Medindia LOGIN REGISTER
Medindia

Wrong-time Eating Affects Fertility in Fruit Flies

by Sheela Philomena on Jun 10 2011 10:49 AM

 Wrong-time Eating Affects Fertility in Fruit Flies
In a recent study conducted by an Indian-origin researcher it was found that in fruit flies eating at the wrong time reduces fertility.
Researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania manipulated circadian rhythms in fruit flies and measured the affect on egg-laying capacity.

Lead author Amita Sehgal, John Herr Musser Professor of Neuroscience, stressed, though, that what is true in flies grown in a lab does not necessarily hold for humans, and any potential link between diet and reproduction would have to be independently tested.

"I wouldn't say eating at the wrong time of the day makes people less fertile, though that is the implication," said Sehgal, who is also a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator. "I would say that eating at the wrong time of the day has deleterious consequences for physiology."

The next question to pursue, Sehgal said, is finding the molecular mechanism that controls this phenomenon: How does the fat body communicate with the ovaries. And, more importantly, is this effect restricted to fruit flies, or does it also occur in higher organisms, including humans.

The study is published in this week's Cell Metabolism

Source-ANI


Advertisement