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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on March 30, 2026 at 11:34am

Deuterium-labeled guinea pig helps scientists study metabolism

A guinea pig was raised exclusively on heavy water, resulting in deuterium incorporation into its biomolecules. Using mass spectrometry, the dynamics of deuterium labeling in various compounds were tracked, revealing synthesis rates and dietary contributions. This approach enables precise metabolic studies and supports the development of personalized nutrition strategies.
Scientists have raised the world's only isotope-labeled guinea pig. For 156 days, the animal, named Khryun, was given only heavy water to drink. Such water is non-radioactive and has long been used in biomedical research as a way to "label" molecules: the natural isotope deuterium accumulates in the chemical bonds of organic compounds and serves as a tracer for tracking their formation and breakdown. This approach can be useful for studying human metabolism, including the development of personalized medicine methods. The research results are published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences.

Chemical elements exist in nature as isotopes—atoms with the same number of protons but different numbers of neutrons. In heavy water, ordinary hydrogen atoms are replaced by its heavier isotope, deuterium. Isotopes have virtually identical chemical properties, allowing them to be used as invisible tracers. This very approach—replacing ordinary compounds with labeled ones and tracking their transformations—forms the basis for deciphering most biochemical processes.
To track how the isotopic labels became incorporated into various biological molecules, the researcher used high-performance liquid chromatography combined with high-resolution mass spectrometry.
The Mass spectrometry enables precise determination of the mass of all molecules present in a sample and distinguishes isotopes by their weight, making this method indispensable for such studies. The rate at which the label appears in a given compound reflects the intensity of its synthesis in the body.

The study determined the timeframes over which deuterium content in various substances reached steady-state levels. The final isotope content in each compound indicates to what extent it is synthesized by the body itself versus derived from food.

Oat shoots grown on heavy water were also produced. After Khryun ate them, the researcher determined how quickly the isotopically labeled substances from the oats became incorporated into the animal's own biological molecules.

 The study established a methodological framework for using isotopically labelled food to investigate individual metabolic characteristics, opening up enormous possibilities for metabolic control.

Yury Kostyukevich et al, Turnover Rate of Lipids, Metabolites and Proteins Revealed by 156-Day-Long D₂O Administration in a Guinea Pig, International Journal of Molecular Sciences (2026). DOI: 10.3390/ijms27041944

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on March 30, 2026 at 11:28am

Why drawing eyes on food packaging could stop seagulls stealing your chips

Displaying eye-like images on food packaging can deter some herring gulls from approaching and stealing food, as these birds are slower to approach and less likely to peck at boxes with eyes compared to plain ones. This response likely stems from an instinctive wariness of being watched, a behavior observed in many animals. However, the deterrent effect is not universal, with only about half of gulls consistently avoiding the eye-marked packaging.

https://theconversation.com/why-drawing-eyes-on-food-packaging-coul...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on March 30, 2026 at 11:21am

Altered colony chemistry reveals a process that destroys termite societies

Termite colony collapse is linked to the accumulation of uric acid in worker termites, particularly following changes in reproductive hierarchy. Elevated uric acid reduces reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels, weakening immune responses and increasing susceptibility to infections, which ultimately leads to colony decline. This process highlights the importance of internal chemical balance for colony stability.

Takao Konishi et al, What kills a society: accumulation of uric acid increases infectious disease risk in termites, Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences (2026). DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2025.2438.

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on March 30, 2026 at 11:08am

Jamming bacterial communications, instead of killing the microbes, might provide long-lasting treatment

Targeting bacterial quorum sensing, rather than killing bacteria directly, offers a promising strategy against multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Screening FDA-approved drugs identified molecules, including Vorinostat, that inhibit the QS protein PqsE and reduce its enzymatic activity. Structural modifications may further disrupt bacterial communication and impair infection capability.
Traditional antibiotics kill bacteria or target their growth and replication. While this strategy has worked well for decades, it can lead to resistance—when mutated bacteria survive and continue to replicate, unbothered by the treatment.

