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BRI as a replacement for BMI…

Posted on by Lenny Variano

BMI was first developed by a mathematician, Aldolphe Quetelet, in the 1830s as a way of defining the average man. Known then as the Quetelet Index, it wasn’t given the term Body Mass Index until 1972 and wasn’t adopted by the World Health Organization until 1997. BMI is the ratio of height to weight. Although it is used by the medical profession as a screening tool for disease, some practitioners feel it is inaccurate. It will label a person as overweight or obese without taking into consideration the amount of muscle as opposed to fat in a person’s body. Opposition also stems from the fact that it was developed 200 years ago and was based on data from mostly white men. BMI does not consider racial, ethnic, age, sex, and gender diversity. A new metric is now being considered and used by many in the medical profession. It is BRI (Body Roundness Index) it measures the relationship between height and roundness (waist measurement). It is a way of measuring central body fat which is more of a predictor of disease. The consensus is that BMI may be overestimating disease risk for muscular athletes and underestimating disease risk for older adults who have replaced muscle for fat. BRI is more concerned with abdominal fat which is more of an indicator of future illness as opposed to BMI which does not consider this to be a part of its calculations.  Looks like it is time to start a core exercise routine for the New Year.

https://www.healthline.com/health-news/is-the-body-roundness-index-the-new-bmi-what-it-says-about-your-health

Seaweed Instead of Plastic…

Posted on by Lenny Variano

At present, most of our food wrappers and reusable containers contain plastics that are not biodegradable but are cheap to produce. What if seaweed could replace petroleum-based products? Since the 1970’s, seaweed production in the Philippines has been a big part of the local industry. It has provided income for more than 200,000 families. It is used as a thickening agent, a food stabilizer, and a base in many cosmetics. In 2019 Denxybel Montinolsa, a Filipino research student, developed a film like substance combining mango skins and seaweed as a replacement for our present-day plastic wrappings. Another start-up NotPla out of England is working on seaweed coating for take-out boxes to replace the present plastic coating used. Research is also being conducted in Australia where efforts to use seaweed are included as part of livestock feed. Seaweed is abundant, breaks down completely in water, and grows very fast throughout the world so most countries could develop and use some form of this innovative technology from this traditional food source.

 

https://news.mongabay.com/2023/01/innovators-develop-seaweed-based-alternatives-to-plastic-food-wrappers/

Virgin Crocodile birth…

Posted on by Lenny Variano

In Costa Rica, a female crocodile who had been living alone in captivity for 18 years gave birth to a cluster of eggs. Although this is not uncommon, one of the eggs looked perfectly normal and was able to produce a baby crocodile. The egg did eventually produce a perfectly formed but stillborn baby. Parthenogen is the term given to a virgin birth in which the newborn will only contain DNA material from the mother. This has been seen in other species such as cobras, and California Condors but never in crocodiles. Since Crocodiles are from a particular branch of the tree of life, this may have also been true for pterosaurs and dinosaurs. Although animals born in this way are not genetically strong, they are able to mate with others of the same species. What is the reasoning behind this? It is possible that animals will reproduce in this manner when they feel the survival of their species is threatened when there is no mate available.

https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/scientists-find-crocodile-virgin-birth-costa-rica-zoo-2023-06-07/#:~:text=MEXICO%20CITY%2C%20June%207%20(Reuters,to%20a%20study%20published%20Wednesday.

46,000-Year-Old Roundworms…

Posted on by Lenny Variano

A pair of roundworms was encased in the Siberian permafrost about the time when the Wooly Mammoth roamed freely. After 46,000 years these worms were defrosted in warm water and began to wiggle. This was an indication that life can be paused almost indefinitely. The results were published in “PLOS Genetics”. According to researchers at the Institute of Physiochemical and Biological Problems In Soli Science in Russia, these nematodes (roundworms) were buried approximately 130 feet deep. The findings were verified in Germany where the worms were then shipped. They have a lifespan of a few days and were able to produce new generations while in the lab. The timeframe of when they lived was established by a process called radiocarbon dating. The roundworms were able to achieve cryptobiosis (dormant state) because of a special gene which is also present in contemporary roundworms. The hope is that we may learn to adapt more easily to the extreme effects of climate change and in so doing protect ecosystems from collapsing. Since the permafrost is melting there may yet be many more discoveries of our distant past.

https://journals.plos.org/plosgenetics/article?id=10.1371/journal.pgen.1010798https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/46-000-year-old-worm-possibly-revived-from-siberian-permafrost/