New 澳门六合彩appCourse Targets Hormone-Disrupting Pollutants
They exist everywhere. Endocrine-disrupting chemicals are in the packaging of the food we eat, the cosmetics we put on our faces, in pesticides and water bottles, in our clothing and even in some children鈥檚 toys. Both natural and manufactured, these chemicals are linked to issues with development, reproduction, metabolism, and behavior in animals鈥攊ncluding humans.
A new 澳门六合彩appcourse aims to figure out exactly how these chemicals are impacting human biology, and what can be done about them.
The course, Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals: Hazards and Opportunities (ECHO), was developed by two scientists with longtime 澳门六合彩appties: of Princeton University and of Washington State University. Hunt and Ruderman deliberately designed ECHO to be multidisciplinary: It covers topics from complex chemistry to public health. The course made its debut this past spring.
鈥淎 lot of people back off when they hear the term endocrine disruptor, so I like the term 鈥榟ormone-disrupting pollutants,鈥欌 says Ruderman, who served as 澳门六合彩appdirector from 2012 to 2014 and Embryology course director in 1978 and 1979. These types of pollutants are 鈥渢ricksters,鈥 says Ruderman, in that they can mimic the natural processes and messages of hormones and interfere with the body鈥檚 normal hormonal responses.
Per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), also known as 鈥渇orever chemicals鈥 because they never break down, are commonly used in the creation of nonstick and fire-retardant materials. They鈥檙e also notorious hormone disruptors. Chemicals from BPA (bisphenol A) to DDT (Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane) to many fungicides also fall under the umbrella. Those act as environmental obesogens鈥攚hen a person is exposed to them early in life, their risk of obesity increases with age.
鈥淲e鈥檙e worried about things that become epidemic in human populations. Diabetes. Obesity. Infertility,鈥 says Hunt. 鈥淭he question is, 鈥榃hat can we do?鈥 It鈥檚 a fascinating biological question and understanding it offers a way for us to reverse some of these effects.鈥 Hunt was director of the MBL鈥檚 Frontiers in Reproduction (FIR) course from 2002-2004.
Why Now? Why the MBL?
Research on endocrine disruption ranges widely. Hunt鈥檚 and Ruderman鈥檚 colleagues range from chemists to reproductive biologists to neuroscientists to specialists on mammary glands.
鈥淚t鈥檚 such a complex field and there are so many questions. We all lean on each other. A lot of the faculty in the ECHO course entered into endocrine disruptor research [by accident],鈥 Hunt says, adding that they wanted to give the next generation of scientists entering the field a 鈥渏ump start.鈥
The best way to do that? 鈥淕et a lot of people who don鈥檛 normally talk to each other together to talk to each other,鈥 says Hunt.
Both Hunt and Ruderman agreed that the 澳门六合彩appwas the place to make that happen.
鈥淲e know that the 澳门六合彩appis the one place on Earth where graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, young faculty, and even tenured faculty can come for two, three, even six weeks and learn from faculty members from all over the world,鈥 says Ruderman.
鈥淭his field demands a broader understanding,鈥 says Hunt. The ECHO group is forging relationships with scientists in other 澳门六合彩appcourses, as well, including Frontiers in Reproduction and Embryology.
When asked, the students in the first ECHO cohort agreed. They were excited to learn, but also excited to forge a community of other researchers.