GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (Wood) — Inside the Van Andel Institute lab, Dr. Heidi Lempradl and her team spend their time studying fruit flies. The main advantage is the speed of reproduction. Today’s fruit fly becomes a grandparent in just two weeks of her life. This is an important part of Lemprador’s research into how environmental exposures affect offspring over generations.
“We know that environmental and chemical exposures can affect the exposed generation, but in recent years, across generations, it has also affected children of the exposed generation. “And it can increase susceptibility to certain diseases,” Lempradl said.
lemprador Many years ago he discovered that increasing the amount of sugar in the father’s diet made his offspring more prone to obesity.
“The goal is to translate our findings into ways to prevent disease and create a healthier future,” Lempradl said.
One way they’re doing it is through an event on November 16th from 11:30am to 1:30pm at VAI. Conversations on health and the environment are hosted by Carol Van Andel and run through Lempraddles. Collaborative research with Dr. Yvonne Fonduf-Mittendorf.
“I look at the current generation, Heidi [Lempradl] We look to the future,” said Fondueve-Mittendorf.
Fondufe-Mittendorf has studied the environmental effects on the body of chronic exposure to certain chemicals. Physicians working for VAI are looking at the effects of arsenic exposure on the development of certain diseases, such as cancer.
“Most people think I have cancer, I just inherited it from my parents. No,” said Fonduf-Mittendorf. “The simple things we are exposed to all the time, that’s the environment we live in, right? I think knowledge is important. It is important if we can understand that it can be harmful to generations.
Part of fondue mittendorf The conversation will discuss how arsenic can change the way DNA folds in cells, altering when and how often cells are exposed to cancer-causing genes. And the groundbreaking possibility that zinc could play a role in prevention.
“You can see that the zinc that helps this protein bind to DNA and that helps fold the DNA displaces the zinc and inserts it there. That means that the DNA packaged into the cells is not correctly identified, which means that in some cases, genes that you don’t want to be expressed, such as oncogenes, are being expressed.” said Dr. Fondufe-Mittendorf. “What we’re going to do in the lab is, would a simple zinc supplement help in that situation? I mean, if we find it, it would be really, really interesting.”
Learn more about conversations about health and the environment. here.
