scholarly journals If ageing is a disease, then life is also a disease

2020 ◽  
Vol 83 (3) ◽  
pp. 307-315
Author(s):  
Piotr Paweł Chmielewski ◽  
Bartłomiej Strzelec
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary Theory ◽  
Genetic Disease ◽  
Gene Mutations ◽  
Pathological Process ◽  
New Paradigm ◽  
Pleiotropic Gene ◽  
Genetically Determined ◽  
Modern Evolutionary Theory

AbstractAgeing is distinct from a disease. Sound arguments have been adduced to explain that senescence cannot be understood as a pathological process. Nevertheless, this distinction is believed to be artificial (Holliday 1995), and other eminent researchers argue that the senescence-pathology dichotomy is also misleading. Recently, it has been suggested that ageing should be classified as a complex pathological syndrome or a ‘pre-disease’ that is treatable. Proponents of this new paradigm argue that: (i) modern evolutionary theory predicts that ‘although organismal senescence is not an adaptation, it is genetically programmed’, (ii) ‘insofar as it is genetically determined, organismal senescence is a form of genetic disease’ (Janac et al. 2017) and (iii) ‘ageing is something very much like a genetic disease: it is a set of pathologies resulting from the action of pleiotropic gene mutations’ (Gems 2015). Also new generations of researchers, free of these traditional shackles, come with the belief that it is time to classify ageing as a disease, as the distinction between normal dysfunction and abnormal dysfunction is not completely clear and should be abandoned. Although they marshal their arguments in a convincing manner, persuasive counterarguments can be mounted. Here, the senescence-pathology dichotomy is critically discussed. A deeper analysis of this subject reveals the underlying problem of undefined terminology in science.

Oncolytic Coxsackievirus and the Mechanisms of its Effects on Cancer: A Narrative Review

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ali Ahmadi ◽  
Hadi Esmaeili Gouvarchin Ghaleh ◽  
Ruhollah Dorostkar ◽  
Mahdieh Farzanehpour ◽  
Masoumeh Bolandian
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Disease ◽  
Control Cell ◽  
Gene Mutations ◽  
Therapeutic Agents ◽  
Cell Penetrating Peptides ◽  
Triggered Release ◽  
New Techniques ◽  
Viral Therapy ◽  
Cell Penetrating ◽  
Cancer Cell Targeting

Abstract:: Cancer is a genetic disease triggered by gene mutations, which control cell growth and their functionality inherited from previous generations. The targeted therapy of some tumors was not especially successful. A host of new techniques can be used to treat aptamer-mediated targeting, cancer immunotherapy, cancer stem cell (CSC) therapy, cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs), hormone therapy, intracellular cancer cell targeting, nanoparticles, and viral therapy. These include chemical-analog conjugation, gene delivery, ligand-receptor-based targeting, prodrug therapies, and triggered release strategies. Virotherapy is a biotechnological technique for turning viruses into therapeutic agents by the reprogramming of viruses to cure diseases. In several tumors, including melanoma, multiple myeloma, bladder cancer, and breast cancer, the oncolytic capacity of oncolytic Coxsackievirus has been studied. The present study aims to assess oncolytic Coxsackievirus and its mechanisms of effect on cancer cells.

DIAGNOSTICS AND ENZYME REPLACEMENT THERAPY OF CHILDHOOD-ONSET HYPOPHOSPHATASIA IN A 5-YEAR-OLD BOY

2021 ◽  
Vol 100 (3) ◽  
pp. 289-294
Author(s):  
M.K. Soboleva ◽  
◽  
E.A. Maslova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Enzyme Replacement Therapy ◽  
Replacement Therapy ◽  
Primary Teeth ◽  
Clinical Evidence ◽  
Correct Diagnosis ◽  
Pathological Process ◽  
Childhood Onset ◽  
Enzyme Replacement ◽  
Detection Of Mutations ◽  
Genetically Determined

The article presents a clinical case report of hypophosphatasia, a rare congenital genetically determined disease diagnosed in a boy at the age of 3 years and 6 months. The diagnostic search took more than 2 years before the correct diagnosis was made, which is explained by the rarity of the disease and the lack of doctors awareness about it. The pathology was suspected on the basis of a combination of clinical evidence and characteristic complaints (early loss of primary teeth with an unchanged root, rickets-like skeletal deformities, motility disorders) in combination with a pathologically low level of alkaline phosphatase. The detection of mutations characteristic of the disease in the ALPL gene in the boy, his mother and father made it possible to finally confirm the diagnosis. The patient received a 7-month course of enzyme replacement therapy with Asfotase alfa, which significantly slowed down the progression of the disease and was not accompanied by the development of side effects. A feature of the patient's disease is the involvement of the urinary system in the pathological process, which is manifested by hypercalciuria, nephrocalcinosis and decreased renal function.

scholarly journals The Modern Evolutionary Theory

1996 ◽  
Vol 77 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Mayr
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary Theory ◽  
Modern Evolutionary Theory

The Evolution of Cultural Entities

2002 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Significant Role ◽  
Evolutionary Theory ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
Charles Darwin ◽  
Human Sciences ◽  
Research Traditions ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Living Organisms ◽  
Modern Evolutionary Theory ◽  
Cultural Entities

Ever since Charles Darwin, scholars have noted that cultural entities such as languages, laws, firms, and theories seem to ‘evolve’ through sequences of variation, selection and replication, in many ways just like living organisms. This book considers whether this comparison is ‘just a metaphor’, or whether modern evolutionary theory can help us to understand the dynamics of different cultural domains. The ‘evolutionary paradigm of rationality’ has a significant role to play throughout the human sciences, but raises complex issues in every cultural context where it is applied. By fostering discussion between scholars from a wide range of research traditions, this book aims to influence the evolution of all of them.

scholarly journals Non-genetic inheritance in evolutionary theory - the importance of plant studies

2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marta Robertson ◽  
Christina Richards
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary Theory ◽  
Evolutionary Process ◽  
Epigenetic Inheritance ◽  
Causal Role ◽  
Epigenetic Variation ◽  
Epigenetic Mechanisms ◽  
Epigenetic Machinery ◽  
Evolutionary Studies ◽  
Modern Evolutionary Theory

AbstractEmerging evidence points to a causal role for epigenetic variation in evolution, but evolutionary biologists have been reluctant to incorporate epigenetics into modern evolutionary theory. Part of this ambivalence comes from the assumption that epigenetic inheritance is only relevant to the evolution of plants, which is perpetuated by a comparative lack of evolutionary studies in animals. However, although most of the evidence for epigenetic inheritance comes from plants, plants and animals share many homologous epigenetic mechanisms, and plants provide a more tractable system for investigating the causal role of epigenetic mechanisms underlying phenotypic variation and its relationship with fitness. The insights from studies of epigenetic inheritance in plants may be applicable across a broad range of taxa once we establish commonalities and differences in epigenetic machinery. In this paper we present evidence for a role of epigenetic mechanisms in the evolutionary process and discuss common objections to incorporating epigenetics into evolutionary theory. This review is not exhaustive, but is meant to demonstrate that epigenetic inheritance can be incorporated into current evolutionary theory without overhauling its foundations.

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