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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on September 4, 2020 at 5:43am

Scientists discover new rules about 'runaway' transcription

Grace E. Johnson et al. Functionally uncoupled transcription–translation in Bacillus subtilis, Nature (2020). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-2638-5

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-scientists-runaway-transcription.html...

https://www.quora.com/q/sciencecommunication/Scientists-discover-ne...;  - Check %%

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Could plants help us find dead bodies? Forensic botanists want to know

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-dead-bodies-forensic-botanists.html?u...

Trends in Plant Science, Brabazon et al.: "Plants to remotely detect human decomposition?" www.cell.com/trends/plant-scie … 1360-1385(20)30243-0 , DOI: 10.1016/j.tplants.2020.07.013

https://www.quora.com/q/sciencecommunication/Could-plants-help-us-f...;   --check %%

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** The Dangers of Intellectual Territorialism

Narrow expertise has its value, but it’s also vital to let scientists step out of their “lanes”

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-dangers-of-intellect...

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How Groups of Cells Cooperate to Build Organs and Organisms

Understanding biology’s software—the rules that enable great plasticity in how cell collectives generate reliable anatomies—is key to advancing tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.

https://www.the-scientist.com/features/how-groups-of-cells-cooperat...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on September 4, 2020 at 5:26am

Researchers warn of food-web threats from common insecticides

In light of emerging evidence showing how a commonly used class of insecticides can spread through the environment to pollinators, predators and other insects they are not intended to kill, researchers are warning about the potential for widespread environmental contamination.

They argued for curbing the use of neonicotinoid insecticides by discontinuing the practice of applying them preventively on crop seeds.

They argue that reducing this and other common preventive practices could reduce cascading effects on the environment from insecticides whose risks have not been fully characterized.  Neonicotinoids are among the most toxic insecticides to insects ever developed. These insecticides are used in crops, lawns and landscapes, livestock production and even in pet flea and tick products. They are also used in lawns, commercial landscapes and to protect trees.

They are applied to hundreds of thousands of trees each year for protection from exotic pests, which can be lethal to trees, but also from cosmetic pests, which generally are not lethal.

Recently, a study uncovered a new way that neonicotinoids can spread through the food chain. We've known that neonicotinoids can be transmitted through nectar and pollen and can harm pollinators that way—directly from the plants. We've known that if herbivores feed on the plants and predators eat those herbivores, that they could be harmed because the neonicotinoids accumulate in the herbivores' bodies. This was a new revelation that it could be transmitted through the herbivore to the environment as a carbohydrate that a lot of animals feed on.

this raises the potential for additional off-target effects to other organisms as the toxin is spread by organisms that are not killed as they ingest it.

This adds one more example of how the material can move in a three-part food chain from the plant to an herbivore to a predator. If ingested by organisms that are not killed directly, those organisms could pass the toxin on to insects, birds, amphibians or others. Even though the neonicotinoids have relatively low mammalian toxicity, which makes them safer for applicators, there is still risk of some toxicity, and there could be toxicity for other vertebrates.

S. D. Frank et al, Opinion: Neonicotinoids pose undocumented threats to food webs, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2020). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2017221117

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-food-web-threats-common-insecticides....

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on September 3, 2020 at 8:11am

Scientific American vs. the Supernatural

This magazine launched a contest to prove, or disprove, the existence of ghosts

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/scientific-american-vs-t...

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https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2020/08/gertrude-elion-a...

Meet the woman who gave the world antiviral drugs

Fifty years ago, few scientists believed a drug could fight viruses with low side effects. Then Gertrude Elion showed the doubters "what I could do on my own."

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on September 3, 2020 at 5:53am

Weekly injection could treat type 2 diabetes, new enzyme discovery suggests

A newly discovered protein produced by the liver, and which helps to control blood sugar levels, could potentially revolutionise treatment for type 2 diabetes.

https://theconversation.com/weekly-injection-could-treat-type-2-dia...

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How ‘elite controllers’ tame HIV without drugs

In a handful of people living with HIV, the virus remains at undetectable levels, sometimes for many years, even though HIV genes still lurk in their chromosomes. These ‘elite controllers’ seem to be able to stash the viral DNA in quiet corners of the chromosome, where it struggles to replicate. Scientists managed to gather dozens of these individuals to analyse their genomes in an effort to better understand their superpower.

