Are humans not evolving?

Are humans still evolving? Many people think of evolution as a thing of the past, something that starts billions of years ago with single-celled organisms and ended with modern humans. But that couldn’t be further from the truth! Contrary to popular belief, humans haven’t stopped evolving. It is still happening and we are actively changing and it’s possible that it’s happening faster than ever! 

Let’s take a look at the scientific evidence for this. Let’s start with the human eye. Not the inner workings of the eye, though the evolutionary history there is fascinating. Let’s look at the color! Roughly 17% of the world's population has blue eyes that may not sound like a lot, but 10,000 years ago people with blue eyes were unheard of. 

Researchers believe that blue eyes came from a mutation in a single ancestor between 6,000-10,000 years ago when you recognize that modern humans have existed for much longer than that. It’s clear that evolution couldn't have stopped with the rise of humanity. 

And what about the brain? We think pretty highly of our brains, but it turns out brains have actually been shrinking over the past 30,000 years, the average volume of the human brain has decreased from 1.500 cubic centimeters to 1.350 cubic centimeters that’s a reduction in the size of about 10%! 

Oh, and what about our teeth? Wisdom teeth are the last set of molars in our mouths and they were helpful to our early ancestors who ate tough, uncooked foods that wore away their teeth. Today, thanks to cooking and cutlery, our food has become softer and easier to chew. As a result, our jaws have become much smaller and there is just not enough room left for the wisdom teeth anymore. According to some estimates, 35 percent of the population is born without wisdom teeth, and some researchers believe that wisdom teeth will eventually disappear altogether. those of us who still grow wisdom teeth often have to have them surgically removed. 

As evolution continues, it’s likely that the humans of the future will not have to deal with this painful struggle. Lucky them!. We can even see traces of human evolution in our lungs! Well, some of us, people who are native to Tibet are able to live in the Himalayan mountains with low oxygen levels, but it’s not that they’re just…used to it. Living with low oxygen levels over several generations has led to mutations in their genes. 

As a result of this genetic evolution, Tibetan peoples’ blood produces more of the oxygen-transporting protein called hemoglobin what is possibly more fascinating than all of this is that evolution in humans appears to be speeding up in the past 5,000 years, humans have evolved up to 100 times more quickly than at any time in 6 million years. The widespread assumption that human evolution has shown down because we’ve conquered nature is absolutely not true we haven’t conquered nature at all, we simply have developed ways to curate our surroundings and experiences to our liking. 

Researchers have analyzed data from the international haplotype map and analyzed genetic markers in 270 people from four groups, Han Chinese, Japanese, Africa’s Yoruba people, and northern Europeans. They found that at least 7% of human genes have undergone recent evolution, the changes include lighter skin and blue eyes in northern Europe, and partial resistance to disease such as malaria among some African populations. Some of the changes were traced back to just 5,000 years ago and today they are in 30 or 40% of people because they are an evolutionary advantage . for example, many Chines and African adults cannot digest lactose and milk. But across Europe, a lactose tolerance gene is now widespread. 

Another reason we are seeing an increase in evolutionary speeds is the rise in the global population. As the population grows, humans are reproducing more frequently, and that means mutations are able to be passed on. Evolution in humans probably won’t stop anytime soon. In fact, it will likely continue until humans become something else entirely. As Carl Sagan put it,” It will not be we who reach Alpha Centauri and the other nearby stars. It will be a species very much like us. But with more of our strengths and fewer of our weaknesses.”

Tình trạng thiếu ngủ tác động đến hệ miễn dịch ra sao?

                Tình trạng thiếu ngủ có thể làm tổn hại đến hệ miễn dịch của bạn và khiến cho bạn dễ bị nhiễm bệnh hơn. Hệ miễn dịch của bạn sản xuất ra chất cytokines trong khi bạn đang ngủ. Cytokines là những phân tử đặc biệt giúp cơ thể chống lại nhiễm trùng và viêm. Khi bạn ngủ không đủ giấc, thì quá trình sản xuất chất cytokines sẽ giảm đi, khiến cho cơ thể bạn đễ bị nhiễm siêu vi và vi trùng hơn

        

Trong khi ngủ, các tế bào miễn dịch của bạn sẽ ngưng di chuyển. cơ thể của bạn sẽ loại bỏ đi những tế bào già nua và sản sinh ra những tế bào mới. hiện tượng này cũng chính là những gì xảy ra trong não. Quá trình này sẽ thải bỏ các chất độc hại và giúp bạn chuẩn bị cho một ngày mới. nồng độ chất interleukin-7 tăng lên trong giấc ngù. IL-7 đóng một vai trò quan trọng trong quá trình phát triển và sống còn của các tế bào T. tế bào T giống như đội binh của hệ miễn dịch có nhiệm vụ truy tìm và tiêu diệt những tế bào đã bị nhiễm mầm bệnh.

Một giấc ngủ kém thường xuyên có thể gây ra hiện tượng viêm. Viêm là một phản ứng đề kháng tự nhiên của cơ thể chống lại nhiễm trùng. Nhưng khi quá trình viêm này xảy ra quá thường xuyên hoặc vào những thời điểm không thích hợp. nó có thể đẫn đến những bệnh lý như các bệnh tự miễn. việc có được giấc ngủ ngon sẽ giúp cho cơ thể bạn chống lại được quá trình viêm này.

