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Name of Submitter:
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Richard Lang
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Title of proposed idea:
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The role of light exposure in development, health and disease
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What is the major obstacle/challenge in the biomedical research field? What is needed to overcome this obstacle/challenge?
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The major obstacle and challenge is that we don't currently have comprehensive data on human light exposure, especially given our reliance on artificial light. To overcome this challenge we need (1) a miniature, wearable spectrometer that can gather light spectrum and intensity data and transmit the data wirelessly, (2) the data infrastructure to gather, process and disseminate the data |
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What emerging scientific opportunity is ripe for investment by the Common Fund?
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We are just starting to understand the biological and health consequences of light response pathways. With the exception of vision, where we understand a great deal and of the circadian cycle, where basic mechanisms are quite well established, there is very little appreciation for the connections between light response pathways and human health. Some of the health consequences of altered light exposure are connected to disruption of the circadian cycle, others are likely to be the consequence or a shorter term adaptive response. Some examples that illustrate the breadth of the field:
• Shift workers suffer a significantly higher risk of several types of cancer. It is proposed that light exposure during the night is a circadian and endocrine disruptor. Immune system function is also modulated by light.
• Unusual patterns of light exposure also have a profound effect on energy metabolism. Shift workers show detrimental responses in carbohydrate and lipid metabolism and show an increased risk of insulin resistance.
• Myocardial infarct patients survive at higher rates when sunlight exposure is high
• The psychiatric illness Seasonal Affective Disorder is a consequence of insufficient light exposure
• Light exposure during the first trimester is an independent risk factor for the vascular disease retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). This is explained by the existence of a direct fetal light response that regulates eye development.
• Season-of-birth and latitude-dependent color perception differences and risk of high myopia have been documented.
The emerging status of this field is also illustrated by our currently limited understanding of light activated protein function function in mammals. For the opsins, besides the photoreceptor opsins (Opn2, rhodopsin, and Opn1 genes, the cone opsins) and melanopsin (Opn4) there are several other opsins (for example, Opn3, panopsin, and Opn5, neuropsin) that remain largely uncharacterized. We also need to consider the possibility that non-opsin light detection proteins will prove important for mammalian light responses. A data set for human light exposure that included wavelength and intensity could be used to implicate a given opsin. |
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What are the potential Common Fund investments that could accelerate scientific progress in this field?
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Investment in the design and manufacture of a wristwatch spectrometer that transmits real-time light spectrum and intensity data via Bluetooth and smartphone app and the information infrastructure to gather and disseminate the data. It may also be useful to include IC accelerometers and temperature sensors to gather activity and temperature data with the same infrastructure. |
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If a Common Fund program on this topic achieved its objectives, what would be the impact?
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Given the ubiquity of light responsiveness and the emerging realization that light response pathways influence many fields of enquiry and many diseases, the impact would be very broad. |
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