Latest news with #Heathcliff
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Orange Cats Have Long Been a Genetic Mystery. Scientists Have Finally Solved It
"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links." Here's what you'll learn when you read this story: The gene that causes orange coloration in cats had been pondered for years, but never actually found—until now. Cats with orange coats get them from a deletion (meaning a missing segment) mutation in the noncoding region of a gene associated with both neuroendocrine tissues and pigmentation. There are more male orange cats than females because this gene is located on the X-chromosome, which males only have one copy of. Females are more likely to be tortoiseshell or calico because they have two X chromosomes, and therefore have more genetic coat color options to 'choose' from. Garfield might be the most iconic orange tabby around, but Hollywood has seen quite a few leading cats of the same color—Heathcliff, Oliver, Hiyao Miyazaki's adorably terrifying Catbus from My Neighbor Totoro, and Morris from those retro cat food commercials all come to mind. Like most celebrities, they have so far refused to give up their most guarded beauty secret—how did they get those fabulous golden auburn coats? Hiroyuki Sasaki—a cat enthusiast and geneticist at Kyushu University in Japan—was determined to identify the elusive gene that carries the orange mutation in Felis silvestris catus (the domesticated cat). He and his research team analyzed DNA in skin tissue from cats with and without orange fur, and found a mutation to the ARHGAP36 gene. This was a type of deletion mutation, meaning that a segment of a gene is missing. In orange cats, the missing segment is located on an intron, or noncoding region, of the ARHGAP36 gene, which is also in neuroendocrine tissues (especially the hypothalamus), adrenal glands, and pituitary glands. The location of the mutation on this particular gene also explains why there are so many more male orange cats than female ones. ARHGAP36 is known as X-linked, meaning that it is located on the X chromosome. In female cats (and all female mammals), one of the two X chromosomes in each cell is randomly switched off in a process known as X chromosome inactivation, so even if the mutation is present, it is unlikely that it will be expressed by every cell and appear as an even (or even semi-even) orange coat. To be orange, a female cat must have the orange gene on both X chromosomes, so no matter which one is deleted, the orange gene still dominates. Male cats, on the other hand, only have one X chromosome, and are therefore much more likely to evenly express that mutation. Whether orange or not, all fur pigmentation genes are X-linked. Calico and tortoiseshell coats also come from different combinations of activated X chromosomes—both with and without the deletion that results in orange—which explains why most of them are female. For this to happen to a male cat, there would have to be two X chromosomes present next to the Y chromosome in order for random inactivation to result in mottled fur. Sasaki and his team found that ARHGAP36 was most active in melanocytes (cells in the skin which produce pigment) found in the orange patches of calicos and tortoiseshells. Genes promoting melanogenesis, or the production of melanin in melanocytes, suppress ARHGAP36 and are upregulated in brown, black, and gray patches. These colors are associated with the black or brown pigment known as eumelanin, which is also the most common form of melanin. Sasaki believes that when a mutated ARHGAP36 is expressed as orange fur in cats, the missing part of the gene would have suppressed orange coloration had it been present. In cats, mutated ARHGAP36 was shown to suppress other genes involved in the production of eumelanin so that it could instead produce a different type of melanin called pheomelanin, which is the reddish-yellow pigment in orange fur. Found only in mammals and birds, pheomelanin is also behind red hair in humans and flashy red feathers in some bird species. It seems that high ARHGAP36 activity is, in general, associated with reduced activity in genes involved with the production of eumelanin. Sasaki is convinced that this gene's takeover may somehow shift pigment production to pheomelanin instead—though, how exactly it pulls this off is still unknown. And because ARHGAP36 also has significant importance in the brain, there is even speculation as to whether there are true associations between fur color and personality (the confirmation of which could either prove or silence all the orange cat memes out there). 'Although it is not fully understood how the identified deletion switches the pigment species, the variation likely dominates the cat population with orange coat color,' the researchers wrote. Somewhere, Garfield is smugly beaming next to a tray of lasagna. You Might Also Like 70 Impressive Tiny Houses That Maximize Function and Style 30+ Paint Colors That Will Instantly Transform Your Kitchen
Scroll.in
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Scroll.in
Emily Brontë's ‘Wuthering Heights' is a dark parable about coercive control
