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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa 2 minutes ago

Blood test for more than 50 cancers brings 'exciting' results

A blood test that screens for more than 50 cancers is correct in 62% of cases where it thinks people may have the disease, a study has found.

The Galleri test, which can be given annually and is undergoing trial in the U.K.'s health system, looks for the "fingerprint" of dozens of deadly cancers, often picking up signs before symptoms even appear.

It works by identifying DNA in the bloodstream that has been shed by cancer cells, giving the earliest signs somebody may have the disease.

Now, a key U.S. trial on the test has shown that Galleri is highly accurate in ruling out cancer in people without the disease, while also picking up cancer cases at an early stage, when the disease is more treatable.

Of those people found to have a "cancer signal" detected in their blood, 61.6% went on to be diagnosed with cancer, the findings of the Pathfinder 2 study showed.

And in 92% of cases, the test could pinpoint in which organ or tissue the cancer arose, meaning time and money could be saved on other scans and other tests.

More than half (53.5%) of the new cancers detected by Galleri in the study were the earliest stage I or II, while more than two-thirds (69.3%) were detected at stages I-III.

Galleri, which has been dubbed the holy grail of cancer tests, also correctly ruled out cancer in 99.6% of people who did not have the disease.

The findings are being presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology, or ESMO, Congress in Berlin.

https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/15/5/e086648

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa 8 minutes ago

Female bodybuilders at risk of sudden cardiac death, research indicates

Sudden cardiac death is responsible for an unusually high proportion of deaths in female bodybuilders worldwide, according to research published in the European Heart Journal.

Sudden cardiac death is when someone dies suddenly and unexpectedly due to a problem with their heart. It is generally rare in young and seemingly healthy individuals.

The study found the greatest risk among women competing professionally. It also revealed a high proportion of deaths from suicide and homicide among female bodybuilders.

Bodybuilders, both female and male, often engage in extreme training, and use fasting and dehydration strategies to achieve extreme physiques. Some also take performance-enhancing substances. These strategies can take a serious toll on the heart and blood vessels.

Over recent years, more and more women have taken up strength training and competitive bodybuilding. Despite this growing participation, most of the available research and media attention has focused exclusively on male athletes. This work counters that.

The researchers gathered the names of 9,447 female bodybuilders from the official competition records and from an unofficial online database. All the women had participated in at least one International Fitness and Bodybuilding Federation event between 2005 and 2020.

The researchers then searched for reports of deaths of any of these named competitors in five different languages across different web sources, including official media reports, social media, bodybuilding forums and blogs. Any reported deaths were then cross-referenced using multiple sources and these reports were verified and analyzed by two clinicians to establish, as far as possible, the cause of death.

The researchers found 32 deaths among the women, with an average age at death of around 42 years. Sudden cardiac death was the most common cause of death, accounting for 31% of deaths. The risk of sudden cardiac death was more than 20 times higher among professional bodybuilders, compared to amateurs.

These results indicate that the risk of sudden cardiac death seems much higher for women bodybuilders compared to other professional athletes, although it is lower than the risk for male bodybuilders.

The researchers acknowledge that the study is based on a web-based search strategy, which could have influenced their findings. For example, some deaths, especially among less-known athletes, may have gone unreported. They also found that autopsy data were available for only a small proportion of cases, meaning that sudden deaths had to be classified based on clinical interpretation rather than confirmed forensic findings.

Mortality in female bodybuilding athletes, European Heart Journal (2025). DOI: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehaf789

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa 44 minutes ago

To create the film, the researchers first blended T. versicolor mycelia with a nutrient-rich solution of cellulose nanofibrils. They applied thin layers of the mixture to denim, polyester felt, birch wood veneer and two types of paper, letting the fungus grow in a warm environment. Placing the samples in an oven for one day inactivated the fungus and allowed the coating to dry.

It took at least three days of fungal growth for an effective water barrier to develop. And after four days, the newly grown layer didn't add much thickness to the materials (about the same as a coat of paint), but it did change their colors, forming mottled yellow, orange or tan patterns.

