"T
mo
HA
ble i
e,” si
Sci|Tech
The 15 \TTALION
Page 3A • Wednesday, February 1 1, 2004
1A
n an!
aid lb
is lb
SOI
‘ssoro:
;erested
mics.
ler pet-
igeami
Mid,
11 be lo
history,
anomit
pie.”
'or tl
lentlr
•easras
‘xas.
has a
lopnla-
ited lo
ludenis
;apro-
lent
guages
ontsk
:r.
irtmem
proval
iard ol
lance!
:sideni
it
D.
)tl
n to a
Last week, Professor Susan Golden of the Texas A&.M
Department of Biology went where few biologists have gone
-across the street to the physics department. The reason for
|isvisit was a “crossing of mutual interests,” physics professor
Valery Pokrovsky said. Like many physicists. Golden studies the
universal mystery of time, albeit from a uniquely biological per
spective. She reported her findings on how some of the simplest
nsoflifeon earth use internal biological clocks to tell time.
We don’t know the answer of how does a cell keep time, and
odyknows it. And that’s really fun, having questions and try-
ietoget the answers,” Golden said.
Biological clocks have been around for eons. They operate inside
®any living things, from college students to lowly bacteria, keeping
logical processes in harmony with the 24-hour cycle of nature.
Anyone who has flown across several time zones has probably
rtpenenced a disruption of their biological clock. Jetlag occurs
ilienthe body’s daily cycle, or circadian rhythm, is thrown out of
lynch with the surrounding environment. Jetlag sufferers feel a
long urge to sleep at unusual times because their biological clock
isetlo a different time zone.
But biological clocks do serve an important purpose, judging by
ieirprevalence in nature. Golden said clocks appear to have
jived at different times in different organisms.
The natural tendency for clocks to evolve suggests that living
igsgain a powerful competitive advantage by having a circa-
iunclock. Golden explained that organisms benefit by using
d ieir internal clocks to anticipate changes in the environment,
lesunrise or sunset.
'Tliey aren't caught offguard when the light comes on.” she said.
Abiological clock also allows cells to separate incompatible
processes, much like a factory does with day and night shifts. For
minple, some kinds of bacteria produce oxygen through photo-
synthesisduring the day and "fix” nitrogen at night. Together these
tvovital processes would interfere with each other. Golden said.
Hie remarkable thing about biological clocks is that they con-
tiietotick in the absence of environmental cues like sunrise and
wt.Even when placed in perpetual daylight, some bacteria will
Relate their internal processes on a 24-hour basis.
Tofindthe series of chemical events that under
rhythms,
other scientists
in
tescan
:ctor.
east a
ijuirei
ust
viltix
ograu
ooper
ools.
Time marches on
professor in a race against biological clocks
By David Barry
THE BATTALION
cyanobacteria started in 1992, according to the TAMU Clocks
Project website. Golden and other scientists began to poke and
prod the genome of cyanobacteria, seeking the genetic compo
nents of circadian clocks. Golden said her lab has produced thou
sands of mutated versions of the cyanobacteria “Synechococcus
elongatus” in order find about a dozen mutants with malfunction
ing biological clocks. After scientists learn which genes are vital
to the clock’s operation, they can build models of the clock’s
inner workings.
In little more than a decade of research, scientists have deter
mined that three essential clock proteins in cyanobacteria accumu
late, form large, organized conglomerations and dissipate over a
regular 24-hour cycle. Golden said many smaller pieces of the
clock are still missing. Her lab is conducting a systematic survey
of the "S. elongatus” genome to find the missing pieces.
At the same time, scientists at Vanderbilt University, Tennessee
and a university in Japan are racing with Golden’s group of
researchers to make the next big discovery about the cyanobacteri-
al clock. Golden said the three labs both cooperate and compete.
"Sure, everybody wants their lab to be the one to make the big
discovery, but there is still a lot of communication and cooperation.”
In addition to running their own “good-natured race,” the three
labs are united against a common competitor. Golden said.
"All of us working on the bacteria want to figure out our
clock before the animal people or the plant people figure out
their clock.”
Even though the field of bacterial clock research is 10 to 20
years younger than the plant and animal fields. Golden said work
ing with bacteria carries certain advantages that may allow her
team of biologists to play catch-up.
“We can engineer a mutant within a week, but it you want to
engineer a mouse, it takes many weeks, many months to get that
mouse,” she said.
Inter-lab competition aside. Golden said there is plenty of
excitement in the quest to uncover the secret inner workings of
biological clocks.
“At this point we’re at the black box stage ... You don’t
know what’s in the black box. So every
thing that you find is new and exciting.”
kept more than a
decade collecting clues
atatfieinner work
ing of tiny. single-
celled organisms called
cyanobacteria.
Cyanobacteria have had
plenty of time to perfect the
biological clock. Recently
inearthed fossil records may
contain the imprint of cyanobac-
leria-like organisms from over
itee billion years ago.
Initially, scientists thought
cyanobacteria were too primitive
tosnpport a biological clock.
Golden said. Skeptics of a
bacterial clock also noted
lat the typical cyanobac-
ierium dies or divides
into daughter cells
Mhinsix to 18
lours, well before
asingle 24-hour
cycle can run its
course. However, fur-
iher study revealed that
le “setting" of the
clock is transferred to
both daughter cells
upon cell division, so
lat a sense of time is
transferred from genera
lion to generation, Golden
said.
The investigation of the circadian clock of
Will Lloyd • THE BATTALION
Was Atkins
overweight?
