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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on August 13, 2025 at 10:09am

The stomach's neural network is more in sync with the mind during mental distress, researchers discover

Stronger coordination between the brain and the stomach's natural rhythm is linked to higher levels of anxiety, depression, and stress, according to the largest study of its kind by researchers.

While most gut–brain research has focused on the lower intestine and gut bacteria, the team of researchers turned to the stomach—the body's upper digestive hub with its own network of nerves.

Scanning more than 240 participants, they found that when brain activity is more tightly synchronized with the stomach's slow electrical waves, people are more likely to report mental distress. The paper is published in the journal Nature Mental Health.

The stomach's connection to the brain may actually be too strong in people under psychological strain, say the researchers.

The stomach has its own nervous system, often called the "second brain." Its slow waves occur roughly every 20 seconds, even when we're not eating—a constant background rhythm like the heartbeat.

By combining functional MRI scans with electrogastrography, the researchers measured how closely brain activity matched these waves in each participant.

We usually assume stronger body-brain communication is a sign of health. But here, unusually strong stomach–brain coupling seems linked to greater psychological burden—perhaps a system under strain.

Part 1

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on August 13, 2025 at 9:34am

Common food thickeners—long thought to pass right through us—are actually digested

The complex structure of the cellulose derivatives is what makes them valuable as thickening agents in popular products like ketchup, salad dressing and even toothpaste. This structure is also why gut bacteria have a harder time breaking them down—and why in higher concentrations, they're even used as laxatives.

Earlier researchers assumed that these thickening agents, which are artificial derivatives of natural cellulose, just pass right through the digestive system unaltered.

It turns out those cellulose-based thickening agents found in common foods can be digested. Researchers have shown that our gut bacteria can feed on these large molecules—something thought to not be possible—thanks to enzymes that normally help us break down dietary fiber.

The new study provides a first glimpse at how these food additives are actually digested by our gut bacteria  thanks to natural polysaccharides in our diets.

This new in vitro study, however, shows that if our gut bacteria are 'primed' with natural polysaccharides—long chains of sugars found in fruits, vegetables and cereals—the cellulose derivatives can be digested. This is because the natural polysaccharides activate enzymes that are produced on bacteria cell surfaces that can also break down artificial cellulose molecules.

The findings don't challenge the fact that these compounds are safe to consume, proven by years of testing and history of use. However, the new research suggests that more work should be done to explore the physical, chemical and biological effects of the digestion of cellulose derivatives by gut bacteria.

 Deepesh Panwar et al, Artificial cellulose derivatives are metabolized by select human gut Bacteroidota upon priming with common plant β-glucans, Journal of Bacteriology (2025). DOI: 10.1128/jb.00198-25

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on August 13, 2025 at 8:43am

How bad are micro- and nanoplastics for our health? It depends on their concentrations and how we measure them

Detection, concentration and distribution of MNPs in the human body. Credit: Nature Reviews Bioengineering (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s44222-025-00335-0

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on August 12, 2025 at 1:17pm

Neurodegenerative diseases: Research establishes causal link between mitochondrial dysfunction and cognitive symptoms

Mitochondria, the tiny organelles without which our bodies would be deprived of energy, are gradually revealing their mysteries. In a study published in Nature Neuroscience, researchers have for the first time succeeded in establishing a causal link between mitochondrial dysfunction and the cognitive symptoms associated with neurodegenerative diseases.

Thanks to the creation of a specific and unprecedented tool, they succeeded in increasing mitochondrial activity in animal models of neurodegenerative diseases, where they observed an improvement in memory deficit symptoms. While these are only initial results, they open the door to considering mitochondria as a new therapeutic target.

The mitochondrion is a small intracellular organelle that provides the energy needed by the cell to function properly. The brain is one of the most energy-demanding organs, and neurons rely on the energy produced by mitochondria to communicate with one another. Indeed, when mitochondrial activity is impaired, neurons do not have the energy required to function correctly.

Neurodegenerative diseases are characterized by a progressive impairment of neuronal functions, leading to the death of brain cells. In Alzheimer's disease, for example, it has been observed that neuronal degeneration, which precedes cell death, is accompanied by impaired mitochondrial activity.

This work is the first to establish a cause-and-effect link between mitochondrial dysfunction and symptoms related to neurodegenerative diseases, suggesting that impaired mitochondrial activity could be at the origin of the onset of neuronal degeneration.

The work now continues with trying to measure the effects of continuous stimulation of mitochondrial activity to see whether it impacts the symptoms of neurodegenerative diseases and, ultimately, delays neuronal loss or even prevents it if mitochondrial activity is restored.

Potentiation of mitochondrial activity by mitoDREADD-Gs reverses pharmacological and neurodegenerative impairment of cognition, Nature Neuroscience (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41593-025-02032-y. www.nature.com/articles/s41593-025-02032-y

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on August 12, 2025 at 12:40pm

Ancient practice of blowing through a conch shell could help treat dangerous snoring condition

People who practiced blowing through a conch shell regularly for six months experienced a reduction in their symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), according to a small randomized controlled trial published in ERJ Open Research.