Water droplets placed on the fungus-treated textiles and paper formed bead-like spheres, whereas similar droplets on untreated materials either flattened out or soaked in completely. In addition, the fungal coating prevented other liquids from absorbing, including n-heptane, toluene and castor oil, suggesting that it could be a barrier to many liquids. The researchers say this work is a successful demonstration of a food-safe fungal coating and shows this technology's potential to replace single-use plastic products.

Sandro Zier et al, Growing Sustainable Barrier Coatings from Edible Fungal Mycelia, Langmuir (2025). DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.5c03185

Part 2

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa 45 minutes ago

An edible fungus could make paper and fabric liquid-proof

As an alternative to single-use plastic wrap and paper cup coatings, researchers in Langmuir report a way to waterproof materials using edible fungus. Along with fibers made from wood, the fungus produced a layer that blocks water, oil and grease absorption. In a proof-of-concept study, the impervious film grew on common materials such as paper, denim, polyester felt and thin wood, revealing its potential to replace plastic coatings with sustainable, natural materials.

By providing more ways to potentially reduce our reliance on single-use plastics, we can help lessen the waste that ends up in landfills and the ocean; nature offers elegant, sustainable solutions to help us get there.

Fungi are more than their mushroom caps; underground they form an extensive, interwoven network of feathery filaments called mycelium. Recently, researchers have been inventing water-resistant materials made from these fibrous networks, including leather-like, electrically conductive gauze and spun yarn, because the surface of mycelium naturally repels water.

Additionally, films made from the fluffy wood fibers used in paper-making—specifically, a microscopic form called cellulose nanofibrils—can create barriers for oxygen, oil and grease.

The edible "turkey tail" fungus (Trametes versicolor) can grow with cellulose fibrils into a protective coating on various materials.

Part 1

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa 1 hour ago

In the experiments conducted, in the healthy participants, when the sound that played in the headphones matched the syllable they imagined saying in their minds, the EEG showed reduced activity in the auditory cortex—the part of the brain that processes sound and speech. This suggests the brain was predicting the sound and dampening its response—similar to what happens when we speak out loud.

However, in the group of participants who had recently experienced AVH, the results were the reverse. In these individuals, instead of the expected suppression of brain activity when the imagined speech matched the sound heard, the EEG showed an enhanced response.
Their brains reacted more strongly to inner speech that matched the external sound, which was the exact opposite of what the researchers found in the healthy participants.
This reversal of the normal suppression effect suggests that the brain's prediction mechanism may be disrupted in people currently experiencing auditory hallucinations, which may cause their own inner voice to be misinterpreted as external speech.
Participants in the second group—people with a schizophrenia-spectrum disorder who hadn't experienced AVH recently or at all—showed a pattern that was intermediate between the healthy participants and the hallucinating participants.
The researchers say this is the strongest confirmation to date that the brains of people living with schizophrenia are misperceiving imagined speech as speech that is produced externally.

Thomas Whitford et al, Corollary discharge dysfunction to inner speech and its relationship to auditory verbal hallucinations in patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders, Schizophrenia Bulletin (2025). DOI: 10.1093/schbul/sbaf167

Part 2

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa 1 hour ago

Brainwave study sheds light on cause of 'hearing voices'

A new study led by psychologists  has provided the strongest evidence yet that auditory verbal hallucinations—or hearing voices—in schizophrenia may stem from a disruption in the brain's ability to recognize its own inner voice.

In a paper published today in the journal Schizophrenia Bulletin, the researchers say the finding could also be an important step toward finding biological indicators that point to the presence of schizophrenia. This is significant, as there are currently no blood tests, brain scans, or lab-based biomarkers—signs in the body that can tell us something about our health—that are uniquely characteristic of schizophrenia.

Inner speech is the voice in your head that silently narrates your thoughts—what you're doing, planning, or noticing. Most people experience inner speech regularly, often without realizing it, though there are some who don't experience it at all.

