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Increased susceptibility to obesity in women contributes to their fertility problems, our scientists have shown. Their research focused on the molecular mechanisms responsible for the proper functioning of the female reproductive system. The results have just been published in the journal Molecular Metabolism.

– We know that obesity in women is associated with infertility, and this is due to disturbances at many levels. We are concerned with understanding these mechanisms at the molecular level, that is, inside the cells. In our work, we focus on ovarian dysfunction, which is not only a storehouse of egg cells, but also a site for the production of oestrogens – key fertility hormones – says Dr Karolina Wołodko from the Fertility and Development Programming Team.

OBESITY AND INFERTILITY

In order to look at the changes at the molecular level that occur in the reproductive system, particularly in ovarian cells, Dr Karolina Wołodko – together with a team led by Dr Antonio Galvao – conducted her observations on two strains of mice with different susceptibility to obesity. – We wanted to reflect the tendencies observed among people when some find it easier and others find it more difficult to gain weight – explains the researcher. Both groups were fed a high-calorie diet.

– We found that the group that gained weight sooner (i.e. the one prone to obesity) also showed abnormal ovarian processes associated with a decrease in hormone production. We also observed elevated blood levels of, among other things, leptin, which is characteristic of obesity and also greatly affects reproductive capacity. There were no such changes in the second group – says the biotechnologist.

The researchers then examined what changes occurred in the ovarian cells. – In the obesity-prone group, these changes were significant. One of the most important findings is the characterisation of changes in the cells of the ovarian follicle sheath, which led to a decrease in the production of the steroid hormone oestrogen, which is very important for the proper functioning of the entire reproductive system. Moreover, we have demonstrated the influence of factors hitherto unrelated to hormone production – explains Dr Karolina Wołodko.

Furthermore, based on the results from the obesity-resistant group, the researchers showed that eating a high-fat diet alone does not lead to changes at the level of the reproductive system, as suggested by some previous scientific studies. – The key here, however, is weight gain – the researcher emphasises.

URGENCY

– By understanding the underlying mechanisms and disorders that lead to infertility in obese women, it will be possible to address the problem in the future by developing new therapies. Of course, further basic research is needed, and then also those at the clinical level – says Dr Karolina Wolodko.

She adds that the scale of the problem is significant and still growing. – Already one in six couples trying to have a child is struggling with infertility. In parallel, the number of people who are overweight and obese is increasing, which also affects the functioning of the reproductive system – she points out. Furthermore, in her opinion, the topic of research into understanding the molecular mechanisms involved in the female reproductive system is still receiving insufficient attention in global science. – So far, most of the research around reproduction has focused on males and sperm, who are an easier model to study. Further, too little attention has been paid to the study of females and their reproductive system, which, however, is much more complex – concludes the scientist.

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With an eye on their health, Polish consumers should consume more fish meat, as it contains many valuable nutrients that play a key role in the proper functioning of the human body, emphasise scientists from the Institute of Animal Reproduction and Food Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Olsztyn.

In order to structure our knowledge of fish as a food, we invite you to take a look at popular facts and myths and science-based justifications. Our guides on this topic are Dr Radosław Kowalski and Dr Marianna Raczyk.

FACT #1

Fish plays a key role in a healthy diet, providing not only high-quality protein but also many other valuable nutrients that are beneficial to the proper functioning of the human body.

Fish are a source of:

• high-quality, complete protein (an extremely valuable dietary element, especially for those concerned with building and regenerating muscle and the proper functioning of the nervous system),
• beneficial fatty acid composition (especially fatty marine species such as salmon, mackerel and sardines are rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) such as omega-3 fatty acids, which play a key role in reducing inflammation, support heart and brain health and may contribute to lowering triglyceride and cholesterol (LDL) levels in the blood,
• vitamins and minerals that support the functioning of the body on many levels (including vitamins A and D, B vitamins and minerals such as selenium, phosphorus, iodine and calcium).