In recent years, scientists have begun investigating another idea: What if we don't kill the bacteria but instead interfere with their communications and prevent them from launching a coordinated attack on the host? This approach might make it harder for bacteria to develop resistance. It's the foundation of a new approach, which targets quorum sensing (QS).
Bacteria communicate with a chemical language, emitting molecules into their environment.
This is like radio communications among soldiers on a covert mission. Once they realize enough of their comrades have landed, they can start to connect and behave as a unit. Bacteria do something very similar.

Once a quorum has been reached, they begin to change their behaviour, moving from acting as individuals to acting as a group. They form colonies and secrete toxins. It's this coordinated attack that ultimately makes us sick.

By understanding and interfering with how bacteria talk to each other, researchers hope to develop a treatment for deadly bacterial diseases. 

Hannah A. Jones et al, Screening of FDA-Approved Small Molecules to Discover Inhibitors of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa Quorum-Sensing Enzyme, PqsE, Biochemistry (2026). DOI: 10.1021/acs.biochem.5c00475

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on March 29, 2026 at 9:06am

Bird‑like robots promise greater flexibility and control than drones

Engineers have developed a bird-like ornithopter with flexible wings powered by piezoelectric materials, eliminating the need for motors, gears, or mechanical linkages. This solid-state design enables flapping and twisting motions, offering greater maneuverability and potential for applications such as search and rescue. Advanced modelling integrates flight physics, aiding future design optimization.

Xin Shan et al, Multi-physics finite state fully coupled modeling of mechanism-free induced-strain actuated ornithopters, Aerospace Science and Technology (2025). DOI: 10.1016/j.ast.2025.110573

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on March 29, 2026 at 8:58am

Why cultivating drought-resistant plants disappoints: Soil physics may be the real bottleneck
Water uptake in plants is primarily limited by soil properties, specifically capillary and viscous forces in soil pores, rather than by plant physiology. As soil dries and water potential drops below -1.5 MPa, plants cannot extract water efficiently, regardless of their internal adaptations. This explains why breeding for drought resistance by altering plant traits has had limited success.
Most water in the soil exists in pores of varying sizes. These pores exert a capillary force that holds water.
Soil physicists discovered that when the soil water potential falls below -1.5 megapascals, plants are unable to extract water fast enough to meet their needs.

In other words when soil dries, capillary and viscous forces in the pores increase—and plants find it harder to draw water from the soil.

Stomata are super sensitive. Plants have special structures on the underside of their leaves known as stomata that function as an interface for gas exchange. These are small valves that the plant opens and closes in response to fluctuating environments.

When they are open, carbon dioxide from the air can flow into the leaf while water can escape into the atmosphere as vapor.

When the plant closes it stomata, it conserves water. This prevents it from dying of thirst. However, when the stomata are closed, the plant faces starvation because less carbon dioxide enters its leaves, meaning it produces fewer new sugar molecules. As a result, it grows more slowly.

Ultimately, the behaviour of these tiny valves determines how much carbon from the atmosphere enters the land plant biomass.

A plant requires considerable energy to draw water from soil pores. For example, the cell walls of the tubes through which water rises in shoot stems or tree trunks are thickened.

This enables them to withstand the tension in the vascular system and not collapse.

Further up in the leaves, dissolved substances in plant cells generate osmotic pressure, which keeps cells turgid despite the high tension in neighbouring vascular tissues.

The agricultural industry has long attempted to breed plants that store more solutes in their cells, hoping this would help them absorb water more efficiently from the soil and thus better withstand drought. Although a substantial amount of money has been invested in such breeding programmes, these hopes have never been realized.

The new results explain this failure: the limiting factor lies not in the plants but in the soil.

The physics of capillarity not only predicts the extent to which soil pores empty but also what occurs high up in the leaves.

Andrea Carminati et al, Soils drive convergence in the regulation of vascular tension in land plants, Science (2026). DOI: 10.1126/science.adx8114

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on March 29, 2026 at 8:52am

Your Blood Type May Increase Risk of an Early Stroke

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on March 29, 2026 at 8:50am

How metformin treats diabetes

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on March 29, 2026 at 8:23am

Syncing Your Blinks

Our eyes and brains sync to music we are listening!