Coercive or controlling behaviour in an intimate or family relationship became a criminal offence in the UK in December 2015. The legislation was the result of a long campaign by the charity Women's Aid to extend understanding of domestic abuse beyond physical violence. But, over 150 years earlier, Emily Brontë placed coercive control at the heart of her celebrated gothic romance, Wuthering Heights. The novel is often read as a great love story. It has inspired a Kate Bush song and many stage, film and TV adaptations. But Heathcliff is an abused child who becomes an abuser – and teaches his son to copy, continue and refine his abuse. In the novel, Cathy declares that 'My love for Heathcliff resembles the eternal rocks beneath: a source of little visible delight, but necessary. Nelly, I am Heathcliff!' Coercive control, like Cathy's love, may not be fully visible, but it nonetheless underpins the emotional logic of Brontë's plot. Wuthering Heights is a novel of two halves. The first focuses on spirited, passionate Cathy, caught between her tamely domestic husband Edgar Linton and the thrilling wildness of Heathcliff, her soulmate from childhood. To revenge himself on Cathy for marrying Edgar, Heathcliff elopes with Edgar's infatuated sister Isabella. Isabella initially sees Heathcliff as a brooding romantic hero, but she soon repents, fleeing with their baby son Linton. Heathcliff and Isabella Heathcliff's abuse of Isabella is sometimes physical, but more often psychological. He takes care, as he tells the family servant Nelly Dean, to 'keep strictly within the limits of the law' to avoid giving Isabella 'the slightest right to claim a separation'. The law grants him ownership of his wife's money and property, but subtler refinements of abuse include humiliation, isolation from family and friends, and deprivation of food, privacy and personal care. At Wuthering Heights, Nelly is shocked to see Isabella unwashed, shabbily dressed. She's 'wan and listless; her hair uncurled: some locks hanging lankly down'. Isabella has already reported that she is forced to sleep in a chair because Heathcliff keeps 'the key of our room in his pocket'. Heathcliff delights in humbling her before Nelly and his own servants, calling her 'an abject thing', 'shamefully cringing', 'pitiful, slavish, and mean-minded'. Isabella escapes Heathcliff clad only in 'a girlish dress' and 'thin slippers', and goes into hiding with her brother's financial help. After her death, Heathcliff recovers their son Linton and uses him to engineer a second coercive marriage to his cousin, Cathy and Edgar's daughter Catherine. A sickly, peevish adolescent, Linton Heathcliff is perhaps the most unappealing character in Victorian fiction, lacking altogether the strength and charisma of his father. But his puny physicality casts the coercive nature of his abuse into relief. Catherine is imprisoned at Wuthering Heights and blackmailed into consenting to marry Linton, who becomes the legal owner of all her property. Incapable of dominating her physically, Linton delights in psychological torment, conspiring in his father's surveillance and depriving her of beloved possessions: All her nice books are mine; she offered to give me them, and her pretty birds, and her pony Minny, if I would get the key of our room, and let her out; but I told her she had nothing to give, they were all, all mine. And then she cried, and took a little picture from her neck, and said I should have that; two pictures in a gold case, on one side her mother, and on the other uncle [Catherine's father], when they were young. That was yesterday – I said they were mine, too. After Linton's death, Heathcliff inherits everything, leaving the widowed and orphaned Catherine his penniless dependant. Wuthering Heights is a dark parable about the absolute power that marriage can grant to abusive men. Real-life inspiration Brontë's plot was rooted in a real-life local case of domestic torment. In 1840, a Mrs Collins came to Haworth Parsonage to ask Emily's father Patrick's advice about her alcoholic, abusive husband. He was Patrick's colleague and fellow clergyman, Rev. John Collins, assistant curate of Keighley. Unusually for the time, Patrick advised her to leave him and take her two children with her. In April 1847, just seven months before Wuthering Heights' publication, Mrs Collins returned to Haworth to thank him. She told the Brontë family how she had settled in Manchester with her children, supporting them all by running a lodging house. Mrs Collins' experience of abuse did not only shape the chilling psychodrama of Wuthering Heights. There are echoes of Patrick's advice in Emily's sister Charlotte's novel Jane Eyre (1847), and her eponymous heroine's famous declaration of autonomy: 'I am no bird; and no net ensnares me; I am a free human being with an independent will, which I now exert to leave you.' Mrs Collins' strength and resilience also inspires the bravery of Helen Huntingdon in Anne's The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1848). Like Emily's 'eternal rocks,' coercive control lurks beneath the Brontës' best-loved fictions, warning Victorian readers of the terrifyingly real dangers of psychological abuse long before the law caught up. Katy Mullin, Professor of Modern Literature and Culture, University of Leeds. Hannah Roche, Senior Lecturer in Twentieth-Century Literature and Culture, University of York. This article first appeared on The Conversation.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Orange Cats Have Long Been a Genetic Mystery. Scientists Have Finally Solved It.