FACT #2

Introducing fish 2-3 times a week into the diet would be an important part of a balanced diet and an element of preventive health care.

Due to its high content of protein, omega-3 fatty acids, selenium and iodine, fish should be a particularly important part of the diet of people with thyroid diseases such as Hashimoto’s. Iodine is essential for the production of thyroid hormones, and omega-3 fatty acids can help alleviate the inflammation that is a common symptom of this disease.

In addition, consumption of oily fish has been linked to a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, making fish an important part of preventive health care.

FACT #3

Despite its numerous health benefits, fish consumption in Poland remains low.

According to the Institute of Agricultural and Food Economics, for several years the consumption of fish and seafood has been 12-14 kg per capita per year, which corresponds to an average of one portion of fish per week. However, this is well below the recommended amount of 2-3 portions of fish per week.

MYTH #1

Fish are toxic, full of antibiotics and have harmful contaminants in them, so they should not be eaten.

First of all, it must be made clear that there are no fish that are unhealthy for humans (except for those that are poisonous). There are, however, fish that are more or less beneficial to health. Equally, there are fish that are more or less contaminated.

However, it is worth understanding that it is not the fish themselves that are so by nature – it is the environment in which they live that determines their characteristics. And this environment is largely shaped by human activity. Therefore, one should not generalise that a particular fish species is, for example, a dioxin carrier; rather, one should talk about fish from specific habitats.

Scientific data indicate that even fish that contain some mercury or dioxins, at the quantities consumed on average in Poland, can still be a valuable and safe part of the diet.

Such an example is panga from the Mekong Valley in China, around the quality of which there have been concerns in the past. Indeed, reports years ago indicated the presence of substances such as antibiotics, chemicals and even heavy metals in panga meat. However, pressure from foreign importers has had an effect and farming standards have improved significantly. Today, according to recent studies, it is possible to eat as much as more than 20 kg of meat from this fish in a week without being adversely affected by any of the contaminants found in the fish.

MYTH #2

Genetically modified fish poses a threat to our health.

Genetically modified (GMO) Atlantic salmon has now been released for sale in the USA and Canada, although it cannot be sold or bought in Europe.

However, it is worth understanding what genetic modification is in the case of fish. Most often, it involves ‘just’ the transfer of DNA encoding a desired protein (such as a growth hormone) from one species to another. In fisheries, triploidisation is also used – to sterilise fish and improve their growth rates. These procedures are identical to those used, for example, in banana production (all bananas available in shops are triploid). These changes, however, do not cause mutations that can have any impact on the health of the people who eat the fish.

Despite this, there is a public aversion to genetically modified products. Therefore, science is also developing an alternative to the creation of GMO species, which is interspecies crossbreeding, resulting in varieties with new traits that are intermediate between the initial species.

An example of Polish research in this direction is the Wielkopolski trout, a cross between a male brook trout and a female rainbow trout. It is valuable to breeders because it is resistant to the VHS virus decimating rainbow trout breeders, and it is also sterile (triploid), which means that if it escapes from breeding, it will not pose a long-term threat to the biodiversity of open waters (because it will not reproduce).

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The text is based on the article ‘Fish as food – facts and myths’ by: Radosław Kajetan Kowalski, Marianna Raczyk, Anna Grygier and Katarzyna Polanowska, which appeared in issue 4 (2024) of the journal “Przegląd Rybacki”.

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Prof. Monika M. Kaczmarek has been appointed the new director of the Institute of Animal Reproduction and Food Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Olsztyn. She will begin her four-year term in January 2025. The scientist – a native of Olsztyn – has been associated with the Institute for many years.

Until now, Prof. Monika M. Kaczmarek has headed the Laboratory of Molecular Biology. Her versatile research interests – often at the borderline of different disciplines – mainly focus on uncovering molecular mechanisms of offspring-mother interactions during pregnancy and in the postnatal period. She also leads projects in oncology, cell biology and entomology.

