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.

Next-generation liquid biopsy detects nano-sized signs of breast cancer in early-stage patients

A team of scientists has found indications that a special blood test called a liquid biopsy could determine whether a patient has breast cancer at its early stage and if that cancer is unlikely to return.

These high-definition comprehensive liquid biopsies are conducted using a standard blood draw from the arm of a patient in a doctor's office. Once in the laboratory, the sample is examined for signs of cancer. The results raise hopes that one day doctors could detect breast cancer in patients with a simple blood draw.

Researchers tested a theory that the high-definition liquid biopsy could detect multiple cancer biomarkers, including the so-called "oncosomes"—nano-sized, membraned cargo carriers that enrich the body's environment for cancer growth. These oncosomes are secreted by cancer cells as the group has shown previously.

They  found the vast majority of early-stage breast cancer patients have these oncosomes at very robust levels. They're about 5-10 microns in diameter. About the size of a cell. They first identified these large vesicles in prostate cancer about a year-and-a-half ago and showed that they are related to the cancer. They are hiding in plain sight.

If further studies produce similar results, this could mean that the next generation high-definition liquid biopsy may become a diagnostic tool for early breast cancer detection and other cancers. The test also could inform patients who have been treated for cancer that they will most likely remain cancer-free.

Sonia Maryam Setayesh et al, Multianalyte liquid biopsy to aid the diagnostic workup of breast cancer, npj Breast Cancer (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41523-022-00480-4

Make cooking safe for all, including those in developing countries, say indoor air pollution experts

Developing countries should focus on keeping unnecessary occupants, such as children, out of kitchens during cooking to help reduce their exposure to dangerous levels of air pollution, recommends a study.

Researchers also highlighted the benefits of using cleaner fuels and electric appliances that help reduce carbon dioxide levels within a kitchen by more than 32 percent, compared to the use of polluting fuels.

The GCARE researchers and their partners found that kitchens that regularly had more than two people present during cooking sessions exhibited higher carbon dioxide levels.

The researchers found that cooking resulted in an average increase of 22 percent in carbon dioxide levels across the 60 homes.

Kitchens with their doors and windows open, that also used extractor fans during cooking were found to be the environments with optimal thermal comfort conditions. Having both kitchen doors and windows open during cooking was shown to reduce carbon dioxide levels by 14 percent when compared with environments that only kept their doors open.

Prashant Kumar et al, CO₂ exposure, ventilation, thermal comfort and health risks in low-income home kitchens of twelve global cities, Journal of Building Engineering (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.jobe.2022.105254

Genetics of longevity are influenced by both gender and age

A team of researchers reports evidence that the genetics of longevity are influenced by both gender and age. In their paper published in the journal Science, the group describes their study of aging in mice and humans. A relevant  perspective piece  has also been published  in the same journal issue outlining the technical challenges to understanding how aging works and the work done by the team on this new effort.

Scientists have been studying the aging process for many years but still do not have a good explanation for why organisms age and why some live longer than others. In this new effort, the researchers wondered if something in the genome plays a role in how long a species lives on average.

Noting that another team had created a very large dataset of information regarding aging in nearly 3,000 mice, the researchers found that it also contained genetic information. After obtaining access to the database, they analyzed that genetic information—more specifically, they conducted quantitative trait locus mapping. They found multiple loci that they could associate with longevity, some that were specific to one or the other gender. They also found that mice who weighed more during their early years or who had small litter sizes tended to die younger. They suggest the same genes that were associated with aging may have also played a role in the other two traits. The researchers also found that the aging-related genes they isolated appeared to remain dormant until the latter stages of a given individual's life.

The researchers then studied data available in public biobanks and found human genes that appeared to play the same role as the age-associated genes in mice. Next, they looked for and found similar genes in a type of worm—disabling those genes influenced their longevity.