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/08/how-elite-controllers-tame-...

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A Molecule in Honeybee Venom Destroys Breast Cancer Cells in The Lab, Study Shows

https://www.sciencealert.com/bees-formidable-weapons-could-successf...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on September 3, 2020 at 5:46am

 The widespread footprint of blue jean microfibers

Blue jeans are a more popular wardrobe choice undoubtdly. But most people don't think about microscopic remnants of their comfy jeans and other clothing that are shed during laundering. Now, researchers reporting in ACS' Environmental Science & Technology Letters have detected indigo denim microfibers not only in wastewater effluent, but also in lakes and remote Arctic marine sediments.

Samantha N. Athey et al. The Widespread Environmental Footprint of Indigo Denim Microfibers from Blue Jeans, Environmental Science & Technology Letters (2020). DOI: 10.1021/acs.estlett.0c00498

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-widespread-footprint-blue-jean-microf...

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  Viruses could be harder to kill after adapting to warm environments

Enteroviruses and other pathogenic viruses that make their way into surface waters can be inactivated by heat, sunshine and other microbes, thereby reducing their ability to spread disease. But researchers report now that global warming could cause viruses to evolve, rendering them less susceptible to these and other disinfectants, such as chlorine. They also say that this greater hardiness could increase the length of time heat-adapted viruses would be infectious enough to sicken someone who comes in contact with contaminated water.

Anna Carratalà et al. Adaptation of Human Enterovirus to Warm Environments Leads to Resistance against Chlorine Disinfection, Environmental Science & Technology (2020). DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.0c03199

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-viruses-harder-environments.html?utm_...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on September 3, 2020 at 5:44am

Massive release of methane gas from the seafloor discovered for the first time in the Southern Hemisphere

Gas hydrate is an ice-like substance formed by water and methane at depths of several hundred meters at the bottom of our oceans at high pressure and low temperatures. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas, roughly 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide, and it is estimated that methane frozen in these sediments constitute the largest organic carbon reservoir on Earth. The fact that methane gas has now started leaking out through gas hydrate dissociation is not good news for the climate.

It has been estimated that there are more organic carbon in the form of methane in hydrates than in all fossil fuels combined. The leakage of methane could lead to a feedback loop in which the ocean warming melts gas hydrates resulting in the release of methane from the ocean floor into the water. The warmer it gets, the more methane leaks out.

This process is believed to have triggered and amplified climate changes in our geological past.

Marcelo Ketzer et al. Gas hydrate dissociation linked to contemporary ocean warming in the southern hemisphere, Nature Communications (2020). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-17289-z

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-massive-methane-gas-seafloor-southern...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on September 3, 2020 at 5:37am

Revolutionary quantum breakthrough paves way for safer online communication

The world is one step closer to having a totally secure internet and an answer to the growing threat of cyber-attacks, thanks to a team of international scientists who have created a unique prototype which could transform how we communicate online.

S.K. Joshi el al., "A trusted node–free eight-user metropolitan quantum communication network," Science Advances (2020). advances.sciencemag.org/lookup … .1126/sciadv.aba0959

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-revolutionary-quantum-breakthrough-pa...

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Asphalt adds to air pollution, especially on hot, sunny days

Asphalt is a near-ubiquitous substance—it's found in roads, on roofs and in driveways—but its chemical emissions rarely figure into urban air quality management plans.

A new study finds that asphalt is a significant source of air pollutants in urban areas, especially on hot and sunny days.

Researchers observed that common road and roofing asphalts produced complex mixtures of organic compounds, including hazardous pollutants, in a range of typical temperature and solar conditions.

 P. Khare el al., "Asphalt-related emissions are a major missing nontraditional source of secondary organic aerosol precursors," Science Advances (2020). advances.sciencemag.org/lookup … .1126/sciadv.abb9785

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-asphalt-air-pollution-hot-sunny.html?...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on September 3, 2020 at 5:30am

Oldest radiocarbon dated temperate hardwood tree in the world discovered

https://phys.org/news/2020-08-oldest-radiocarbon-dated-temperate-ha...

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How to remove unwanted components from the cell nucleus

The organization of cells into specific compartments is critical for their function. For instance, by separating the nucleus from the cytoplasm, the nuclear envelope prevents premature translation of immature RNAs.

