Researchers find retrotransposons cause genetic changes in brain cells over time

Researchers find retrotransposons cause genetic changes in brain cells over time

medicalxpress.com

Researchers in Scotland have discovered that retrotransposons, a type of gene that inserts itself into other parts of the human genome, are able to continue inserting copies of themselves into the genetic structure of brain cells over the course a person’s entire lifetime. The result is, as Geoffrey Faulkner and his team describe in their article published in Nature, brain cells that are genetically different from other cells in the body and even from one another.

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This observation may lead to a new understanding about a number of diseases.

The first thing I need to say is I apologize if this seems heady and uninteresting. I know that many of us are not tremendously interested in the nuts and bolts of the workings of these elements of nature.

For those of you wondering, a retrotransposon, is a type of molecule that is very common in plant material. It is a chemical sequence which copies itself to RNA and then back to DNA that may integrate back to the genome.

As these molecules roll down the chain or ladder of RNA, they make chemical changes in it, kind of like replacing the struts and rungs in the RNA chain... the RNA similarly functions to transcribe our DNA into the working material for our own organs and functions, so it kind of has a way of changing the material of the nucleus of cells which then split and create new 'altered' cells... over time, if such cells were compared with cells you had been born with, you might think they had come from a completely different person - unrelated to you.

Retrotransposons, are mobile genetic structures, molecules in essence, that make copies of themselves which they somehow inject into other parts of the DNA structure in certain cells. They are believed to make up some forty percent of the entire human genome. The reason they are important is because they result in changes to the genome of some cells, which means those cells are genetically altered, which means they are genetically different from all other cells in body. What’s not known is if this process has some positive healthy effects, or if it’s behind many of the neurological disorders that adversely impact the brain.

The researchers found 25,000 areas where there was evidence that retrotransposons had inserted themselves. They also found evidence of three families of retrotransposons, as well as one, the "Alu" family, which had never before been associated with the brain.

These retrotransposon copy themselves into the genetic material in cells that, for example, make chemical transporters. Also, some were found in the genes in some cells that are known to fight tumor growth.

... Adding fuel to that fire were retrotransposons found in cells that regulate proteins in the brain which of course have been linked to all manner of psychiatric ailments such as schizophrenia.

This particular research will deserve some scrutiny in the near future... as new genetic material is being introduced into our environment via GMO plants and other active biological materials.

They also found a lot more copying went on in the hippocampus then in the caudate nucleus, something that could lead to speculation regarding the nature of memory and learning in general if the cells in that part of the brain have individualized DNA structures.

Thanks for reading.

medicalxpress.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Wow
Sounds like either a virus, a defense mechanism or object oriented programming.
This can raise a few questions

1) Ok, i'll have to go into conspiracy mode here. Is it possible that a foreign entitty(I mean aliens here) have put a template in our genome that gets copied everytime to disallow us to have capabilities that they didn't want us to have? Far fetched ya i know

2) Is it a virus?

3) A defense mechanism to ensure that evolutionary traits do not get lost, a part of our evolutionary immune system?

4) Anyone who uses SQL Server for example knows that a Model database is created for every group that is used as a template for future database creations, or re-use and polymorphism in object oriented programming.
That's the first thing that struck me when reading this article

Whatever it is, it seems that 1, 2 and 3 are all pertinant to 4.

Originally posted by ModernAcademia
Wow
Sounds like either a virus, a defense mechanism or object oriented programming.
This can raise a few questions

1) Ok, i'll have to go into conspiracy mode here. Is it possible that a foreign entitty(I mean aliens here) have put a template in our genome that gets copied everytime to disallow us to have capabilities that they didn't want us to have? Far fetched ya i know

2) Is it a virus?

3) A defense mechanism to ensure that evolutionary traits do not get lost, a part of our evolutionary immune system?

4) Anyone who uses SQL Server for example knows that a Model database is created for every group that is used as a template for future database creations, or re-use and polymorphism in object oriented programming.
That's the first thing that struck me when reading this article

Whatever it is, it seems that 1, 2 and 3 are all pertinant to 4.

DANG! You nailed it. I tried desperately to avoid the connotation... but you sniffed it right out.

I think it may be part of the evolutionary paradigm; but given what we speculate about possibilities, and I am also guilty of this, it very well could be a 'design' feature. But then why limit the migrating expression to plant intake? Perhaps it's as if plants were the meter by which our systems gauge the need to evolve in the environment.