"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links." Here's what you'll learn when you read this story: The gene that causes orange coloration in cats had been pondered for years, but never actually found—until now. Cats with orange coats get them from a deletion (meaning a missing segment) mutation in the noncoding region of a gene associated with both neuroendocrine tissues and pigmentation. There are more male orange cats than females because this gene is located on the X-chromosome, which males only have one copy of. Females are more likely to be tortoiseshell or calico because they have two X chromosomes, and therefore have more genetic coat color options to 'choose' from. Garfield might be the most iconic orange tabby around, but Hollywood has seen quite a few leading cats of the same color—Heathcliff, Oliver, Hiyao Miyazaki's adorably terrifying Catbus from My Neighbor Totoro, and Morris from those retro cat food commercials all come to mind. Like most celebrities, they have so far refused to give up their most guarded beauty secret—how did they get those fabulous golden auburn coats? Hiroyuki Sasaki—a cat enthusiast and geneticist at Kyushu University in Japan—was determined to identify the elusive gene that carries the orange mutation in Felis silvestris catus (the domesticated cat). He and his research team analyzed DNA in skin tissue from cats with and without orange fur, and found a mutation to the ARHGAP36 gene. This was a type of deletion mutation, meaning that a segment of a gene is missing. In orange cats, the missing segment is located on an intron, or noncoding region, of the ARHGAP36 gene, which is also in neuroendocrine tissues (especially the hypothalamus), adrenal glands, and pituitary glands. The location of the mutation on this particular gene also explains why there are so many more male orange cats than female ones. ARHGAP36 is what's called X-linked, meaning that it is located on the X chromosome. In female cats (and all female mammals), one of the two X chromosomes in each cell is randomly switched off in a process known as X chromosome inactivation, so even if the mutation is present, there's a fairly small chance it will be expressed by every cell and present as an even (or even semi-even) orange coat. To be orange, a female cat must have the orange gene on both X chromosomes, so no matter which one is deleted, the orange gene still dominates. Male cats, on the other hand, only have one X chromosome, and are therefore much more likely to evenly express that mutation. Whether orange or not, all fur pigmentation genes are X-linked. Calico and tortoiseshell coats also come from different combinations of activated X chromosomes—both with and without the deletion that results in orange—which explains why most of them are female. For this to happen to a male cat, there would have to be two X chromosomes present next to the Y chromosome in order for random inactivation to result in mottled fur. Sasaki and his team found that ARHGAP36 was most active in melanocytes (cells in the skin which produce pigment) found in the orange patches of calicos and tortoiseshells. Genes promoting melanogenesis, or the production of melanin in melanocytes, suppress ARHGAP36 and are upregulated in brown, black, and gray patches. These colors are associated with the black or brown pigment known as eumelanin, which is also the most common form of melanin. Sasaki believes that when a mutated ARHGAP36 is expressed as orange fur in cats, the missing part of the gene would have suppressed orange coloration had it been present. In cats, mutated ARHGAP36 was shown to suppress other genes involved in the production of eumelanin so that it could instead produce a different type of melanin called pheomelanin, which is the reddish-yellow pigment in orange fur. Found only in mammals and birds, pheomelanin is also behind red hair in humans and flashy red feathers in some bird species. It seems that high ARHGAP36 activity is, in general, associated with reduced activity in genes involved with the production of eumelanin. Sasaki is convinced that this gene's takeover may somehow shift pigment production to pheomelanin instead—though, how exactly it pulls this off is still unknown. And because ARHGAP36 also has significant importance in the brain, there is even speculation as to whether there are true associations between fur color and personality (the confirmation of which could either prove or silence all the orange cat memes out there). 'Although it is not fully understood how the identified deletion switches the pigment species, the variation likely dominates the cat population with orange coat color,' the researchers wrote. Somewhere, Garfield is smugly beaming next to a tray of lasagna. You Might Also Like The Do's and Don'ts of Using Painter's Tape The Best Portable BBQ Grills for Cooking Anywhere Can a Smart Watch Prolong Your Life?
