Be Careful of Blue Light – Damage Increases With Age
A recent study from Oregon State University found that as people age, the negative effects of lifetime exposure to blue light from phones, computers, and home lights get worse. The study, which was just released in Nature Partner Journals Aging, used the familiar fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster. Due to the fact that it shares cellular and developmental mechanisms with humans and other animals, Drosophila melanogaster is a valuable model organism. The survival rate of flies maintained in darkness and then moved to an environment of constant blue light from light-emitting diodes, or LEDs, at progressively older ages was investigated by a team under the direction of Jaga Giebultowicz, an expert in biological clocks at the OSU College of Science. The age-related changes from darkness to light occurred at two, twenty, forty, and sixty days. The study concentrated on the effects of blue light on the mitochondria of the flies' cells. Adenosine triphosphate, or ATP, is a chemical energy...