Genes

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Terry Sejnowski on our Bayesian Genes Jan 23, 2012: Behavior and Our Brain - Mysteries of the Brain - Terry Sejnowski>I say often that our genes and brains are Bayesian learners: they experience something and then forecast rewards over a horizon based on the experience. Dr. Sejnowski explains this concept brilliantly and simply. I sat in a talk he gave while I was at the UC Irvine, which is just up the road from The Salk Institute at UC San Diego. He is a theoretician who is deeply embedded in the experimental evidence, as you will see from this talk.

Dr. Sejnowski explains this concept brilliantly and simply. He also points to the evolutionary basis not only of this, but of our quick decision modules that give us smarter "gut instincts" than we could ever bring to a complex decision using all its dimensions.
New brain cells are created continuously in the hippocampus where long-term learning is centered and exercise in a rich environment or even just walking in a forest is enough to prevent those newly-born brain cells from dying. Dopamine is the reward signal, but it unleashed a forecasting system that extends that reward into future behavior as the brain evaluates the stimulus to forecast future rewards. BDNF may be one of the hormones, released in exercise, that helps to keep these newly borne neurons alive. His point about the horizon is one economists are familiar with; it turns out some people have shorter horizons than others, so they forecast only a brief period forward and fail to consider long-term implications of their actions. Rather like a politician looking to the next election rather than considering the longer term. Or, the way humans behave during war, when the future is in doubt.
Every precept of the New Evolution Diet gains support from this discussion with a great thinker and scientist.

Epigenetics, a quick overview Jun 19, 2011: We had some questions in our Members Forum about epigenetics.

Discover Magazine has a decent overview of epigenetics. I find it interesting that the title of the article is the same line I have used for years: "DNA is not destiny."

Are Ribosomes capable of universal computation? Apr 18, 2011: Probably. The ribosomes read the messenger RNA and make proteins. But, cells are different, so there must be an instruction in the mRNA to tell the ribosome what computational device it is.

Genes are not computer programs Apr 18, 2011: Sometimes I wonder how it came to be thought that the genes were central controllers, like digital programs for the body and all its functions, that were not altered by inputs. A program can't do anything unless it receives external inputs and the inputs crucially alter what the program produces as output. The same is true of genes; they respond to inputs, epigenetic factors such as what we eat, our activities, and the outputs of other parts of the genome. Epigentic factors even modify the program. There is no other way that life could be sustained because the gene is a living thing.

Cancer Chemotherapy and EF Oct 21, 2010: Just the other day I received this heartwarming story about a woman eating the EF diet while she was undergoing cancer chemotherapy. This was her own experiment, though I did send some research articles to her fiancé. They have been surprised at her increased tolerance to chemotherapy as a result of eating the way we EFers do.

There are good reasons why a great diet low in insulin-triggering glucose might help increase stress resistance to chemotherapy and speed the death of cancer cells.

Activegenomics Aug 23, 2010: We have nutrigenomics---the study of the effect of nutrients on gene expression---and metabolomics---the study of the whole of the metabolic activators circulating in the body. The idea of functional food or nutraceuticals comes from these areas of study. They are not close yet to achieving the level of knowledge required to fulfill the ideal of prescribing nutraceuticals since they have only partial maps of the genetic pathways and the combinatorial aspects of the gene/nutrient interactions, but some sensible warnings, particularly regarding excessive nutrient intakes in childern have been established.

I want to coin a name---activegenomis---for the next field in the study of gene expression and epigenetic factors. Activegenomics studies the full range of alterations in gene expression caused by activity. That is the only way one can seriously address the contemporary problem of how the evolutionarily stable active genotype can promote a healthy expression of that genotype in a world where being inactive does not threaten survival.

Reproduction: My Little Cactus May 27, 2010: This beautiful little cactus in my yard is spending about 30% of its energy to reproduce.

Two Sets of Genes May 17, 2010: Not only do we have our own DNA, we also have the DNA of our mitochondria. I think the mitochondria may be more important in terms of health and longevity.

Critics of the Paleolithic Diet Don't Know Their Nutrigenomics Apr 27, 2010: A Paleolithic diet is not a fad, which is what many nutritionists like to call it. Of course, this absolves them of having to present evidence, of which there is little, or to mischaracterize the diet in ways that make it appear foolish. If the critics knew or understood nutrigenomics, they would know better.

Another Strike Against High Glucose Jan 17, 2010: A key element of the Evolutionary Fitness approach to health is to keep glucose levels in the body low. Glucose alters gene expression in a profound way because it is a substance that was comparatively rare during the evolution of our genes.

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