythm. It covers any biological process which displays an endogenous, entrainable oscillation of about 24 hours. The circadian rhythm is primarily influenced by light and darkness in the environment.

The biological clock of the body that control circadian rhythms are groupings of interacting molecules in cells throughout the body. The brain ensures that all the bio clock functions are in synch through a group of nerve cells in the brain called the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN).

Social jetlag is a real health hazard

Social jetlag—a syndrome related to the mismatch between the body's internal clock and the realities of our daily schedules—does more than make us sleepy. It is also contributing to the growing tide of obesity, according to a large-scale epidemiological study reported online on May 10 in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication.

"We have identified a syndrome in modern society that has not been recognized until recently," said Till Roenneberg of the University of Munich. "It concerns an increasing discrepancy between the daily timing of the physiological clock and the social clock. As a result of this social jetlag, people are chronically sleep-deprived. They are also more likely to smoke and drink more alcohol and caffeine. Now, we show that social jetlag also contributes to obesity; the plot that social jetlag is really bad for our health is thickening."