Alex+F.

=**Gene that can allow slowing of age.**=

Aging is a problem for everyone in the human race. Most people think of aging being on the outside such as our skin, and greying of hairs and not the inside like our organs and muscles. What if we could break aging in our society where it was reversible or even preventable? Scientists are coming close, a group of biologists from the University of California at Los Angeles were working in research involving fruit flies.

They said they isolated all of the genes the fruit fly, also know as Drosophila melanogaster. They have identified 122,653,977 base pairs and over 17,000 genes. This means out of 17,000 they turned a single gene on and they got results.





"We have shown that when we activate the gene in the intestine or the nervous system, we see the aging process is slowed beyond the organ system in which the gene is activated," says David Walker, an associate professor of integrative biology and physiology at UCLA and senior author of the research.

This team believes that instead of focusing on diseases of age (Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, cancer, stroke, cardiovascular disease, diabetes) they should look at the process to stop or even slow the aging. This could stop the onset of these diseases. media type="youtube" key="uv1Niw1SrvA" width="560" height="315" align="right"

This video shows the gene being activated. (not in the flies) You can see the process being hyper activated. This also activates starvation to improve the LD motion.

Further reading:
http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2015/150527/ncomms8176/full/ncomms8176.html

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/mair-lab/why-study-aging/

Sources:
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/mair-lab/projects/ampk/

http://www.cell.com/cell-reports/fulltext/S2211-1247%2814%2900669-X

http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/scientists-identify-gene-slows-aging-article-1.1934587

http://www.cell.com/cell-reports/abstract/S2211-1247%2814%2900669-X

=**Chameleons Camouflage**=

There is this myth that chameleons change color to blend in with their surroundings, but this is actually not true. Most of the reason chameleons change color is as a signal, a visual signal of mood and aggression, territory and mating behavior.

The Chameleons produce coloration by reflection and scattering of light by cells and tissues, and by absorption of light by chemical pigments within cells of the skin.

In this video you can see the Chameleon change his colors. Also the music is great. media type="youtube" key="w9ecX8PRPSw" width="560" height="315"

Chameleons have evolved to blend in with their surroundings in a defensive mechanism. This photo shows the pigment moving across the cell.

A calm chameleon is a pale green color. When it gets angry, it might go bright yellow, and when it wants to mate, it basically turns on every possible color it can which shows that it’s in the mood. This is not unique to chameleons. Other animals also have these chromatophores.

Cuttlefish are another very elegant example of how this works.

The Chameleon is one of natures perfect examples of evolution. There could be even more amazing ones liek the chameleon that we could not even see.

Further Reading:
http://jeb.biologists.org/content/215/24/4345

http://www.pnas.org/content/107/12/5495

http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/ReptilesAmphibians/Facts/FactSheets/Veiledchameleon.cfm

Sources:
Higham, T.E.; Anderson, C.V. (2014), "Function and adaptation of chameleons", in Tolley, K.A.; Herrel, A., //The Biology of Chameleons//, Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, pp. 63–83

http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/questions/question/2634/

http://animals.mom.me/process-chameleon-camouflaging-themselves-4521.html

http://www.howitworksdaily.com/how-do-chameleons-camouflage-themselves/