could be protecting the brain health of their children and grandchildren, an Australian study using genetic models has found.
More specifically, the study used roundworms as the genetic model because many of their genes are also found conserved in humans, allowing insights into human cells. Senior author Professor Roger Pocock and his team were investigating nerve cells in the brain that connect and communicate with each other through about 850,000km of cables called axons.
Pocock said that a malfunction that caused the axons to become fragile led to brain dysfunction and neurodegeneration."We asked whether natural products found in the diet can stabilise these axons and prevent breakage," he said."How? We found that ursolic acid causes a gene to turn on that makes a specific type of fat.