Maroun Bou Sleiman et al, Sex- and age-dependent genetics of longevity in a heterogeneous mouse population, Science (2022). DOI: 10.1126/science.abo3191

João Pedro de Magalhães, The genetics of a long life, Science (2022). DOI: 10.1126/science.ade3119

Researchers reveal new strategy to prevent blood clots without increasing the risk of bleeding

A nanoparticle therapy developed by investigators  targets overactive neutrophils, a specific kind of white blood cell, to prevent almost all types of blood clots while causing no increased risk for bleeding. The preclinical findings, published in Science Translational Medicine, may lead to safer ways to care for patients impacted by blood clots. 

According to the researchers, neutrophils are key drivers of both arterial and venous thrombosis. And when you target a neutrophil, you do not increase bleeding risk, you only decrease clotting risk. 

Earlier arterial and venous thrombosis have been thought of as distinct molecular events that require separate treatment paradigms. Arterial thrombosis (an artery clot), which can cause heart attack or stroke, is commonly treated with antiplatelet agents like aspirin, while anticoagulants are used to treat venous thrombosis (a vein clot), a cause of pain or swelling in the legs or clots in the lungs.

More recently, however, experts have begun to suspect commonalities between the two events that could be leveraged as novel therapeutic targets.

In the new study, researchers used animal models to show that overactive neutrophils participate in both arterial and venous thrombosis through an increased capacity to migrate and adhere to sites of injury. They also showed that overactive neutrophils increase the production of key factors used as building blocks for clots. In seeking to halt the process, the researchers identified a cluster of receptors unique to activated neutrophils and developed antibody-coated nanoparticles that specifically target those clusters.

Lalitha Nayak et al, A targetable pathway in neutrophils mitigates both arterial and venous thrombosis, Science Translational Medicine (2022). DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.abj7465

First-ever mycobiome Atlas describes associations between cancers and fungi

An international team of scientists has created the first pan-cancer mycobiome atlas — a survey of 35 types of cancer and their associated fungi.
Cancer cells and microbes have a long and enduring association. Both have coevolved within the ecosystems of the human body, often relying on the same resources. Competition for these resources often affects the replication and survival of cancer cells, microbes and the human host.

The association between cancer and individual microbes has long been studied case-by-case, but much recent attention focuses on the whole human microbiome, particularly in the gut, which houses more — and more diverse — communities of bacteria, viruses and fungi than anywhere else in or on the human body.
However, the roles and influence of cancer-associated fungi remain largely unstudied. Fungi are more complicated organisms than viruses and bacteria. They are eukaryotes — organisms with cells containing nuclei. Their cells are much more similar to animal cells than to bacteria or viruses.

The existence of fungi in most human cancers is both a surprise and to be expected. It is surprising because we don’t know how fungi could get into tumors throughout the body. But it is also expected because it fits the pattern of healthy microbiomes throughout the body, including the gut, mouth and skin, where bacteria and fungi interact as part of a complex community.

Fungi found on the human body come in two main types: environmental fungi, such as yeasts and mold that generally pose no harm to most healthy people, and commensal fungi, which live on or inside the human body and may be harmless, provide a benefit such as improving gut health or contribute to disease, such as yeast infections or liver disease. Fungi also play a role in shaping host immunity, for better or worse, which looms large in immunocompromised persons, including cancer patients.

The new study characterizes the cancer mycobiome — fungi linked to cancers — in 17,401 samples of patient tissues, blood and plasma across 35 types of cancer in four independent cohorts. The researchers found fungal DNA and cells in low abundances across many major human cancers, with differences in community compositions that differed among cancer types.

The finding that fungi are commonly present in human tumors should drive us to better explore their potential effects and re-examine almost everything we know about cancer through a ‘microbiome lens.

Analyses that compared fungal communities with matched bacteriomes (the bacterial component of the microbiome) and immunomes (genes and proteins constituting the immune system) revealed that the associations between them were often “permissive,” rather than competitive.

For example, one species of fungi was found to be enriched in breast cancer tumors of patients older than 50 years while another species was notably abundant in lung cancer samples.

The researchers said there were significant correlations between specific fungi and age, tumor subtypes, smoking status, response to immunotherapy and survival measures. Whether the fungi are simply correlated or causally associated remains to be determined.