The research shows that when we speak—even just in our heads—the part of the brain that processes sounds from the outside world becomes less active. This is because the brain predicts the sound of our own voice. But in people who hear voices, this prediction seems to go wrong, and the brain reacts as if the voice is coming from someone else.

This confirms what mental health researchers have long theorized: that auditory hallucinations in schizophrenia may be due to the person's own inner speech being misattributed as external speech.

And how do you measure it? One way is by using an EEG, which records the brain's electrical activity. Even though we can't hear inner speech, the brain still reacts to it—and in healthy people, using inner speech produces the same kind of reduction in brain activity as when they speak out loud.

But in people who hear voices, that reduction of activity doesn't happen. In fact, their brains react even more strongly to inner speech, as if it's coming from someone else. That might help explain why the voices feel so real.

Part 1

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa 23 hours ago

Serotonin produced by gut bacteria provides hope for a novel IBS treatment

New research clarifies the complex interaction between gut bacteria and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Experiments demonstrate that gut bacteria can produce the important substance serotonin. The finding may lead to future treatments.

IBS is a common gastrointestinal disorder, more common in women, with symptoms such as abdominal pain, constipation or diarrhea. The cause of the disease is not clear, but the intestinal environment, including the gut microbiota and serotonin, appear to be important factors.

Serotonin is best known as a neurotransmitter in the brain, but over 90% of the body's serotonin is produced in the gut, where it controls bowel movements via the enteric nervous system, sometimes called the "gut–brain."

Previous research has shown that the bacteria in the gut, the gut microbiota, affect how much serotonin is produced by the host, but until now it has been unclear whether gut bacteria themselves can form biologically active serotonin.

In the current study, published in the journal Cell Reports, the researchers have identified two bacteria that together can produce serotonin: Limosilactobacillus mucosae and Ligilactobacillus ruminis.

When the bacteria were introduced into germ-free mice with serotonin deficiency, the levels of serotonin in the gut increased, as did the density of nerve cells in the colon. The bacteria also normalized the intestinal transit time.

 Researchers were also able to see that people with IBS had lower levels of one of the bacteria (L. mucosae) in their stools compared to healthy individuals, and that this bacterium also has the enzyme required for serotonin production.

The results indicate that certain intestinal bacteria can produce bioactive serotonin and thus play an important role in intestinal health and open new avenues for the treatment of functional gastrointestinal disorders such as IBS.

Chiara H. Moretti et al, Identification of human gut bacteria that produce bioactive serotonin and promote colonic innervation, Cell Reports (2025). DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2025.116434. www.cell.com/cell-reports/full … 2211-1247(25)01205-7

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa 23 hours ago

Graying hair may reflect a natural defense against cancer risk

Throughout life, our cells are constantly exposed to environmental and internal factors that can damage DNA. While such DNA damage is known to contribute to both aging and cancer, the precise connection—particularly how damaged stem cells shape long-term tissue health—has remained elusive.

Melanocyte stem cells (McSCs) are tissue‐resident stem cells that serve as the source of mature melanocytes, the pigment‐producing cells responsible for hair and skin coloration. In mammals, these stem cells reside in the bulge–sub‐bulge region of hair follicles as immature melanoblasts, maintaining pigmentation through cyclical regeneration.

Published in Nature Cell Biology, a study used long-term in vivo lineage tracing and gene expression profiling in mice to investigate how McSCs respond to different types of DNA damage.

Researchers identified a specific response to DNA double-strand breaks: senescence-coupled differentiation (seno-differentiation), a process in which McSCs irreversibly differentiate and are then lost, leading to hair graying. This process is driven by activation of the p53–p21 pathway.

In contrast, when exposed to certain carcinogens, such as 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene or ultraviolet B, McSCs bypass this protective differentiation program—even in the presence of DNA damage. Instead, they retain self-renewal capacity and expand clonally, a process supported by KIT ligand secreted both from the local niche and within the epidermis. This niche-derived signal suppresses seno-differentiation, tipping McSCs toward a tumor-prone fate.