Tình trạng thiếu ngủ cũng tác động đến cách chúng ta đáp ứng lại với tình trạng nhiễm siêu vi. Khi chúng ta không ngủ đúng giấc, thì hệ miễn dịch của chúng ta sẽ bị ức chế. Điều này dẫn đến qua trình sản sinh ra ít kháng thể cần thiết để loại bỏ siêu hơn. Thiếu ngủ làm gia tăng nguy cơ những tình trạng sức khỏe khác như các bệnh lý về tim mạc và bệnh Alzheimer. Ngủ kém khiến cho các protein Alzheimer hình thành trong mô não. Các nhà nghiên cứu không biết liệu sự xuất hiện với nồng độ protein Alzheimer cao có phải là do tình trạng thiếu ngủ đã ngăn chặn quá trình vệ sinh thường quy trong mô não hay là do mô não đã sản xuất ra nhiều protein này hơn do thức quá lâu.

Tình trạng thiếu ngủ còn làm tăng lượng kích thích tố gây stress cortisol lên gây ức chế hệ miễn dịch của bạn. lượng cortisol tăng lên gây căng thẳng trên hệ tuần hoàn của bạn do nhịp tim bị tăng lên. Huyết áp tăng dần theo thời gian có thể đua đến những vấn đề về tim mạch. Có khoảng 20% người trên thế giới đang bị chứng thiếu ngủ. đối với một cơ thể khỏe mạnh, bạn cần mỗi đêm ngủ yên giấc từ 7-8 giờ.

sleep deprivation linked to your immune system response

Lack of sleep can impair your immune system and make you more vulnerable to infection. Your immune system produces cytokines when you are sleeping. Cytokines are special molecules that help your body in fighting infection and inflammation. When you don’t get proper sleep, the production of these cytokines is reduced, leaving your body more prone to viral and bacterial infections. 

When you are sleeping, your immune cells stop circulating. Your body gets rid of the older cells and creates new ones. This is what actually happens in the brain as well. It removes the toxic waste and prepares you for the next day. The concentration of interleukin-7 (IL-7) increases during your sleep. IL-7 play an uimportant role in the development and survival of T-cells. T-cells are like the soldiers of the immunesystem that seek out and destroy cells that are infected with a pathogen.

A poor sleep routine can cause inflammation. Inflammation is the natural defense response of the body during fighting infection. But when this inflammation occurs too often or at the wrong times. It can lead to problems such as autoimmune diseases. Getting good sleep helps your body to counteract inflammation.

Sleep deprivation also affects how we respond to viral infection. When we do not get proper sleep, our immune system is suppressed. This results in the production of fewer antibodies that are needed to fight off viruses. Sleep deprivation increases the risk of other health conditions such as cardiovascular problems and Alzheimer’s disease. Poor sleep allows Alzheimer’s protein to build up in the brain. Researchers don’t know if the presence of higher levels of Alzheimer’s protein is because sleep deprivation stopped the brain’s routine cleaning process or because the brain produced more of this protein as a result of being awake for so long.

Lack of sleep increases the levels of the stress hormone cortisol which then suppresses your immune system. Elevated levels of cortisol put strain on your circulatory system due to increased heart rate. Increased blood pressure over time can lead to cardiovascular problems. Around 20% of people in the world are sleep deprivation. For a health body, you should get 7-8 hours of undisturbed sleep evey night.

How about the role of herd immunity in fighting Covid-19

                Researchers want to determine if herd immunity is a good strategy to fight the coronavirus by observing countries that have started relaxing the lockdown restrictions. Some experts believe herd immunity might not be our best option in fighting Covid-19 as waiting enough people to catch the coronavirus could lead to more deaths as a sife effect of letting everyone go out. 

So far we haven’t had evidence to truly judge different coronavirus policies. But officials were too optimistic about the possibility of flattening the curve and how close we were to reaching a flattend curve through herd immunity. Even assuming that people get sick do become immune, we have no idea how long they’ll stay immune. 

In some coronavirus, as well as with ordinary flu, the immunity lasts even less than a year. Assuming they stay immune, we have no idea how long it would take to reach herd immunity. 

Another important factor is knowing how contagious is the novel coronavirus. This is measures by R0 or the average number of people that a victim passes the virus on to. Therefore, more people need to be immune so that the infection rate R0 starts falling. Current estimates of R0 vary and suggest that half to three-quarters of the population has to catch the virus. 

Fatality rates play a crucial role in deciding how drastic the response to the coronavirus pandemic should be. Mortality rates vary between countries and periods as death toll could exceed 10% of the total confirmed cases. Covid-19 has also caused fatalities among patients under 60 and put many young people in tensive care. 

Experts are also not sure yet how many people have been infected so far. As most of the cases had no symptoms or didn’t feel sick enough to get tested. The US CDC said that 25% of infected people never have symptoms. Other studies suggested that it might be closer to 50%. 

