How tardigrades survive dehydration

Some species of tardigrades, or water bears as the tiny aquatic creatures are also known, can survive in different environments often hostile or even fatal to most forms of life. For the first time, researchers describe a new mechanism that explains how some tardigrades can endure extreme dehydration without dying. They explored proteins that form a gel during cellular dehydration. This gel stiffens to support and protect the cells from mechanical stress that would otherwise kill them. These proteins have also been shown to work in insect cells and even show limited functionality in human cultured cells.

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Next generation of hearing aids could read lips through masks

A new system capable of reading lips with remarkable accuracy even when speakers are wearing face masks could help create a new generation of hearing aids.

Physicists discover new rule for orbital formation in chemical reactions

Squeaky, cloudy or spherical—electron orbitals show where and how electrons move around atomic nuclei and molecules. In modern chemistry and physics, they have proven to be a useful model for quantum mechanical description and prediction of chemical reactions. Only if the orbitals match in space and energy can they be combined—this is what happens when two substances react with each other chemically. In addition, there is another condition that must be met, as researchers  have now discovered: The course of chemical reactions also appears to be dependent on the orbital distribution in momentum space. The results were published in the journal Nature Communications.

 Xiaosheng Yang et al, Momentum-selective orbital hybridisation, Nature Communications (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-32643-z

Light accelerates conductivity in nature's 'electric grid'

The natural world possesses its own intrinsic electrical grid composed of a global web of tiny bacteria-generated nanowires in the soil and oceans that "breathe" by exhaling excess electrons.

In a new study, researchers discovered that light is a surprising ally in fostering this electronic activity within biofilm bacteria. Exposing bacteria-produced nanowires to light, they found, yielded an up to a 100-fold increase in electrical conductivity.

The dramatic current increases in nanowires exposed to light show a stable and robust photocurrent that persists for hours.

The results could provide new insights as scientists pursue ways to exploit this hidden electrical current for a variety of purposes, from eliminating biohazard waste and creating new renewable fuel sources.

Almost all living things breathe oxygen to get rid of excess electrons when converting nutrients into energy. Without access to oxygen, however, soil bacteria living deep under oceans or buried underground over billions of years have developed a way to respire by "breathing minerals," like snorkeling, through tiny protein filaments called nanowires.

When bacteria were exposed to light, the increase in electrical current surprised researchers because most of the bacteria tested exist deep in the soil, far from the reach of light. Previous studies had shown that when exposed to light nanowire-producing bacteria grew faster.

In the new study researchers concluded that a metal-containing protein known as cytochrome OmcS—which makes up bacterial nanowires—acts as a natural photoconductor: the nanowires greatly facilitate electron transfer when biofilms are exposed to light.

It is a completely different form of photosynthesis. Here, light is accelerating breathing by bacteria due to rapid electron transfer between nanowires.

Researchers are exploring how this insight into bacterial electrical conductivity could be used to spur growth in optoelectronics—a subfield of photonics that studies devices and systems that find and control light—and capture methane, a greenhouse gas known to be a significant contributor to global climate change.

Neu, J., Shipps, C.C., Guberman-Pfeffer, M.J. et al. Microbial biofilms as living photoconductors due to ultrafast electron transfer in cytochrome OmcS nanowires. Nat Commun, 2022 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-32659-5

Physicists invent intelligent quantum sensor of light waves

Physicists have demonstrated an atomically thin, intelligent quantum sensor that can simultaneously detect all the fundamental properties of an incoming light wave.

The research, published April 13 in the journal Nature, demonstrates a new concept based on quantum geometry that could find use in health care, deep-space exploration and remote-sensing applications.

Typically, when you want to characterize a wave of light, you have to use different instruments to gather information, such as the intensity, wavelength and polarization state of the light. Those instruments are bulky and can occupy a significant area on an optical table. Now we have a single device—just a tiny and thin chip—that can determine all these properties simultaneously in a very short time.

The device exploits the unique physical properties of a novel family of two-dimensional materials called moiré metamaterials. The 2D materials have periodic structures and are atomically thin. If two layers of such a material are overlaid with a small rotational twist, a moiré pattern with an emergent, orders-of-magnitude larger periodicity can form. The resulting moiré metamaterial yields electronic properties that differ significantly from those exhibited by a single layer alone or by two naturally aligned layers.

The sensing device that physicists now chose to demonstrate their new idea incorporates two layers of relatively twisted, naturally occurring bilayer graphene, for a total of four atomic layers.

Chun Ning Lau et al, Reproducibility in the fabrication and physics of moiré materials, Nature (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-04173-z

Modern humans generate more brain neurons than Neandertals

What makes modern humans unique has long been a driving force for researchers. Comparisons with our closest relatives, the Neandertals, therefore provide fascinating insights. The increase in brain size, and in neuron production during brain development, are considered to be major factors for the increased cognitive abilities that occurred during human evolution. However, while both Neandertals and modern humans develop brains of similar size, very little is known about whether modern human and Neandertal brains may have differed in terms of their neuron production during development.

Researchers now show that the modern human variant of the protein TKTL1, which differs by only a single amino acid from the Neandertal variant, increases one type of brain progenitor cells, called basal radial glia, in the modern human brain. Basal radial glial cells generate the majority of the neurons in the developing neocortex, a part of the brain that is crucial for many cognitive abilities. As TKTL1 activity is particularly high in the frontal lobe of the fetal human brain, the researchers conclude that this single human-specific amino acid substitution in TKTL1 underlies a greater neuron production in the developing frontal lobe of the neocortex in modern humans than Neandertals.

Only a small number of proteins have differences in the sequence of their amino acids—the building blocks of proteins—between modern humans and our extinct relatives, the Neandertals and Denisovans. The biological significance of these differences for the development of the modern human brain is largely unknown. In fact, both, modern humans and Neandertals, feature a brain, and notably a neocortex, of similar size, but whether this similar neocortex size implies a similar number of neurons remains unclear.

The researchers focus on one of these proteins that presents a single amino acid change in essentially all modern humans compared to Neandertals, the protein transketolase-like 1 (TKTL1). Specifically, in modern humans TKTL1 contains an arginine at the sequence position in question, whereas in Neandertal TKTL1 it is the related amino acid lysine. In the fetal human neocortex, TKTL1 is found in neocortical progenitor cells, the cells from which all cortical neurons derive. Notably, the level of TKTL1 is highest in the progenitor cells of the frontal lobe.

Researchers observed that basal radial glial cells, the type of neocortical progenitors thought to be the driving force for a bigger brain, increased with the modern human variant of TKTL1 but not with the Neandertal variant. As a consequence, the brains of mouse embryos with the modern human TKTL1 contained more neurons.

They found that with the Neandertal-type of amino acid in TKTL1, fewer basal radial glial cells were produced than with the modern human-type and, as a consequence, also fewer neurons. This shows us that even though we do not know how many neurons the Neandertal brain had, we can assume that modern humans have more neurons in the frontal lobe of the brain, where TKTL1 activity is highest, than Neandertals.

Anneline Pinson et al, Human TKTL1 implies greater neurogenesis in frontal neocortex of modern humans than Neandertals, Science (2022). DOI: 10.1126/science.abl6422. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abl6422

Intelligent microscopes for detecting rare biological events

Now researchers need not wait for hours together to image bacterial cells division

Biophysicists have now found a way to automate microscope control for imaging biological events in detail while limiting stress on the sample, all with the help of artificial neural networks. Their technique works for bacterial cell division, and for mitochondrial division. The details of their intelligent microscope are described in Nature Methods.