These findings reveal that the same stem cell population can follow antagonistic fates—exhaustion or expansion—depending on the type of stress and microenvironmental signals. It reframes hair graying and melanoma not as unrelated events, but as divergent outcomes of stem cell stress responses.

Importantly, this study does not suggest that graying hair prevents cancer, but rather that seno-differentiation represents a stress-induced protective pathway that removes potentially harmful cells. Conversely, when this mechanism is bypassed, the persistence of damaged McSCs may predispose to melanomagenesis.

By identifying the molecular circuits that govern this fate bifurcation, the study provides a conceptual framework that links tissue aging and cancer, and highlights the beneficial role of eliminating potentially harmful stem cells through natural "senolysis," resulting in a phenotype that safeguards against cancer.

 Yasuaki Mohri et al, Antagonistic stem cell fates under stress govern decisions between hair greying and melanoma, Nature Cell Biology (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41556-025-01769-9

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa yesterday

Scientists Just Discovered a Whole New Type of Connection Between Neurons

Super-resolution microscopes have revealed a whole new type of connection between neurons in mouse and human brains.

In the lab,  researchers identified tiny tubular bridges in the branching tips of cultured neurons. In further tests on mouse models of Alzheimer's disease, it appeared the bridges were shuttling calcium and disease-related molecules directly between cells.

Similar] structures can transport a vast range of materials, from small ions (10⁻¹⁰m) to large mitochondria (10⁻⁶ m)," the team writes in their paper.

In cultured neurons, we observed these nanotubes forming dynamically and confirmed that they possessed a distinct internal structure, setting them apart from other neuronal extensions.

Neurons are well known for passing rapid messages to each other using synapses to transmit both electrical and chemical information. Yet, other cell types are known to use physically connecting bridging tubes to exchange molecules. Researchers have just confirmed that a similar type of tube bridge occurs in neurons too, using advanced imaging and machine learning.

The researchers observed the nanotubes transporting amyloid-beta molecules that they had injected into mouse brain cells. These molecules have been implicated in neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's, where they tend to clump together abnormally. When researchers stopped the bridges from forming, the amyloid-beta stopped spreading between cells, too, confirming that the nanotubes acted as direct conduits.

The computational model supported these findings, predicting that overactivation in the nanotube network could accelerate the toxic accumulation of amyloid in specific neurons, thereby providing a mechanistic link between nanotube alterations and the progression of Alzheimer's pathology," the researchers explain. 

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adr7403

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa yesterday

Bats' brains reveal a global neural compass that doesn't depend on the moon and stars

Some 40 kilometers east of the Tanzanian coast in East Africa lies Latham Island, a rocky, utterly isolated and uninhabited piece of land about the size of seven soccer fields. It was on this unlikely patch of ground that  researchers recorded—for the first time ever—the neural activity of mammals in the wild.

In their study, published in Science, the team used a tiny device to record, at the level of single neurons, the brain activity of fruit bats as they flew around the island. The scientists discovered that the bats' neuronal "compass" is global: It provides stable directional information across the entire island and does not depend on the moon or stars.

Many species share the behavioral ability to orient themselves using an "internal compass," and it is quite possible that humans rely on the same neural mechanism that was studied in these bats.

They found that every time the bats flew with their heads pointing in a particular direction—north, for instance—a unique group of neurons became active, creating an "internal compass." Navigation by means of directional neurons had previously been observed in the lab, but this was the first evidence that it happens in nature as well. When the researchers analyzed the recordings from different parts of the island, they discovered that the activity of the head-direction cells was consistent and reliable across the entire island, enabling the bats to orient themselves over a large geographical area.

 The compass is global and uniform: No matter where the bat is on the island and no matter what it sees, specific cells always point in the same direction—north stays north and south stays south. 

 Shaked Palgi et al, Head-direction cells as a neural compass in bats navigating outdoors on a remote oceanic island, Science (2025). DOI: 10.1126/science.adw6202. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adw6202

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