Short essay about the evolution of size in animals. There are many factors at play here, and the process is not very well understood.
I found this to be very interesting
Take a salamander. Let’s say it’s a certain size, and it has a certain number of cells. Suppose you double the size of the cells. Do you get a salamander that is twice as big? No. You get a salamander that’s the same size as it was before. But it has half the number of cells. Somehow, the salamander’s body can measure how big it is and stops growing when it gets to the right size.
(These animals look like regular salamanders, and are perfectly healthy. However, they are a bit stupid, apparently because they have half the number of brain cells. They’re less good than regular salamanders at solving mazes.)
Poor salamanders, not only are they small, they can't find their way home.
Early Risers are Mutants
I always knew there was something weird about morning people. Well, I shouldn't point fingers, I usually do just fine on 5 hours of sleep a night. But still, being able to tell a morning person that they are a mutant is nice.
44 comments:
"The Long and Short of It" in the New York Times was surprising to read, since I do not know a whole lot about animals. I, for sure, was shocked to find out that many animals, like fish and shrimps, can change sex within their lives. It is interesting as to why these scientists know why animals change size, but they are still trying to understand how an animal's body knows what size it is supposed to be. I truly never questioned such a thing in animals. I think I just learned to accept the fact that giraffes have long necks, while seahorses are smaller. But, I have questioned this in referring to a human body.
I just read "Early Risers are Mutants" on MSN Health & Fitness on Friday.
http://health.msn.com/health-topics/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100243381>1=31036
I found it quite interesting because most of my friends and family say that they need to sleep at least eight hours to feel all fueled up the following day, but, I, on the other hand, find five hours of sleep a night to be fine. Sometimes I only get three hours of sleep and I actually feel more alert. It's kind of weird. I hope geneticist Fu will find the whole story on short of sleep because on MSN, Dr. Daniel F. Kripke, emeritus professor of psychiatry at the University of California at San Diego, said that they do not know if the variation of sleeping is good or bad for people. Hopefully, it is good for me.
The article about early risers is very interesting because I have always been curious to find out what exactly affects a person's sleeping patterns. The fact that it is gene-related is not that surprising. Personally, I can get by on 4-6 hours of sleep and actually feel a bit more awake than when I get 8+ hours a night. If researchers and doctors are able to use these findings to find a cure for these sleep disorders, it would not only help those people but also give hope to other people who could possibly have a genetic disorder. If the people who suffer from familial advanced sleep-phase syndrome (FASPS) went to sleep at a later time than their usual of 6-7, I wonder if that would stop them from waking up at 3 or 4 in the morning. If DEC2 does have an integral part of sleep duration, i wonder how scientists would try and find a way to help people who are only able sleep for a short amount of time.
I thought the sleep article was facinating because they're calling these people mutants and also because it's Interesting to see that they have uncovered such a mutation. Like the article said there would be other factors that make people sleep less but the discovery that lies in DEC2 is significant in finding these other mutations. If the scientists were to make a pill that makes people sleep less it would be a sucess because most people so not get enough sleep and feel fatigued but the pill would make them feel energized. If they did make such a pill I would definately be one of the people who use it.
Its amazing to find that there's a mutation going on when I sleep for 3 hours and I'm still perky during my day. It seems to explain why some people are just as normal when they get less sleep compared to others who get more. Its a mutation!! Wow, so its justified if I call one of my friends who I know is energetic with 3 hours of sleep a mutant. Interesting article. Now if there was only an article to explain why if I get more sleep than I did the night before why I'm more tired than ever.
I found the Early Risers are Mutants article really interesting. I am definitely not a morning person, and I always wondered what made other people different. For instance, whenever I have a sleepover with my friend, we usually go to bed around 2:00 AM. She wakes up at 7:00, perky and ready for the day, whereas I would not normally wake up until at least 9:00, and I'm not so energetic. She knows not to try to wake me up and to keep her distance when I wake up. I always thought it was just the way we were each brought up; her parents are early risers and mine like to sleep in more. Consequently, she's used to lively, early mornings, and I'm accustomed to quiet, leisurely ones. I never considered that a genetic mutation would influence her sleeping patterns. I guess now whenever she complains that I sleep too much, I could call her a mutant!