Suliana Manley, Event-driven acquisition for content-enriched microscopy, Nature Methods (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41592-022-01589-x. www.nature.com/articles/s41592-022-01589-x

Two new trials find no link between vitamin D supplements and reduced risk of COVID-19

Two large clinical trials published by The BMJ today show that boosting vitamin D levels in adults during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic was not associated with protection against respiratory tract infections or COVID-19.

Vitamin D metabolites have long been recognized to support innate immune responses to respiratory viruses and bacteria, and some studies have shown that vitamin D may protect against respiratory tract infections, particularly among those who are vitamin D-deficient.

Vitamin D has therefore received much attention for its potential role in preventing and treating COVID-19, but most studies published so far are observational and have shown mixed results.

The first trial was carried out in the UK between December 2020 and June 2021 and involved 6,200 adults (16 years and over) not using vitamin D supplements at enrollment.

Half (3,100 participants) were offered a vitamin D blood test and those found to have low vitamin D levels (2,674; 86%) received either 3200 IU/day or 800 IU/day of vitamin D supplements for six months, while the other half (controls) received no test or supplements.

Neither of the vitamin D doses showed any effect on diagnosed acute respiratory tract infections or lateral flow test or RT-PCR-confirmed COVID-19 cases over a six-month follow-up period. The number of adverse events was similar between groups, and no serious adverse event was attributed to study supplements.

The second trial was conducted in Norway between November 2020 and June 2021 using cod liver oil, which contains low doses of vitamin D and vitamin A as well as omega-3 fatty acids.

A total of 34,741 adults (18-75 years) who were not using vitamin D supplements received either 5 mL cod liver oil or 5 mL placebo (corn oil) daily for six months. The majority of participants (86%) who were tested had adequate vitamin D levels at the start of the study.

Again, the researchers found no effect of cod liver oil on acute respiratory infections or PCR-confirmed COVID-19, compared with placebo. The cod liver oil group had no more side effects than the placebo group and only low-grade side effects were reported.

Effect of a test-and-treat approach to vitamin D supplementation on risk of all cause acute respiratory tract infection and covid-19: phase 3 randomised controlled trial (CORONAVIT), The BMJ (2022). DOI: 10.1136/bmj-2022-071230

The first known surgical amputation

Prehistoric child’s amputation is oldest surgery of its kind

The skeleton of a person who lived 31,000 years ago bears hallmarks of the deliberate removal of their lower left leg — the earliest known surgery of its kind. Discovered in a limestone cave in Borneo, the remains pre-date the previous oldest known case of limb amputation by more than 20,000 years. The person appears to have survived for at least six to nine years after the surgery.

Antibiotics given in infancy may have adverse impact on adult gut health

Preterm and low birth-weight babies are routinely given antibiotics to prevent⁠—not just treat⁠—infections, which they have a high risk of developing. A new study published in The Journal of Physiology has found that early life exposure to antibiotics in neonatal mice has long-lasting effects on their microbiota, enteric nervous system, and gut function. This could mean that babies given antibiotics may grow up to experience gastrointestinal issues.

This discovery by a research team  is the first to show that antibiotics given to neonatal mice yields these long-lasting effects that result in disturbed gastrointestinal function, including the speed of motility through the gut and diarrhea-like symptoms in adulthood.

The research team gave mice an oral dose of vancomycin every day for the first ten days of their lives. They were then reared normally until they were young adults, and their gut tissue was looked at to measure its structure, function, microbiota, and nervous system. The investigators found that changes were also dependent on the sex of the mice. The females had long whole gut transit and the males had lower fecal weight than the control group. Both males and females had greater fecal water content, which is a diarrhea-like symptom.

Neonatal antibiotics have long-term sex-dependent effects on the enteric nervous system, The Journal of Physiology (2022). DOI: 10.1113/JP282939

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Gut microbes may lead to therapies for mental illness, study reports

The role of the microbiome in intestinal and systemic health has garnered close attention among researchers for many years. Now evidence is mounting that this collection of microorganisms in the human gut can also impact a person's neurological and emotional health, according to a recent perspective article in Science by a UT Southwestern researcher.

Scientists are unraveling the relationship of the microbiome to the brain, including connections to diseases such as depression and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). 

Jane A. Foster, Modulating brain function with microbiota, Science (2022). DOI: 10.1126/science.abo4220

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A plastic film that can kill viruses using room lights

Researchers  have developed a plastic film that can kill viruses that land on its surface with room light. The self-sterilizing film is the first of its kind—it is low cost to produce, can be readily scaled and could be used for disposable aprons, tablecloths, and curtains in hospitals. It is coated with a thin layer of particles that absorb UV light and produce reactive oxygen species—ROS. These kill viruses, including SARS-CoV-2.

The technology used to create the film also ensures it is degradable—unlike the current disposable plastic films it would replace, which is much more environmentally friendly. The breakthrough could lead to a significant reduction in the transmission of viruses in healthcare environments but also in other settings that uses plastic films—for example, food production factories.

Researchers tested the film for anti-viral activity using four different viruses—two strains of influenza A virus, a highly-stable picornavirus called EMCV and SARS-CoV-2—exposing it to either UVA radiation or with light from a cool white light fluorescent lamp.

They found that the film is effective at killing all of the viruses—even in a room lit with just white fluorescent tubes.

Ri Han et al, Flexible, disposable photocatalytic plastic films for the destruction of viruses, Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology B: Biology (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.jphotobiol.2022.112551

Scientists discover how air pollution triggers lung cancer

Scientists  have identified the mechanism through which air pollution triggers lung cancer in non-smokers, a discovery one expert hailed as "an important step for science—and for society".

The research illustrated the health risk posed by the tiny particles produced by burning fossil fuels, sparking fresh calls for more urgent action to combat climate change. It could also pave the way for a new field of cancer prevention.

Scientists presented the research, which has not yet been published in a peer-reviewed journal, at the European Society for Medical Oncology's annual conference in Paris.

Air pollution has long been thought to be linked to a higher risk of lung cancer in people who have never smoked.

Researchers found that exposure to tiny PM2.5 pollution particles—which are less than 2.5 microns across—led to an increased risk of mutations in the EGFR gene. In laboratory studies on mice, they  showed that the particles caused changes in the EGFR gene as well as in the KRAS gene, both of which have been linked to lung cancer.

Finally, they analyzed nearly 250 samples of human lung tissue never exposed to carcinogens from smoking or heavy pollution.

Even though the lungs were healthy, they found DNA mutations in 18 percent of EGFR genes and 33 percent of KRAS genes.

They're just sitting there and the mutations seem to increase with age. On their own, they probably are insufficient to drive cancer.

But when a cell is exposed to pollution it can trigger a "wound-healing response" that causes inflammation. And if that cell harbours a mutation, it will then form a cancer.

In another experiment on mice, the researchers showed that an antibody could block the mediator—called interleukin 1 beta—which sparks the inflammation, stopping cancer from getting started in the first place.

LBA1 'Mechanism of action and an actionable inflammatory axis for air pollution induced non-small cell lung cancer in never smokers' will be presented by Charles Swanton during Presidential Symposium 1 on Saturday, 10 September, 16:30 to 18:00 CEST in Paris Auditorium. Annals of Oncology, Volume 33 Supplement 7, September 2022. www.esmo.org/meetings/esmo-congress-2022

Study finds antibiotics may make melanoma worse, by depleting the gut microbiome

The use of broad-spectrum antibiotics in mice with malignant melanoma, an aggressive form of skin cancer, accelerated their metastatic bone growth, likely because the drugs depleted the mice's intestinal flora and weakened their immune response, according to a new study by researchers.

