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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on June 3, 2021 at 7:59am

What if the black hole at the center of the Milky Way is actually a...

A team of researchers at the International Center for Relativistic Astrophysics has found evidence that suggests Sagittarius A* is not a massive black hole but is instead a mass of dark matter. In their paper published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters, the group describes the evidence they found and how it has stood up to testing.

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on June 3, 2021 at 7:40am

Atmospheric metal layers appear with surprising regularity

Twice a day, at dusk and just before dawn, a faint layer of sodium and other metals begins sinking down through the atmosphere, about 90 miles high above the city of Boulder, Colorado. The movement was captured by one of the world's most sensitive "lidar" instruments and reported recently in the AGU journal Geophysical Research Letters.

The metals in those layers come originally from rocky material blasting into Earth's atmosphere from space, and the regularly appearing layers promise to help researchers understand better how earth's atmosphere interacts with space, even potentially how those interactions help support life.

This is an important discovery because we have never seen these dusk/dawn features before, and because these metal layers affect many things. The metals can fall into the ocean and act as fertilizer for ecosystems, the ionized metals can affect GPS radio signals.

It is the first time that the metal layers—which are not harmful to people—have been seen so regularly at these extreme heights in the atmosphere. Such high-altitude metal layers were discovered by Chu's group just 10 years ago above McMurdo, Antarctica, but there they occur more sporadically. Above Boulder, they're consistent, daily, and synched with winds that occur high in the atmosphere.

Xinzhao Chu et al, Mid‐Latitude Thermosphere‐Ionosphere Na (TINa) Layers Observed With High‐Sensitivity Na Doppler Lidar Over Boulder (40.13°N, 105.24°W), Geophysical Research Letters (2021). DOI: 10.1029/2021GL093729

https://phys.org/news/2021-06-atmospheric-metal-layers-regularity.h...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on June 3, 2021 at 6:54am

Human brain and testis found to have the highest number of common proteins

A team of researchers  has found that for humans, the brain and testis have the highest number of common proteins. In their paper published in the journal Royal Society Open Biology, the group describes their study of protein similarities between tissues.

In this new effort, the researchers noted that evidence from other studies has found some signs of similarities between testis and the human brain. Intrigued, they initiated a study that involved analyzing the proteins produced by different parts of the body and then comparing them to see similarities. The researchers found the greatest similarities between the brain and testicles—13,442 of them. This finding suggests that the brain and the testicles share the highest number of genes of any organs in the body.

The team next focused on the shared proteins and found that most of them were involved in the development of tissue and communications. They suggest this finding was not surprising, considering that proteins from both organs consume high amounts of fuel—one to process thinking, the other to produce millions of sperm every day. They also note that testis and nerve cells are both involved in moving material created inside of them to an outside environment—sperm cells move fertilization factors and neurons move neurotransmitters. Both are part of processes known as exocytosis. Additionally, as part of exocytosis, sperm allow parts of themselves to fuse with an egg. With neurons, exocytosis involves creating neurites that allow for communication between cells.

Bárbara Matos et al, Brain and testis: more alike than previously thought?, Open Biology (2021). DOI: 10.1098/rsob.200322

https://phys.org/news/2021-06-human-brain-testis-highest-common.htm...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on June 3, 2021 at 6:47am

Blood clot-busting nanocapsules could reduce existing treatment's side effects

"Fibrinogen-mimicking, multiarm nanovesicles for human thrombus-specific delivery of tissue plasminogen activator and targeted thrombolytic therapy" Science Advances (2021). advances.sciencemag.org/lookup … 1126/sciadv.eabf9033

https://phys.org/news/2021-06-blood-clot-busting-nanocapsules-treat...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on June 3, 2021 at 6:45am

World's lakes losing oxygen rapidly as planet warms

Oxygen levels in the world's temperate freshwater lakes are declining rapidly—faster than in the oceans—a trend driven largely by climate change that threatens freshwater biodiversity and drinking water quality.

Research published recently in Nature found that oxygen levels in surveyed lakes across the temperate zone have declined 5.5% at the surface and 18.6% in deep waters since 1980. Meanwhile, in a large subset of mostly nutrient-polluted lakes, surface oxygen levels increased as water temperatures crossed a threshold favoring cyanobacteria, which can create toxins when they flourish in the form of harmful algal blooms.

All complex life depends on oxygen. It's the support system for aquatic food webs. And when you start losing oxygen, you have the potential to lose species. Lakes are losing oxygen 2.75-9.3 times faster than the oceans, a decline that will have impacts throughout the ecosystem.  

Widespread deoxygenation of temperate lakes, Nature (2021). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-03550-y , www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03550-y

https://phys.org/news/2021-06-world-lakes-oxygen-rapidly-planet.htm...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on June 2, 2021 at 12:50pm

Falcons have natural 'eye makeup' to improve hunting ability

Dark 'eyeliner' feathers of peregrine falcons act as sun shields to improve the birds' hunting ability, a new scientific study suggests. Scientists have long speculated that falcons' eye markings improve their ability to target fast-moving prey, like pigeons and doves, in bright sunlight. Now research suggests these markings have evolved according to the climate; the sunnier the bird's habitat, the larger and darker are the tell-tale dark 'sun-shade' feathers.

