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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa 15 hours ago

Could fecal transplants be the new way to fight cancer?
Fecal microbiota transplants (FMT) are being explored as a method to modify gut microbes in cancer patients, potentially enhancing the effectiveness of immunotherapy, especially for those with less diverse gut microbiomes. Early clinical data indicate FMT may improve treatment response rates and outcomes, but safety concerns require that FMT be administered under medical supervision.

Could fecal transplants be the new way to fight cancer?

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa 15 hours ago

High-dose antioxidants linked to offspring birth defects

Antioxidants have been marketed as miracle supplements, touted for preventing chronic diseases and cancers; treating COPD and dementia; and slowing aging.

While antioxidant therapies are widely used to treat male infertility, a new study  found that regularly consuming high doses of antioxidants negatively influences sperm DNA and may lead to offspring born with differences in craniofacial development.
Regular consumption of high doses of antioxidants such as N-acetyl-L-cysteine and selenium in male mice alters sperm DNA and is associated with craniofacial abnormalities in offspring, particularly in females. These effects occur without observable health changes in the fathers, indicating potential reproductive risks of excessive antioxidant supplementation prior to conception.

They found that offspring of male mice exposed to antioxidants for six weeks exhibited skull and facial shape differences, even while the father's health didn't change.

These findings suggest that men should exercise caution when consuming high doses of antioxidants, especially if they're planning to have children in the near future.

Destani D. Derrico et al, Therapy to teratology: chronic paternal antioxidant supplementation alters offspring placental architecture and craniofacial morphogenesis in a mouse model, Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology (2025). DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2025.1697843

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa 15 hours ago

A minimalist bacterial defense strategy: Scientists discover single protein that disrupts viral assembly
A single bacterial protein, Rip1, can detect bacteriophage infection and disrupt viral assembly by binding to phage proteins and forming membrane pores. This dual-function mechanism causes premature bacterial cell death, halting phage propagation. Rip1 integrates both sensing and defense roles, representing a streamlined bacterial immune strategy.

Karen Maxwell, A pore-forming antiphage defence is activated by oligomeric phage proteins, Nature (2026). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-10075-1. www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-10075-1

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa 15 hours ago

Why snakes can go months between meals: A genetic explanation

Snakes may well be one of nature's greatest predators, capable of eating whole deer or even crocodiles, but just as impressive is that they can go months, or even a whole year, without a single meal. And now an international team of scientists thinks they know how they do it.

In a study published in the journal Open Biology, researchers report that snakes have lost the ghrelin gene, often called the hunger hormone gene, because it regulates appetite and signals when it is time to eat. Therefore, without a hormone signaling they are hungry, they can manage long periods between meals.

The team made their discovery after analyzing the genomes of 112 reptile species, including snakes, turtles, and crocodiles, using sequence comparison and gene-loss detection tools, among other methods.

In all the snakes they studied, which included pythons, boas, and vipers, genes for ghrelin and an enzyme called MBOAT4 (which activates ghrelin) were independently lost or heavily eroded. The same was true for chameleons and some toadhead agamas, a type of lizard.

Because the loss of these genes occurred in several different groups of reptiles, the study authors think it wasn't a mistake. It may have been an adaptation to their extreme feeding habits. For example, both snakes and chameleons adopt a sit-and-wait predation strategy, also known as ambush predation. Instead of actively hunting for prey, they remain concealed and wait to strike. This wait may go on for weeks or months. In these animals, a hormone that continually signals hunger would be counterproductive.
The researchers also suggest that losing the ghrelin system serves another vital purpose. Namely, helping these reptiles keep their energy use as low as possible while they wait for prey. In mammals, ghrelin normally tells the body to burn fat for fuel during a fast. However, snakes have evolved a different strategy. Instead of burning through their reserves, they enter into a state of extreme energy conservation.

"This study suggests that the intermittent feeding of these groups was accompanied by the loss of genes involved in energy homeostasis," commented the authors in their study.

Rui Resende Pinto et al, Ghrelin and MBOAT4 are lost in Serpentes, Open Biology (2026). DOI: 10.1098/rsob.250162

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa 16 hours ago

One-third of dementia cases are linked to non brain-related diseases, study finds

Dementia is a term used to describe memory loss, impaired reasoning, difficulties communicating and other mental impairments that can be caused by Alzheimer's disease, other neurodegenerative disease, strokes, severe infections, head injuries or various other conditions. While most past studies investigating the causes and underpinnings of dementia focused on the brain, a growing body of research suggests that these mental impairments could sometimes be linked to diseases that affect other parts of the body, referred to as peripheral diseases.

