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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on February 5, 2025 at 12:22pm

Phage Therapy: Helping viruses deliver a knockout blow to killer bacterial infections

In the face of rising concerns about antibiotic resistant infections, an international group of microbial experts have launched a powerful and flexible free online genomic toolkit for more rapid development of phage therapy.

After decades of research, phages or bacteriophage viruses that target and kill specific bacteria are seen as the next frontier in finding fast and effective ways to curb the death toll and serious illnesses caused by antibiotic resistant "superbugs" every year.

The lead developers of the new platform, called Sphae, claim it is capable of assessing if a phage is suitable for a targeted therapy in under 10 minutes.

This marks a big step forward in quickly evaluating phage safety and suitability for addressing antibiotic-resistant infections, according to the team at Flinders Accelerator for Microbiome Exploration (FAME) and collaborators in a new article just published in the journal Bioinformatics Advances.

Sphae integrates high-throughput sequencing technologies with advanced computational pipelines, enabling researchers to analyze vast and complex datasets efficiently. It  prioritizes safety, flagging genes associated with toxins or undesirable traits to ensure that only the safest candidates are advanced for therapeutic use.

Adaptability and scalability sets Sphae apart. The workflow supports a wide range of sequencing technologies while the toolkit can handle the massive datasets typical of high-performance computing environments, making it an invaluable tool for labs tackling large-scale projects.

Sphae not only aids in therapeutic research but also advances our broader understanding of microbial ecosystems and their impact on global health and climate. Sphae processes multiple phage genomes at once, saving time and efficiently handling larger datasets.

Sphae works effectively even in mixed or challenging datasets, providing consistent and accurate results to help identify phages that can potentially combat resistant bacterial strains.

It offers a complete view of phage genomes, summarizing key features like resistance and virulence markers for better insight into phage safety and functionality.

When conventional antibiotics are not effective any more, personalized phage therapy could become a standard part of medical practice by simplifying and accelerating the discovery of therapeutic phages suited to the individual patient's infection. The future of medicine lies in the precise, efficient, and safe use of phages to combat bacterial infections and restore hope to patients worldwide.

Bhavya Papudeshi et al, Sphae: an automated toolkit for predicting phage therapy candidates from sequencing data, Bioinformatics Advances (2025). DOI: 10.1093/bioadv/vbaf004

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on February 5, 2025 at 12:01pm

Human influence has led to loss of dialects in chimpanzees, long-term study suggests

A new study, conducted on wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) in Taï National Park, Côte d'Ivoire, provides evidence that the gestures used by male chimpanzees from four neighboring communities during copulation requests may reflect different dialects. One gesture, used predominantly in one community, disappeared from the repertoire 20 years ago after a poaching incident and did not return. This incident documents a cultural loss associated with human-induced population decline, a phenomenon rarely documented in animals.

Much like people from different regions speak with different accents or use unique expressions, many animals have their own "dialects." Songbirds such as sparrows and finches, or even whales, learn their songs from others, resulting in variations that are as unique to a region as local accents in humans. However, in primates, which are phylogenetically closer to humans, evidence for community-specific dialects remains surprisingly scarce, presenting an intriguing area for further scientific investigation.

Researchers observed members of the four neighboring communities of wild chimpanzees every day from the time they left their nests in the morning until they went to sleep at night. Their work is published  in the journal Current Biology.

Researchers identified four types of communicative gestures, 'heel kick,' 'knuckle knock,' 'leaf clip' and 'branch shake,' used by male chimpanzees to attract females to mate with them. Between 2013 and 2024, they found differences in the frequency of use of these communicative gestures between neighboring chimpanzee communities, but also between populations across Africa.

Using long-term data from 45 years of research in the Taï Chimpanzee Project, the researchers also revealed variations in gesture use over time. These findings highlight the ability of humans' closest living relatives to produce cultural differences in communicative signals.

The consistent use of the same mating request signal forms within communities, but different signal forms between neighboring communities that experience regular gene flow through female migration, suggests socially learned dialects in chimpanzees, evidence that has rarely been demonstrated before.

These days, males in the North group, one of the four communities, have not been observed to use the 'knuckle knock' for 20 years, although all males in the North group used this gesture before 2004.

Following a series of human-induced events leading to demographic loss, the last adult male of the North group was killed by a poacher, resulting in several years without an adult male.