Michelle Vrettos, Chevonne Reynolds, Arjun Amar. Malar stripe size and prominence in peregrine falcons vary positively with solar radiation: support for the solar glare hypothesis. Biology Letters, 2021; 17 (6): 20210116 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2021.0116

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/06/210601194155.htm

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on June 2, 2021 at 6:35am

Light-shrinking material lets ordinary microscope see in super resolution

Electrical engineers developed a technology that improves the resolution of an ordinary light microscope so that it can be used to directly observe finer structures and details in living cells.

The technology turns a conventional light microscope into what's called a super-resolution microscope. It involves a specially engineered material that shortens the wavelength of light as it illuminates the sample—this shrunken light is what essentially enables the microscope to image in higher resolution.

This material converts low resolution light to high resolution light. It's very simple and easy to use. Just place a sample on the material, then put the whole thing under a normal microscope—no fancy modification needed.

Yeon Ui Lee et al, Metamaterial assisted illumination nanoscopy via random super-resolution speckles, Nature Communications (2021). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-21835-8

https://phys.org/news/2021-06-light-shrinking-material-ordinary-mic...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on June 2, 2021 at 6:09am

Tweaking gene therapy: Scientists experimentally boost red blood cells to aid sickle cell and other hemoglobin diseases

A series of laboratory studies is underway to improve gene therapy worldwide for sickle cell disease, a complex and sometimes deadly heritable blood disorder that dramatically affects the structure and function of oxygen-ferrying red blood cells.

Sickle cell disease is a devastating disorder that largely affects people of African descent. The genetic condition derives its name from the shape of patients' red blood cells, which have the configuration of a crescent moon or sickle. As one of the heritable hemoglobin diseases, doctors say the condition is related to beta thalassemia, which is largely seen in populations throughout the Mediterranean, parts of the Mideast and Asia. In that disease, red blood cells do not sickle but are substantially smaller than normal, and likewise are impaired as transporters of oxygen.

About a dozen gene therapy clinical trials are being conducted in the U.S., but laboratory research designed to improve the technology remains exceptionally active and robust. The aim of all gene therapy technologies for hemoglobin diseases is to produce healthy disc-shaped red blood cells that efficiently transport oxygen throughout the body. In the case of sickle cell disease, the treatment corrects a constellation of medical problems—hemolytic anemia, pain, and organ damage.

have designed a new gene therapy strategy for sickle cell disease—and other hemoglobin diseases—that boosts levels of fetal hemoglobin by increasing gamma-globin concentrations. Fetal hemoglobin is produced during fetal development and is more efficient at transporting oxygen than its adult counterpart. Producing fetal hemoglobin is a capability that can be revived through gene therapy. Boosting levels of fetal hemoglobin not only increases oxygen transport but dramatically lowers the frequency of disease complications.

Just as levels of fetal hemoglobin are boosted in a reimagined and improved form of gene therapy, Uchida and a team of scientists at the Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute have devised a method to also boost gamma-globin in a single gene therapy treatment. Gamma-globin is a component of the hemoglobin molecule, the iron-containing oxygen-transport metalloprotein in red blood cells. Gamma-globin is a member of the globin superfamily of proteins involved in binding and transporting oxygen.

Naoya Uchida et al. Sustained fetal hemoglobin induction in vivo is achieved by BCL11A interference and coexpressed truncated erythropoietin receptor, Science Translational Medicine (2021) DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.abb0411

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-05-tweaking-gene-therapy-scient...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on June 2, 2021 at 6:01am

A revolutionary gene therapy is bringing hope to UK parents - but it comes with a steep price tag

A baby in England has been the first patient on the country’s NHS to receive a potentially life-saving new gene therapy to treat spinal muscular atrophy (SMA).

Five-month-old Arthur Morgan was given a dose of the treatment known as Zolgensma at Evelina London Children's Hospital on May 25.

Arthur was born in December last year and diagnosed with SMA, a rare and debilitating neuromuscular disease that prevents muscle development, just a few weeks ago.

Babies born with SMA experience problems with movement, breathing, and swallowing.

The novel gene therapy treatment, produced by US pharma giant Novartis Gene Therapies, repairs affected genes inside the cells, making it easier to manage and potentially cure the disease.

But the wonder drug comes at a price. Zolgensma is one of the world's most expensive drugs with a price tag per dose of €2.08 million. Fortunately for Arthur and his family, the NHS negotiated a non-disclosed discounted price for the drug, making it more accessible for patients suffering from SMA to receive the treatment.

 the importance of using innovative therapies to treat diseases and disorders, such as in this case.

"It is fantastic news that this revolutionary treatment is now available for babies and children like Arthur on the NHS.

These are hugely transformative therapies. To bring something in that only requires treatment once, that actually requires a lot of systems and processes to change

The agreement between Novartis and the NHS is part of a "series of smart deals" aimed to secure more cutting-edge treatments for the British people, according to the NHS website.

Novartis says that while the cost of the single-dose treatment sounds expensive, it isn’t when you compare the alternative treatment for SMA which can include ongoing hospital admissions, ventilators and round-the-clock care. When you consider lifetime costs - actually gene therapies aren’t expensive.

Is Zolgensma 's a complete cure given the many variables, including when the infant is diagnosed and when the drug is administered, he does believe there is a curative future for gene therapy drugs "if the entire system is in sync".

It is moving into a genomic era which is an era of medicine where we can harness our understanding of genetics and the impact on health in a much great way.

https://www.euronews.com/2021/06/01/gene-therapy-life-saving-drug-b...

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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on June 1, 2021 at 10:06am

The 3 Essential Rules For Effective Science Communication

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jvchamary/2021/05/31/science-communica...

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