"The long-lost component is uricase, an enzyme that most other animals continue to carry. Uricase breaks down uric acid, a waste product that routinely forms in the blood. If uric acid levels rise too much, it can crystallize in the joints and kidneys, causing gout, kidney disease and a number of related conditions. Humans and other apes shed the uricase gene roughly 20 to 29 million years in the past."
"A study in Scientific Reports describes how scientists used CRISPR gene-editing tools to restore a gene that disappeared from the human lineage millions of years ago. Bringing this gene back lowered uric acid, the substance responsible for gout and several other health problems. Today, however, that ancient adaptation contributes to a range of modern metabolic issues. This is the challenge that Georgia State biology professor Eric Gaucher and his team aimed to test."
CRISPR gene editing restored an ancestral uricase gene absent in humans for roughly 20–29 million years. Reintroducing uricase into human cells lowered uric acid levels, which can form sharp crystals in joints and kidneys and cause gout, kidney disease and related conditions. Uricase enzymatically breaks down uric acid, reducing crystal formation and associated inflammation. Loss of uricase in apes likely aided fat storage from fruit sugars during lean periods, but now contributes to modern metabolic disorders. Restoring uricase function offers a potential therapeutic approach to lower uric acid and treat gout and related metabolic diseases.
Read at ScienceDaily
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