The findings underscore the importance of the gut microbiome in overall health and suggest that doctors should carefully weigh the gastrointestinal effects when they use antibiotic therapies while treating cancer or other diseases.

Any disease or therapy that harms the gut microbiome could have a negative impact on our health.

This new study  found that the gut microbiome restrains the progression of melanoma bone lesions in mice by promoting the expansion of intestinal natural-killer (NK) cells and T helper (Th1) cells and enhancing their migration to the tumour site. Using oral antibiotics depleted the gut microbiome and reduced the population of intestinal NK cells and Th1 cells. This made the mice more vulnerable for tumour growth. They had a higher melanoma tumor burden than control mice whose gut microbiomes were intact.

https://www.jci.org/articles/view/157340

Research says  the best way to soothe a crying infant is by carrying them on a 5-minute walk

Most parents have experienced frustration when their infants cry excessively and refuse to sleep. Scientists have found that the best strategy to calm them down is by holding and walking with them for five minutes. This evidence-based soothing strategy is presented in a paper published September 13 in the journal Current Biology.

Many parents suffer from babies' nighttime crying. That's such a big issue, especially for inexperienced parents, that can lead to parental stress and even to infant maltreatment in a small number of cases.

researchers compared 21 infants' responses while under four conditions: being held by their walking mothers, held by their sitting mothers, lying in a still crib, or lying in a rocking cot. The team found that when the mother walked while carrying the baby, the crying infants calmed down and their heart rates slowed within 30 seconds. A similar calming effect occurred when the infants were placed in a rocking cot, but not when the mother held the baby while sitting or placed the baby in a still crib.

This suggests that holding a baby alone might be insufficient in soothing crying infants, contradicting the traditional assumption that maternal holding reduces infant distress. At the same time, movement has calming effects, likely activating a baby's transport response. The effect was more evident when the holding and walking motions continued for five minutes. All crying babies in the study stopped crying, and nearly half of them fell asleep.

But when the mothers tried to put their sleepy babies to bed, more than one-third of the participants became alert again within 20 seconds. The team found that all babies produced physiological responses, including changes in heart rate, that can wake them up the second their bodies detach from their mothers. However, if the infants were asleep for a longer period before being laid down, they were less likely to awaken during the process, the researchers found.

They recommend that parents hold crying infants and walk with them for five minutes, followed by sitting and holding infants for another five to eight minutes before putting them to bed. The protocol, unlike other popular sleep training approaches such as letting infants cry until they fall asleep themselves, aims to provide an immediate solution for infant crying. 

You might ask, don't we already know this? 

But we need science to understand a baby's behaviours, because they're much more complex and diverse than we thought. What you think you know is different from what a scientific study reveals.

Kumi O. Kuroda, A method to soothe and promote sleep in crying infants utilizing the Transport Response, Current Biology (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2022.08.041. www.cell.com/current-biology/f … 0960-9822(22)01363-X

The blood stem cell research that could change medicine of the future

Biomedical engineers and medical researchers have independently made discoveries about embryonic blood stem cell creation that could one day eliminate the need for blood stem cell donors.

The achievements are part of a move in regenerative medicine towards the use of "induced pluripotent stem cells" to treat disease, where stem cells are reverse engineered from adult tissue cells rather than using live human or animal embryos.

But while we have known about induced pluripotent stem cells since 2006, scientists still have plenty to learn about how cell differentiation in the human body can be mimicked artificially and safely in the lab for the purposes of delivering targeted medical treatment.

Two studies have emerged  in this area that shine new light on not only how the precursors to blood stem cells occur in animals and humans, but how they may be induced artificially.

In a study published today in Cell Reports, researchers demonstrated how a simulation of an embryo's beating heart using a microfluidic device in the lab led to the development of human blood stem cell "precursors," which are stem cells on the verge of becoming blood stem cells.

 They made a device mimicking the heart beating and the blood circulation and an orbital shaking system which causes shear stress—or friction—of the blood cells as they move through the device or around in a dish."

These systems promoted the development of precursor blood stem cells which can differentiate into various blood components—white blood cells, red blood cells, platelets and others. They were excited to see this same process—known as hematopoiesis—replicated in the device.

And in an article published in Nature Cell Biology in July, another group of researchers revealed the identity of cells in mice embryos responsible for blood stem cell creation. They researchers looked for the mechanism that is used naturally in mammals to make blood stem cells from the cells that line blood vessels, known as endothelial cells. They  identified the cells in the embryo that can convert both embryonic and adult endothelial cells into blood cells in the process.

Both studies are significant steps towards an understanding of how, when, where and which cells are involved in the creation of blood stem cells. In the future, this knowledge could be used to help cancer patients, among others, who have undergone high doses of radio- and chemotherapy, to replenish their depleted blood stem cells.

 Robert E. Nordon, Mimicry of embryonic circulation enhances the hoxa hemogenic niche and human blood development, Cell Reports (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2022.111339. www.cell.com/cell-reports/full … 2211-1247(22)01167-6

Vashe Chandrakanthan et al, Mesoderm-derived PDGFRA+ cells regulate the emergence of hematopoietic stem cells in the dorsal aorta, Nature Cell Biology (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41556-022-00955-3

New phases of water detected

Scientists  have discovered that water in a one-molecule layer acts like neither a liquid nor a solid, and that it becomes highly conductive at high pressures.

Much is known about how "bulk water" behaves: it expands when it freezes, and it has a high boiling point. But when water is compressed to the nanoscale, its properties change dramatically.

By developing a new way to predict this unusual behavior with unprecedented accuracy, the researchers have detected several new phases of water at the molecular level.

Water trapped between membranes or in tiny nanoscale cavities is common—it can be found in everything from membranes in our bodies to geological formations. But this nanoconfined water behaves very differently from the water we drink.

Until now, the challenges of experimentally characterizing the phases of water on the nanoscale have prevented a full understanding of its behaviour. But in a paper published in the journal Nature, researchers describe how they have used advances in computational approaches to predict the phase diagram of a one-molecule thick layer of water with unprecedented accuracy.

The researchers found that water which is confined into a one-molecule thick layer goes through several phases, including a "hexatic" phase and a "superionic" phase. In the hexatic phase, the water acts as neither a solid nor a liquid, but something in between. In the superionic phase, which occurs at higher pressures, the water becomes highly conductive, propelling protons quickly through ice in a way resembling the flow of electrons in a conductor.

The researchers found that the one-molecule thick layer of water within the nanochannel showed rich and diverse phase behavior. Their approach predicts several phases which include the hexatic phase—an intermediate between a solid and a liquid—and also a superionic phase, in which the water has a high electrical conductivity. The hexatic phase is neither a solid nor a liquid, but an intermediate, which agrees with previous theories about two-dimensional materials.

Angelos Michaelides, The first-principles phase diagram of monolayer nanoconfined water, Nature (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-05036-x. www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-05036-x

Electric vehicles are now powering homes when utilities go down

Soon you'll be able to say goodbye to gas-powered generators and storage batteries if you want to power your home during a utility outage.

Your backup power source will be sitting in your driveway or garage, ready to keep your lights on, your fridge cold and your air conditioner blowing. Best of all, your power source will run silently, emit no dangerous exhaust, and be capable of safely running inside or outside during hurricanes and for at least a couple days afterward while your utility works to restore power. Electric vehicles with bidirectional charging capabilities are starting to hit the market as the auto industry transitions away from internal combustion engines. Just a handful of vehicles with so-called Vehicle-to-Home (V2H) capabilities are available now—and require costly aftermarket gear—but industry analysts expect their numbers to increase as more EVs come to market.