These findings validate the view that the microbiome in its entirety is a key piece of cancer biology.

Ravid Straussman, Pan-cancer analyses reveal cancer type-specific fungal ecologies and bacteriome interactions, Cell (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2022.09.005. www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(22)01127-8

Nobel win for  unlocking secrets of Neanderthal DNA 

Scientist Svante Paabo won the Nobel Prize in medicine this year for his discoveries on human evolution that provided key insights into our immune system and what makes us unique compared with our extinct cousins.

Paabo spearheaded the development of new techniques that allowed researchers to compare the genome of modern humans and that of other hominins—the Neanderthals and Denisovans. He and his team also surprisingly found that gene flow had occurred from Neanderthals to Homo sapiens, demonstrating that they had children together during periods of co-existence.

This transfer of genes between hominin species affects how the immune system of modern humans reacts to infections, such as the coronavirus. People outside Africa have 1-2% of Neanderthal genes.

Paabo and his team also managed to extract DNA from a tiny finger bone found in a cave in Siberia, leading to the recognition of a new species of ancient humans they called Denisovans.

Water droplets hold the secret ingredient for building life

Chemists have uncovered a mechanism for peptide-forming reactions to occur in water—something that has puzzled scientists for decades.

This is essentially the chemistry behind the origin of life. This is the first demonstration that primordial molecules, simple amino acids, spontaneously form peptides, the building blocks of life, in droplets of pure water. This water-based chemistry, which leads to proteins and so to life on Earth, could also lead to the faster development of drugs to treat humanity's most debilitating diseases.

Water isn't wet everywhere. On the margins, where the water droplet meets the atmosphere, incredibly rapid reactions can take place, transforming abiotic amino acids into the building blocks of life. Places where sea spray flies into the air and waves pound the land, or where fresh water burbles down a slope, were fertile landscapes for life's potential evolution.

The chemists have spent more than 10 years using mass spectrometers to study chemical reactions in droplets containing water.

The rates of reactions in droplets are anywhere from a hundred to a million times faster than the same chemicals reacting in bulk solution. The rates of these reactions make catalysts unnecessary, speeding up the reactions and, in the case of early Earth chemistry, making the evolution of life possible.

 Holden, Dylan T. et al, Aqueous microdroplets enable abiotic synthesis and chain extension of unique peptide isomers from free amino acids, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2022). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2212642119. doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2212642119

Scientists discover dual-function messenger RNA

For the very first time, a study has discovered an unprecedented pathway producing telomerase RNA from a protein-coding messenger RNA (mRNA).

The central dogma of molecular biology specifies the order in which genetic information is transferred from DNA to make proteins. Messenger RNA molecules carry the genetic information from the DNA in the nucleus of the cell to the cytoplasm where the proteins are made. Messenger RNA acts as the messenger to build proteins.

Actually, there are many RNAs (ribonucleic acids) that are not used to make proteins. 

About 70 percent of the human genome is used to make noncoding RNAs that don't code for protein sequences but have other uses."

Telomerase RNA is one of the noncoding RNAs that assembles along with telomerase proteins to form the enzyme telomerase. Telomerase is crucial for cellular immortality in cancer and stem cells. In this study, scientists show that a fungal telomerase RNA is processed from a protein-coding mRNA, instead of being synthesized independently.

Most RNA molecules are synthesized independently and here scientists uncovered a dual function mRNA that can be used to produce a protein or to make a noncoding telomerase RNA, which is really unique.

 Logeswaran, Dhenugen et al, Biogenesis of telomerase RNA from a protein-coding mRNA precursor, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2022). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2204636119. doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2204636119

Nobel prize: physicists share prize for insights into the spooky world of quantum mechanics

The 2022 Nobel prize for physics has been awarded to a trio of scientists for pioneering experiments in quantum mechanics, the theory covering the micro-world of atoms and particles.