If you walk down the street while listening to your favourite song and you will notice that you were stepping in time to the beat! And people instinctively blink to the beat too. In a recent study, researchers saw that dozens of non-musicians blinked in sync to the beat structure of Bach songs, without being asked.

Our bodies respond to music in a lot of weird ways. For example, one Japanese study determined what types of songs will spontaneously make people bop up and down, and which make them sway side-to-side. In the case of blinking to the beat, the scientists found that when study participants were distracted by a screen, they were less likely to sync their blinks. It might mean that active listening is required to incite these involuntary effects.

The finding makes sense because music activates the motor areas of the brain. Even if we’re just sitting still—and not bopping along to the beat—there can often be this sense of motion.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12626317/#:~:text=This%20d....

https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pb...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on March 28, 2026 at 11:48am

New study uncovers mechanism explaining how obesity increases cancer risk

Obesity increases cancer risk by causing organs such as the liver, kidneys, and pancreas to enlarge primarily through an increase in cell number (hyperplasia), not just cell size. This expansion raises the number of cells susceptible to mutations, thereby elevating cancer risk. Organ size may predict cancer risk more accurately than BMI, highlighting the importance of maintaining a healthy weight early in life.

The study, published in Cancer Research,reveals a major driving force behind how obesity increases cancer risk across multiple organs.

The findings emphasize the importance of maintaining a healthy weight from early childhood and propose a potentially more accurate way than body mass index (BMI) to predict the increase in cancer risk associated with obesity.
The study reveals that excess weight doesn't just affect metabolism or hormones—it can physically enlarge organs, creating more opportunities for cancer to take hold. Understanding that process matters because it helps explain how everyday health choices can shape cancer risk years or even decades down the line."

In other words, as a person gains weight, their organs also grow in size by accumulating more cells to meet the higher energy needs of a bigger body. Having more cells boosts the odds of more DNA errors as cells divide, increasing the likelihood of cancer.
To test this hypothesis, researchers conducted a two-pronged study.
First, the team evaluated 747 adults whose weight in relationship to their height spanned the complete BMI spectrum, from underweight (18.5 BMI) all the way to severely obese (40-plus BMI). Using CT scans, the researchers measured the size of each adult's liver, kidneys, and pancreas.

This study is the first to analyze the size of multiple organs in a large cohort of individuals across the full BMI spectrum.

The scientists discovered that the organs grew larger as body weight increased. For every 5-point increase in BMI, the liver grew by 12%, kidneys by 9%, and the pancreas by 7%.

Next, the research team counted the cells in samples of kidney tissue taken from autopsies and reanalyzed biopsy data from living patients. The lab showed that more than 60% of the kidneys' growth resulted from an increase in the number of cells in the organ, a process called hyperplasia. The rest was due to individual cells growing bigger, or hypertrophy.
The new finding corrects earlier theories that larger organ size in obese individuals resulted primarily from fatter cells. Rather, obesity mainly increases the number of cells at risk for copying errors, uncontrollable growth, and potential malignancy.

This increase in organ size has harmful consequences.
The more cells in an organ, the more mutations and the greater the risk of one cell going awry during division and becoming cancerous.
Overall, the study showed a strong link between organ size enlargement and cancer risk across all three organs, confirming the mathematical predictions. The finding provides evidence for this as a major mechanism of tumorigenesis induced by obesity, in addition to factors like inflammation and hormonal imbalances.

This newly discovered effect of obesity can be large—with organs even doubling in size.

"When an organ doubles in size, it is expected to roughly double its risk of developing cancer", say the researchers.
Noting the relationship between diet and cancer, the authors emphasized the importance of maintaining a healthy weight from a young age.

Sophie Pénisson et al, Hyperplasia Functions as a Link Between Obesity and Cancer, Cancer Research (2026). DOI: 10.1158/0008-5472.can-25-2487

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