The ability to survive without food is one of the great achievements of our biology - but how does it work?
Our body is a machine, but unlike a car - it can keep going long after the gas light comes on. Sophisticated mechanisms, shared by all our mammalian brothers, allow us to continue functioning for hours, days, weeks and even months without food. But the hidden is greater than the visible in this wonderful mechanism. Dr. Ido Goldstein, head of the Laboratory for Metabolism and Gene Expression Control at the Faculty of Food Agriculture and Environment at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, studies the genetics of hunger.
"I established the laboratory two years ago," says Dr. Goldstein, "and this is one of our two main projects. I am interested in our body's response to hunger, and focus on the vital organ for this response - the liver. When we think of fasting, we think of extreme cases in the third world, the Yom Kippur fast or hunger strikes, but the truth is that we are all fasting almost all the time. For example, we all fast every night, when we sleep. Understanding the body's response to fasting is critical, as we can survive without energy supply for weeks, and even months. We have a very complex biological program that helps us survive periods of fasting, a program with unique dynamics."
Of course, the short-term fasting of sleep does not cause too much stress (stress) in the body. As the fast continues, the program that the liver activates to continue supplying energy to the body becomes more and more sophisticated.
"You have to understand that fasting is not binary," says Dr. Goldstein. "It's not fasting in front of food. There are stages until you reach starvation, in the clinical sense of the word. In the fasting literature, four stages are defined, in each of which the body uses different 'fuels' - from overnight fasting to actual starvation. We are trying to characterize them from a specific direction of gene expression control. There are certain genes in the liver that are not expressed while eating, but are expressed during fasting. And there are genes that are expressed in late fasting, but not in early fasting. We are trying to examine the genetic timeline of fasting in order to understand whether the different phases of fasting are dictated by the program of gene expression - and how the transition from phase to phase takes place in practice. When does the cell 'decide' that it is time to express this gene and not another".
Certain genes in the liver are not expressed while eating, but are expressed during fasting. And there are genes that are expressed in late fasting, but not in early fasting
The research in Dr. Goldstein's laboratory is carried out on model animals. "Fortunately, there is a lot of similarity in the stages of fasting between mice and other mammals, like us," he says. "The four stages of fasting are almost identical, although in mice the transition between the stages is faster. And of course there are also differences between people. Everyone reacts a little differently to fasting, but the basic steps are the same. These are fundamental processes in the biology of all mammals." Dr. Goldstein adds that his new research - which was supported by a research grant from the National Science Foundation - has many implications, and not only regarding actual fasting situations.
"A better understanding of the dynamics of fasting - and breaking it - will make a significant contribution to many fields. So, for example, when some of the genetic features of the mechanism for coping with fasting go wrong - this disruption leads to very common metabolic diseases, such as diabetes and obesity."
Life itself:
"If I wasn't a scientist, I would want to be a writer," says Dr. Goldstein. "I think there is an overlap between literature and science, because even in science we frame our research as a kind of stories, which are almost fictional. I don't think I would necessarily be a good writer, but I would definitely like to be writing stories."
More of the topic in Hayadan:
4 תגובות
As they wrote before, an article without content. If I wanted to consume pieces of information or information about the scientist, I would be satisfied with the article in Temka
An article about nothing
A blank article.
Unfortunately this happens a lot on the site.
A little explanation of the mechanisms, genes and metabolic effects would not hurt.
It is not clear what the purpose of the site is because scientific enrichment is almost non-existent.
Too bad
Why didn't you specify what the steps are, what the mechanisms are, what the consequences are.
Too bad - the content is missing