My Civil Advocate

Give the immense size of elephants, the amount of cells they have (about 100 times more than humans), and their relatively long life span of around 70 years, it stands to reason that elephants should get cancer and die from it more often than we as humans do. But that's not what happens. Instead, elephants die from cancer at a rate of just around five percent. In contrast, humans suffer cancer-related deaths at a rate of 11 to 25 percent. So, why the big difference? Scientists believe they may have figured that one out. In a recent paper published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers showed that elephants have 20 copies of a gene called TP53, which is known for its ability to create a protein that suppresses tumors. Humans have just one copy of TP53. Scientists conducted experiments (by exposing white blood cells collected from elephants and humans to radiation that damaged the cells' DNA) to see what role the extra tumor-fighting genes migh...

In recent years, research has ramped up to get to the bottom of the striking disparity between genders when it comes to the incidence of autism spectrum disorders (ASD). ASD affects approximately four times as many boys as girls. In one theory, the PTCHD1 gene on the X chromosome plays a pivotal role. PTCHD1 is a protein coding gene that helps to deliver information to cells during brain development. If it has mutated or is missing altogether, there is an elevated risk of autism or an intellectual disability. Boys inherit one X chromosome from their mother and one Y chromosome from their father. Girls carry two X chromosomes. If one X chromosome carries a mutated PTCHD1 gene, or is missing it altogether, the second X chromosome provides backup, shielding a girl form ASD. However, the genetic abnormality can still be passed on to a future son. Other research is examining the role that the brain cortex thickness has on the development of ASD. The cortex is the brain's outer lay...