Prof. Kaczmarek, an Olsztyn resident since birth, is a graduate of the IV High School in Olsztyn named after Maria Skłodowska-Curie and the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, where she graduated in 2001 with a degree in biotechnology engineering.

She obtained further degrees and titles in 2004 (PhD under the supervision of Prof. Adam J. Zięcik), 2010 (habilitation) and 2018 (Professor). In addition, from 2013 to 2017 she worked as a professor at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at the Warsaw University of Life Sciences, combining this with her activities at the Institute. She also gained experience during numerous scientific internships, including in Germany and the USA.

Professor Monika M. Kaczmarek is the winner of many prestigious awards and scholarships, including the Foundation for Polish Science, the Polish-American Fulbright Commission, the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and Hertie. She was also honoured by the residents of Olsztyn, whose votes placed her in the Top 10 Women of Success in Warmia and Mazury.

She combines her scientific activity along with expertise work and mentoring of young researchers. From 2017 to 2022, she served on the Council of the Polish-American Fulbright Commission, and from 2020 to 2024 she was a member of the Council of the National Science Centre (NCN). She is also co-author of the NCN report on how women and men function in science, published in 2022.

Prof. Kaczmarek’s scientific output includes dozens of publications in renowned scientific journals (e.g. FASEB Journal, Cell Communication and Signaling Molecular and Cellular Proteomics). She has given many lectures in Poland and abroad, including the USA, Germany, Israel and Taiwan. She also has extensive experience in presenting research results outside academia (e.g. TEDx, EIT Food & Futurelearn MOOC, University of Children, European Researchers’ Night).

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Moving to new headquarters, structural changes and rebranding with the effect of the ‘InLife’ logo are an opportunity for the Institute to open up anew and look boldly to the future, according to the Director of the Institute, Prof. Mariusz K. Piskuła, who is completing his term of office after 13 years.

The Institute of Animal Reproduction and Food Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences has a new logo – ‘InLife’. What is behind this term?

Literally translating: ‘In’ – from institute, innovation, interdisciplinarity and internationalisation. ‘Life’, on the other hand, refers to the broad spectrum of our activities, which revolve precisely around life – after all, we deal with food, animal and human reproduction, and health.

The new logo is intended to help us show our activities in a universal way, because although we formally deal with two disciplines: food and nutrition technology and zootechnics and fisheries, our research is very often at the interface of many disciplines. For example, exploring the causes of human infertility is not de facto zootechnics, while studying food in the context of metabolic disorders is already entering medicine.

An important argument for creating a logo was also the issue of facilitating communication with other research centres and the socio-economic environment – both in Poland and abroad.

The full name of our Institute – which of course still applies – is long and complicated. Few people can repeat it correctly the first time. This is why we regularly encounter more or less distortions. For example, it has happened – and in documents! – to present us as the Institute for Animal Reproduction or the Institute for Food Reproduction Research. The abbreviation ‘InLife’ will help avoid such situations.

Does the creation of the new acronym involve any changes to the scope of the Institute’s activities?

Along with creating a whole new visual identity, we also carried out a rebranding process for our Institute. We rethought who we are, what our goals are, which direction we want to head in, how we want to be perceived and so on. ‘InLife’ thus corresponds to the profound changes within our Institute.

At this point, I would like to briefly outline our 36-year history, as it is crucial to understanding this story and directly explains the flow of my thinking.

To illustrate, I am finishing my term of office as a representative of the second generation of the Institute’s management. For the first generation, narrow specialisation was important – which is why for a long time there was a formal division of the unit into two departments: animal reproduction and food research. This resulted, among other things, in the budget for the purchase of research equipment being divided equally, 50-50, regardless of whether anyone needed more. The aftermath of this thinking has been apparent to date – each department was based in a different location in Olsztyn, and on top of that we have two medical-oriented facilities in Białystok. Eventually, after many years, we merged everything.