Buzz Feed
03-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Buzz Feed
"Wuthering Heights'" Casting Director Shares Four-Word Response To Margot Robbie And Jacob Elordi Backlash
AP Saltburn director Emerald Fennell is working on a brand new adaptation of Wuthering Heights, starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi in the lead roles. However, the casting of the upcoming film has already faced criticism, with some claiming the character of Heathcliff – who is described as having alternately Romany and Indian heritage, and who is written as 'dark-skinned' in the original gothic novel – has been ' whitewashed ' with the Euphoria star's casting. Others reckon Margot is unconvincing as the book's teenage heroine, Catherine Earnshaw. look at this 17 year old teenager in 1783 — naz ᓚᘏᗢ (@enchantednaz) March 23, 2025 Speaking at the Sands film festival in Scotland, the movie's casting director, Kharmel Cochrane, had a strong response to both critiques. Per Deadline, the casting director said there is 'no need' to be completely true to the original text, claiming: 'It's just a book'. Kharmel shared: 'There was one Instagram comment that said the casting director should be shot. 'But just wait till you see it, and then you can decide whether you want to shoot me or not. But you really don't need to be accurate. It's just a book. That is not based on real life. It's all art.' The casting director added: 'There's definitely going to be some English Lit fans that are not going to be happy. Wait until you see the set design, because that is even more shocking. And there may or may not be a dog collar in it'. Some fans have responded poorly to the comment, with one sharing on X: 'so they saw the whitewashing backlash and proceeded to ignore it.' so they saw the whitewashing backlash and proceeded to ignore it — ❤️🔥 (@nerdphobik) April 28, 2025 'But you really don't need to be accurate. It's just a book' STOP HIRING PEOPLE WHO DO NOT CARE ABOUT THE SOURCE MATERIAL — 𝓔𝓶 💫 (@emkenobi) April 28, 2025 Previous Heathcliff actors in major productions of Wuthering Heights have included Ralph Fiennes, Timothy Dalton, Sir Laurence Olivier and Tom Hardy, while mixed-race actor James Howson also took the lead in a 2011 adaptation. Much-loved movies like Bridget Jones' Diary and 10 Things I Hate About You have previously provided a far-from-loyal adaptation of Austen and Shakespeare 's texts, respectively. Meanwhile, a Time film critic lauded Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet – which reimagined the story as being set in modern-day California – as 'one of the best Shakespeare adaptations'.
See - Sada Elbalad
22-04-2025
- Entertainment
- See - Sada Elbalad
Jacob Elordi Gives Production Update on "Wuthering Heights"
Yara Sameh Jacob Elordi is looking forward to audiences watching what may be one of his most highly anticipated roles yet. The "Euphoria" actor, who is set to portray the romantic antihero Heathcliff in Emerald Fennell's upcoming adaptation of "Wuthering Heights", gave Deadline a production update while speaking about his Amazon series "The Narrow Road to the Deep North", revealing that shooting had 'just recently' wrapped. He also expressed his reverence for Fennell's take and sung the praises of his co-star Margot Robbie, who plays Catherine Earnshaw, as well as the rest of the cast that also includes Hong Chau, Alison Oliver. and Shazad Latif. 'The performances from everyone — it's breathtaking,' Elordi said. 'It's an incredible romance. It's a true epic. It's visually beautiful. The script is beautiful. The costumes are incredible.' Last September, Elordi and Robbie were reported to be attached to star in Fennell's "Wuthering Heights", from MRC and LuckyChap. Warner Bros Motion Pictures Group has since won distribution rights in a bidding war, setting the romance for a February 13, 2026 release. Fennell — who serves as writer, director and producer on the adaptation, which has been filming in the UK — previously faced backlash for casting a white actor as Heathcliff, who is described in the book as a 'dark-skinned gipsy.' The adaptation of Emily Brontë's 1847 novel was filmed in the UK. The original story follows two families, the Earnshaws and the Lintons and the turbulent relationship they have with the Earnshaws' foster son, Heathcliff. More specific plot details on Fennell's version are unknown at this time. read more New Tourism Route To Launch in Old Cairo Ahmed El Sakka-Led Play 'Sayidati Al Jamila' to Be Staged in KSA on Dec. 6 Mandy Moore Joins Season 2 of "Dr. Death" Anthology Series Don't Miss These Movies at 44th Cairo Int'l Film Festival Today Amr Diab to Headline KSA's MDLBEAST Soundstorm 2022 Festival Arts & Culture Mai Omar Stuns in Latest Instagram Photos Arts & Culture "The Flash" to End with Season 9 Arts & Culture Ministry of Culture Organizes four day Children's Film Festival Arts & Culture Canadian PM wishes Muslims Eid-al-Adha News Egypt confirms denial of airspace access to US B-52 bombers News Ayat Khaddoura's Final Video Captures Bombardment of Beit Lahia Lifestyle Pistachio and Raspberry Cheesecake Domes Recipe News Australia Fines Telegram $600,000 Over Terrorism, Child Abuse Content Arts & Culture Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban's $4.7M LA Home Burglarized Videos & Features Bouchra Dahlab Crowned Miss Arab World 2025 .. Reem Ganzoury Wins Miss Arab Africa Title (VIDEO) Sports Neymar Announced for Brazil's Preliminary List for 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers News Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly Inaugurates Two Indian Companies Sports Former Al Zamalek Player Ibrahim Shika Passes away after Long Battle with Cancer Arts & Culture New Archaeological Discovery from 26th Dynasty Uncovered in Karnak Temple
