The work shows that camels can withstand massive blood glucose levels owing
in part to changes in genes that are linked to type II diabetes in humans. The
Bactrians' rapidly evolving genes include some that regulate insulin signalling
pathways, the authors explain. A closer study of how camels respond to insulin
may help to unravel how insulin regulation and diabetes work in humans. “I’m
very interested in the glucose story,” says Brian Dalrymple, a computational
biologist at the Queensland Bioscience Precinct in Brisbane, Australia.
The researchers also identified sections of the genome that could begin to explain why Bactrian camels are much better than humans at tolerating high levels of salt in their bloodstreams. In humans, the gene CYP2J controls hypertension: suppressing it leads to high blood pressure. However, camels have multiple copies of the gene, which could keep their blood pressure low even when they consume a lot of salt, suggest the authors of the latest work.
This rough analysis is only the start of the investigation into the camel genome. “There are interesting titbits for future work,” says Max Rothschild, an animal genomicist at Iowa State University in Ames.
- Bactrian Camel Genome Holds Survival Secrets
The researchers also identified sections of the genome that could begin to explain why Bactrian camels are much better than humans at tolerating high levels of salt in their bloodstreams. In humans, the gene CYP2J controls hypertension: suppressing it leads to high blood pressure. However, camels have multiple copies of the gene, which could keep their blood pressure low even when they consume a lot of salt, suggest the authors of the latest work.
This rough analysis is only the start of the investigation into the camel genome. “There are interesting titbits for future work,” says Max Rothschild, an animal genomicist at Iowa State University in Ames.
- Bactrian Camel Genome Holds Survival Secrets
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