During mitosis, however, thenuclear envelope disassembles, allowing large cytoplasmic components such as ribosomes to mix with nuclear material. When the nuclear envelope reassembles following mitosis, these cytoplasmic components must once again be removed. "The nuclear envelope can contribute to this by actively importing or exporting substrates up to a certain size, but it was not clear what happens with very large cytoplasmic components Until now.

A research team from has now shown that large components such as ribosomes are in fact removed from the forming nucleus before the nuclear envelope is assembled again. This exclusion process requires the protein Ki-67. In a older study it was discovered that Ki-67 was responsible for keeping chromosomes separated in early stages of mitosis by acting as a surfactant. Remarkably, it was now found that it changes its properties at the end of mitosis and performs the opposite function, namely clustering of chromosomes.

By coming together into a dense cluster at the end of cell division, chromosomes are able to exclude large cytoplasmic components before the nuclear envelope reforms.

This work shows how a single protein can dynamically change the surface properties of chromosomes.

Ultimately, this facilitates effective compartmentalisation of key processes within the cell.

Daniel Gerlich et al. Chromosome clustering by Ki-67 excludes cytoplasm during nuclear assembly. Nature, published on 02 September 2020. DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-2672-3

https://phys.org/news/2020-08-unwanted-components-cell-nucleus.html...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on September 3, 2020 at 5:25am

Researchers reprogram yeast cells to become microscopic drug factories

Since antiquity, cultures on nearly every continent have discovered that certain plant leaves, when chewed or brewed or rubbed on the body, could relieve diverse ailments, inspire hallucinations or, in higher dosages, even cause death. Today, pharmaceutical companies import these once-rare plants from specialized farms and extract their active chemical compounds to make drugs like scopolamine for relieving motion sickness and postoperative nausea, and atropine, to curb the drooling associated with Parkinson's disease or help maintain cardiac function when intubating COVID-19 patients and placing them on ventilators.

Now, Stanford engineers are recreating these ancient remedies in a thoroughly modern way by genetically reprogramming the cellular machinery of a special strain of yeast, effectively transforming them into microscopic factories that convert sugars and amino acids into these folkloric drugs, in much the same way that brewers' yeast can naturally convert sugars into alcohol.

Biosynthesis of medicinal tropane alkaloids in yeast, Nature (2020). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-2650-9 , www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2650-9

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-reprogram-yeast-cells-microscopic-dru...

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Has Earth's oxygen rusted the Moon for billions of years?

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-earth-oxygen-rusted-moon-billions.htm...

https://www.quora.com/q/sciencecommunication/Has-Earths-oxygen-rust...;   --check %%

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on September 3, 2020 at 5:17am

Study details how general anesthetics and 'benzos' act on receptors in the brain

As you drift into unconsciousness before a surgery, general anesthetic drugs flowing through your blood are putting you to sleep by binding mainly to a protein in the brain called the γ-aminobutyric acid type A (GABA_A) receptor. Now UT Southwestern scientists have shown exactly how anesthetics attach to the GABA_A receptor and alter its three-dimensional structure, and how the brain can tell the difference between anesthetics and the psychoactive drugs known as benzodiazepines—which also bind to the GABA_A receptor. The findings were published online today in the journal Nature.

The GABA_A receptor is an ion channel; when it's in an open conformation, it allows chloride ions to flow through. This movement of ions decreases the signaling of brain cells, calming brain activity. So stimulating the GABA_A receptor—as anesthetics, benzodiazepines, alcohol, anti-seizure, and some sleep medications all do—quiets the brain in a variety of ways.

The team discovered that both general anesthetics and diazepam could bind to multiple places on the GABA_A molecule. One site—dubbed the "benzo site" in earlier research—was unique to the diazepam. But another site overlapped between the two drug types. When diazepam was present at high enough doses, it bound to this site that was more often used by the anesthetics. This observation could explain why high doses of benzodiazepines like diazepam can have anesthetic-like effects. The researchers also found differences among the general anesthetics; phenobarbital, for instance, bound to a place on GABA_A that neither etomidate nor propofol attached, and seemed to be less choosy about where it bound.

Shared structural mechanisms of general anaesthetics and benzodiazepines, Nature (2020). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-2654-5 , www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2654-5

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-anesthetics-benzos-receptors-brain.ht...

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