The loss of competition between adult males for females or the loss of all role models could be responsible for the cultural loss of this specific copulation request gesture in this community.

This finding provides evidence that human illegal activities have altered the cultural behavior of chimpanzees.

There is an urgent need to integrate the preservation of chimpanzee culture into conservation strategies, the researchers say.

Mathieu Malherbe et al, Signal traditions and cultural loss in chimpanzees, Current Biology (2025). DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2024.12.008

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on February 5, 2025 at 11:50am

How eye saccades enable mammals to simultaneously chase prey and navigate through complex environments

How do predators use their vision to both navigate through the terrain while tracking prey running for its life? Pursuing prey through a complex environment is a major challenge for the visual system, as not only does the prey constantly change direction, sometimes in the opposite direction to the pursuer, but running after something evokes self-induced motion-blur that degrades vision.

To investigate this question, researchers reconstructed the visual fields of freely moving ferrets that were chasing a fleeing target and discovered that eye saccades (very rapid coordinated eye movements) align the world motion—and not the actual thing they are chasing—to the retina and retinal specializations used for high-acuity vision.

Saccades achieve this by countering head rotations to align the area of the sharpest vision with the direction of intended travel and the area of the least motion-induced blur. This enables image blur, which degrades vision, to be minimized over these specialized retinal areas during turns when chasing targets that are trying to evade capture.

These eye movements are seen in freely moving ferrets, mice, rats and tree shrews, suggesting a generalized mechanism enabling mammals to navigate complex environments during pursuit.

The research is published in the journal Current Biology.

 Eye saccades align optic flow with retinal specializations during object pursuit in freely moving ferrets, Current Biology (2025). DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2024.12.032. www.cell.com/current-biology/f … 0960-9822(24)01700-7

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on February 5, 2025 at 11:18am

This finding fundamentally differs from what is observed in some birds, another well-studied migratory group. For example, in willow warblers, a large chromosomal region has been associated with variable migratory direction, illustrating how different phenotypes arise from distinct genomic compositions.

Additionally, migration patterns in painted ladies could not be associated with factors such as sex, wing size, or wing shape.

According to the scientists, so-called phenotypic plasticity might explain the different migration styles. "Phenotypic plasticity is the ability of an organism to change its phenotype—in this case, its engagement in long- or short-distance migration—in response to environmental conditions without altering its genetic makeup.
For instance, in summer, butterflies in Sweden might be prompted to migrate a long distance south across the Sahara due to the quick shift in day lengths or other seasonal cues. In contrast, butterflies in Southern France, where the days are longer, may not encounter those migratory cues and therefore only undertake short-distance journeys, staying in the Mediterranean area.

Megan S Reich et al. Isotope geolocation and population genomics in Vanessa cardui: Short- and long-distance migrants are genetically undifferentiated, PNAS Nexus (2025). DOI: 10.1093/pnasnexus/pgae586. academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/art … /4/2/pgae586/7994570

Part 2

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on February 5, 2025 at 11:17am

Decoding a butterfly's travel map: Scientists find globetrotting not in genes

Painted lady butterflies are world travelers. The ones we encounter in Europe fly from Africa to Sweden, ultimately returning to areas north and south of the Sahara. But what determines whether some butterflies travel long distances while others travel short distances? A group of scientists shows that the different migration strategies are shaped by environmental conditions rather than being encoded in the butterfly's DNA.

Researchers, alongside citizen science projects, have been trying to decode the butterfly travel map. Their interdisciplinary publication provides new insights.

The results are now published in PNAS Nexus.

The painted lady is a strikingly beautiful and colorful butterfly species. But what makes them particularly special is their incredible long-distance migrations.

These butterflies go on a yearly 10,000 km journey between Africa and Europe. They do so through a succession of generations, looking for the best breeding conditions for their offspring. Each individual travels in one section of the annual migratory cycle, with its offspring continuing their journey.

The colorful insects begin their grand voyage in spring, starting from Northwest Africa and flying over the Mediterranean Sea to Europe. Subsequent generations then make their way to Great Britain, even reaching the Arctic tundra of Sweden to spend the summer.

Until recently, it was believed that once the butterflies reach Sweden, they perish due to the colder climates that arise there at the end of summer. However, studies have shown that painted ladies return to warmer regions in autumn, confirming a circular migratory pattern. While some end up staying in the Mediterranean area, others travel back to Africa, even crossing the Sahara. But how come?