A blue whale that's 70 tons over the projected max weight, that's insane. Size is so crucial to the animal kingdom, it can determine how many mates one can have, how much offspring one will have, and how healthy one's future offspring will be. I remember watching the episode of Planet Earth about the deep sea and how every fish down there moves slowly, anglerfish, oarfish, and the gulper eel, to conserve energy. Size is factor when it comes to food because, if you're in the deep abyss of the ocean, you're going to want a big meal to provide you more energy, not a small one. The vampire squid for example, needs all the prey it can get because if need be, it can move at 2ft p/s but due to the lack of prey at it's environment of 3k ft down, it needs to conserve all the energy it can.
I found the article on the size of animals very interesting. Its amazing to think that two animals with such contrasting sizes (the pygmy shrew and blue whale) can both be classifies as mammals. I also found the paragraphs about the salamanders very interesting. Its neat that nature is able to regulate the sizes of things in such a way.
The article on morning people made alot of sense. I have wondered many times why I know some people who have no problem getting only a few hours of sleep while others need alot. It made me wonder who out of the people I know have this gene and who is just sleep deprived. This is something I would really like to learn more about.
After reading the "Early Risers are Mutants" article, the first thing I thought of was those commercials for JCPenny and other stores that have those "Early Bird Specials." I can just imagine that being changed to "Mutant Specials." But then I guess they'd lose a lot of their early rising shoppers that way.
Anyway, I do wish they could come out with a pill of DEC2 because that would make getting school work done some-what easier. Sometimes when I'm overloaded with projects, I have to stay up all night working, and then when I wake up the next morning, I'm so exhausted. This pill would make waking up easier for people like me who pull all-nighters doing homework. Then again, I guess avoiding procrastination would make things easier too.
The article concerning sleep was pretty interesting. I never really knew why certain people were able to get up in the morning and feel refreshed and renewed after only 4 or 6 hours of sleep. I would have never guessed that genes played a role in their sleep pattern. I, personally, need more than 8 hours of sleep to feel awake. I was also wondering if even with a couple hours of sleep will those people still be able to perform all the involuntary activities necessary, like digestion for instance.
I am not an early riser at all (since I was a baby I have stayed up later and slept in) but I never thought that it was genetics. It does make sense, however, that a gene causes some people to need less sleep than others because sleep habits don't change very easily. In fact it takes me a few weeks to get used to a drastic change in my sleep schedule. The possibility of a pill that lets people sleep less is very interesting and would greatly benefit many people (especially those who need a sleeping drug to feel rested in the morning).
Also, I agree; it will be fun to call early risers mutants and have the proof to back it up.
The article about sleeping patterns is very interesting to me. It's very interesting that early rising may have something to do with DNA, rather than just habit. I'm curious as to how the body gets enough rest. Just because a person isn't tired doesn't necessarily mean that his/her cells haven't been restored. I've never really understood how sleeping patterns form, and I've always assumed that it was just a matter of habit. For example, during the school year, I'm so used to getting six or seven hours of sleep per day that I even wake up early on weekends. However, during summer, I sleep through ten hours.
In the Long and Short of It article, I found that the paragraphs on the salamanders were very interesting. It is amazing that one salamander can have the 'normal' amount of cells, and then another one can have half of the amount of cells, but the both of them would be the just about the same size. It is also amazing when you think about all of the mammals. You can go from a pygmy shrew smaller than a pinkie finger, all the way to a 190 ton blue whale. What a large range of animals!
It is interesting to know that there are some genetics behind one's sleeping habits. My one family member can sleep five hours and then be wide awake. All he needs during the day is two five minute naps. It is crazy. I, on the other hand, need over six hours of sleep, and five minute naps are completely out of the picture. It's weird that some people can go all day on 3 hours of sleep, while others need at least 6.
The early riser article was very interesting. I have heard of many people that don't need a full eight hours of sleep to be perky in the morning and now i know that it is a genetic cause. If scientists are able to find a pill that would help people sleep less i believe many people would buy it and it would be a success. There are so many people living off of coffee to stay awake for an extra hour or two. The pill would make their lives much easier.
The first article was really interesting to read. It was kind of amusing to learn that fish and other species could change sex. There is one question, though, that the article does not answer.
For example, a fish starts out as a female and sometime during this fish's life, it changes its sex to become a male. Is it possible to switch back to a female or will the fish stay male until it dies?
About the sleep article, I have always been a person who could sleep as late as I want - although the more sleep deprived I am, the more cranky I get - and I would wake up as late or as early as I want without being tired. I guess it is kind of genetic because it seems like I have a mix of the way my parents sleep and wake up. My father could wake up very early without being tired and my mother will wake up as late as she wants.