Bidirectional charging, as the term implies, is the capability to both receive and send power, and its availability in electric vehicles could provide a valuable layer of security to homeowners as severe weather events become more frequent and destructive.

https://techxplore.com/news/2022-09-storage-batteries-gas-electric-...

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How this jellyfish can live forever

The tiny translucent jellyfish Turritopsis dohrnii can revert to an immature polyp state and revive itself again and again — effectively making it immortal. Researchers have now sequenced the jellyfish’s genome and studied the genes involved in its rejuvenation. They found that genes associated with DNA storage were highly expressed in adult jellyfish, but reduced as the animals transformed into polyps. However, genes linked to pluripotency, or the ability of cells to turn into any cell type, were increasingly expressed as the jellyfish reverted.

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Crossref citations come out into the open

The reference lists in Crossref are now free to read and reuse. The Crossref database registers DOIs, or digital object identifiers, for many of the world’s academic publications. Open-science advocates have for years campaigned to make papers’ citation data accessible under liberal copyright licen... to identify research trends and areas of research that need funding, and to spot when scientists are manipulating citation counts.

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Some microbes lie in wait until their hosts unknowingly give them t...

After more than two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, you might picture a virus as a nasty spiked ball—a mindless killer that gets into a cell and hijacks its machinery to create a gazillion copies of itself before bursting out. For many viruses, including the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, the "mindless killer" epithet is essentially true.

Drug turns cancer gene into 'eat me' flag for immune system

Tumor cells are notoriously good at evading the human immune system; they put up physical walls, wear disguises and handcuff the immune system with molecular tricks. Now,  researchers have developed a drug that overcomes some of these barriers, marking cancer cells for destruction by the immune system. The new therapy, described in Cancer Cell, pulls a mutated version of the protein KRAS to the surface of cancer cells, where the drug-KRAS complex acts as an "eat me" flag. Then, an immunotherapy can coax the immune system to effectively eliminate all cells bearing this flag.

Ziyang Zhang, Peter J. Rohweder, Chayanid Ongpipattanakul, Koli Basu, Markus-Frederik Bohn, Eli J. Dugan, Veronica Steri, Byron Hann, Kevan M. Shokat, Charles S. Craik. A covalent inhibitor of K-Ras(G12C) induces MHC class I presentation of haptenated peptide neoepitopes targetable by immunotherapy. Cancer Cell, 2022; 40 (9): 1060 DOI: 10.1016/j.ccell.2022.07.005

Conversion to LED lighting brings new kind of light pollution

A team of researchers  has found that the slow conversion of outdoor lighting to LEDs across much of Europe has led to the development of a new kind of light pollution. In their paper published in the journal Science Advances, the group describes their study of photographs taken from the International Space Station.

Prior research has shown that artificial light in natural environments adversely impacts wildlife and humans. Studies have shown that both animals and humans can experience disruptions to sleep patterns, for example. And many animals can become confused by the light at night, leading to survival problems. In this new effort, the researchers noted that officials in many countries have been promoting the use of LED lighting over traditional sodium lighting along roads and in parking areas due to the reduced energy demands of LEDs. To learn more about the impact of this change, the researchers obtained photographs taken by astronauts aboard the ISS over the years 2012 to 2013 and from 2014 to 2020. The photographs provide a much better range of light wavelengths than satellite images. The researchers were able to see which parts of Europe have converted to LED lighting and to what degree. They found that the U.K., Italy and Ireland, for example, have experienced significant changes, while other countries such as Austria, Germany and Belgium have experienced little change. They found that the LEDs emitted light at different wavelengths than the sodium bulbs. Noticeably different was the increase in blue light emissions in those areas that have converted to LED lighting. Blue lighting, the researchers note, has been found to interfere with the production of melatonin in humans and other animals, which interferes with sleep patterns. The researchers suggest the increase of blue light in areas lit by LEDs could be having a negative impact on the environment and also the people who live and work in such places. They suggest officials take a closer look at the impact of LED lighting before pushing ahead with new projects.

Alejandro Sánchez de Miguel et al, Environmental risks from artificial nighttime lighting widespread and increasing across Europe, Science Advances (2022). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abl6891

New lactic acid bacteria create natural sweetness in yogurt

Researchers have developed a yogurt bacterium, which can cleave lactose in a cost-effective and sustainable manner. This makes it possible to create natural sweetness in yogurt with less added sugar.

Yogurt without added sugar is a relatively sour experience. Often fruit or berries are added to improve taste, and sugar or sweeteners are added to increase sweetness. However, consumers are increasingly demanding natural foods with less added sugar.

To meet this demand researchers have developed a new and natural way to cleave the milk sugar, which relies on safe lactic acid bacteria. The developed lactic acid bacteria create natural sweetness in the yogurt, thus reducing the need for added sugar.

Belay Tilahun Tadesse et al, Consolidated Bioprocessing in a Dairy Setting─Concurrent Yoghurt Fermentation and Lactose Hydrolysis without Using Lactase Enzymes, Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry (2022). DOI: 10.1021/acs.jafc.2c04191

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Yogurt is fermented milk, and milk naturally contains around 50 grams sugar (lactose) per liter. Milk sugar is characterized by its low sweetness, but by breaking down lactose with enzymes, more sweet sugars (glucose and galactose) are released. By breaking down 70% of the lactose in milk, the sweetness can be increased what corresponds to 20 grams per liter of regular sugar.

Commercially available lactase enzymes currently used for breaking down lactose in milk products, are made using microorganisms, which involves, a tedious and costly purification process. Furthermore, transportation from the manufacturer site to the dairy adds to the costs.

With the solution that the DTU researchers have developed, the lactic acid bacteria-based lactase can be grown and used directly at the dairy, and in the milk that ends up being yogurt. In this way the costs for purchasing the lactase and transportation are reduced,

Researchers develop painless tattoos that can be self-administered

 Instead of sitting in a tattoo chair for hours enduring painful punctures, imagine getting tattooed by a skin patch containing microscopic needles. Researchers have developed low-cost, painless, and bloodless tattoos that can be self-administered and have many applications, from medical alerts to tracking neutered animals to cosmetics.

Researchers have miniaturized the needle so that it's painless, but still effectively deposits tattoo ink in the skin.

Tattoos are used in medicine to cover up scars, guide repeated cancer radiation treatments, or restore nipples after breast surgery. Tattoos also can be used instead of bracelets as medical alerts to communicate serious medical conditions such as diabetes, epilepsy, or allergies.

Various cosmetic products using microneedles are already on the market—mostly for anti-aging—but developing microneedle technology for tattoos is new. 

Tattoos typically use large needles to puncture repeatedly into the skin to get a good image, a time-consuming and painful process. The  Tech team has developed microneedles that are smaller than a grain of sand and are made of tattoo ink encased in a dissolvable matrix.
Because the microneedles are made of tattoo ink, they deposit the ink in the skin very efficiently.

Although most microneedle patches for pharmaceuticals or cosmetics have dozens or hundreds of microneedles arranged in a square or circle, microneedle patch tattoos imprint a design that can include letters, numbers, symbols, and images. By arranging the microneedles in a specific pattern, each microneedle acts like a pixel to create a tattoo image in any shape or pattern.

