Media Release 1 October?? September 20033

ComBio 2003 - Melbourne Convention Centre September 28 to October 2.Draft Media Release for Approval

PLANT

IS THE ‘WORM TURNING’ IN LINK BETWEEN STRESS AND AGEING?

HOW A ROUNDWORM IS SHEDDING LIGHT ON THE LINK BETWEEN STRESS AND AGEINGSCIENTISTS MAY HELP OVERCOME HARD GULPS FOR KIDS AT THE DINNER TABLE

Children who have done the hard gulps with vegies they hate, take heart.

Your children and their kids are likely to have much happier times at the dinner table thanks to scientists working on genetic manipulation of plants.

Biological scientist Professor Cathie Martin says she can see the day when a child will obtain all the nutrients he or she needs from one vegetable they like, say a potato, without having to consume other vegies they hate, such as brussel sprouts.

“This could be just one happy outcome from the ability to manipulate the metabolism of plants,” she said.

“As the pace of life quickens and diets change, workers may also benefit from the opportunity to obtain the nutritional balance they need from one or two vegetables, rather than having to cook up a variety of vegies at the end of a long day.

“Many crops are already genetically modified to make them more resistant to certain diseases and to increase yield, but conventional engineering strategies usually result in only modest changes to the desired compounds that are so health giving for people who eat them.

“The next step is to manipulate metabolic pathways and enhance the natural ability of plants to produce desired compounds known as bioactives that help prevent diseases in people and contribute to long and healthy lives.”

Professor Martin, a main speaker at the ComBio 2003 biological sciences meeting in Melbourne, is a researcher at the John Innes Institute in the United Kingdom. She is internationally recognised for her research on the metabolism and functional genomics of plants.

“Plants are versatile and creative biosynthesisers and the medicinal and health promoting benefits of certain plants have been known for centuries,” she said.

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“However, the important contributions of plant bioactives and their activities as protective antioxidants in the diet are becoming increasingly recognised.
“We already know that French people eat three times more butter than people in the United States and they have higher blood pressure and cholesterol.
“Yet the heart attack and stroke rate in France is 30 per cent lower than the figure in the United States because French people consume more red wine and olive oil that contains health giving antioxidants and flavonoids.
“In many countries, people do have wide choice in the foods they eat, and educating them to be more selective in their diet is one way of helping to create healthier individuals and societies.
“However, some people in the world through cultural or economic factors may not have such choice in the foods they eat, and vegetables in particular.
“So it may be desirable to select certain vegetables they do eat and genetically manipulate them to maximise the health giving qualities of the plants.
“We are still at the early stages of probing the metabolic mysteries of plants and trying to better understand those species which produce large amounts of bioactives.
“Ultimately, the genetic manipulation of plants like vegetables to produce greater amounts of bioactives in the diet will depend on public demand and the willingness of companies to support and commercialise the science.
“But if I had the choice of eating, for example, a vegetable that had been manipulated to increase my chances of fending off diseases in life, I would not hesitate to eat it.
“People in future may be able to reap the outcomes of this science in the foods they consume.
“They may also be able to serve up only those vegies their kids like in the knowledge that they will gain the nutritional benefits they need without tears at the dinner table.”
More than 1200 scientists and researchers from around the world are attending ComBio 2003 at the Melbourne Convention Centre.
Research on the tiny roundworm, C. elegans, supports the idea that a bit of stress may actually be good for you and contribute to a longer life.
When roundworms are given a mild heat stress they produce a genetic response that slows the ageing of cells.
Professor Stuart Kim of the Department of Developmental Biology at California’s Stanford University, who will present his research findings at a scientific conference in Melbourne later this month, said that the ability of an animal to slow down the inevitable decline in cellular and molecular function played a big role in determining its lifespan. present his research findings Melbourne ,
C. elegans, or tThe common roundworm, has a lifespan of only two weeks, making it a useful model in which to study the link between stress and ageing. known as C. elegans lives a relatively stress free life despite the fact that the time from its infancy to old age is only two weeks.
Now research involving the tiny worm, which is found in soil around the world, may provide evidence that a little bit of stress in humans is actually good for you, and helps you live longer.
A major scientific conference in Melbourne later this month will be told of studies showing that the application of mild heat stress on the worm creates a genetic response that protects against the ageing of cells.
Scientists and researchers from around the world are coming to Melbourne for ComBio 2003, a combined meeting of the:
Australian Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology;
Australia and New Zealand Society for Cell and Developmental Biology;
Australian Society of Plant Scientists;
New Zealand Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; and
New Zealand Society of Plant Physiologists.
“We are searching for similarities in the way C. elegans and humans age by studying which genes are turned on and which genes are turned off over time,” said Professor Kim.
“Perhaps surprisingly, a body of evidence supports the existence of similar changes in gene activity between C. elegans and humans for a variety of biological processes, including ageing.”
One of the invited speakers at ComBio, Professor Stuart Kim of the Department of Developmental Biology at California’s Stanford University, said the ability of an animal to cope with cellular decline and molecular dysfunction played a big role in determining its lifespan.
“We are searching for similarities in the way the nematode C. elegans ages and the way humans age with some genes turning on and some turning off over time,” Professor Kim said.
“We know that some similar biological processes apply in humans and in animals.
“For example, if we put the gene that causesa human breast cancer in humansgene can be put into a n nematoderoundworm, a mouse, a fish or a frog, its and it will result in acause the growth of a tumour.
“There are a lot of data that suggests that some of the properties of ageing in animals such as the nematode C. elegans may apply in humans.
“We know that the application of Research has shown that if you apply mild stress to the roundworm, it induces protective genetic responses and molecular mechanisms that increase the worm’s lifespan.
“If the sameit turns out that the same situation applies in to humans, it may be that a little bit of stress is actually good for you.
“In fact, the research may underline the old saying that what does not kill you may be good for you, and that being a couch potato all your life is not the way to achieve old age.”
Professor Kim is an invited speaker at ComBio 2003, a combined meeting of the:
Australian Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology;
Australia and New Zealand Society for Cell and Developmental Biology;
Australian Society of Plant Scientists;
New Zealand Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; and
New Zealand Society of Plant Physiologists.
Scientists and researchers from around the world will attend ComBio will be held at the Melbourne Convention Centre from September 28 to October 2.
Professor Stuart Kim Cathie Martin is available for interview. He can be contacted on the following:
Telephone: 0011 1650 725 7671 or 0011 1650 867 3189
e-mail: HYPERLINK "mailto:"
To arrange, please
For further information contact Trevor Gill, Conference Media Relations, on
Telephone: 0418 821948.
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