PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

The secret of male beauty (in turkeys)

2013-08-16
(Press-News.org) The essence of male beauty is down to the way males use their genes rather than what genes they have, according to a new study into the sexual attractiveness of turkeys.

Geneticists have long puzzled over why individuals of the same sex show a greater or lesser degree of sexual attractiveness. In other words - why are some people better looking than others when they're genetically similar?

In a new study, published today in the journal PLoS Genetics, scientists turned to male wild turkeys to solve the problem. They found that among turkeys that are brothers (and therefore share the majority of their genes), 'dominant' males show higher expression of genes predominantly found in males, and a lower expression of genes predominantly found in females, than their subordinate brothers.

Therefore, dominant males were both masculinised and defeminised in terms of their gene expression. A male's attractiveness is a function of how they express their genes, rather than the genes themselves.

Professor Judith Mank, UCL Department of Genetics, Evolution & Environment, senior author of the paper said: "Sexual attractiveness varies markedly between individuals of the same sex. These differences can have a significant impact on how successful an individual is with the opposite sex.

"Here, we have shown that male beauty is a result of how you use your genes, rather than the difference in the genes themselves.

"Even though humans don't have clear dominant and subordinate types, they do exhibit a range of sexual dimorphisms – some individuals are more attractive to the opposite sex than others."

Male wild turkeys come in two kinds; dominant males have exaggerated sexually attractive traits while subordinate males are less ornate.

Whether a male is dominant or subordinate is determined the winter before they reach sexual maturity, when brothers come together and battle for dominance. The 'winner' adopts the dominant form, while the other brothers become subordinate – assisting their brother in mating, but not siring offspring themselves.

Scientists are still unsure of the process by which some male turkeys become dominant or submissive, but suspect that the concentration of male hormones, or androgens, may play a role in gene expression.

Professor Mank added: "We expect to find a similar effect in females, in that more attractive females may show a higher expression of genes predominantly found in females and lower expression of male genes."

### Notes for editors

1. For more information or to speak to Professor Judith Mank, please contact Clare Ryan in the UCL Media Relations Office on tel: +44 (0)20 3108 3846, mobile: +44 (0)7747 565 056, out of hours +44 (0)7917 271 364, e-mail: clare.ryan@ucl.ac.uk. 2. 'Masculinization of gene expression is associated with exaggeration of male sexual dimorphism' is published online today in PLoS Genetics. 3. Journalists can obtain copies of the paper by contacting the UCL Media Relations Office.

About UCL (University College London)

Founded in 1826, UCL was the first English university established after Oxford and Cambridge, the first to admit students regardless of race, class, religion or gender and the first to provide systematic teaching of law, architecture and medicine.

We are among the world's top universities, as reflected by our performance in a range of international rankings and tables. According to the Thomson Scientific Citation Index, UCL is the second most highly cited European university and the 15th most highly cited in the world.

UCL has nearly 27,000 students from 150 countries and more than 9,000 employees, of whom one third are from outside the UK. The university is based in Bloomsbury in the heart of London, but also has two international campuses – UCL Australia and UCL Qatar. Our annual income is more than £800 million.

http://www.ucl.ac.uk | Follow us on Twitter @uclnews | Watch our YouTube channel YouTube.com/UCLTV


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

New possibilities for efficient biofuel production

2013-08-16
Limited availability of fossil fuels stimulates the search for different energy resources. The use of biofuels is one of the alternatives. Sugars derived from the grain of agricultural crops can be used to produce biofuel but these crops occupy fertile soils needed for food and feed production. Fast growing plants such as poplar, eucalyptus, or various grass residues such as corn stover and sugarcane bagasse do not compete and can be a sustainable source for biofuel. An international collaboration of plant scientists from VIB and Ghent University (Belgium), the University ...

Preventive antibiotics for tuberculosis reduce deaths among people with HIV disease

2013-08-16
As part of the largest international research effort ever made to combat tuberculosis, a team of Johns Hopkins and Brazilian experts has found that preventive antibiotic therapy for people with HIV lowers this group's chances of developing TB or dying. Specifically, they found in men and women already infected with HIV that taking isoniazid reduced deaths and new cases of active TB disease by 31 percent, while new cases of TB alone decline by 13 percent. The research team's findings, to be published in the journal Lancet Infectious Diseases online Aug. 16, stem from ...

New study puts a price on drug-resistant TB cases in EU

2013-08-16
A new study has calculated the average cost per case of TB in the EU. The findings suggest the economic burden of TB far outweighs the costs of investing in more effective vaccines. The research, published online today (16 August 2013), in the European Respiratory Journal, is the first study to estimate the costs of the disease in recent years. Researchers used a systematic review of literature and institutional websites for the 27 EU member states to summarise economic data on the treatment cost of TB cases in 2011. The researchers separated the countries into ...

Study shows both a Mediterranean diet and diets low in available carbohydrates protect against type 2 diabetes

2013-08-16
New research shows that a Mediterranean-style diet and diets low in available carbohydrates can offer protection against type 2 diabetes. The study is published in Diabetologia, the journal of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD), and is by Dr Carlo La Vecchia, Mario Negri Institute of Pharmacological Research, Milan, Italy, and colleagues. The authors studied patients from Greece who are part of the ongoing European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and nutrition (EPIC), led by Dr. Antonia Trichopoulou, from the University of Athens. From a ...