As plants change, we do. I wonder if this possibly could be 'used' - given some higher technology - to alter the very nature of human intellect?

I commend you on your mind-reading skillz!

Are the alterations to the genes passed on to our children I wonder? Would this create more diversity in the species that would otherwise be possible under normal circumstances?

I assume this has been going on for a very long time and therefore it is natural. Perhaps the modern diet (for some people) of processed foods means this isn't happening, maybe giving rise to the behavioural problems often linked to such foods.

Assuming its a natural part of our life cycles.

reply to post by Grifter81


That is clearly one possibility. I assume that our 'chemical' way of life, including all the wonders of industrialization like PCBs, and other "plastic" technological byproducts may affect us in unobserved ways. It is good that the scientists of the world are scrutinizing these matters.

The problem is, however, if it were to be discovered that the processing of food and additives we use are responsible to a measurable degree for the maladies of these more 'modern' diseases, would the fact that remedying them hamper profitability make for streams of disinformation and 'tactics' like the ones we saw rise up in the tobacco industry "what cancer?" and the Agri-business international price fixing rackets would surface?

I'll be looking for contradictory articles which should soon come about. Unless big Pharma already has a 'cure' in the freezer waiting for its $500 per dose debut.

Is it the passing along of an antenna
or a Listener as Java developers would say

I wonder if it's an antenna
Look at leaves flying around hitching a ride with wind
almost sounds like a runtime envrionment

Object oriented programming was desinged to mimic life btw
But nonetheless....

A facninating thought
I dislike alpha waves

oh ya, Star n Flagged!

Hmmm! is it a cure or a disease?
sound like the film the Thing.
(they re'made it out soon)

At first I thought it was a cancer giver, but then, I thought that maybe it was a tool, be it from aliens or nature , to allow us to adapt to the constant changes in our environment?

EDIT: Thanks, BTW! I had no idea what retrotransposons were before reading your title!

reply to post by Maxmars


Uninteresting? Then you never spent an evening with me... Be grateful. All living systems are by their nature intensely robust. Over eons, life has survived by allowing it to make many mistakes. It makes sense it would have developed many ways to do this. What is more amazing to me then this having having anything to do with "ET", is that life can and does exist in the most ungodly places. If we can find life three miles down inside solid rock in a mine in South Africa, what does that about where we might find life? Frankly that means not just our world but many must have it, and it would seem based on some studies, life is the natural result of what will happen when you have energy and self organization. That means any "ET's" just take another number...

perhaps this is just a natural process of the body.
if we are meant to be vegetarians,
perhaps when eating a food that is 'good',
the change is made to cells DNA, so that
eating this in the future will be 'recognized' by our cells
(because of the modified markers), and the nutirents of the plant can be utilized by the cells better?

reply to post by Maxmars


Uh oh...I think we are in deep doo do. I suspected this all along, however....your OP pretty much
concludes the grey area of conspiracy and sheds light on the direct connection between
GMO organisms ( aka GMO 'food') and disease, syndromes, and eventually death.

The 35S promoter, derived from the common plant virus, cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV), is a component of transgenic constructs in more than 80% of genetically modified (GM) plants. Alarming reports have suggested that the 35S promoter might cause accidental activation of plant genes or endogenous viruses, promote horizontal gene transfer, or might even recombine with mammalian viruses such as HIV, with unexpected consequences. In this article, we discuss the properties of CaMV and the 35S promoter and the potential risks associated with the use of the promoter in GM plants, concluding that any risks are no greater than those encountered in conventional plant breeding

www.biotech-info.net...

I wish I had the fortitude to translate that right now, but its late, its a Monday and for some reason
my brain is tired. Yet, I think that the general idea is clear...

Its not nice to fool with Mother Nature.

Very interesting. My biology is a little rusty but is there any evidence that retroviruses can do this as well? I would assume so if transposons can but not sure if they are able to cross the blood-brain barrier or not.

Either way, its interesting that our idea of the brain is changing so rapidly. 20 years ago it was commonly accepted (amoung lay-people anyway) that your brain didn't even change once you reached adult hood. Now we know that neurons continue to grow and change, myelenation pathways are able to change, even the genetic structure is subject to change!

The natural extension of this in my mind is that change is possible. In everything. So we don't as a species need to continue just doing what we've been doing. For anyone who thinks their life is # - it can change. For anyone who thinks they are too damaged to live anymore - things can change.