Researchers recently carried out a systematic review and various meta-analyses of data collected over the past decades, to explore the link between dementia and 26 different peripheral diseases, including gum diseases, liver diseases, hearing loss, type 2 diabetes and various other conditions. Their results, published in Nature Human Behavior, suggest that in approximately one-third of cases, the risk of developing dementia is linked to other diseases that do not directly affect the brain.

Growing evidence suggests that peripheral diseases serve as risk factors for dementia.

As part of their study, the researchers analyzed data from PubMed, a publicly available medical database, which was collected as part of over 200 earlier research studies. Their analyses focused on 26 peripheral diseases and they found that 16 of these were associated with an increased risk of developing dementia.

The 16 diseases they identified were: periodontal diseases, cirrhosis and other chronic liver diseases, hearing loss, vision loss, type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), chronic kidney disease (CKD), osteoarthritis, stroke, ischemic heart diseases, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma, atrial fibrillation and flutter, atopic dermatitis, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis (MS), and inflammatory bowel disease.

Globally, these peripheral diseases collectively were related to a combined PAF of 33.18% (95% confidence interval (CI) 16.80–48.43) of dementia burden, corresponding to 18.8 million prevalent cases.

 Notably, the five diseases that were found to be most strongly correlated with an increased risk of developing dementia included gum disease, chronic liver diseases, hearing loss, vision loss and T2DM.

As dementia is not always caused by brain injuries or diseases, which means that it might in some cases be prevented by treating other diseases early.

Zhenhong Deng et al, Population attributable fractions of a wide range of peripheral diseases for the burden of dementia, Nature Human Behaviour (2026). DOI: 10.1038/s41562-025-02392-2.

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa yesterday

Warning of kidney cell damage from high exposure to nanoplastics

As concerns rise about the effects of tiny plastic particles on human health,  researchers have led new research on whether nanoplastics can accumulate or cause damage in kidneys—our body's major blood filtering system. Their study, just published in the journal Cell Biology and Toxicology, calls for more investigations into the long-term risks, warning that high nanoplastics (NPs) particle "burden" could seriously compromise kidney cell health and function.

The findings demonstrate that while lower concentrations of NPs (less than 1 micron or 0.001mm in diameter) may not result in immediate toxicity to the kidney cells, particularly in terms of short-term exposure, higher burdens can compromise overall cell health and function, causing changes to the cell shape, survival and cell regulation.

The results also indicate that the effects are influenced not only by concentration but also by polymer composition and particle size, with some combinations inducing significant cellular changes even at relatively low doses.

The research team says sustained or repeated damage to regulatory kidney cells could impair kidney function, reduce filtration efficiency, clearance capacity, and lead to their potential buildup of NPs in kidney tissue over time.

Hayden Louis Gillings et al, Nanoplastic toxicity and uptake in kidney cells: differential effects of concentration, particle size, and polymer type, Cell Biology and Toxicology (2026). DOI: 10.1007/s10565-025-10135-2

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa yesterday

Ultra-thin metasurface can generate and direct quantum entanglement

Quantum technologies, devices and systems that process, store, detect, or transfer information leveraging quantum mechanical effects, have the potential to outperform classical technologies in a variety of tasks. An ongoing quest within quantum engineering is the realization of a so-called quantum internet: a network conceptually analogous to today's internet, in which distant nodes are linked through shared quantum resources, most notably quantum entanglement.

Researchers have developed a new ultra-thin metasurface that could contribute to this goal, as it can control the behaviour of light, while also generating and directing entanglement across many channels.

This metasurface, presented in a paper published in Physical Review Letters, has so far proved to be promising for the development of scalable and integrated quantum technologies.

Much like today's internet relies on light traveling through optical fibers, a future quantum internet will rely on entangled photon pairs—particles of light whose properties remain linked even when they are far apart. These entangled photons are essential for tasks such as quantum teleportation, secure communication, and distributed quantum computing.

In networks of quantum devices, information is typically transmitted via a quantum effect known as entanglement.

Quantum entanglement entails a connection between two or more particles, which ensures that their individual quantum states cannot be described independently from the state of others that they are entangled with, even when they are far apart.