The researchers start with a mold containing microneedles in a pattern that forms an image. They fill the microneedles in the mold with tattoo ink and add a patch backing for convenient handling. The resulting patch is then applied to the skin for a few minutes, during which time the microneedles dissolve and release the tattoo ink. Tattoo inks of various colors can be incorporated into the microneedles, including black-light ink that can only be seen when illuminated with ultraviolet light.

Song Li, Youngeun Kim, Jeong Woo Lee, Mark R. Prausnitz. Microneedle patch tattoos. iScience, 2022; 105014 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.105014

Constipated scorpions, love at first sight inspire Ig Nobels

The sex lives of constipated scorpions, cute ducklings with an innate sense of physics, and a life-size rubber moose may not appear to have much in common, but they all inspired the winners of this year's Ig Nobels, the prize for comical scientific achievement.

The winners, honored in 10 categories, also included scientists who found that when people on a blind date are attracted to each other, their heart rates synchronize, and researchers who looked at why legal documents can be so utterly baffling, even to lawyers themselves.

You feel science is fun if you read things like these: 

Scorpions can detach a body part to escape a predator—a process called autotomy. But when they lose their tails, they also lose the last portion of the digestive tract, which leads to constipation—and, eventually, death, scientists wrote in the journal "Integrated Zoology."

The long-term decrease in the locomotor performance of autotomized males may impair mate searching.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/09/maya-ritual-enemas-and-cons...

Warmer Earth could see smaller butterflies that struggle to fly, affecting food systems

Physicist makes new discovery about telomeres

With the aid of physics and a minuscule magnet, researchers have discovered a new structure of telomeric DNA. Telomeres are sometimes seen as the key to living longer. They protect genes from damage but get a bit shorter each time a cell divides. If they become too short, the cell dies. The new discovery will help us understand aging and disease.
In every cell of our bodies are chromosomes that carry genes that determine our characteristics (what we look like, for instance). At the ends of these chromosomes are telomeres, which protect the chromosomes from damage. They're a bit like aglets, the plastic tips at the end of a shoelace.

The DNA between the telomeres is two meters long, so it has to be folded to fit in a cell. This is achieved by wrapping the DNA is wrapped around packages of proteins; together, the DNA and proteins are called a nucleosome. These are arranged into something similar to a string of beads, with a nucleosome, a piece of free (or unbound) DNA, a nucleosome and so on.

This string of beads then folds up even more. How it does so depends on the length of the DNA between the nucleosomes, the beads on the string. Two structures that occur after folding were already known. In one of them, two adjacent beads stick together and free DNA hangs in between. If the piece of DNA between the beads is shorter, the adjacent beads do not manage to stick together. Then two stacks form alongside each other.

In their study physicists found another telomere structure. Here the nucleosomes are much closer together, so there is no longer any free DNA between the beads. This ultimately creates one big helix, or spiral, of DNA.

The new structure was discovered with a combination of electron microscopy and molecular force spectroscopy.  Here one end of the DNA is attached to a glass slide and a tiny magnetic ball is stuck to the other. A set of strong magnets above this ball then pull the string of pearls apart. By measuring the amount of force needed to pull the beads apart one by one, you find out more about how the string is folded. The researchers  then used an electron microscope to get a better picture of the structure.

 If we know the structure of the molecules, this will give us more insight into how genes are switched on and off and how enzymes in cells deal with telomeres: how they repair and copy DNA, for example. The discovery of the new telomeric structure will improve our understanding of the building blocks in the body. And that in turn will ultimately help us study aging and diseases such as cancer and develop drugs to fight them.

Aghil Soman et al, Columnar structure of human telomeric chromatin, Nature (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-05236-5

Researchers transplanted the RNA editing machine of moss into human cells and it worked!

If everything is to run smoothly in living cells, the genetic information must be correct. But unfortunately, errors in the DNA accumulate over time due to mutations. Land plants have developed a peculiar correction mode: They do not directly improve the errors in the genome, but rather elaborately in each individual transcript. Researchers  have transplanted this correction machinery from the moss Physcomitrium patens into human cells. Surprisingly, the corrector started working there too, but according to its own rules. The results have now been published in the journal Nucleic Acids Research.

In living cells, there is a lot of traffic, similar to a large construction site. In land plants, blueprints in the form of DNA are stored not only in the cell nucleus, but also in the cell's power plants (mitochondria) and the photosynthesis units (chloroplasts). These blueprints contain building instructions for proteins that enable metabolic processes. But how is the blueprint information passed on in mitochondria and chloroplasts? This is done by creating transcripts (RNA) of the desired parts of the blueprint. This information is then used to produce the required proteins.

However, this process does not run entirely smoothly. Over time, mutations cause within the DNA accumulating errors that must be corrected in order to obtain perfectly functioning proteins. Otherwise, the energy supply in plants would collapse. At first glance, the correction strategy seems rather bureaucratic: Instead of improving the slip-ups directly in the blueprint—the DNA—they are cleaned up in each of the many transcripts by so-called RNA editing processes.

Compared to letterpress printing, it would be like correcting each individual book by hand, rather than improving the printing plates. Why living cells make this effort we do not know yet. Presumably, these mutations increased as plants spread from water to land during evolution.

Now, researchers have gone one step further: They transferred the RNA editing machinery from the moss into standard human cell lines, including kidney and cancer cells. The results showed that the land plant correction mechanism also works in human cells   which was previously unknown.

But that's not all: the RNA editing machines PPR56 and PPR65, which only act in mitochondria in the moss, also introduce nucleotide changes in RNA transcripts of the cell nucleus in human cells.

Surprisingly for the research team, PPR56 makes changes at more than 900 points of attack in human cell targets. In the moss, on the other hand, this RNA corrector is only responsible for two correction sites.

Elena Lesch et al, Plant mitochondrial RNA editing factors can perform targeted C-to-U editing of nuclear transcripts in human cells, Nucleic Acids Research (2022). DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkac752

Scientists Created 'Living' Synthetic Cells by Harvesting Bacteria For Parts

Researchers  have taken a major step forward in synthetic biology by designing a system that performs several key functions of a living cell, including generating energy and expressing genes.

Their artificially constructed cell even transformed from a sphere shape to a more natural amoeba-like shape over the first 48 hours of 'life', indicating that the proto-cytoskeletal filaments were working.

Building something that comes close to what we might think of as alive is no walk in the park, not least thanks to the fact even the simplest of organisms rely on countless biochemical operations involving mind-bendingly complex machinery to grow and replicate.

Scientists have previously focused on getting artificial cells to perform a single function, such as gene expression, enzyme catalysis, or ribozyme activity.

If scientists crack the secret to custom building and programming artificial cells capable of mimicking life more closely, it could create a wealth of possibilities in everything from manufacturing to medicine.

While some engineering efforts focus on redesigning the blueprints themselves, others are investigating ways to reduce existing cells to scraps that can then be reconstructed into something relatively novel.

To perform this latest bottom-up bioengineering feat, researchers used two bacterial colonies – Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa – for parts.

These two bacteria were mixed with empty microdroplets in a viscous liquid. One population was captured inside the droplets and the other was trapped at the droplet surface.

The scientists then burst open the bacteria membranes by bathing the colonies in lysozyme (an enzyme) and melittin (a polypeptide which comes from honeybee venom).

The bacteria spilled their contents, which were captured by the droplets to create membrane-coated protocells.