This discrepancy in numbers is mainly because we aren’t testing enough people. Spain, Australia, Italy, China, the US and other countries are beginning to ease the coronavirus lockdown allowing some businesses to open while following social distancing guidelines. The upcoming few weeks will determine whether herd immunity works in fighting Covid-19

Artificial Intelligence agorithm will be used to detect cancer

New blood test uses Artificial Intelligence to detect over 50 types of cancer, including bladder, esophagus, lung, and breast cancer. This test can often detect cancer even before symptoms begin to appear. 

The blood test can detect the type of cancer and its location in the body. It is 93% accurate in predicting the tissue in which cancer originated whereas the false positive rate was only 0.7%. the test was able to detect advanced stage cancers more accurately. It can detect 18% of stage I tumors whereas for stage IV tumor the accuracy jumps to 93%. How accurate it can detect cancer also depends on the cancer type. For stage I pancreatic cancer it has a success rate of 65%. However, for stage IV pancreatic cancer the detection rate is 100%. 

The test uses an artificial intelligence algorithm that analyzes the cell-free DNA (cfDNA) that is leaked by the tumor cells into the bloodstream of the cancer patient. Researchers used more than 3,000 blood samples. Half of these samples were collected from patients with different types of cancer while the other half wer collected from healthy individuals. 

A machine-learning algorithm was then trained to look for specific chemical changes to the cfDNA that indicate the presence of cancer and classify it accordingly. The test is still in the early stages of development. More tests will need to be done in larger groups. Early diagnosis of cancer is the key to successful treatment. It greatly increases the chances of survival of the patients. 

Currently, effective screening only exists for a few cancer types. Fives of the cancers covered by this test have no screening tests. These include esophageal, liver, ovarian, pancreatic, and stomach cancers. These cancers typically don’t cause symptoms until they reach more advanced stages of the disease that’s when survival rates are much lower. 

Other blood tests for cancer detection include blood protein Testing. This blood test detects multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer it detects abnormal immune system protein called immunoglobulin in blood. It is estimated that by 2030, the number of cancer deaths will rise to 13 million each year.

The wonderful bond between the mother and her baby

                The bond between the mother and her baby is truly remarkable while in the womb, babies begin learning the language from their mother. Babies learn to recognize different words while still in the womb and after birth, they will still remember some of these words. And even distinguish between their mother tongue and other languages. Fetuses may also respond to their mother’s touch by displaying more movements as a way of communication. The bond extends beyond language and communication when the mother’s heart is injured stem cells from the fetus migrate to the injured site and repair the damage. 

Male babies leave traces of their DNA in their mother’s brain which likely protects the mother from Alzheimer’s disease. Hormones and natural steroids are produced during pregnancy to help support the growing baby which can temporarily cure the mother of some chronic conditions including a skin condition called psoriasis. 

The mother’s immune system is also suppressed during pregnancy to protect the baby from rejection by the mother’s immune system. Suppressed immune system helps mothers suffering from autoimmune diseases such as arthritis, multiple sclerosis and lupus. Antibodies travel from the mother to her baby through the placenta and breastfeeding which boosts the baby’s immune system before and after birth and protects the baby from deadly bacteria and viruses. 

Mothers develop a strong sense of smell during pregnancy which acts as a body’s defense mechanism. It stops the mother from ingesting food that is harmful to the baby or herself. And after the baby is born. Breast milk is customized according to the sex of the baby. The nutritional values are different depending on the babies’ needs. 

Brains of breast-feeding moms are more responsive to their crying babies than those mothers who don’t breastfeed their babies. This is due to increased levels of a hormone called oxytocin in mothers which strengthens the bond between mothers and their babies

New hope for cancer patients

CANCER
More Than 1,100 Cancer
Treatments in Clinical Testing
Offer Hope to Patients
In recent decades, substantial progress has been made in
the fight against cancer. Since peaking in the 1990s, cancer death rates have declined 26 percent, leading to more than
2.3 million cancer deaths avoided.1 Accordingly, rates of cancer survivorship continue to rise. The number of cancer survivors living in the United States has increased from three million
in 1971 to 15.5 million as of January 1, 2016.1 Approximately
73 percent of survival gains in cancer are attributable to new medicines.2 Between 1988 and 2000, treatment advances
in cancer have saved 23 million years of life and added $1.9 trillion to society based on improved productivity, extended life and other factors.2 And, since 1975, the chances that a cancer patient will live five years or more have increased by 41 percent across all cancers.2
Much of this progress is due, in part, to advances in molecular and genomic research that have revealed the unique complexities of cancer and changed our understanding of
the disease. Today, scientists recognize that no two cancers
are alike; cancer is far more complex and varied. Just as each person’s genetic material is unique to them, every patient’s cancer is impacted and driven by a variety of unique factors. The condition broadly referred to as cancer is in fact a group of hundreds of different diseases.
These advances have expanded our knowledge of how cancer develops and how to target medicines for specific cancer types, which has resulted in new, more effective therapies for patients.
In fact, an average of 85 percent of medicines in the oncology pipeline are likely to be first-in-class medicines, meaning they use a new and unique mechanism for treating a disease.2
 MEDICINES IN DEVELOPMENT | 2018 REN