Researchers set out to understand this phenomenon.

They utilized isotope geolocation to estimate the geographic origin of each butterfly. The key principle of this method is that the isotopic makeup—or the stable isotopes—of the adult butterfly's wings mirrors the isotopic signature of the plants they ate as a caterpillar. 

 Isotopes are different forms of the same element, with identical chemical properties but slightly different atomic masses.

The researchers spent several years developing this technique, testing different isotopes, refining statistical approaches, and incorporating machine-learning techniques to enhance accuracy and resolution.

The analysis confirmed the diverse travel behavior among individuals: some took a long migration trip south from Scandinavia, crossing the Sahara, while others migrated a short distance, staying north of the desert in the Mediterranean region.

The scientists then used whole genome sequencing to compare DNA sequences of each individual. Interestingly, there was no genetic difference between short-trip and long-trip butterflies.

Part 1

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on February 5, 2025 at 10:25am

Climate change is overhauling marine nutrient cycles, scientists say

Computer models reveal how human-driven climate change will dramatically overhaul critical nutrient cycles in the ocean. In the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,  researchers report evidence that marine nutrient cycles—essential for sustaining ocean ecosystems—are changing in unexpected ways as the planet continues to warm.

Model studies have suggested that when the ocean warms it gets more stratified, which can drain certain parts of the surface ocean of nutrients. 

Although models suggest a connection between ocean temperatures and surface ocean nutrients, this is the first study to confirm climate change's impacts on nutrient cycles.

The researchers  discovered that over the last half-century, there's been a major decline in phosphorus—a nutrient that plays a key role in the health of marine food webs—in southern hemisphere oceans.

There can be cascading effects up the food web, they say. Because plankton—microorganisms that form the bases of many marine food webs—rely on phosphorous as a food source. "When phytoplankton have less phosphorus, they become less nutritious, which can impair zooplankton and fish growth rates."

Surprisingly, concentrations of nitrate—a nutrient the team expected to decline—appear to remain steady. Nitrate is crucial for ecosystem functioning, so that it's not in decline is a good sign.

Nevertheless, nitrate concentrations may still decline in the future as the climate continues to change.

Skylar D. Gerace et al, Observed declines in upper ocean phosphate-to-nitrate availability, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2025). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2411835122

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on February 5, 2025 at 9:14am

Half a degree rise in global warming will triple area of Earth too hot for humans, scientists warn

An international group of scientists has revealed how continued global warming will lead to more parts of the planet becoming too hot for the human body over the coming decades.

The paper, published in Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, finds that the amount of landmass on our planet that would be too hot for even healthy young humans (18 to 60-year-olds) to keep a safe core body temperature will approximately triple (to 6%)—an area almost the size of the US—if global warming reaches 2°C above the preindustrial average.

Under these conditions, they also warn that the area of land where the over 60s will be at risk will increase to about 35%.

Last year was the first calendar year with a global mean temperature of more than 1.5°C above the preindustrial average, and at current rates of warming, 2°C could be reached by mid to late century.

These findings show the potentially deadly consequences if global warming reaches 2°C. Unsurvivable heat thresholds, which so far have only been exceeded briefly for older adults in the hottest regions on Earth, are likely to emerge even for younger adults.

In such conditions, prolonged outdoor exposure—even for those in the shade, subject to a strong breeze, and well hydrated—would be expected to cause lethal heatstroke. It represents a step-change in heat-mortality risk, they warn.

Earth's most extreme heat events and mortality impacts under climate warming, Nature Reviews Earth & Environment (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s43017-024-00635-w

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on February 5, 2025 at 9:06am

The link between renal failure and Parkinson's disease: Researchers illuminate the underlying mechanisms

Lewy body diseases (LBDs) are a class of debilitating neurodegenerative disorders linked to the abnormal aggregation of the protein α-synuclein in nerve cells. When misfolded, this protein can produce clumps known as Lewy bodies, which can adversely impact the functioning of cells, contributing to neurodegeneration.

Recent studies also showed that LBDs, particularly Parkinson's disease, often initiate in the gut and that, in some cases, kidney failure contributes to their emergence. So far, however, the exact physiological processes connecting kidney failure to PD are being studied now.