The scientists then demonstrated that the cells were capable of complex processing, such as the production of the energy storage molecule ATP through glycolysis, and the transcription and translation of genes.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-05223-w

'Night owls' could have greater risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease than those who are 'early birds'

Are you an early bird or a night owl? Our activity patterns and sleep cycles could influence our risk of diseases, such as type 2 diabetes and heart disease. New research published in Experimental Physiology has found that wake/sleep cycles cause metabolic differences and alter our body's preference for energy sources. The researchers found that those who stay up later have a reduced ability to use fat for energy, meaning fats may build up in the body and increase risk for type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

The metabolic differences relate to how well each group can use insulin to promote glucose uptake by the cells for storage and energy use. People who are "early birds" (individuals who prefer to be active in the morning) rely more on fat as an energy source and are more active during the day with higher levels of aerobic fitness than "night owls" (people who prefer to be active later in the day and night). On the other hand, night owls use less fat for energy at rest and during exercise.

Researchers found that early birds use more fat for energy at both rest and during exercise than night owls. Early birds were also more insulin-sensitive. Night owls, on the other hand, are insulin resistant, meaning their bodies require more insulin to lower blood glucose levels, and their bodies favored carbohydrates as an energy source over fats. This group's impaired ability to respond to insulin to promote fuel use can be harmful as it indicates a greater risk of type2diabetes and/or heart disease. The cause for this shift in metabolic preference between early birds and night owls is yet unknown and needs further investigation.

Researchers also found that early birds are more physically active and have higher fitness levels than night owls who are more sedentary throughout the day.

 Early Chronotype with Metabolic Syndrome favors Resting and Exercise Fat Oxidation in Relation to Insulin-stimulated Non-Oxidative Glucose Disposal, Experimental Physiology (2022). DOI: 10.1113/EP090613

Plastic degradation in the ocean contributes to its acidification

A new study led by the Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM-CSIC) in Barcelona has revealed that plastic degradation contributes to ocean acidification via the release of dissolved organic carbon compounds from both the plastic itself and its additives.

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Here's the real reason to turn on airplane mode when you fly

We all know the routine by heart: "Please ensure your seats are in the upright position, tray tables stowed, window shades are up, laptops are stored in the overhead bins and electronic devices are set to flight mode."

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Immune System for Your Mind Against Disinformation 

Scientists unveil new system for naming majority of the world's microorganisms

What's in a name? For microorganisms, apparently a lot.

Prokaryotes are single-celled microorganisms—bacteria are an example—that are abundant the world over. They exist in the oceans, in soils, in extreme environments like hot springs, and even alongside and inside other organisms including humans. In short, they're everywhere, and scientists worldwide are working to both categorize and communicate about them. But here's the rub: Most don't have a name. Less than 0.2% of known prokaryotes have been formally named because current regulations—described in the International Code of Nomenclature of Prokaryotes (ICNP)—require new species to be grown in a lab and freely distributed as pure and viable cultures in collections. Essentially, to name it you have to have multiple physical specimens to prove it.

In an article published Sept. 19 in the journal Nature Microbiology, a team of scientists present a new system, the SeqCode, and a corresponding registration portal that could help microbiologists effectively categorize and communicate about the massive number of identified yet uncultivated prokaryotes.

Nearly 850 scientists representing multiple disciplines from more than 40 countries participated in a series of NSF-funded online workshops in 2021 to develop the new SeqCode, which uses genome sequence data for both cultivated and uncultivated prokaryotes as the basis for naming them.

Brian P. Hedlund et al, SeqCode: a nomenclatural code for prokaryotes described from sequence data, Nature Microbiology (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41564-022-01214-9

Learn more about the SeqCode at https://seqco.de/

The SeqCode , the scientists think, serve the community by promoting high genome quality standards, good naming practice, and a well-ordered database.

Chemical cocktail in skin summons disease-spreading mosquitoes

Mosquitoes that spread Zika, dengue and yellow fever are guided toward their victims by a scent from human skin. The exact composition of that scent has not been identified until now.

A research team discovered that the combination of carbon dioxide plus two chemicals, 2-ketoglutaric and lactic acids, elicits a scent that causes a mosquito to locate and land on its victim. This chemical cocktail also encourages probing, the use of piercing mouthparts to find blood. This chemical mixture appears to specifically attract female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, vectors of Zika as well as chikungunya, dengue, and yellow fever viruses. This mosquito originated in Africa, but has spread to tropical and subtropical regions worldwide, including the U.S. This new research finding, and how the team discovered it, is detailed in the journal Scientific Reports. Though others have identified compounds that attract mosquitoes, many of them don't elicit a strong, rapid effect. This one does.

Mosquitoes use a variety of cues to locate their victims, including carbon dioxide, sight, temperature, and humidity. However, recent research shows skin odors are even more important for pinpointing a biting site.

Scientific Reports (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-19254-w

A New Treatment Shown to Have a 'Dramatic' Effect on Kids With Eczema

Eczema (or atopic dermatitis) affects millions of people, particularly children under the age of six.

The chronic inflammatory skin disorder causes the skin to go red and dry and to start oozing and itching, making life very uncomfortable.

There's currently no cure for the condition, just ways of managing it – but an existing drug is incredibly effective at reducing the signs and symptoms of eczema in kids under six with moderate to severe cases of the disorder. It's the first time a complex biologic drug like this has been tested on this age group. The drug in question is dupilumab. In a new study, 162 North American and European kids between the ages of 6 months and 6 years with moderate-to-severe eczema were given dupilumab or a placebo across the course of 16 weeks. More than half of the kids given the drug showed a 75 percent reduction in symptom severity. Itchiness was significantly reduced, and the kids could sleep much better.

Dupilumab targets an important immune inflammation pathway in allergies and is already used to treat eczema in older children and adults, as well as asthma, nasal polyps, and other allergy-mediated problems.

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(22)01539-2/fulltext

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Charging cars at home at night is not the way to go: study 

The vast majority of electric vehicle owners charge their cars at home in the evening or overnight. We're doing it wrong, according to a new  study.

This  stresses any region's electric grid and this will become a tremendous problem by 2035 from growing EV ownership. In a little over a decade, researchers found, rapid EV growth alone could increase peak electricity demand by up to 25 percent, assuming a continued dominance of residential, nighttime charging.

To limit the high costs of all that new capacity for generating and storing electricity, the researchers say, drivers should move to daytime charging at work or public charging stations, which would also reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This finding has policy and investment implications for the region and its utilities.

 Siobhan Powell, Charging infrastructure access and operation to reduce the grid impacts of deep electric vehicle adoption, Nature Energy (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41560-022-01105-7. www.nature.com/articles/s41560-022-01105-7

More than one-tenth of the world's terrestrial genetic diversity may already be lost, study says

Climate change and habitat destruction may have already caused the loss of more than one-tenth of the world's terrestrial genetic diversity, according to new research published in Science. This means that it may already be too late to meet the United Nations' proposed target, announced last year, of protecting 90 percent of genetic diversity for every species by 2030, and that we have to act fast to prevent further losses.

Several hundred species of animals and plants have gone extinct in the industrialized age and human activity has impacted or shrunk half of Earth's ecosystems, affecting millions of species. The partial loss of geographic range diminishes population size and can geographically prevent populations of the same species from interacting with each other. This has serious implications for an animal or plant's genetic richness and their ability to meet the coming challenges of climate change.

When you take away or fundamentally alter swaths of a species' habitat, you restrict the genetic richness available to help those plants and animals adapt to shifting conditions. Until recently, this important component has been overlooked when setting goals for preserving biodiversity, but without a diverse pool of natural genetic mutations on which to draw, species will be limited in their ability to survive alterations to their geographic range.

