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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on July 10, 2023 at 12:46pm

Chemists discover why photosynthetic light-harvesting is so efficient

When photosynthetic cells absorb light from the sun, packets of energy called photons leap between a series of light-harvesting proteins until they reach the photosynthetic reaction center. There, cells convert the energy into electrons, which eventually power the production of sugar molecules.

This transfer of energy through the light-harvesting complex occurs with extremely high efficiency: Nearly every photon of light absorbed generates an electron, a phenomenon known as near-unity quantum efficiency.

A new study by chemists offers a potential explanation for how proteins of the light-harvesting complex, also called the antenna, achieve that high efficiency. For the first time, the researchers were able to measure the energy transfer between light-harvesting proteins, allowing them to discover that the disorganized arrangement of these proteins boosts the efficiency of the energy transduction.

In order for that antenna to work, you need long-distance energy transduction. The key finding of this work is that the disordered organization of the light-harvesting proteins enhances the efficiency of that long-distance energy transduction.

Wang, Dihao et al, Elucidating interprotein energy transfer dynamics within the antenna network from purple bacteria, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2023). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2220477120. doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2220477120

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on July 10, 2023 at 12:29pm

Native to North America, the American mink has been domesticated for the fur trade for over a century. After they were bred in Europe for fur farming, captive animals escaped to form feral populations that have spread throughout Europe. This natural history thus provided the separated populations that researchers needed. 

To explore changes in brain size, the team turned to a proxy: skulls. "Braincase size is a good proxy for brain size in mink, and this allows us to take measurements from existing skull collections without the need for living animals. A museum collection from Cornell University was used to study skulls of wild American mink while European fur farms provided skulls of domesticated animals.

The team took measurements from skulls to calculate relative brain size of the animals. They found that, according to the well-documented domestication process, the brains of captive-bred mink had shrunk by 25% compared to their wild ancestors. But, in contrast to expectations, the brains of feral mink grew almost back to wild size within 50 generations.

Researchers think  tehy know why this animal, in particular, has achieved what was thought to be unlikely. American mink belong to a family of small mammals with a remarkable ability to seasonally change their brain size in a process known as Dehnel's phenomenon. 

While other domesticated animals seem to lose brain size permanently, it's possible that mink can regain their ancestral brain sizes because they have flexible brain size built into their system. This flexibility could have offered advantages to the mink that re-entered the wild.

 Ann-Kathrin Pohle et al, Domestication effect of reduced brain size is reverted when mink become feral, Royal Society Open Science (2023). DOI: 10.1098/rsos.230463

Part 2

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on July 10, 2023 at 12:25pm

American mink regrow their brains in a rare reversal of the domestication process

Farm animals look different from their wild counterparts in many ways, and one difference is consistent: their brains are smaller than those of their ancestors. From sheep to pigs to cows, domesticated animals have smaller relative brain sizes compared to their wild counterparts—a phenomenon known as the domestication effect.

Now a new study has discovered a rare reversal of the domestication effect. Over the course of captive breeding, the American mink has undergone a reduction in relative brain size, but populations that escaped from captivity were able to regain almost the full ancestral brain size within 50 generations. The study is published recently in the Royal Society Open Science.

These  results show that loss of brain size is not permanent in domesticated animals.

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When animals lose brain size through the course of domestication, it's mostly considered to be a one-way street. Animals almost never seem to regain the relative brain sizes of their ancestral forms, even in feral populations that have been living in the wild for generations. "Once animals loose parts of their body, such as certain brain regions, over the course of evolution, they are gone and cannot simply be regained.

Studying whether or not feral animals can regain the relative brain sizes of their wild counterparts is also difficult methodologically. you would need to find an animal with separate wild and feral populations to reduce the chance that the groups had mixed. And, you would need to find an animal that could be studied through sufficient brain and skull measurements. You would need an animal, in other words, like the American mink.