Shortly after I took over as director 13 years ago, we started preparations for the new headquarters. At that time, we had already reached a consensus that we should merge, and the new, shared headquarters would be an opportunity to do so. With this, we started to look at the Institute as a whole – not as two separate departments. I have gone even further, we are moving away from this division, we are abolishing the branches. The formalities in this direction are already underway.

So the move to the new premises is supposed to be a kind of opening up of the Institute for the new?

There will be a new mission for the Institute associated with the move, but I leave that to Professor Monika Kaczmarek, who will take over the leadership of the Institute from me at the beginning of January 2025. She is a representative of the ‘third generation’ of staff.

Looking further inside the Institute, you have also made structural changes. What kind of changes?

One of the biggest changes is the elimination of research departments in favour of smaller but still flexible teams – as is happening in the world. I have given a chance to those scientists who are ready to do independent research, have an idea for funding and have gathered the right human capital around them – so that they do not have a glass ceiling above them. Now they can start their own team, focusing on their chosen topic.

We currently have 18 research teams identified. There is still interest, so perhaps more will emerge. In my opinion, this is also a way for such healthy competition between researchers and a way to learn how to build consortia around a common goal with other teams/units.

We have also created specialised laboratories, or so-called core facilities, which focus on our most expensive and advanced technologies. Access to these will be open to all researchers – under the guidance of competent staff operating these laboratories, of course.

Does the proximity of the Institute’s new headquarters to the Olsztyn Science and Technology Park mean that it is more open to cooperation with business?

Definitely. This is due to two reasons.

Firstly, one of the conditions for obtaining funding for the construction of the new premises from EU funds under the Regional Operational Programme for the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship 2014-2020 was that we should be open to cooperation with the wider business community and make some of the rooms available to them; this will generate additional income for us, which is an important argument.

I would like it to be clearly stated that current funding for PAS institutes from the state budget is scandalously low in comparison with how universities are treated. Therefore, in order to be able to conduct world-class research, we need to find additional funding, for example from the aforementioned cooperation with business, from national projects and from funds straight from Brussels. We have to look at our institutes as business units.

Coming to the end of your role as Director of the Institute, are you satisfied with the state you are leaving the Institute in?

Yes, I am completing my term of office with satisfaction – especially the fact that I have led the construction of a new shared headquarters and carried out an internal restructuring with the rebranding of the Institute.

And what, in your opinion, is the biggest challenge facing the Institute’s new director?

Budget, budget, budget. The subsidies received have practically come to a standstill, and expenditure continues to rise due to, among other things, the rising cost of living and statutory increases for academic staff, although we have not received additional funds, apart from incidental cash injections, for this. Well, and at least the continued success in obtaining EU funding from Brussels. I would add that our successes in this area resulted in our nomination to the  Crystal Brussels Prize, as 1 of 5 out of a total of 69 institutes of the Polish Academy of Sciences, and we certainly beat all those doing science in the region.

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„InLife” – is the new logo of the Institute of Animal Reproduction and Food Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences. It refers to the research conducted at the Institute, which focuses on life – food, animal and human reproduction, and health. It is also intended to facilitate communication both in Poland and abroad.

– This one word defines our entire activity. „In” – from the institute, innovation, interdisciplinarity and internationalization. In turn, „Life” refers to the wide spectrum of our activities, which focus precisely on life – after all, we deal with nutrition, reproduction, and broadly understood health – explains the director of the Institute, Prof. Mariusz K. Piskuła.

The reason for the creation of the „InLife” logo is the commencement of the Institute’s activity in its new headquarters – at 18 Trylińskiego St. in Olsztyn, in the neighbourhood of the Olsztyn Science and Technology Park.

– The new facility integrates all units of the Institute (the Food Sciences Division and the Reproductive Biology Division in Olsztyn and two departments in Białystok), and the “InLife” logo is to emphasize this interdisciplinary, new chapter in the Institute’s history – adds the director.

The new brand is also to facilitate communication with other research centers and the socio-economic environment – ​​both in Poland and abroad.