Atkins medical records spark
another round in diet fight
By Sara Kugler
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK — The debate
over Dr. Robert Atkins’ popu
lar high-fat, low-carb diet
flared posthumously Tuesday
when it was learned that
Atkins himself was a bloated
258 pounds at his death.
A city medical examiner’s
report tiled after Atkins’ 2003
death from a fall showed the 6-
foot doctor was at a weight nor
mally considered obese. A
physicians group that is highly
critical of the diet released
details of the report, claiming
the Atkins diet led to weight
and heart troubles for its 72-
year-old creator.
The Atkins Physicians
Council said the carbohydrate-
shunning doctor gained more
than 60 pounds through fluid
retention in the eight days he
spent in a coma before dying last
April. He had slipped on an icy
street and hit his head.
Atkins weighed 195 pounds
when he was admitted, the
group's chainnan said.
“Critically ill patients, when
sustained on fluids in the hospi
tal, gain weight,” said Dr. Stuart
Trager, chairman of the Atkins
Physicians Council, a group
affiliated with the Atkins diet
empire. “He was grossly
swollen, so much so that his
family and associates barely rec
ognized him.”
The medical examiner’s
report also noted that Atkins had
a history of heart trouble, includ
ing congestive heart failure and
high blood pressure. Hie Wall
Street Journal first reported on
the records on Tuesday.
The doctor’s heart troubles
had been previously known pub
licly, and the council asserted
Tuesday that they were a result
of cardiomyopathy, or an
enlarged heart, which it said
stemmed from a viral infection,
not diet.
“We need to set the record
straight. This is a man who man
aged his weight,” Trager said.
“Isn’t it time to let this man rest
in peace?”
Atkins was the author of
the best-selling “Dr. Atkins’
New Diet Revolution,” which
advocates meat, eggs and
cheese and discourages bread,
rice and fruit. His books sold
15 million copies and attracted
millions of followers.
Physicians for Responsible
Medicine, the group that
released the report and promotes
a vegetarian diet, acknowledged
that fluid retention may have
been responsible for some of
Atkins’ weight gain, but proba
bly not all of it. The group main
tains that the Atkins diet poses
weight and health risks to the
millions who follow it.
A healthy 6-foot man weigh
ing 258 pounds would normally
qualify as obese, according to
the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention. At 195 pounds,
he would be considered over
weight.
The medical examiner’s
report was not based on an
autopsy but on an external exam.
Conditions such as congestive
heart failure and high blood
pressure would not be observed
by the medical examiner in such
a case, but would be drawn
instead from previous doctors’
observations and records.
In April 2002, a year before
he died, Atkins issued a state
ment saying he was recovering
from cardiac arrest related to a
heart infection he had suffered
from “for a few years.” He
said it was “in no way related
to diet.”
For years nutrition experts
and doctors have debated the
Atkins diet, which allows up to
two-thirds of calories from fat,
or more than double the usual
recommendation. Atkins argued
that carbohydrates generate too
much insulin, which makes peo
ple hungrier and encourages
them to put on fat.
When Atkins’ book was first
published in 1972, the medical
mainstream was promoting a
low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet.
The American Medical
Association labeled the Atkins’
diet “potentially dangerous”and
Congress summoned him to
Capitol Hill to defend the plan.
The Atkins diet recently
gained renewed popularity
after studies showed that peo
ple lost weight without com
promising their health. The
studies showed that Atkins
dieters’ cardiovascular risk fac
tors and overall cholesterol
readings changed for the better.
Last month, the doctor's
widow, Veronica Atkins,
demanded an apology from
Mayor Michael Bloomberg after
he called her late husband “fat.”
She declined comment on
Tuesday’s disclosure.
Ellen Borakove, a spokes
woman for the medical examin
er, declined to comment on the
report, which she said was erro
neously released to a doctor in
Nebraska who requested it and
apparently gave it to the vegetar
ian group.
It was later discovered that
the doctor was not “the treating
physician” and should not have
had access to the report.
Borakove said her office
planned to complain to
Nebraska health officials.
The mayor said the report
“should not have been
released.”
'-(rh 1
Featuring original designs by David Gardner
and selections from Scott Kay, Gumuchian and
Simon G, David Gardner’s Jewelers has the
widest selection of engagement rings.
gtlie
ssiw
aage
i lion
tyin
rein
-nail:
►me
sssi-
ffice
iM.
sm
I
SundnG.
Special Valentine's Financing!
Terms and restrictions apply.
OAVIO QARft
5
INER'S
Jewelers ♦ Gemologists
WIDEST SELECTION S® ORIGINAL DESIGNS 8PR EXCEPTIONAL SERVICE 522 UNIVERSITY DR EAST 764.8786
BEAUTIFUL ART, JEWELRY
! HANDICRAFTS & CLOTHING |
FROM AROUND THE WORLD
216 N. Bryan <
Downtown Bryan
779-8208
Hours:
Mon. • Sat ]
#10am • 6 pml
C Eacrth^rt)
Handpainted Kites • Incense & Oils
Museum Reproductions • Garden Art
Wood Sculptures • Buddha Boards
[Music of the Spheres Chimes • Sarongs |
Religious Art • Indian Bedspreads
Beautiful Sterling Jewelry
The Battalion
Classified
Advertising
• Easy
• Affordable
• Effective
For information, call
845-0569
BETWEEN THE SUIT CLUB 8c AUDIO VIDEO