OSA is a common sleep disorder where breathing repeatedly stops during the night due to a blocked airway. It leads to loud snoring, restless sleep and daytime sleepiness. It also increases the risk of high blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke.

Blowing the conch shell, or shankh blowing, has been part of Indian culture for thousands of years. The new research showed that people with moderate OSA who practiced shankh blowing slept better, felt more alert during the day and had fewer breathing interruptions at night. The researchers say conch blowing is a simple, low-cost intervention that could help reduce symptoms without the need for medication or machines.

Compared to the people who practiced deep breathing, the people who practiced shankh blowing were 34% less sleepy during the daytime. They reported sleeping better and polysomnography revealed that they had four to five fewer apneas (where breathing stops during sleep) per hour on average. They also had higher levels of oxygen in their blood during the night.

The way the shankh is blown is quite distinctive. It involves a deep inhalation followed by a forceful, sustained exhalation through tightly pursed lips. This action creates strong vibrations and airflow resistance, which likely strengthens the muscles of the upper airway, including the throat and soft palate—areas that often collapse during sleep in people with OSA. The shankh's unique spiraling structure may also contribute to specific acoustic and mechanical effects that further stimulate and tone these muscles.

 Shankh blowing is a simple, low-cost breathing technique that could help improve sleep and reduce symptoms without the need for machines or medication.

However, let’s be clear: conch shell therapy won’t revolutionise sleep apnoea treatment. Anyone with suspected sleep apnoea needs proper medical evaluation and evidence-based treatment. Cpap therapy remains the most effective option for moderate to severe cases. But as part of a comprehensive approach – alongside weight management, lifestyle changes and conventional treatments – prescribed conch shell exercises might one day earn a place in our therapeutic toolkit. But still it has to pass many tests.

Efficacy of blowing shankh on moderate sleep apnea: a randomised control trial, ERJ Open Research (2025). DOI: 10.1183/23120541.00258-2025

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on August 12, 2025 at 12:33pm

Body hides its own RNA from the immune system with sugar

To our immune system, naked RNA is a sign of a viral or bacterial invasion and must be attacked. But our own cells also have RNA. To ward off trouble, our cells clothe their RNA in sugars, researchers  report in Nature.

Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is a family of large biological molecules fundamental to all forms of life, including viruses, bacteria, and animals. Viruses as diverse as measles, influenza, SARS-CoV-2, and rabies all have RNA, which is why the immune system starts attacking when it sees RNA in the bloodstream or in other inappropriate locations. But our own cells have RNA as well, sometimes displaying it on their surface, plain for roaming immune cells to see—and yet the immune system ignores it.

Recognizing RNA as a sign of infection is problematic, as every single cell in our body has RNA. The question is, how does our immune system distinguish our own RNA from that of dangerous invaders?

Researchers had noticed that our bodies add sugars onto RNA. These sugarcoated RNAs (also known as glycosylated RNAs, or glycoRNAs) are displayed on the cell surface and don't seem to provoke the immune system.

When the researchers took glycoRNA from human cell cultures and blood, cut off the sugars, and reintroduced it into cells, the immune cells attacked it. The immune cells had ignored the same RNA when it was sugarcoated.

The sugarcoating hides our own RNA from the immune system.

It is particularly significant to our body because cells are often covered by glycoRNAs. When cells die and are cleaned up by the immune system, the sugarcoating of RNA prevents dead cells from unnecessarily stimulating inflammation.

The findings could help when thinking about autoimmune diseases. Certain autoimmune diseases, such as lupus, are associated with specific RNA and dead cells setting off the immune system.

Now that scientists understand the role of RNA glycosylation in deflecting immune system attention, they can check on whether that strategy is somehow going awry, and, if so, how it might be fixed.

Vincent R. Graziano et al, RNA N-glycosylation enables immune evasion and homeostatic efferocytosis, Nature (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-09310-6

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on August 12, 2025 at 9:43am

The researchers of this study, in a previous paper, reported that hypergravity of 10g surprisingly increased the rate of photosynthesis in Physcomitrium patens, but underlying anatomical and genetic mechanisms remained unexplored.

For this study, the team grew moss for eight weeks at 25°C under varying gravity levels—1g (control), 3g, 6g, and 10g—using a custom-built centrifuge with a built-in light-emitting diode (LED) for providing a photosynthetic photon.

To track the effect of hypergravity, they measured photosynthesis rates, anatomical traits like chloroplast size and gametophore number, and CO2 conductance—the ability of small openings on leaf surfaces to let CO2 in. They also carried out RNA sequencing to investigate if genes were expressed differently under hypergravity.
The results indicated an increased photosynthesis rate at higher gravity levels (6g and 10g) due to improved CO2 diffusion, resulting from the presence of more leafy shoots and larger chloroplasts.

This response was linked with the upregulation of AP2/ERF transcription factors, particularly IBSH1. The researchers confirmed its role by manipulating IBSH1 in moss—overexpression reproduced the effects of hypergravity, while repression prevented these responses.

