What happens is there is too much catalase in the body?

 

How would you describe determining the sex of potential progeny?

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Our state of health, and indeed our longevity, depend on the vitality of the cells that comprise the tissues and organs of the body. Cells, in turn, consist of numerous subcellular structures, organelles, including the mitochondria. These tiny cellular compartments are responsible for virtually all the energy the cell needs to keep the body's organs healthy; they are, in essence, the heart of the cell and if they do not function well, the cell loses vitality and, consequently, the organ it forms becomes ill.

Our state of health, and indeed our longevity, depends on the vitality of the cells that comprise the tissues and organs of the body. The researchers who studied catalase worked with animals that were genetically engineered to produce excess catalase, otherwise they would be normal in all respects; The important thing was to note that these animals first lived longer, and second, perhaps most importantly, they demonstrated an attenuation of the severity of age-associated diseases, including arteriosclerosis, cardiomyopathy, and cataracts.

The scientists took the work one step further to determine if the excess catalase produced by these animals was, in fact, acting to protect important cellular components from free radical damage. The researchers showed that a key enzyme in the cell required for energy production by the mitochondria, and known to be susceptible to attack by free radicals from hydrogen peroxide, was much more active in animals that contained the gene for the supercalase, compared to control animals with normal catalase production.

Furthermore, the researchers demonstrated that catalase super-producers had less age-related damage to their DNA in skeletal muscle and heart cells. In general, catalase appears to protect the cell from free radical damage to multiple cellular components.

One hypothesis is that free radicals may be important in early development as they can promote cell division and increase the rate of development. Interestingly, in biological systems, the emphasis is on the spread of the species and not so much on longevity, however, although it is not a pleasant thought or is controversial from an ethical or moral point of view, it is optimistic to think that It could manipulate the free radicals generated by the mitochondria and which are involved in aging and disease. The stimulation of the catalase enzyme also supports the role of the potential power of antioxidants to protect our cells and improve health and longevity. This work also implies, however, that an antioxidant, in this case catalase, is unlikely to be a "silver bullet" to promote longevity to the fullest; Even if it were, enzymes do not lend themselves to the formulation as a tablet or capsule, because during digestion enzymes generally transform, rather than being absorbed into the bloodstream in their active state, therefore they cannot be taken in pill form to increase cellular levels.

To increase levels in humans, the enzyme would probably have to be inserted into our genome, but this is not a likely scenario in the near future. In short, the body requires numerous antioxidants and all with specific missions; Catalase fulfills one of these missions and is important, since it can increase the useful life of animals or people.

However, it is highly subjective to say that catalase could be regulated because the human body is extraordinarily complex and a variety of antioxidants are very likely to have a more pronounced effect on cell health and longevity.

Step-by-step explanation

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A sex determination system is a biological system that determines the development of sexual characteristics of an organism (specifically of a species). Four types of sex determination systems are generally distinguished:

Genetic determination of sex (GSD): that which is determined by factors contained in the chromosomes.

Chromosome determination: when heteromorphic chromosomes exist

Gene determination: when chromosomes are homomorphic

Determination by haplodiploidy: when one of the sexes possesses half of the chromosomal endowment of the other sex

Environmental sex determination (ESD): that which is determined by environmental factors

Determination by temperature (TSD): established by the incubation temperature

A little over a hundred years ago it was observed that the females and males of some insects had different numbers of chromosomes. Females had 24, which during meiosis mated in 12 pairs, and males had 23, which mated in 11 pairs, leaving one lone chromosome. This solitary chromosome was called accessory chromosome or X chromosome. In 1901 it was proposed that this X chromosome was the one that determined sex; For the first time, genetic bases were proposed for sexual determination.

In mammals, the primary sex determination is strictly chromosomal, and in most cases an individual with two XX sex chromosomes will be female, while with one X and one Y (XY) sex chromosome, it will be male. In 1947, Dr. Jost had castrated rabbit embryos that were still in the mother's womb, allowing their development to proceed to birth. He observed that they were all born with female sexual characteristics regardless of whether their chromosomes were XY or XX, so he proposed that the individual's sexual determination is controlled by the differentiation and presence of the testis. However, in 1959 it was established that, in mammals, the Y chromosome was the dominant inducer of male characteristics (or male phenotype), since in its presence, regardless of the number of X chromosomes, the development was male. Since the Y chromosome is the dominant inducer of the male phenotype, it was concluded that there must be a "testis determining factor" in it.

In 1959 it was established that, in mammals, the Y chromosome was the dominant inducer of male characteristics since in its presence, regardless of the number of X chromosomes, the development was male

Thus began a long search for this factor, which ended in 1991 with the identification of the Sry gene, the only one within the Y chromosome that is needed for the determination of the testis. This was demonstrated by introducing a DNA fragment that exclusively contained the Sry gene into XX mouse embryos, causing individuals to develop as males (Koopman et al., 1991).