It would be interesting to know which plants cause this effect.

We tend to forget the symbiotic relationship us humans have with our environment, remember we are only 100% human at one time in our life and that is in the womb. After we are born many beneficial bacteria begin to colonise our bodies, by the time we die up to 90% of the cells in/on our body are not human (from new scientist - forget which issue)

So it is feasible that this may be a way for a plant to get us to cultivate it as the most successful plant species are the edible variety, plants need animals as much as we need them.

Just my opinion

An interesting side not here:

If the brain can change its own DNA, that means that we can theoretically change our own DNA through willpower and/or training, at least in our brains. This opens up the posibility for many amazing possibilities such as self healing and who knows what else.


Being able to change your own DNA has been an accepted idea for a long time in some esoteric practices and eastern spiritual paths.

OMFG!!!

Can someone please tell me these things could alter my DNA and make me a superhuman with chameleon skin cells or something? ;-P

Or like a Psychic? Though they'd more likely make me a psychopath or something lol

reply to post by Maxmars


Good catch! ...More grist for the mill - looks like these guys didn't take the course on retrotransposons:

Blood Protein from Rice

Scientists genetically engineer rice to produce a safe, pure, and much-needed human plasma protein.

....plasma protein, human serum albumin (HSA), can now be produced at high yield and purity in rice, according to a report published today (October 31) in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Using the rice-derived protein in place of its blood-derived counterpart will not only ease demand but also eliminate the risk of spreading diseases.

Pssst.
Prion, misfolded protein, mutant protein.

...Retrotransposons are proteins; virtually any protein can misfold .....

Evidence of epigenetic inheritance has been suppressed since Darwin's uncle Galton twisted Charles' findings to rationalize long-standing myths about superior bloodlines - and establish "Eugenics" as a "science" to validate myths regarding "genetic superiority." The bs didn't go away after WWII and the Nazi's defeat - it got repackaged as "genetics."

In fact, proteins are way more important than genes in determining "genetic expression," and environmental exposures determine protein 'expression' aka 'folding' and function. These truths about proteins have been known, documented and suppressed for a long, long time.

Here's a very quick overview of recent papers:

1999 - Long terminal repeat retrotransposons jump between species

1999 - Retrotransposons are mobile genetic elements …..ubiquitous in plants and play a major role in plant gene and genome evolution.

2000 - The dynamic genome is a concept associated with the discovery of transposable elements by Barbara McClintock. Her Nobel lecture (in 1983) concluded with a challenge to biologists considering this issue (1). She wrote,
We know about the components of genomes that could be made available for such restructuring. We know noth-ing, however, about how the cell senses danger and instigates responses to it that are often truly remarkable. (ref. 1, pp. 800–801)

MORE

Retrotransposon-mediated genome evolution on a local ecological scale

Notwithstanding the number of re- maining issues, the study of Kalendar et al. provides perhaps the best example yet of the dynamic nature of plant genome evolution on a local ecological scale, and hints at retrotransposon-mediated adap- tive evolution. In this regard, the authors have taken the first significant step toward addressing McClintock’s challenge to figure out how cells restructure their genomes in response to perceived danger.

2003 - The Gems of "Junk" DNA

IT WILL TAKE YEARS, perhaps decades, to construct a detailed theory that explains how DNA, RNA and the epigenetic machinery all fit into an interlocking, self-regulating system. But there is no longer any doubt that a new theory is needed to replace the central dogma that has been the foundation of molecular genetics and biotechnology since the 1950s.

The central dogma, as usually stated, is quite simple: DNA makes RNA, RNA makes protein, and proteins do almost all the real work of biology. The idea is that information is stored in the twisted ladders of DNA, specifically in the chemical bases (commonly labeled ATG and C) that pair up to form the rungs of the ladders. A gene is just a particular sequence of bases on one side of the ladder that specifies a protein.

The dogma holds that genes express themselves as proteins…

COMPARE TO

2011, Wikipedia - pseudogenes are generally thought of as the last stop for genomic material that is to be removed from the genome, they are often labeled as junk DNA. [ed. Wrong.]

Also see:

2007 - Transposable elements and the epigenetic regulation of the genome (about gene silencing)

Types and structures of transposable elements


……Hate to be a thread killer - and this had to be quick too because I have an appointment.