Researchers  recently carried out a study to better understand these mechanisms by further examining the link between kidney failure and LBDs. Their findings, published in Nature Neuroscience, show that renal dysfunction can cause the accumulation of α-synuclein in the kidneys, which can in turn cause the protein to spread to the brain, in some cases facilitating the development of PD.

Building on previous studies that unveiled a link between kidney function and the incidence of PD, researchers now carried out experiments to further illustrate the mechanisms behind this connection. To do this, they first stained kidney samples extracted from patients diagnosed with PD and those extracted from people with chronic renal diseases.

They found that α-synuclein was deposited in the kidneys of these patients. 

To illustrate the role of renal failure in PD, they induced renal failure in mouse models of PD and found that renal failure exacerbates PD-like pathology. Injection of α-synuclein fibrils into the kidney induced the spread of α-synuclein pathology to the brain, whereas deletion of α-synuclein in blood cells alleviated PD pathology in a mouse model of PD.

Essentially, the researchers found that the kidneys of patients presenting renal failure contained a large amount of the protein α-synuclein. They were then able to shed light on how this α-synuclein accumulation could lead to PD, specifically following the spread of this protein to the brain.

They also showed that severing the connections between the kidneys and the brain in male mice blocked the accumulation of α-synuclein in the brain following renal failure.

Xin Yuan et al, Propagation of pathologic α-synuclein from kidney to brain may contribute to Parkinson's disease, Nature Neuroscience (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41593-024-01866-2.

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on February 4, 2025 at 11:37am

Compared to singleton pregnancies with normal blood pressure, people with twins with normal blood pressure were around twice as likely to be hospitalized with cardiovascular disease. For those with twins with high blood pressure during pregnancy, the risk is more than eight times higher.

However, one year after birth, deaths from any cause, including heart disease, were higher among patients with singleton pregnancies who had high blood pressure conditions compared to patients with twins with high blood pressure conditions. This suggests that the risk to mothers of twins decreases in the longer term, while the mothers of singletons may have other pre-existing cardiovascular risk factors.
Recommendations: People with twin pregnancies should be aware of the short-term increase in cardiovascular disease complications in the first year after birth, even if they had a pregnancy that was not complicated by high blood pressure conditions, such as pre-eclampsia. For patients having fertility treatments, especially for those with other cardiovascular risk factors, such as older age, obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure or heart disease, patients should be advised that twin pregnancies may increase cardiovascular disease complications in the short term.

Given these higher risks, health care providers and health insurance companies should continue to provide follow-up for up to a year after birth for high-risk pregnancies such as twin pregnancies.

 Cande V. Ananth et al, Hospitalization for cardiovascular disease in the year after delivery of twin pregnancies, European Heart Journal (2025). DOI: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehaf003

Part 2

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on February 4, 2025 at 11:36am

Mothers of twins face a higher risk of heart disease in the year after birth

The risk of being admitted to the hospital with heart disease is twice as high the year after birth for mothers of twins compared to singleton births, according to research published in the European Heart Journal. The risk is even higher in mothers of twins who had a high blood pressure condition during pregnancy.

The rate of twin pregnancies worldwide has risen in recent decades, driven by fertility treatments and older maternal ages. Previous studies have shown no long-term increased risk of cardiovascular disease when following people with twin pregnancies for decades after delivery. However, this is counterintuitive to what we observe clinically when caring for patients with twin pregnancies.

Given the unacceptably high rate of maternal mortality in the first year after birth due to cardiovascular disease, researchers wanted to examine whether twin pregnancies increase this risk.

The researchers studied data on 36 million hospital deliveries taken from the US Nationwide Readmissions Database of US hospitals from 2010 to 2020. They divided pregnant patients into four groups: those who had twins but normal blood pressure during pregnancy, those who had twins and hypertensive disease of pregnancy (high blood pressure conditions), those who had singleton pregnancies with normal blood pressure, and those who had singleton pregnancies with hypertensive disease of pregnancy.

Hypertensive disease of pregnancy includes gestational hypertension, pre-eclampsia, eclampsia, and superimposed pre-eclampsia.

For each group, researchers calculated the proportion of patients who were readmitted to the hospital within a year of childbirth with any type of cardiovascular disease, including heart attack, heart failure, or stroke.

Researchers found that the proportion of readmissions for cardiovascular disease within a year of giving birth was higher overall for those with twins (1,105.4 per 100,000 deliveries) than singleton pregnancies (734.1 per 100,000 deliveries).

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