Part 1

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on July 9, 2023 at 11:19am

Eliminating extra chromosomes in cancer cells prevents tumor growth

Cancer cells with extra chromosomes depend on those chromosomes for tumor growth, a new Yale study reveals, and eliminating them prevents the cells from forming tumors. The findings, said the researchers, suggest that selectively targeting extra chromosomes may offer a new route for treating cancer.

The study was published July 6 in the journal Science.

Human cells typically have 23 pairs of chromosomes; extra chromosomes are an anomaly known as aneuploidy.

If we look at normal skin or normal lung tissue, for example, 99.9% of the cells will have the right number of chromosomes. But we’ve known for over 100 years that nearly all cancers are aneuploid.

However, it was unclear what role extra chromosomes played in cancer — for instance, whether they cause cancer or are caused by it.
For a long time, we could observe aneuploidy but not manipulate it. We just didn’t have the right tools.

But in this new study, researchers used the gene-engineering technique CRISPR to develop a new approach to eliminate entire chromosomes from cancer cells, which is an important technical advance. Being able to manipulate aneuploid chromosomes in this way will lead to a greater understanding of how they function.

Using their newly developed approach — which they dubbed Restoring Disomy in Aneuploid cells using CRISPR Targeting, or ReDACT — the researchers targeted aneuploidy in melanoma, gastric cancer, and ovarian cell lines. Specifically, they removed an aberrant third copy of the long portion — also known as the “q arm” — of chromosome 1, which is found in several types of cancer, is linked to disease progression, and occurs early in cancer development.

When they eliminated aneuploidy from the genomes of these cancer cells, it compromised the malignant potential of those cells and they lost their ability to form tumours.

When investigating how an extra copy of chromosome 1q might promote cancer, the researchers found that multiple genes stimulated cancer cell growth when they were overrepresented — because they were encoded on three chromosomes instead of the typical two.

This overexpression of certain genes also pointed the researchers to a vulnerability that might be exploited to target cancers with aneuploidy.

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adg4521

https://news.yale.edu/2023/07/06/eliminating-extra-chromosomes-canc...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on July 8, 2023 at 12:14pm

Counting bats that protect a park

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on July 7, 2023 at 11:14am

‘Overweight’ BMI might be set too low

People with an ‘overweight’ body mass index (BMI) have a slightly lower rate of de..., suggesting that the threshold at which higher weight might be a health risk is not accurate. The BMI was developed to assess population-level health but is often used to give health advice to individuals. Researchers tracked the survival of an ethnically diverse group of around 500,000 US adults for up to 20 years and found that having a BMI between 25 and 29.9 — classified as ‘overweight’ — is associated with an 5–7% lower risk of death than having one in the ‘healthy’ range. Lead researcher Aayush Visaria says this shows that “BMI overall is just not a good indicator of mortality risk — other factors such as body fat distribution also play an important role”.

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0...

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Disinformation researchers under pressure

Researchers who study conspiracy theories say that they are now being drawn into one: allegations that they are helping to suppress conservative opinions in the United States. There are at least three House of Representatives judiciary committ..., government programmes designed to counter disinformation and social-media platforms, such as Twitter and Facebook. In parallel, some researchers are facing lawsuits or being blocked from working with federal agencies. The moves contribute to a worrying trend in which climate scientists, for instance, are targeted by conservative activists and leaders. “This is a practice that is going to touch more and more researchers’ lives,” says political scientist Rebekah Tromble.

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-02195-3?utm_source=Natur...

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Climate-friendly air conditioning inspired by termites

The climate control used by termites in their mounds could inspire tomorrow's climate-smart buildings. New research from Lund University in Sweden shows that future buildings inspired by the termites could achieve the same effect as traditional climate control, but with greater energy efficiency and without its carbon dioxide footprint.

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on July 7, 2023 at 10:49am

One place to look for evidence of asymmetry is in the electron's electric dipole moment (eEDM). Electrons are made up of negative electric charge, and the eEDM indicates how evenly that charge is spread between the electron's north and south pole. Any measurement of eEDM above zero would confirm an asymmetry; the electron would be more egg-shaped than circular. But no one knows just how small that deviation may be.