The researchers suggest that the formation of a remarkable gene network involving AP2/ERF factors may have been a key factor in enabling moss plants to adapt to life on land during the evolution of plants. They think  these findings offer pivotal insights that could one day support agricultural production in space, where gravity is vastly different from Earth's.

 Yuko T. Hanba et al, First contact with greater gravity: Moss plants adapted via enhanced photosynthesis mediated by AP2/ERF transcription factors, Science Advances (2025). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.ado8664

Part 2

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on August 12, 2025 at 9:42am

Hypergravity boosts food production in moss species, new study finds

Unless one is a trained fighter jet pilot, or a Formula 1 driver, humans tend not to do well at higher gravity, but tiny green moss plants seem to thrive under such conditions.

Researchers found that moss (Physcomitrium patens) exhibited increased photosynthesis under hypergravity conditions (six and 10 times Earth's gravity) due to enhanced carbon dioxide  (CO₂) diffusion from the atmosphere into the chloroplasts within the plant leaves.

The plants adapt to the increased gravity by increasing the size of their chloroplasts and the number of leafy shoots of the moss (gametophores). Researchers identified for the first time the gene factor responsible for this response. They named the factor ISSUNBOSHI1 or IBSH1, a namesake of an inch-high, warrior boy from a beloved Japanese fairytale.

The findings, published in Science Advances, reveal the existence of a key genetic mechanism that drove the evolutionary process, enabling plants to adapt to life on land.

--

Plants began their journey on Earth under water. One of the biggest environmental changes they had to adapt to was their emergence onto the land, approximately 500 million years ago.

The early plants transitioning from aquatic to terrestrial ecosystems lost their buoyancy and were now exposed to the gravitational acceleration of 1g. In the reduced gravity of water, plants didn't have to worry about carrying their own weight, but on land, they had to.

As a result, their anatomy began to shift, developing plant tissues that provided structural reinforcement and orienting the light-harvesting components of plants towards the light. Even the cell wall saw some structural changes.

Part 1

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on August 12, 2025 at 8:53am

New evidence suggests Neolithic farmers cannibalized enemies

Slicing, chopping and bite and cut marks on human remains from 5,700 years ago suggest that cannibalism may have been a common practice among our Neolithic ancestors.

Researchers studied more than 600 bones and fragments from 11 well-preserved skeletons of adults, adolescents and children. They were found in El Mirador Cave in the Atapuerca mountains and date to the Late Neolithic period (about 6,500 to 5,000 years ago).

The work is published in the journal Scientific Reports.

Microscopy analysis revealed signs of cannibalism on all of the bones studied. Specifically, the researchers noted signs of butchery on 69 bones and chop marks on several others, indicating that skin and muscle had been sliced off. Some bones were translucent with slightly rounded edges, suggesting they had been boiled. Further evidence includes some of the larger bones being cracked open, most likely to get at the marrow.

According to the scientists, cannibalism took place after death. The bodies were skinned, and their limbs were separated before being cooked and eaten, possibly over a few days.

Ancient cannibalism is difficult to interpret because it can be hard to determine the motive, and evidence is often sparse or ambiguous at best. However, the scientists have ruled out emergency survival due to a lack of food, as there were no signs of scarcity in the region at the time. They also believe it wasn't part of funerary practices or other rituals, as nothing similar has been found in the area.

The bones in this study are thought to be from one family or an extended family, and researchers think a neighboring group wiped them out in a single event. "The current findings suggest that cannibalism may be linked to intergroup violence during late prehistoric periods," write the researchers in their paper. This is supported by evidence of other Neolithic massacres in Spain, France and Germany.

El Mirador cave, where the bones were found, is a treasure trove of archaeological remains. Previous discoveries include ceremonial skull caps and evidence of Bronze Age cannibalism.

This latest study, along with earlier findings, is challenging the common image of the Neolithic as an era of farmers coexisting peacefully. Instead, it suggests a more violent and conflict-ridden existence.

Palmira Saladié et al, Evidence of neolithic cannibalism among farming communities at El Mirador cave, Sierra de Atapuerca, Spain, Scientific Reports (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-025-10266-w

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on August 9, 2025 at 10:12am

Sunlight-activated material turns PFAS in water into harmless fluoride

Researchers  have developed a sunlight-activated material that can degrade per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in water, breaking down the pollutant into harmless components, including fluoride. The work is published in the journal Small.

The breakthrough discovery represents a promising low-energy solution for PFAS remediation, with potential applications in water treatment and environmental cleanup.

Many water contaminants are degraded by adding a reactive chemical that binds to the carbon. However, in PFAS molecules, the carbon atoms are protected in such a way that makes this process nearly impossible.

The researchers now have altered conditions and optimized the catalyst to target the PFAS-protective F atoms, which resulted in complete breakdown of the forever chemicals.

The produced fluoride can be isolated and used in health care products such as toothpaste or as additives to fertilizers.

Mahmoud Adel Hamza et al, CdIn2S4 Micro‐Pyramids for Reductive Photocatalytic Degradation of Perfluorooctanesulfonic Acid, Small (2025). DOI: 10.1002/smll.202504601

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