A few things bothered me about the "Early Risers are Mutants" article. First, the article failed to mention if the research was based on continuous patterns, or single nights where the person would sleep a few hours and be fine the next day. Second, it was not taken into account how "early risers" and their sleeping patterns effected their growth. It is true that sufficient sleep (more than 6 hours a day) is needed for growth.
Sign me up for a DEC2 injection. No matter how hard I try to wake up on minimal sleep, my ears shut down and ignore anything that will wake me up unless I get 8-10 hours. I've always wondered how some can stay up late and get up for school and be their normal self, not showing any lethargy. Science has given me an excuse to keep my parents from getting annoyed when I don't wake up until 11am-12pm (says the person writing this at 2:00am).
Size is an interesting thing. I guess that the species on Earth need to be different sizes. Without different sizes, the food chain wold be disrupted since animals rely on their instinct to find food, a smaller animal would be an easier target than a whale. One thing I learned reading this is that we know what advantages an animal has given its size and anatomy, however, we don't really know why?
just a side note: how exactly do you weigh a whale?
I thought the "long and short of it" article was interesting how you can double the size of cells and the animal will remain the same. Its strange to know that even though animals may mutate to become larger if science increases the size of cells the animal will not grow larger.
About the early risers I was wondering if you wake up with an alarm at 5:00 every morning for a month and then took the alarm away will you still wake up at 5? This may explain how some people ge the four hours of sleep that was mentioned in the article, it could just be that there internal clock has an alarm set.
I have always wondered what affected our sleeping patterns and in the "Early Risers are Mutants" article it reveals that the answer is in genetics. I could not comprehend how people who go to bed late can wake up early and fully function, but this article makes sense to me. Many things could have affected their genes to change their sleeping patterns different people are exposed to different things.Not everyone has this advantage in life, I'm pretty sure that I don't considering I wake up at 11.
Wow that article on early risers is quite interesting, No matter how late it is I can get by on very little or no hours of sleep and somehow i am so perky. I always thought i was weird or had some problems according to my brothers, because they can sleep forever, its like their hobby; but if scientist are able to actually put a use to the DEC2, this could people suffering with sleeping disorders or any other kind of genetic disorder.
I always wondered why people were affected by sleep differently and after reading "Early Risers are Mutants" I was suprised to fing out it was due to genetics. I had always thought that the body just naturally ajusted to it's own self set sleep patterns. I would like to see more research done on the subject as a whole. I am intrested in seeing if there is a difference in longevity between people with the mutation and those without it.
The suggestion that people who can function on little sleep as well as those who get more shut eye in because of a genetic mutation is pretty interesting. The research seems to be pretty new still, becuase many more factors could play into it other then this one single gene. But if this single mutation can cause somebody to be able to function on a small amount of sleep, it opens up many new questions about what else gene mutations affect on sleep. This research definitley looks like it has potential, and I sure wont mind calling my eary rising friends mutants.
I thought the first article regarding the size of animals was very interesting. I had never bothered to think about what determined a particular animals size and what caused them all to be that size. The idea presented about changing the size of a salamander's cells is a perfect example to support the question of how animals bodies know what size to grow to. I would be interested to see if they could get to the point where they could control such factors and possibly create animals of different sizes.
The other article was also very interesting, and something that I had never really given much though to. I know that personally I am not one of those types of people so Im not usually familiar with getting only 4 hours of sleep. Now that I know that early rising is a mutation, I will probably notice it know in people who do it.
I find that in the early rising people article that it states that a womens sleep averages 6.25 hours. For me it is the total opposite if i could I would sleep the whole day. Somedays I like sleeping for like 12 hours and it is only during the summer. Although during the school year I like to wake up early no matter if its school, holidays or weekdays. I believe it is because I am in a work mode. But I don't believe that people who are early risers are mutants just because they get up earlier than most people. Everyone is different and some people like to stay up all night but that does not mean they are mutants.
The "Early Risers are Mutants" article is interesting. I never considered there would be scientific reason behind why people who slept less were still perky later, but a genetic basic does make sense. If a pill or injection was made using the mutated DEC2 gene I personally would take it. And who knows, maybe if a pill of some sort was created then maybe people would rely less on caffeine to wake them up.
I found the Early Risers are Mutants very interesting. I am not a morning person at all. The article says that a women sleeps on average of 6.25 hours. I am the complete opposite. I can sleep all day if I wanted to. Also, I think that if the mutated form of DEC2 were available in a pill, it would be very effected. For instance, my brother sleeps for 12+ and is very lazy, but giving him a pill to sleep less would make me energetic.