– The full name of our Institute, which of course is still in force, is long, complicated and difficult to remember. Hence, we regularly encounter its – greater or lesser – distortion, which is not conducive to building the visibility of our activities. The “InLife” brand will allow us to avoid such situations – says Iwona Kieda, who heads the Communication and International Affairs Office at the Institute.

The entire visual identification refers to the new logo. The logo is based on the shape of a hexagon symbolizing a cell – the basic unit of life. It is a metaphor for natural perfection, precision, cooperation and modularity – the foundations on which research on reproduction, nutrition and health is based on.

THE „HOUSEWARMING PARTY”

The presentation of the new logo and new visual identification of the „InLife” Institute was combined with a „housewarming party”, i.e. the inauguration of operations in the new headquarters. The spaces of the new Institute are filling up with equipment and furniture. Most of the scientific and administrative staff have already moved to the new location, and the laboratories are being launched.

The ceremony, which took place on 17 December, was attended by invited guests – representatives of the governmental, academic and business stakeholders from the region and beyond. They included the President of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Prof. Marek Konarzewski; Voivode of Warmia and Mazury, Radosław Król; Vice-President of Olsztyn, Justyna Sarna-Pezowicz; Member of Parliament, Dorota Olko; Senator of the Republic of Poland, Gustaw Marek Brzezin; Rector of the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Dr. Jerzy A. Przyborowski, Prof. UWM; Rector of the European Academy of Applied Medical and Social Sciences, Dr. Agnieszka Górska, Prof. EAMiSNS; Director of the Institute of Rural Development and Agriculture of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Dr. Habil. Monika Stanny, Prof. IRWiR PAN.

President of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Prof. Marek Konarzewski, congratulated us on the new headquarters and the new logo. He admitted that the official name of the Institute is complicated, and the new logo will gradually improve the communication. – From today on, I will refer to the new brand, to this new, very accurate name – said the President of the Polish Academy of Sciences.

– This new opening is incredibly important both for you and for the entire Polish Academy of Sciences – we are developing as an institution and this Institute is the best example of this – added Prof. Marek Konarzewski.

Participants of the „house-warming” party also had the opportunity to tour the building, including the new laboratories.

ABOUT THE NEW HEADQUARTERS

The new headquarters of the Institute has six floors (five administrative and laboratory floors and one technical floor), and its volume is over 25 thousand m3. Inside there are specialist laboratories, so called  „core facilities”, rooms for conducting biomedical research and necessary facilities typical of the Institute’s profile of activity. An animal laboratory was also created, meeting the strictest EU requirements for such units.

The facility was created as part of the project „Environmental Research Center and Innovative Food Technologies for the Quality of Life”, co-financed by the Regional Operational Program of the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship for the years 2014-2020. The investment cost is over PLN 109 million, of which the subsidy amounts to over PLN 79 million, and PLN 30 million is the Institute’s own contribution.

You can read more about the construction HERE ​and HERE.

LOGO HISTORY

Work on the new logo and visual identification system lasted several months. For this purpose, the Institute announced a competition, in which 7 creative agencies from Olsztyn, Warsaw and Krakow took part 2Kropek Studio, Pigalopus, Kot Bury, Brandy Design, Renton, Gravite Design and Bury Design. A total of 10 logo proposals were submitted to the competition.

The jury evaluated the submitted works based on the criteria of aesthetics, innovativeness and respect towards the vision  behind the „InLife” brand. Points were also awarded in relation  to the cost of the proposed project. The weight of the criteria was 70/30. The jury members were employees of the Institute and Dr. Arkadiusz Karapuda, Professor of the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, invited to the jury as an external expert.

The winner of the competition was „Gravite Design” from Olsztyn. In accordance with the regulations, a contract was signed with the winner of the competition to create Institute’s logo and the Visual Identity Book. The winning logo is hexagonal, elegant and simple in its form. In the basic full-color version, the hexagon is lime green and the name is navy blue.

The new visual concept will be gradually implemented in all communication channels.

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