In popular culture, mutations convey super powers that defy the laws of physics. But in reality, mutations represent small, random natural variations in the genetic code that could positively or negatively affect an individual organism's ability to survive and reproduce, passing down the positive traits down to future generations.

As a result, the greater the pool of mutations upon which a species is able to draw, the greater the chances of stumbling upon that lucky blend that will help a species thrive despite the pressures created by habitat loss, as well as shifting temperature and precipitation patterns.

Moises Exposito-Alonso, Genetic diversity loss in the Anthropocene, Science (2022). DOI: 10.1126/science.abn5642. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abn5642

Discovery explains cancer chemotherapy resistance, offers solution

Researchers have uncovered a novel pathway that explains how cancer cells become resistant to chemotherapies, which in turn offers a potential solution for preventing chemo-resistance.

NASA gears up to deflect asteroid, in key test of planetary defense

NASA on Monday will attempt a feat humanity has never before accomplished: deliberately smacking a spacecraft into an asteroid to slightly deflect its orbit, in a key test of our ability to stop cosmic objects from devastating life on Earth.

The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spaceship launched from California last November and is fast approaching its target, which it will strike at roughly 14,000 miles per hour (23,000 kph).

To be sure, neither the asteroid moonlet Dimorphos, nor the big brother it orbits, called Didymos, pose any threat as the pair loop the Sun, passing some seven million miles from Earth at nearest approach.

But the experiment is one NASA has deemed important to carry out before an actual need is discovered.

If all goes to plan, impact between the car-sized spacecraft, and the 530-foot (160 meters, or two Statues of Liberty) asteroid should take place on September 26 

By striking Dimorphos head on, NASA hopes to push it into a smaller orbit, shaving ten minutes off the time it takes to encircle Didymos, which is currently 11 hours and 55 minutes—a change that will be detected by ground telescopes in the days that follow.

The proof-of-concept experiment will make a reality what has before only been attempted in science fiction

Graphic on NASA's DART mission to crash a small spacecraft into a mini-asteroid to change its trajectory as a test for any potentially dangerous asteroids in the future.

Scientists use modified silk proteins to create new nonstick surfaces

Researchers at Tufts University have developed a method to make silk-based materials that refuse to stick to water, or almost anything else containing water for that matter. In fact, the modified silk, which can be molded into forms like plastic, or coated onto surfaces as a film, has non-stick properties that surpass those of nonstick surfaces typically used on cookware, and it could see applications that extend into a wide range of consumer products, as well as medicine.

Disarming the immune system's lethal lung response

Neutrophils, the most abundant type of white blood cell, are the body's first line of defense against infection. Foreign pathogens can stress the body and activate neutrophils. When activated, neutrophils employ various weapons to protect the body. But if overactivated, these weapons can damage the body's own tissues. Lung tissue is saturated with blood vessels, making them very susceptible to neutrophil attacks. If severe enough, acute lung injuries can lead to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), the leading cause of death due to COVID-19.

Researchers have found a drug candidate that can prevent lethal lung inflammation in mice by inhibiting a protein called PTP1B. Their discovery may help develop better treatments for severe inflammatory conditions like sepsis and COVID-19.

They investigated whether using a PTP1B inhibitor drug candidate could dampen the lethal consequences of overactive neutrophils in mice. They found that pretreating mice with the PTP1B inhibitor reduced lung tissue damage. When untreated, less than half of the mice survived acute lung injuries and ARDS. But when pretreated, they all survived.

The researchers exploited a natural process, called neutrophil aging, that the body uses to control the immune cell's lifespan. As they age, neutrophils become less dangerous. They discovered PTP1B inhibition speeds up neutrophil aging. An aged neutrophil is like a soldier without a weapon. So regardless of how many neutrophils flood an area, they won't be able to do serious damage.

Dongyan Song et al, PTP1B inhibitors protect against acute lung injury and regulate CXCR4 signaling in neutrophils, JCI Insight (2022). DOI: 10.1172/jci.insight.158199

New study shows transmission of epigenetic memory across multiple generations

Without altering the genetic code in the DNA, epigenetic modifications can change how genes are expressed, affecting an organism's health and development. The once radical idea that such changes in gene expression can be inherited now has a growing body of evidence behind it, but the mechanisms involved remain poorly understood.

A new study by researchers  shows how a common type of epigenetic modification can be transmitted via sperm not only from parents to offspring, but to the next generation ("grandoffspring") as well. This is called "transgenerational epigenetic inheritance," and it may explain how a person's health and development could be influenced by the experiences of his or her parents and grandparents.

The study, published the week of September 26 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), focused on a particular modification of a histone protein that changes the way DNA is packaged in the chromosomes. This widely studied epigenetic mark (called H3K27me3) is known to turn off or "repress" the affected genes and is found in all multicellular animals—from humans to the nematode worm C. elegans used in this study.

These results establish a cause-and-effect relationship between sperm-transmitted histone marks and gene expression and development in offspring and grandoffspring.

Sperm-inherited H3K27me3 epialleles are transmitted transgenerationally in cis, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2022). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2209471119

Researchers reconstruct the genome of the common ancestor of all mammals

Every modern mammal, from a platypus to a blue whale, is descended from a common ancestor that lived about 180 million years ago. We don't know a great deal about this animal, but the organization of its genome has now been computationally reconstructed by an international team of researchers. The work is published Sept. 30 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The researchers drew on high-quality genome sequences from 32 living species representing 23 of the 26 known orders of mammals. They included humans and chimps, wombats and rabbits, manatees, domestic cattle, rhinos, bats and pangolins. The analysis also included the chicken and Chinese alligator genomes as comparison groups. Some of these genomes are being produced as part of the Earth BioGenome Project and other large-scale biodiversity genome sequencing efforts. 

The reconstruction shows that the mammal ancestor had 19 autosomal chromosomes, which control the inheritance of an organism's characteristics outside of those controlled by sex-linked chromosomes (these are paired in most cells, making 38 in total), plus two sex chromosomes.

Scientists  identified 1,215 blocks of genes that consistently occur on the same chromosome in the same order across all 32 genomes. These building blocks of all mammal genomes contain genes that are critical to developing a normal embryo.

The researchers found nine whole chromosomes or chromosome fragments in the mammal ancestor, whose order of genes is the same in modern birds' chromosomes.

This remarkable finding shows the evolutionary stability of the order and orientation of genes on chromosomes over an extended evolutionary timeframe of more than 320 million years.

In contrast, regions between these conserved blocks contained more repetitive sequences and were more prone to breakages, rearrangements and sequence duplications, which are major drivers of genome evolution.

The researchers were able to follow the ancestral chromosomes forward in time from the common ancestor. They found that the rate of chromosome rearrangement differed between mammal lineages.

Joana Damas et al, Evolution of the ancestral mammalian karyotype and syntenic regions, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2022). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2209139119

Scientists develop novel technique to grow meat in the lab using magnetic field

Scientist  have found a novel way of growing cell-based meat by zapping animal cells with a magnet. This new technique simplifies the production process of cell-based meat by reducing reliance on animal products, and it is also greener, cleaner, safer and more cost-effective.

Cultured meat is an alternative to animal farming with advantages such as reducing carbon footprint and the risk of transmitting diseases in animals. However, the current method of producing cultured meat involves using other animal products, which largely defeats the purpose, or drugs to stimulate the growth of the meat.

