Studying animal evolution to advance women ’s health

Breast cancer, osteoporosis and infertility don ’t just affect women — they also strike animals across the female tree of life.Yet many species have developed physical changes over millions of years that protect them from these conditions, begging the question: What if the key to preventing these and other disorders lies untapped in the animal king — er, queendom? That ’s the crux of a new UCLA paperpublished in PNAS Nexus that  summarizes years of research measuring females ’ risk for common diseases across different species. The authors — a physician, an evolutionary biologist and a veterinarian — teamed up to review autopsies and clinical studies of thousands of our evolutionary ancestors. They systematically surveyed fish, birds, reptiles and mammals to build models of shared vulnerability and resistance to female medical co nditions.By comparing evolutionary changes across species, the researchers identified potential blueprints from Mother Nature for solving health issues that impact women.“Numerous female animals have evolved over the centuries to resist diseases that claim the lives of millions of women a year,” said lead researcherDr. Barbara Natterson-Horowitz, a professor of cardiology at the  David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and co-author of the  New York Times bestseller “Zoobiquity. ”“Unraveling the biology behind these changes could lead to lifesaving interventions in women’s health.” Many of the ancient genes and mol...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news