Conference Paper
Hungry, fat and healthy - Studying the physiological basis of cave adaptation
Rohner, N., Aspiras, A., Borowsky, R. and Tabin, C.
Record Number:
3080
Year:
2015
Journal:
AIM 2015
Abstract:
With the prevalence of obesity rising to epidemic proportions, new approaches will be
needed to address resulting diseases such as diabetes or non-alcoholic fatty liver
syndrome. The cavefish Astyanax mexicanus is providing us with a unique angle into the
emerging field of evolutionary medicine. As a consequence to nutrient limited
environments, cavefish have acquired different strategies to survive long periods of
starvation. For example, Tinaja cavefish can acquire substantially higher fat levels than
surface fish and as a consequence display impressive starvation abilities. Despite such
high fat levels and additionally very low insulin levels, cave fish seem healthy and do not
display obvious signs of similar phenotypes seen in humans. I will describe some of these
impressive physiological adaptations in detail and discuss future approaches to study its
underlying genetic basis and how I plan to translate these molecular mechanisms into
other species, including our own.
Times Cited:
1
Relevent Species: