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Wild Scottish sheep could help explain differences in immunity
Princeton University ^
| October 28, 2010
| Kitta MacPherson
Posted on 10/28/2010 5:32:18 PM PDT by decimon
Strong immunity may play a key role in determining long life, but may do so at the expense of reduced fertility, a Princeton University study has concluded. An 11-year study of a population of wild sheep located on a remote island off the coast of Scotland that gauged the animals' susceptibility to infection may give new insight into why some people get sicker than others when exposed to the same illness.
The answer to this medical puzzle may lie in deep-rooted differences in how animals survive and reproduce in the wild, according to the study, which was led by Princeton ecologist Andrea Graham and published in the Oct. 29 issue of Science. The research revealed that the sheep population over time has maintained a balance of those with weaker and stronger levels of immunity and fertility.
(Excerpt) Read more at princeton.edu ...
TOPICS: Health/Medicine
KEYWORDS: godsgravesglyphs; hirta; lambs; scotland; sheep; soay; stkildaarchipelago
Cute lamb pic.
Photo by Arpat Ozgul/University of Edinburgh
1
posted on
10/28/2010 5:32:20 PM PDT
by
decimon
To: neverdem; DvdMom; grey_whiskers; Ladysmith; SunkenCiv
2
posted on
10/28/2010 5:33:41 PM PDT
by
decimon
To: decimon
“Reminds me of the movie “The Edge of the World” which was set on Hirta tho actually filmed on another almost identical Scottish Island.
The thing which fascinated me is the remote island had supported human habitation for at least 2000 years then they finally gave up and moved to the mainland in the 1930s or maybe 1920s.
3
posted on
10/28/2010 5:47:59 PM PDT
by
yarddog
To: decimon
It’s my pre-Nov 2nd jitters...when I read the title of this thread I pictured a sheep in a white lab coat standing upright in front of a chalkboard with genetic heritage diagrams written on it...explaining the differences in immunity...with the eyes rolling wildly....just tryin’ to help....I’ll go now.....shall I shut the door behind me? Ok....will do.
To: ransomnote
Its my pre-Nov 2nd jitters...Well, the Scotch whiskey didn't help. ;-)
5
posted on
10/28/2010 5:55:19 PM PDT
by
decimon
To: yarddog
The thing which fascinated me is the remote island had supported human habitation for at least 2000 years then they finally gave up and moved to the mainland in the 1930s or maybe 1920s.I'll guess they moved because by that time the mainland folk were living much more modern lifestyles.
6
posted on
10/28/2010 5:57:44 PM PDT
by
decimon
To: decimon
Yes, I think that is what happened. When they left the island, there were less than 30 people left and no students in the school which probably means the only ones still there were older.
The younger ones had probably already moved. I remember reading that after Culloden, the English sent a boat to St. Kilda thinking Prince Charles might be hiding out there.
The islanders didn’t know who the Prince was, they also didn’t know who King George was.
7
posted on
10/28/2010 6:31:34 PM PDT
by
yarddog
To: yarddog
The islanders didnt know who the Prince was, they also didnt know who King George was.Ignorance really can be bliss. ;-) But that had to be the sort of rough life most of us would prefer to escape.
8
posted on
10/28/2010 6:41:43 PM PDT
by
decimon
To: decimon; blam; sionnsar
9
posted on
10/28/2010 7:23:30 PM PDT
by
SunkenCiv
(The 2nd Amendment follows right behind the 1st because some people are hard of hearing.)
To: SunkenCiv
10
posted on
10/28/2010 7:31:52 PM PDT
by
decimon
To: decimon
Wild Scottish sheep could help explain differences in immunity I did not know sheep could talk, much less explain things.
11
posted on
10/28/2010 7:35:03 PM PDT
by
6SJ7
(atlasShruggedInd = TRUE)
To: 6SJ7
I did not know sheep could talk...So now you're worried? ;-)
12
posted on
10/28/2010 7:42:46 PM PDT
by
decimon
To: ConorMacNessa; brushcop; DeoVindiceSicSemperTyrannis; Old Sarge; rdl6989; waterhill; P8riot; ...
Thanks to
SunkenCiv for the Scotland ping!
Pipes and Drums of FreeRepublic ping!
This is an ultra-low-volume ping list (typically weeks to months between pings, for matters related to Highland bagpipes and Scotland).
FReepmail sionnsar if you want on or off this list.
Going to the Games? Organize a
Clan FReeper get-together!
13
posted on
10/28/2010 7:59:52 PM PDT
by
sionnsar
(IranAzadi|5yst3m 0wn3d-it's N0t Y0ur5:SONY|TV--it's NOT news you can trust)
To: decimon
Quick, build a fire. Grilled lamb. Yum. =)
To: decimon
15
posted on
10/28/2010 8:09:59 PM PDT
by
rdl6989
(January 20, 2013- The end of an error.)
-
Researchers from the University of Sheffield, as part of an international team, have discovered the secret of why dark sheep on a remote Scottish Island are mysteriously declining, seemingly contradicting Darwin's evolutionary theory. Dr Jacob Gratten and Dr Jon Slate, from the University's Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, led the team, which found that the gene responsible for dark coat colour is linked to other genes that reduce an animal's fitness. The researchers looked at coat colour in a feral population of Soay sheep on Hirta in the...
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PARIS (AFP) - Climate change has caused a flock of wild sheep on a remote northern Scottish island to become smaller, according to an unusual investigation published on Thursday. The study explains a mystery that has bedevilled scientists for the past two years. The wild Soay sheep live on Hirta, in the St. Kilda archipelago in the storm-battered Outer Hebrides, and have been closely studied for nearly a quarter of a century. The law of evolutionary theory says the brown, thick-coated ungulates should have got progressively bigger. Tough winters mean that bigger sheep have a better chance of survival and...
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Slimming down. Sheep on the remote Scottish isle of Hirta have been getting smaller. Credit: A. Ozgul/Science Call it the case of the shrinking sheep. On the remote Scottish island of Hirta, sheep have been getting smaller, shrinking an average of 5% over the last 24 years. Don't blame evolution, though. Researchers say climate change is the real culprit. The Hirta sheep belong to a breed known as Soay, after the remote Scottish island where they arose. One of the most primitive forms of domestic sheep, Soays first came to Hirta in 1932. Because Hirta is a remote island,...
16
posted on
10/28/2010 8:21:31 PM PDT
by
SunkenCiv
(The 2nd Amendment follows right behind the 1st because some people are hard of hearing.)
To: decimon
It bleats some of the topics on FR tonight.
17
posted on
10/28/2010 8:44:43 PM PDT
by
SunkenCiv
(The 2nd Amendment follows right behind the 1st because some people are hard of hearing.)
To: yarddog
The people of St Kilda’s depended on eggs from sea birds to supplement their diets and had done for so many years that they had pre-hensile toes from centuries of climbing the cliffs raiding bird nests...feet that looked more like a second set of hands. I seem to vaguely recall that after St. Kilda’s population was relocated, that the island was used by the government for chemical experiments, and I don’t think it is permitted to visit the island any longer.
18
posted on
10/28/2010 8:49:04 PM PDT
by
kiltie65
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