科學(xué)60秒:口水揭秘你的年齡
來源：滬江聽寫酷
2011-08-24 10:00
Saliva contains many useful components. Lubricants. Enzymes for [--1--] food. And now, compounds that can reveal a person’s age. That’s according to a study in the journal Public Library of Science ONE.
During normal development, DNA in your body gets what’s called methylated. Small chemicals called methyl groups [--2--] the DNA, helping to determine which genes become active. But the patterns of methylation change as we grow older. Which was a clue that measuring methylation might give away age.
The researchers studied DNA in saliva contributed by 34 pairs of male [--3--], ages 21 to 55. They found 88 sites on the men’s DNA where the amount of methylation [--4--] their ages. The scientists next verified that finding in 60 men and women, ages 18 to 70.
Then they narrowed in on two genes that had the strongest age-related correlation. And using just that data, they found that they could estimate the ages of their saliva contributors to within five years.
This technique might help in crime scene investigations—recovered saliva could tell the age of a [--5--]. So if you’re worried about anyone knowing how old you are, be careful where you spit.
【視聽版科學(xué)小組榮譽(yù)出品】
During normal development, DNA in your body gets what’s called methylated. Small chemicals called methyl groups [--2--] the DNA, helping to determine which genes become active. But the patterns of methylation change as we grow older. Which was a clue that measuring methylation might give away age.
The researchers studied DNA in saliva contributed by 34 pairs of male [--3--], ages 21 to 55. They found 88 sites on the men’s DNA where the amount of methylation [--4--] their ages. The scientists next verified that finding in 60 men and women, ages 18 to 70.
Then they narrowed in on two genes that had the strongest age-related correlation. And using just that data, they found that they could estimate the ages of their saliva contributors to within five years.
This technique might help in crime scene investigations—recovered saliva could tell the age of a [--5--]. So if you’re worried about anyone knowing how old you are, be careful where you spit.
【視聽版科學(xué)小組榮譽(yù)出品】
breaking down
bind to
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perpetrator
口水揭秘你的年齡
唾液中含有很多的有用成分：潤滑劑，分解食物的生化酶。而現(xiàn)在，發(fā)表在《公共科學(xué)圖書館?綜合》期刊上的一項(xiàng)研究表明，這些成分還可以揭示一個(gè)人的年齡。
在正常的發(fā)育過程中，我們體內(nèi)的DNA漸漸被甲基化[注1]。一些稱為甲基的小化合物編進(jìn)DNA中，用來決定哪些基因被激活。但是甲基化形式會(huì)隨著我們的長大而改變。因此甲基測(cè)試也會(huì)泄露我們的年齡。
研究人員對(duì)34對(duì)21至55歲男性同卵雙胞胎唾液中的DNA進(jìn)行分析。他們發(fā)現(xiàn)男性DNA上有88個(gè)地方的甲基數(shù)量與他們的年齡有關(guān)。于是科學(xué)家們接下來在18至70歲的60位男性和女性中去驗(yàn)證。
接著他們鎖定在兩組與年紀(jì)最為相關(guān)的基因上。利用這組數(shù)據(jù)，他們發(fā)現(xiàn)可以根據(jù)唾液來估計(jì)他們的年齡，誤差在5歲之內(nèi)。
這項(xiàng)技術(shù)在犯罪現(xiàn)場調(diào)查中可能會(huì)起到作用---被發(fā)現(xiàn)的唾液可以判斷犯罪人員的年齡。所以，如果你擔(dān)心別人知道你的年紀(jì)的話，噴口水的時(shí)候就要小心咯~
