Scientists have long known exercise is beneficial for keeping us healthy, but there is still much we don’t understand about the exact reasons why.
Researchers at Virginia Tech’s Fralin Biomedical Research Institute in Roanoke recently used gene editing technology to learn more about the links between our cells and exercise.
“Exercise tells our body that we need to improve,” said Zhen Yan, a professor and director of the research institute’s Center for Exercise Medicine Research. “When you go exercise regularly, it not only promotes your muscle function, but also your cognitive function, and also prevent diseases."
Yan and other researchers are discovering more evidence that regular exercise helps cells regulate metabolism, which means it could benefit people with diseases like diabetes.
In a recent study in mice, they altered a small part of a protein, known as AMPK, to study how it impacts their stamina. In this case, how the mice performed running on a wheel.
They used CRISPR/Cas9, the gene editing technology that won a team of chemists the Nobel Prize in 2020.
“This is an advancement in technology,” Yan said. “We could not do this 15, 20 years ago.”
The mice with the edited AMPK could not run long distances. Their research helps show how this molecule interacts with our ability to maintain good health.
Yan said he doesn’t believe any medicine will ever fully duplicate all the positive impacts of exercise, some of which we haven’t yet discovered.
“We are truly curious about what’s happening. We all know exercise is good. I would argue that we do not know enough,” Yan said. “The more we understand, the better we are.”