The researchers' recent study builds on their earlier efforts to develop ultra-thin and nanostructured metasurfaces that could be used to create reliable quantum technologies. In 2020, the researchers introduced a metasurface that can simultaneously generate several polarization states of light. Two years later, they extended this idea to quantum optics, by engineering a metasurface that can route already entangled photons in desired ways.

In their new paper, they demonstrated that two photons that are initially not entangled can pass through a single, carefully designed metasurface and emerge entangled—simply due to quantum interference within the structure.

The new metasurface developed by them is only a few tenths of a millimeter wide and consists of nanoscale silicon pillars arranged on a glass. When two photons with different polarizations (i.e., intrinsic property related to the orientation of light rather than its color or intensity) pass through it, this surface splits them into multiple output paths. Because of quantum interference, whenever the photons emerge in any chosen pair of paths, they form a well-defined entangled state.

In their experiment, seven output paths produce 21 entangled photon pairs, all sharing quantum entanglement.

Yajun Gao et al, Interference-Induced Entanglement Engineering on a Metasurface, Physical Review Letters (2026). DOI: 10.1103/mzmv-7x98.

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on Tuesday

Stimulating the brain with electromagnetic therapy after stroke may help reduce disability
Electromagnetic network-targeted field (ENTF) therapy combined with physical therapy led to a 22% higher rate of freedom from disability in stroke survivors compared to sham treatment, with improvements across disability levels and no serious adverse effects. Findings are based on two small trials, indicating the need for larger studies to confirm efficacy.

The analysis found:

• The percentage of participants who achieved freedom from disability was 22% higher in the ENTF group compared to the group that received the sham treatment (33.8% versus 11.9%, respectively).
• Measurable improvements were also seen in ENTF participants' disability levels across the full range of disability outcomes, with both less moderately to severe disability (mRS of 3–5) and less moderate disability (mRS of 2).
• No serious adverse effects were reported among participants who received ENTF therapy.

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-brain-electromagnetic-therap...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on Tuesday

Some bottled water is worse than tap for microplastics, study shows
Bottled water contains up to three times more nanoplastic particles than treated tap water. Over half of detected particles were nanoplastics, primarily originating from packaging. Advanced detection methods revealed higher concentrations than previously estimated. The health impacts of nanoplastics remain uncertain, but their ability to cross biological barriers raises concern.

Megan N. Jamison Hart et al, What's in your water? A comparative analysis of micro- and nanoplastics in treated drinking water and bottled water, Science of The Total Environment (2026). DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2025.181148

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on Tuesday

How sleep loss can damage your brain's wiring

Sleep loss damages the fatty insulation protecting the nerve cells in our brain, according to a paper published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The research also explains why we often feel slow and groggy after a bad night's sleep.

Most of us will experience sleep loss at one time or another and suffer the consequences of tiredness and slower reactions the next day. The biological mechanisms for these are not well understood and often attributed to tired or overworked neurons. Researchers thought there might be other factors at play, so they decided to investigate.

The team studied MRI scans of 185 volunteers who self-reported poor sleep quality, which confirmed previous studies that found a link between inadequate sleep and changes in the structure of white matter (the bundles of nerve fibers that carry impulses between neurons). To find the cause, the researchers ran tests on rats that had their sleep restricted for ten days.

First, they performed electrical tests on the rats' brains and discovered that sleep loss caused nerve signals to take around 33% longer to travel between the two hemispheres. Later analysis of brain tissue found a likely cause. The myelin sheaths were much thinner. These are the fatty layers that wrap around nerve fibers to insulate them and speed up electrical signals.

Analysis of the lipid composition of the brain and the activity of genes that regulate oligodendrocytes revealed that the main issue was cholesterol deficiency. The scientists focused on these cells because they are responsible for creating and maintaining myelin. They found that cholesterol, which is essential for keeping the insulation thick and healthy, was not being properly transported to the myelin sheaths, so they were thinner and less able to do their job.

To test this, the researchers administered a compound called cyclodextrin, which works to flush trapped cholesterol out of cells and back into circulation. This prevented myelin sheaths from thinning any further and eliminated the roughly 33% delay in signal speed. In behavioral tests, the rodents performed just as well as those that were well-rested.

It is too early to talk about treatments for sleep deprivation based on the conclusions of this study. However, if confirmed in humans, the results would open up new possibilities, as the researchers acknowledge in their paper.

Reyila Simayi et al, Sleep loss induces cholesterol-associated myelin dysfunction, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2026). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2523438123

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