Alain Aspect from Université Paris-Saclay in France, John Clauser from J.F. Clauser & Associates in the US, and Anton Zeilinger from University of Vienna in Austria, will share the prize sum of 10 million Swedish kronor (US$915,000) “for experiments with entangled photons, establishing the violation of Bell inequalities and pioneering quantum information science”.

https://www.nobelprize.org/

Study finds the mechanism used by metastatic cancer cells to infiltrate the liver

Metastasis—when cancer spreads to form new tumors—causes approximately 90% of cancer-related deaths. Because metastatic cancer cells circulate in the blood, the liver—which filters the blood—is considered the most vulnerable organ, so treatments that prevent liver metastasis are urgently needed. A team of  researchers discovered a mechanism that allows metastatic cancer cells to infiltrate the liver, and how that infiltration can be blocked by inhibiting a related protein.

Approximately 90% of cancer-related deaths are due to metastasis when cancer spreads and forms new tumors. The liver is considered the most vulnerable organ to metastatic cancer: the 5-year survival rate after surgery to remove liver metastases is as low as 30–50%, so developing treatments to prevent liver metastasis is urgently needed.

A group of researchers has identified an alternative pathway for liver metastasis, showing that cancer cells invade via intracellular gap formation in endothelial cells, and clarified the molecular mechanism involved. The results of their research are expected to lead to the development of drugs to prevent and treat metastatic liver cancer.

Truong Huu Hoang et al, Cancer cells produce liver metastasis via gap formation in sinusoidal endothelial cells through proinflammatory paracrine mechanisms, Science Advances (2022). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abo5525

Far-ultraviolet LED can kill bacteria and viruses efficiently without harming humans

Ultraviolet germicidal lamps are extremely effective at exterminating bacteria and viruses, and they are routinely used in hospitals to sterilize surfaces and medical instruments.

Such lamps can be made with LEDs, making them energy efficient. But these LEDs use ultraviolet light in a range that damages DNA and thus cannot be used around people. The hunt is on to develop efficient LEDs that shine light within a narrow band of far-ultraviolet light that appears to be both good at disinfecting and safe for people.

A highly efficient LED that is deadly to microbes and viruses but safe for people has been engineered by  physicists. It could one day help countries emerge from the shadows of pandemics by killing pathogens in rooms full of people.

Germicidal LED lamps that operate in the absence of humans are often made from aluminum, gallium and nitrogen. By increasing the amount of aluminum they contain, these LEDs can be modified to work in a wavelength region that is safe for humans. But traditionally this has dramatically reduced their power.

To get around this, Masafumi Jo, Yuri Itokazu and Hideki Hirayama, all at the RIKEN Quantum Optodevice Laboratory, created an LED with a more complex design. They sandwiched together multiple layers, each containing slightly different proportions of aluminum, while in some layers they also added tiny amounts of silicon or magnesium.

This effectively created an obstacle course for electrons, hampering their movement across the material and trapping them for longer in certain areas. This, in turn, increased the amount of light emitted by the device and reduced the amount it absorbed.

To help pin down the best design, the team used  computer simulations to model all possible effects and came up with the best. They will still strive to improve their LED's performance even further, according to their research paper.

 Masafumi Jo et al, Milliwatt-power far-UVC AlGaN LEDs on sapphire substrates, Applied Physics Letters (2022). DOI: 10.1063/5.0088454

Pain relief without side effects and addiction

New substances that activate adrenalin receptors instead of opioid receptors have a similar pain relieving effect to opiates, but without the negative aspects such as respiratory depression and addiction.

This is the result of research carried out by an international team of researchers. 

Opiates cause addiction, new substances do not

They are a blessing for patients suffering from severe pain, but they also have serious side effects: Opioids, and above all morphine, can cause nausea, dizziness and constipation and can also often cause slowed breathing that can even result in respiratory failure. In addition, opiates are addictive—a high percentage of the drug problem  is caused by pain medication, for example.

In order to tackle the unwanted medical and social effects of opioids, researchers all over the world are searching for alternative analgesics.

