Here's the reason you may be gaining weight in winter

Here's another reason to bask in the sunshine!

According to a recent research, fat cells are sensitive to sunlight and therefore, reduced sunshine in winter may contribute to weight gain. The study has shown the fat cells that lie just beneath our skin shrink when exposed to the blue light emitted by the sun.

"When the sun's blue light wavelengths--the light we can see with our eye--penetrate our skin and reach the fat cells just beneath, lipid droplets reduce in size and are released out of the cell. In other words, our cells don't store as much fat," said the senior author of the study. "If you flip our findings around, the insufficient sunlight exposure we get eight months of the year living in a northern climate may be promoting fat storage and contribute to the typical weight gain some of us have over winter," he added.

The researcher cautions the finding is only an initial observation and that pursuing exposure to sunlight is not a safe or recommended way to lose weight. "For example, we don't yet know the intensity and duration of light necessary for this pathway to be activated."

However, he added the novel discovery opens up new avenues of future scientific exploration which could someday lead to pharmacological or light-based treatments for obesity and other related health issues such as diabetes. "Maybe this mechanism contributes to setting the number of fat cells we produce in childhood -- thought to stay with us into adulthood," he speculated. "Obviously, there is a lot of literature out there suggesting our current generation will be more overweight than their parents and maybe this feeds into the debate about what is healthy sunshine exposure."

The researchers made the discovery while investigating how to bio-engineer fat cells to produce insulin in response to light to help Type 1 diabetes patients. "It was serendipitous," said the researcher. "We noticed the reaction in human tissue cells in our negative control experiments, and since there was nothing in the literature, we knew it was important to investigate further."

Based on the finding, the fat cells we store near our skin may be a peripheral biological clock, said the researcher. "Its early days, but it's not a giant leap to suppose that the light that regulates our circadian rhythm, received through our eyes, may also have the same impact through the fat cells near our skin."

He explained that the molecular pathway they discovered was first identified as being activated by the eye when exposed to the blue wavelengths in sunlight. "That's why you are not supposed to look at digital devices before bed because they emit the same blue light the sun does, that signals us to wake up," he explained. "Well, perhaps that pathway -- exposure to sunlight that directs our sleep-wake patterns-- may also act in a sensory manner, setting the amount of fat humans burn depending on the season. You gain weight in the winter, and then burn it off in the summer."

This could be evolutionary process, supported by the fact that unlike many other mammals, our fat is spread out all over our bodies just underneath our skin, he added.

THIS IS ONLY FOR INFORMATION, ALWAYS CONSULT YOU PHYSICIAN BEFORE HAVING ANY PARTICULAR FOOD/ MEDICATION/EXERCISE/OTHER REMEDIES.    
 
PS- THOSE INTERESTED IN RECIPES ARE FREE TO VIEW MY BLOG-                      
HTTP:GSEASYRECIPES.BLOGSPOT.COM/

FOR INFO ABOUT KNEE REPLACEMENT, YOU CAN VIEW MY BLOG-                                                                       

HTTP://KNEE REPLACEMENT-STICK CLUB.BLOGSPOT.COM/
FOR CROCHET DESIGNS
HTTP://MY CROCHET CREATIONS.BLOGSPOT.COM

Bioengineered yeast used as opioids

THIS IS ONLY FOR INFORMATION, ALWAYS CONSULT YOU PHYSICIAN BEFORE HAVING ANY PARTICULAR FOOD/ MEDICATION/EXERCISE/OTHER REMEDIES.






PS- THOSE INTERESTED IN RECIPES ARE FREE TO VIEW MY BLOG-
HTTP:GSEASYRECIPES.BLOGSPOT.COM      

FOR INFO ABOUT KNEE REPLACEMENT, YOU CAN VIEW MY BLOG

HTTP://KNEE REPLACEMENT-STICK CLUB.BLOGSPOT.COM/

FOR CROCHET DESIGNS- http://My Crochet Creations.blogspot.com/

 

 Scientists have invented a speedy method to make potent painkilling opioids using bioengineered baker's yeast instead of poppies, but need to improve the process to make it commercially viable.

The new method, if it can be made more efficient, could greatly change the  medication manufacturing business, but there are concerns about increasing the growing problem of opioid abuse.

This same type of approach potentially also could be used to make other currently plant-based medicines for fighting cancer, infectious diseases and chronic illnesses.

The scientists said they altered the yeast's genetic make-up in a way that coaxed the cells to convert sugar into two opioids - hydrocodone and thebaine - in three to five days.

Hydrocodone, shuts down pain receptors in the brain, and related chemicals like morphine and oxycodone are part of a group of painkilling drugs called opioids produced from the opium poppy. Making opioids this way is faster than making opium from poppies, which can take more than a year.

This is an important development, as it may provide an alternative supply for these essential medicines and allow greater access for most of the global population that currently has insufficient access to pain medication.

The researchers are concerned about worsening the growing abuse of these painkillers by some, as now they can be produced faster than before.

Researchers  inserted DNA into the yeast that encodes instructions for the cells to make the enzymes necessary to perform the sugar conversion steps.

The baker's yeast was engineered with 23 genes from six different organisms: the brown rat, the goldthread herb, the California poppy, the Iranian poppy, the opium poppy and a soil bacterium called Pseudomonas putida.

The process unveiled by researchers shows proof that the bioengineered yeast can produce small amounts of opioid painkillers from scratch. Currently, about 4,400 gallons of bioengineered yeast would be needed to yield a single dose of the medication.

Researcher said the process needs to be improved to make it efficient enough for commercial production, saying this could take several years. But it is worth the wait for future patients, as surely it won't be addictive like opioids, hopefully.