Sushi Digesting Genes Review - Article Example

 Sushi Digesting Genes The article, Gut bacteria in Japanese people borrowed sushi-digesting genes from ocean bacteria an article written by Ed Yong is one that explains the eating habits of the Japanese as compared to the new entrants of sushi eating, the Americans (Mouritsen, 2009).Apart from their digestive systems having adjusted from olden days and their unique cutlery, their bowels have also become accustomed to digesting gut bacteria. The writer explains that one of the key ingredients of Sushi is carbohydrate molecules in seaweed and goes on to add that the Japanese have the genes that are able to digest them. Unlike the American intestines he says, every Japanese’s intestine has hordes of bacteria still remaining in the guts. The seaweed-digesting genes in the gut bacteria according to the writer are from some microbes that live in the coastal oceans. How the bowels of the Japanese people ended up with seaweed-digesting genes is the main topic of discussion by the writer. According to Ed Yong, microbes in their hundreds of trillion are found in Japanese bowels. He makes further findings that the cells are more than what humans have to the ratio of ten to one. Comparing ‘gut microbiome’ to an organ that aides the human body to breakdown molecules that the digestive system may not otherwise digest on its own. There is an observation that the molecules which are of carbohydrate nature are indigestible. He further comments that by consuming carbohydrates found in seaweeds and algae will help the digestive system to perform as they are rich in sulphur. Comparing the ability in the digestive tract to change genes, Ed Yong concedes that genes are not limited to the inheritance lineage. The human body has the capacity to change genes through transferring the horizontal gene. This involves to a large extent the genes kingdom that can be lent out to the preferred donor who receives Zobellia Galactanirorans a seagoing bacterium. Zobellia eats seaweed (Kimiko, Takemura, 2011). In the Japanese cuisine, Nori which plays host to Zobellia is a common ingredient used in sushi wrapping and dish garnishing. The observation here is that upon consumption of the sushi, marine bacteria and algae are swallowed and become resident in the gut of the human body. The digestive system is tasked through genes to tackle the marine meals carbohydrates as well as the algae. There is an observation made that energy from an extra source prevails for the gut bacteria to break down the carbohydrates though there are some genetic remnants.eagoing bacteriu Ed Yong notes that since the gene was in sea its transition to land was planned by Jan-Hendrick Hehemann of the Victoria University. His plan though unaware of the result of his quest was to hound genes capable of digesting porphyran which is a seaweed carbohydrate (Kim, 2012). This was confirmed by Mirjam Czjzek a study leader with Hehemann in an observation that linking Japanese human gut bacteria was a hit that was opportune and lucky which they had not planned for. There is an observation of Zobellia owning porphyran breaking enzymes all new to science with marine bacteria relevance and further being termed as porphyranases with encoded genes with are ‘Por’ prefix. His research we see continued to garner more results especially when he came across the Bacteroides plebeius an oceanic gene in human bowel. There is an observation that the dish garnishing Nori was eaten raw by the Japanese this has changed only recently. Nori contains the porphyrans digesting genes and the only food consumed by humans. In the recent past, Japanese consumed raw Nori. B.plebius a gut bacterium easily mixed with other bacteria. Ruth Ley once observed that despite the presumption that gut microbes can be picked environmentally and study is a clean report on such findings. B. plebeius has more marine bacteria genes and which can be compared to Zobellia for their ability to easily digest marine algae complex carbohydrates. Hehemann conducted a gut bacteria screen on 13 volunteers of the Japanese with a view to establishing if they reported porphyranases (Gunn, Pitt, 2012). The results showed ‘gut metagenomes’ in the majority and the same tests were carried out on North Americans and none was found. It is observed that there are some genes that live in the Japanese bowels only due to frequent sushi consumption. They are hereditary and this was confirmed through the study of a bowel from a weaning baby found to have the genes despite never having eaten sushi. We are what we eat and this marks our summary of this analysis. In my opinion there is substantial change in diet dating from the past with any food consumed serving as sample for gut bacteria. With frequent sushi consumption intestines are able to digest foods that may not other be digested. Though currently sushi is not made as it was in the past. The samples provided by Japanese volunteers showed only B.plebeius having taken up the porphyranase enzymes the rare horizontal gene transfer. To achieve results in this study gut microbiomes need to be examined progressively (Pinn, 2009). The writer suggests that comparing different populations and even attempts to get sample stool from the dead as well as studying the great apes intestines all in a bid to understand the genetic evolution in our intestines. A study of the human body to understand which microbes are found in what persons is research by Rob Knight of the University of Colorado. There maybe an understanding of microbiomes and genes that could be associated in IBD and obesity and under various circumstances that differ to the culture in the west. References: Kimiko, B. Takemura, H. (2011) Sushi: Taste and Technique Dorling Kindersley Limited Pinn, A.B. (2009) African American Religious Cultures: ABC-Clio Gunn, A., Pitt, S.J., (2012) Parasitology: An Integrated Approach Wiley Publishers Since 1807  Kim SK, (2012) Marine Medicinal Foods: Implications and Applications - Animals and Microbes Academic Press © Mouritsen, O.G. (2009) Sushi: Food for the Eye, the Body and the Soul Springer © Read More