I found the article about the early risers very interesting. I would not even think of a mutation when I thought about this topic until this article. I think this genetic mutation was bound to happen in people because of the different environments of people. For example, a mother might have a mutated gene due to the fact she can only get a few hours of sleep because of her daily stresses. Therefore she is forced to get through her days with few hours of sleep and her body adjusts to her needs.
It was interesting to learn that sleeping is controlled by a gene. (Before now, I never heard of any sleeping disorder in where people go to bed at six or seven o'clock and wake up at three in the morning!) While I was reading this article, I began to realize how little humans know about sleeping in general. Sleeping is such an important aspect involved in maintaining our bodies, but our knowledge base is still very limited on the subject (according to this article, these studies were conducted during the past 10 years). It's always fascinating to learn more about human behavior-especially sleeping!
The "Early Risers are Mutants" article grasped my interest. I was always curious to know why such little amount of sleep can make a person more aware and awake than having a fair amount of hours to sleep. This happens to me quite a bit. I find that usually when i sleep only a few hours, maybe about 4 or 5, in the morning i can be "perky and efficient." I was surprised, however, to find that "morning people" may possibly contain genetic mutations.
I found "The Long And Short of it" article to be quite interesting how the brain tells cells in the body when to stop growing when the body reaches a certain size. I knew that the size of male organisms play a part on the dominance in groups of animals as well as who the strongest mate is; however, the fact that sometimes the size of female organisms also determines how many offspring they produce to be fascinating.
I really enjoyed reading the article about unusual sleep patterns and their orogins from human DNA. I think if there was a pill that contained the mutation to lessen the amounjt of sleep necessary to function properly, more people worldwide would be able to achieve more throughout their lives. With around two extra hours each day awake and functioning, people's lives could dramativcally enhance.
The Early Riser Are Mutants article was pretty interesting. I know that I am definitely not a morning person. I honestly need about twelve hours of sleep to feel decently rested, but I almost never get that much sleep, especially during the school year. I have one friend that is completely awake and happy every morning when we get to school, and I've always wondered how she can possibly be so alert. However, the part about genetics does not really apply to my family. Both of my parents can function on little sleep, while I become sick or pass out when I don't get enough sleep over a few days. I think a pill of DEC2 could possibly help me if it ever were to be created.
I found the Early Riser Are Mutants article pretty interesting. I personally like to get at least 6 hours of sleep at night. And when I get the chance I like sleeping up to 10-12 hours. But it really makes me wonder how people only sleep for about 5 hours and are so perky. In that case I don't wonder why they are called Mutants.
Both articles, The Long and Short of It and Early Risers are Mutants, were quite interesting. The topics these articles covered are areas that much is still unknown about. I knew that size played a role in many species involving dominance, explaining the evolution of these organisms to further adapt and survive. However I was unaware the body actually knows how large or small the organism should be. Further research in the future will be extremely interesting if they can actually pinpoint the factors that control this and genetically engineer animals to a specific size.
Referring to the second article, this genetic mutation is very fascinating. I wonder if the mutation is caused by an adaptation or reaction to common sleep patterns in certain people, or if the mutation is hereditary. Myself being a morning person, I can function perfectly fine on a short amount of sleep. However I would like to consider myself not a mutant.
My Uncle,Dr. Jatinder Bewtra, a college professor in Canada says that people do not need more than six hours sleep. He says that,"there is no time for sleep."
I believe that he has the mutant gene. Dr. Bewtra never seems tired.
The concept is very interesting.
I believe that if there really is a pill such as DEC2, to help people in this world sleep less and achieve more in life we can advance farther and give their best performance.
I am a morning person and can function perfectly fine throughout the day. Does this mean I am mutated?
This mutation is good for everyone, such as, surgeons for example,who have to undergo procedures for long excruciating hours. I read in an article that one of the main leading reasons for a med student to drop out was because they were not able to put in the long hours needed, in studies/ practices/ hospitals. "32hours at a stretch in a hospital doing rounds gets tiring."
With this pill Dr. would be able to help their patients more.
"Early Risers are Mutants" really got me thinking. Its amazing how my sleep cycle has changed this summer. During the school year i typically got the average 8 hours of sleep and felt well rested each day. However, during the summer i would fall asleep well past midnight and sleep most of the day away. Typically i feel well rested with 7 to 8 hours of sleep while my friend needs atleast 10 hours without being groggy. Its very intersting that a mutated DEC2 gene could be the reason for our difference in sleep neccesity.