They are focusing particularly on the molecular structures of the receptors that dock onto the pharmaceutical substances. It is only when researchers understand these on the atomic level that they can develop effective and safe active substances. They have now turned their attention to a new receptor that is responsible for binding adrenaline—the alpha 2A adrenergic receptor. There are already some analgesics that target this receptor such as brimonidine, clonidine and dexmedetomidine.

Part 1

The aim of the research consortium is to find a chemical compound that activates the receptor in the central nervous system without a sedative effect. In a virtual library of more than 300 million different and easily accessible molecules, the researchers looked for compounds that physically match the receptor but are not chemically related to known medication. After a series of complex virtual docking simulations, around 50 molecules were selected for synthesis and testing and two of these fulfilled the desired criteria. They had good bonding characteristics, activated only certain protein sub-types and thus a very selective set of cellular signal pathways, whereas dexmedetomidine responds to a significantly wider range of proteins.

By further optimizing the identified molecules, for which extremely high-resolution cryo-electron microscopic imaging was used, the researchers were able to synthesize agonists that produced high concentrations in the brain and reduced the sensation of pain effectively in investigations with animal models.

The successful separation of analgesic properties and sedation is a milestone in the development of non-opioid pain medication , especially as the newly-identified agonists are comparatively easy to manufacture and administer orally to patients.

Elissa A. Fink et al, Structure-based discovery of nonopioid analgesics acting through the α 2A -adrenergic receptor, Science (2022). DOI: 10.1126/science.abn7065

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Part 2

Aftermath of DART Impact

Nobel prize for three chemists who made molecules 'click'

Three scientists were jointly awarded this year's Nobel Prize in chemistry  this year for developing a way of "snapping molecules together" that can be used to explore cells, map DNA and design drugs that can target diseases such as cancer more precisely.

Americans Carolyn R. Bertozzi and K. Barry Sharpless, and Danish scientist Morten Meldal were cited for their work on click chemistry and bioorthogonal reactions. It's all about snapping molecules together.

Some everyday materials have memories, and now they can be erased

Some solid materials have a memory of how they have previously been stretched out, which impacts how they respond to these kinds of deformations in the future. A new study lends insight into memory formation in the foams and emulsions common in food products and pharmaceuticals and provides a new method to erase this memory, which could guide how materials are prepared for future use.

A crease in a piece of paper serves as a memory of being folded or crumpled. A lot of other materials form memories when they are deformed, heated up, or cooled down, and you might not know it unless you ask the right questions. Improving our understanding of how to write, read, and erase memories provides new opportunities for diagnostics and programming of materials. We can find out the history of a material by doing some tests or erase a material's memory and program a new one to prepare it for consumer or industrial use.

The researchers studied memory in a type of material called disordered solids, which have particles that are often erratically arranged. For example, ice cream is a disordered solid made up of a combination of ice crystals, fat droplets, and air pockets mixed together in a random way. This is in stark contrast to materials with "crystalline structures," with particles arranged in highly ordered rows and columns. Disordered solids are common in food sciences, consumer products, and pharmaceuticals and include foams like ice cream and emulsions like mayonnaise.

"Preparation of materials often includes manipulating them in ways that change the arrangement of their molecules, bubbles, or drops, taking them from a higher energy state to a lower energy, more stable state.

part1

For some materials like glass, this involves carefully heating the material so its molecules are unstuck and can arrange themselves in a more organized way. But for some materials, like mayonnaise, heating has destructive or unappetizing side effects. So for materials where heating is not an option, we use a process called mechanical annealing to physically deform the material and bring it to a lower energy state.

Researchers previously investigated how mechanical annealing of disordered solids can allow a material to a form a memory of that deformation, impacting how it responds to future deformation. In a new paper appearing Oct. 5 in the journal Science Advances, the researchers provide a more refined understanding of how memories form in disordered solids and how existing memories can be "read" and even erased.

Nathan C. Keim et al, Mechanical annealing and memories in a disordered solid, Science Advances (2022). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abo1614

part2 

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