To cultivate cell-based meat, animal cells are fed animal serum—usually fetal bovine serum (FBS), which is a mixture harvested from the blood of fetuses excised from pregnant cows slaughtered in the dairy or meat industries—to help them grow and proliferate. This is a critical, yet cruel and expensive, step in the current cell-based meat production process. Ironically, many of these molecules come from the muscles within the slaughtered animal, but scientists did not know how to stimulate their release in production scale bioreactors. Other methods to promote cell growth are using drugs or relying on genetic engineering.

The complex production process for cell-based meat increases cost, limits the manufacturing scale and undermines the commercial viability of cell-based meat.

To help address this challenge, a multidisciplinary research team  came up with an unconventional method of using magnetic pulses to stimulate the growth of cell-based meat.

Growing cell-based meat with the help of a magnet
The new technique uses a delicately tuned pulsed magnetic field developed by the team to culture myogenic stem cells, which are found in skeletal muscle and bone marrow tissue.

In response to a short 10-minute exposure to the magnetic fields, the cells release a myriad of molecules that have regenerative, metabolic, anti-inflammatory and immunity-boosting properties. These substances are part of what is known as the muscle 'secretome' (for secreted factors) and are necessary for the growth, survival and development of cells into tissues. We are very excited about the possibility that magnetically-stimulated secretome release may one day replace the need for FBS in the production of cultured meat.

The growth-inducing secretomes can be harvested in the lab safely and conveniently, and also at low cost. This way, the myogenic stem cells will act as a sustainable and green bioreactor to produce the nutrients-rich secretomes for growing cell-based meat at scale for consumption. The muscle knows how to produce what it needs to grow and develop—it simply needs a little bit of encouragement when it is outside its owner. This is what the magnetic fields can provide.

Applications in regenerative medicine
The harvested secretomes can also be used for regenerative medicine. The  team used the secreted proteins to treat unhealthy cells and found that they help to accelerate the recovery and growth of the unhealthy cells. Therefore, this method can potentially help to cure injured cells and speed up a patient's recovery.

Craig Jun Kit Wong et al, Brief exposure to directionally-specific pulsed electromagnetic fields stimulates extracellular vesicle release and is antagonized by streptomycin: A potential regenerative medicine and food industry paradigm, Biomaterials (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2022.121658

Tiny Robots Have Successfully Cleared Pneumonia From The Lungs of Mice

Scientists have been able to direct a swarm of microscopic swimming robots to clear out pneumonia microbes in the lungs of mice, raising hopes that a similar treatment could be developed to treat deadly bacterial pneumonia in humans.

The microbots are made from algae cells and covered with a layer of antibiotic nanoparticles. The algae provide movement through the lungs, which is key to the treatment being targeted and effective.

In experiments, the infections in the mice treated with the algae bots all cleared up, whereas the mice that weren't treated all died within three days.

The technology is still at a proof-of-concept stage, but the early signs are very promising. Based on this mouse data, researchers see that the microrobots could potentially improve antibiotic penetration to kill bacterial pathogens and save more patients' lives.

The nanoparticles on the algae cells are made of tiny polymer spheres coated with the membranes of neutrophils, a type of white blood cell. These membranes neutralize inflammatory molecules produced by bacteria and the body's own immune system, and both the nanoparticles and the algae degrade naturally.

Harmful inflammation is reduced, improving the fight against infection, and the swimming microbots are able to deliver their treatment right where it's needed – it's the precision that makes this approach work so well.

The researchers also established that the microbot treatment was more effective than an intravenous injection of antibiotics – in fact, the injection dose had to be 3,000 times higher than the one loaded on to the algae cells to achieve the same effect in the mice.

These results show how targeted drug delivery combined with active movement from the microalgae improves therapeutic efficacy.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41563-022-01360-9

Scientists create 'non-psychedelic' compound with same anti-depressant effect

While illegal for recreational use, psychedelic drugs are showing great promise as treatments for severe depression and anxiety, as well as alcohol addiction and other conditions. Some  scientists think the actual psychedelic trip—hallucinations and profound emotional experiences—is what leads to long-lasting therapeutic effects. Other scientists speculate that if the "trip" could be eliminated from such drugs, then only the therapeutic effects might remain. Researchers have taken a major step toward answering that question.

Research in animal models show it's possible to create a compound that hits the same exact target as psychedelic drugs  hit—the 5-HT2A serotonin receptors on the surface of specific neurons—but does not cause the same psychedelic effects when given to mice. The new compound triggers the same anti-depressant action that researchers have long observed in mice treated with SSRI drugs over the past two decades, with just two differences: the anti-depressant action of the new compound was immediate and long-lasting after just one dose.

Brian Shoichet, Bespoke library docking for 5-HT2A receptor agonists with anti-depressant activity, Nature (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-05258-z

Nanoparticles can improve stroke recovery by enhancing brain stimulation, study shows

In a recent study, researchers have reported that brain stimulation combined with a nose spray containing nanoparticles can improve recovery after ischemic stroke in an animal model.

The nasal spray is a non-invasive method for delivering magnetic nanoparticles into the brain that the study finds can increase the benefits of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). TMS is a method of non-invasive brain stimulation already used clinically or in clinical trials to treat neurological conditions like stroke, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, depression, and addiction.

Rats that were given combined nanoparticle and TMS treatment every 24 hours for 14 days after an ischemic stroke had better overall health, put on weight more quickly and had improved cognitive and motor functions compared to those treated with TMS alone. During TMS treatment, an electrical current runs through an electric coil placed outside the skull, producing a magnetic field that stimulates brain cells by inducing a further electrical current inside the brain. However, the stimulation is often not intense enough to penetrate far enough into the brain to reach the areas needing treatment. In this new study, published in Materials Today Chemistry, the researchers show that magnetic nanoparticles, administered intranasally, can make neurons more responsive and amplify the magnetic signal from TMS to reach deeper brain tissue, aiding recovery. The finding offers new opportunities for treating neurological disorders.

Researchers overcame the blood brain barrier by guiding the magnetic nanoparticles closer to the correct area with a large magnet near the head.

 Y. Hong et al, Enhancing non-invasive brain stimulation with non-invasively delivered nanoparticles for improving stroke recovery, Materials Today Chemistry (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.mtchem.2022.101104

A robotic pill that clears mucus from the gut to deliver meds

RoboCap administers medicine to the intestines and makes its way out of the body

The multivitamin-sized device houses a motor and a cargo hold for drugs, including ones that are typically given via injections or intravenously, such as insulin and some antibiotics. If people could take such drugs orally, they could potentially avoid daily shots or a hospital stay, which would be “a huge game changer". 

Drugs that enter the body via the mouth face a tough journey. They encounter churning stomach acid, raging digestive enzymes and sticky slicks of mucus in the gut. Intestinal mucus “sort of acts like Jell-O". The goo can trap drug particles, preventing them from entering the bloodstream.

The new device, dubbed RoboCap, whisks away this problem. The pill uses surface grooves, studs and torpedo-inspired fins to scrub away intestinal mucus like a miniature brush whirling inside a bottle. In experiments in pigs, RoboCap tunneled through mucus lining the walls of the small intestine, depositing insulin or the IV antibiotic vancomycin along the way,  researchers report September 28 in Science Robotics. After churning for about 35 minutes, the pill continued its trip through the gut and eventually out of the body.

RoboCap is the latest pill-like gadget made to be swallowed.

S. Srinivasan et al. RoboCap: Robotic mucus-clearing capsule for enhanced drug delivery .... Science Robotics. Published online September 28, 2022. doi: 10.1126/scirobotics.abp9066.