Early Risers Are Mutants!!!! That article was so cool, i think it's really interesting to find out that the amount of sleep one needs is based on genetics. So many others have said it but, I can function better with 4 or 5 hours of sleep than with 8 or more. I had always wondered why that is, but maybe I'm just a mutant! The word may put some people off, but if I am in fact, a mutant, I don't mind. Haha, I kept thinking of X-Men while reading that article.
The article about sleep mutations was quite interesting. I would be interested to see if there are any differences in the health of those who sleep six hours versus those who sleep ten or twelve. I usually sleep about six or seven hours during the school year and I always feel fine but if I can sleep longer then I do.
sharvari
I was amazed by the way the size of the salamander stayed the same, regardless of any change in the number of cells. It was also quite flagrant when some of the brain cells in the salamander started dying in order for the enlarged cells to occupy the space within the body. However, I do not understand, for example, how body mass can keep producing as the malignant cells do not die in patients with breast cancer. In other words, when old and new cells don't die, the body keeps producing cells, which turns into body mass. Therefore, compared to the article, shouldn't the cells die in the person with breast cancer, since the body stops growing when it gets to the right size? On the other hand, even though the mutation can allow people to manage on fewer hours of sleep, I strongly believe that this internally has a negative impact on the body and the person's health because with different patterns of sleeping hours, the circadian rhythm of the person would be distorted and the body would not be able to regenerate or heal as it needs to.
The article pertaining to early risers was evidently something that grasped my attention. Many people are restricted from living their lives to the fullest because of their need for sleep. Many "call it a night" earlier then they want to because they have to get their sleep necessary for work, or for school, however, if their were a pill that mutated humans and adapted them in needing less sleep that would truly be amazing. I wonder how such a thing would work and how exactly it could transform your body into doing so...
Agreeing with nick chen, size does play a significant role in the food chain. Not only because of survival of the fittest, but size, whether being weight or height does give advantages, but we really did never know why this happens.
The early risers article was very interesting. Personally I feel that if I get less sleep I'm better off then when I get too much sleep. I would rather go on 5 hours than 12 just because even after 12 hours of sleep I still feel really tired and groggy. However, after only 5 hours I feel energized and ready to go. Its really ironic how that works.
Morning people are mutated--I knew it. Haha. In all seriousness though, the fact that sleep needed is related to genetics sounds right. Both my dad and sister don't need any sleep and can function normal meanwhile my mom and I need a lot of sleep. Although I expected sleep to be related to genes, I felt that morning people were morning people based on their personalities not an actual mutation. This just goes to show how in-depth science can be
The overall size of an animal being more important then the number of cells making it is intriguing. I’ve seen many discovery health shows that discuss human giant marvels. The record being Robert Pershing Wadlow at 8 feet 11 inches, so if a person was to break the imprinted size as he did- what toll would that have on the number of cells he has? Animals being aware of their size and triggering them to stop growing is pretty amazing. A comment below the article had some practical ideas to answer how the animals know their size.
“sense round-trip time of neural impulses;
sense ratio of surface area (heat loss) to volume (heat generation);
sense ground contact pressure (proportional to weight);
sense air resistance (proportional to cross-section);
sense time for head to fall to ground (proportional to height);”
I’m surprised there isn’t a definite answer yet.
“Early Risers are Mutants” is an amusing article; unfortunately I wasn’t blessed with that mutation. The people that are only able to sleep a few hours, does this have any negative effect on their body? - Or are they truly able to function perfectly on only a few hours?
I found the sleep article very interesting. My mom only gets about 3-4 hours of sleep every night, and goes throughout the whole day so lively; cleaning and cooking without any complaints. A friend of mine, however, gets about 12-13 hours of sleep a night and will wake up in the morning complaining how tired he is. It's interesting to know that it's all apart of genetics. I'd rather be one to be lively after 3-4 hours of sleep rather than 12 because 4 hours of sleep is always possible of managing atleast. I find myself more tired after sleeping long periods of time, meaning that in the mornings I am always perky and efficient.
I need that mutant sleep pill!
Without at least 7 hours of sleep for me, I can't make it through the day without craving food for energy or taking a nap. I slept too many of my summer vacation mornings away.
I read somewhere that some peoples’ internal clocks are on a 24.4 hour day which causes sleeping problems. Maybe Fu's research will affect the way people think about why some people are able to wake themselves up 30 seconds before their alarm clock rings while some people sleep through it.
if they could inject the mutation, gosh that sounds horrible , but if they could then high school and college students would have so much of an easier time getting better grades and having more time to study! i, myself, need atleast 9 hours of sleep of under 4 to be able to function normally. i dont know why my mind works that way.
Post a Comment