Electrons are fundamental particles, and their symmetry tells us about the symmetry of the universe.

Physicists  recently set a record for precision measurement of eEDM, improving on previous measurements by a factor of 2.4. How precise is that? If an electron were the size of the Earth, their study found that any asymmetry that exists would be smaller than the radius of an atom. Making a measurement that precise is incredibly difficult.

The researchers looked at molecules of hafnium fluoride. If they applied a strong electric field to the molecules, non-round electrons would want to align with the field, shifting around inside the molecule. If they were round, then the electrons wouldn't budge. Using an ultraviolet laser, they stripped electrons off molecules, making a set of positively charged ions, and trapped them. Alternating the electromagnetic field around the trap, the molecules were forced to either align or not align with the field. Then the researchers used lasers to measure the energy levels of the two groups. If the levels were different between them, that would indicate that the electrons were asymmetrical.

Their experiment allowed them to have longer measurement times than past attempts, which gave them greater sensitivity. However, the group's measurements showed that the electrons didn't move energy levels, indicating that as best as we can presently measure, electrons are round.

this level of precision from a tabletop experiment is an achievement. It shows that expensive particle accelerators are not the only means of exploring these fundamental questions about the universe, and that there are a lot of avenues to try. And while the group didn't find asymmetry, its result will help the field keep looking for answers to the asymmetry of the early universe.

Tanya S. Roussy et al, An improved bound on the electron's electric dipole moment, Science (2023). DOI: 10.1126/science.adg4084

Part2 

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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on July 7, 2023 at 10:45am

Why does matter exist? Roundness of electrons may hold clues

In the first moments of our universe, countless numbers of protons, neutrons and electrons formed alongside their antimatter counterparts. As the universe expanded and cooled, almost all these matter and antimatter particles met and annihilated each other, leaving only photons, or flashes of light, in their wake.

And if the universe were perfectly symmetrical, with equal amounts of matter and antimatter, that would be the end of the story—and we would never have existed. But there must have been an imbalance—some leftover protons, neutrons and electrons—that formed atoms, molecules, stars, planets, galaxies and eventually, people.

If the universe had been perfectly symmetrical, then there would be nothing left but light. This is a hugely important moment in history. Suddenly there is stuff in the universe, and the question is, why? Why do we have this asymmetry?

The mathematical theories and equations that explain our universe call for symmetry. Particle theorists have refined these theories to tackle the presence of asymmetry. But without evidence, those theories are just math. So experimental physicists  have been looking at fundamental particles such as electrons for signs of asymmetry. Now they made a record-breaking measurement of electrons, narrowing down the search for where this asymmetry came from. The findings have been published in Science.

Part 1

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on July 6, 2023 at 12:47pm

How do fireworks actually work?

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on July 6, 2023 at 12:45pm

Use It or Lose It
As we age, the overall number of muscle cells declines: Studies suggest that muscle mass decreases by about 3 to 8 percent per decade after age 30 and at higher rates after age 60. Loss of muscular function and other factors also degrade the connection between motor nerves in the brain and muscle tissue. Issues in communication between nerves and muscles can create weakness and a decline in muscle mass. Experts recommend so-called high-velocity resistance training to keep the muscles ready to respond and the brain-muscle connection sharp.

Why this matters: Muscle loss is a common contributor to severe falls and accidents that lead to injury or physical disability in older adults. Low muscle mass from aging can impact how well individuals cope with cancer treatment, surgeries and heart and lung problems. It can impact individual lifespan and how quickly one recovers from illness and hospital stays.

What the experts say: Even if people don’t notice muscle mass gains through resistance training at first, “you actually get stronger long before your muscles get bigger,” says Stephanie Studenski, a geriatrician and professor emeritus at the University of Pittsburgh. “That exercise is doing something to the wiring to the nervous system connection to the muscle.”

Experts recommend so-called high-velocity resistance training to ke....

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