More potent anti-clotting drugs with angiography may benefit patients with acute chest pain

2013-08-16
Boston, MA – Current methods to treat acute coronary syndrome conditions, such as heart attack, include artery-clearing procedures (e.g., percutaneous coronary intervention or coronary artery bypass grafting) with medications, or medications alone for those that do not undergo procedures. In a new report from the TRILOGY ACS trial from Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) and Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI), in patients without artery-clearing procedures, those who had an angiography (a type of x-ray to view the inside of blood vessels) followed by prasugrel (Effient) ...

Slow earthquakes may foretell larger events

2013-08-16
Monitoring slow earthquakes may provide a basis for reliable prediction in areas where slow quakes trigger normal earthquakes, according to Penn State geoscientists. "We currently don't have any way to remotely monitor when land faults are about to move," said Chris Marone, professor of geophysics. "This has the potential to change the game for earthquake monitoring and prediction, because if it is right and you can make the right predictions, it could be big." Marone and Bryan Kaproth-Gerecht, recent Ph.D. graduate, looked at the mechanisms behind slow earthquakes ...

A new approach assembles big structures from small interlocking pieces

2013-08-16
CAMBRIDGE, Mass-- MIT researchers have developed a lightweight structure whose tiny blocks can be snapped together much like the bricks of a child's construction toy. The new material, the researchers say, could revolutionize the assembly of airplanes, spacecraft, and even larger structures, such as dikes and levees. The new approach to construction is described in a paper appearing this week in the journal Science, co-authored by postdoc Kenneth Cheung and Neil Gershenfeld, director of MIT's Center for Bits and Atoms. Gershenfeld likens the structure — which is made ...

Voyager 1 has left the solar system, says new study

2013-08-16
COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Voyager 1 appears to have at long last left our solar system and entered interstellar space, says a University of Maryland-led team of researchers. Carrying Earthly greetings on a gold plated phonograph record and still-operational scientific instruments – including the Low Energy Charged Particle detector designed, built and overseen, in part, by UMD's Space Physics Group – NASA's Voyager 1 has traveled farther from Earth than any other human-made object. And now, these researchers say, it has begun the first exploration of our galaxy beyond the ...

Knockout mouse grows larger, but weaker, muscles

2013-08-16
SAN ANTONIO (Aug. 15, 2013) — Although muscle cells did not reduce in size or number in mice lacking a protective antioxidant protein, they were weaker than normal muscle cells, researchers from the Barshop Institute for Longevity and Aging Studies at The University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio found. The scientists, who are faculty in the university's School of Medicine, are studying how oxidative stress in cells impacts sarcopenia — a loss of muscle mass and strength that occurs in all humans as they age. Protein knocked out selectively The antioxidant ...

Experiences of racism linked to adult-onset asthma in African-American women

2013-08-16
(Boston) – According to a new study from the Slone Epidemiology Center (SEC) at Boston University, African-American women who reported more frequent experiences of racism had a greater likelihood of adult-onset asthma compared to women who reported less frequent experiences. The study, which currently appears on-line in the journal Chest, was led by Patricia Coogan, DSc, senior epidemiologist at SEC and research professor of epidemiology at Boston University School of Public Health. This study followed 38,142 African-American women, all of whom are participants in ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

$14 million supports work to diversify human genome research

New study uncovers key mechanism behind learning and memory

Seeing the unseen: New method reveals ’hyperaccessible’ window in freshly replicated DNA

Extreme climate pushed thousands of lakes in West Greenland ‘across a tipping point,’ study finds

Illuminating an asymmetric gap in a topological antiferromagnet

Global public health collaboration benefits Americans, SHEA urges continued support of the World Health Organization

Astronomers thought they understood fast radio bursts. A recent one calls that into question.

AAAS announces addition of Journal of EMDR Practice and Research to Science Partner Journal program

Study of deadly dog cancer reveals new clues for improved treatment

Skin-penetrating nematodes have a love-hate relationship with carbon dioxide

Fewer than 1% of U.S. clinical drug trials enroll pregnant participants, study finds

A global majority trusts scientists, wants them to have greater role in policymaking, study finds

Transforming China’s food system: Healthy diets lead the way

Time to boost cancer vaccine work, declare UK researchers

Colorado State receives $326M from DOE/EPA to improve oil and gas operations and reduce methane emissions

Research assesses how infertility treatments can affect family and work relationships

New findings shed light on cell health: Key insights into the recycling process inside cells

Human papillomavirus infection kinetics revealed in new longitudinal study

Antibiotics modulate E. coli’s resistance to phages

Building sentence structure may be language-specific

Biotin may shield brain from manganese-induced damage, study finds

Treatment for children with obesity has lasting effect

Spotted hyena found in Egypt for the first time in 5,000 years

SignGPT – Project awarded £8.45m to build a sign language AI model for the Deaf community 

Garden ponds: Hidden gems of urban biodiversity conservation

Epigenetic aging and DNA-methylation as tumor markers for breast cancer

Salt deposit ring inside your pasta pan?

First fast radio burst traced to old, dead, elliptical galaxy

We can make fertilizer more efficiently under the surface of the Earth

What's behind preterm birth? Scientists just found a big clue

[Press-News.org] The secret of male beauty (in turkeys)