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Category: biotech/medical – Page 269

Discovery of the deep-sea NEOM Brine Pools in the Gulf of Aqaba, Red Sea

Experts just discovered massive pools of water that quickly paralyze and kill anything that enters them.

A team of researchers from the University of Miami has discovered deadly deep-sea brine pools in the Red Sea, uncovering a mysterious underwater world where anything that swims in does not survive.

These extreme habitats, found 1.1 miles below the surface, are so salty and oxygen-deprived that they quickly paralyze or kill marine life.

Despite their lethal nature, the outskirts of these pools support unique microbial life, offering scientists new insights into Earth’s climatic history, the origins of life, and even potential extraterrestrial ecosystems. The discovery, published in Nature Communications Earth and Environment, marks the first time such pools have been found so close to shore, making them an invaluable natural archive of past tsunamis, floods, and earthquakes.

S history, these brine pools may also lead to groundbreaking medical advancements. Similar deep-sea microorganisms have previously yielded antibacterial and anticancer compounds, hinting at the potential for new treatments hidden in these depths. Additionally, studying life in such extreme conditions could help scientists understand how organisms might survive on other planets with water-rich environments. This discovery not only expands our understanding of Earth learn more.

Deep-sea brine pools represent hypersaline environments famed for their extremophile microbes. With anoxia entirely excluding bioturbating megafauna, brine pools are also conducive to the pristine preservation of sedimentary sequences. Here we use bathymetric and geophysical observations to locate a complex of brine pools in the Gulf of Aqaba consisting of one 10,000 m2 pool and three minor pools of less than 10 m2. We further conduct sediment coring and direct sampling of the brine to confirm the sedimentary and environmental characteristics of these pools. We find that the main pool preserves a stratigraphy which spans at least 1,200 years and contains a combination of turbidites, likely resulting from flashfloods and local seismicity, and tsunamigenic terrestrial sediment. The NEOM Brine Pools, as we name them, extend the known geographical range of Red Sea brine pools, and represent a unique preservational environment for the sedimentary signals of regional climatic and tectonic events.

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Stingrays reveal nature’s elegant solution to maintaining geometric armor growth

How does the armored tiling on shark and ray cartilage maintain a continuous covering as the animals’ skeletons expand during growth?

This is a question that has perplexed Professor Mason Dean, a in the Department of Infectious Diseases and Public Health at City University of Hong Kong (CityUHK) since he was in graduate school.

An expert in , structure and function in vertebrate animals, but with a particular focus on (and affection for) sharks and rays, Professor Dean says he was curious about how nature keeps complex surfaces covered while organs and animals are growing, and their surfaces are changing.

Protecting crops: RNA-based substances open up new avenue to combat a widespread plant virus

New RNA-based active agents reliably protect plants against the Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV), the most common virus in agriculture and horticulture. They were developed by researchers at the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU).

The active ingredients have a broad spectrum effect; a series of RNA support the plant’s immune system in combating the virus. In laboratory experiments, 80 to 100% of the treated plants survived an infection with a high viral load, as the team reports in Nucleic Acids Research.

Their paper has been selected as a “breakthrough article” by the journal. The researchers are now working on transferring the idea from the laboratory into practice.

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria more vulnerable under body-like fluid flow conditions, study finds

Some notoriously difficult-to-treat infections may not be as resistant to antibiotics as has been thought, according to new research using a microfluidic device that more closely duplicates the fluid flow found in the body than standard cultures.

The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign research team, led by biochemistry professor Joe Sanfilippo, tested against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, considered one of the most highly resistant pathogens. They introduced the drugs at varying rates of fluid flow and found that, while the bacteria thrived at no or low fluid flow, the antibiotics killed the bacteria at higher flow rates.

“Anytime you take an antibiotic orally or by IV, it’s not immediately in the place it is supposed to be. It will get there by flowing in the bloodstream. Other fluids move throughout the body as well: in the lungs, the , the digestive tract. Yet biologists don’t really study the impact of fluid flow when they study pathogens,” Sanfilippo said.

Key decay mechanism behind superior biological effects of heavy-ion cancer therapy uncovered

Heavy-ion therapy, one of the most advanced radiotherapy techniques, has proven to be more effective than conventional X-rays and proton radiation in cancer treatment. However, the mechanisms behind this superior biological effectiveness remain unclear.

Published in Physical Review X on March 11, a new study has uncovered a key mechanism involving intermolecular Coulombic decay (ICD) in aqueous environments initiated by heavy-ion irradiation, providing insights about the effectiveness of such irradiation.

The study was conducted by researchers from the Institute of Modern Physics (IMP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), in collaboration with researchers from Russia’s Irkutsk State University, Germany’s Heidelberg University, the University of Science and Technology of China, Xi’an Jiaotong University, and Lanzhou University.

Autocracies win the minds of the democratic public: how Japanese citizens are persuaded by illiberal narratives propagated by authoritarian regimes

Against the backdrop of global democratic backsliding and the rise of authoritarianism, Footnote 1 the nature of authoritarian propaganda and public diplomacy has undergone significant changes. In particular, the transformation of the information environment brought about by the global proliferation of social media has created new avenues for authoritarian states to exert influence over democratic publics. Footnote 2 Notable examples include Russia’s intervention in the 2016 U.S. presidential election Footnote 3 and the dissemination of disinformation regarding COVID-19 by Chinese diplomats. Footnote 4 These actions are referred to as “sharp power,” defined as attempts to “pierce, penetrate, or perforate the information environments in the targeted countries” Footnote 5 with the aim of altering public opinion in democratic countries to favour authoritarian regimes. Footnote 6 Unlike soft power, which appeals to cultural and value-based attractions, sharp power operates as a means to destabilize target countries, weaken their commitment to democracy, and enhance the perceived superiority of authoritarian systems using disinformation and economic incentives. Footnote 7

At the core of sharp power lies the narrative, which is a story-based message that appeals to emotions and values, Footnote 8 and by sustaining attention and fostering emotional resonance, narratives often influence audience behaviour more than objective statistical facts or logical arguments. Footnote 9 Given their persuasive power and emotional impact, narratives are a potent tool for shaping people’s attitudes and behaviours. Political actors leverage narratives not only to strengthen their own position but also to undermine the arguments of opposing forces. Footnote 10 In particular, authoritarian governments use favourable narratives both domestically and internationally to reinforce the legitimacy of their regimes and to emphasise the superiority of authoritarian systems over democratic systems, thereby contributing to a global power shift.

Leucovorin may help with improving verbal communication in certain individuals with ASD who have a vitamin deficiency

I think Paul may have posted this already, if so here is some more information from a site about drug repurposng. Its really cool.

Click the video above to watch a story that ran on CBS Evening News about leucovorin for ASD.

Every Cure is excited to highlight the potential role that leucovorin (folinic acid) may play in improving verbal communication in some individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who have speech challenges and certain antibodies that cause a vitamin deficiency in the brain. As a nonprofit research organization committed to identifying and elevating potential repurposed treatments, we’ve summarized information about this promising drug repurposing opportunity below.

A vitamin deficiency may contribute to speech challenges in some individuals with ASD.

ITSN1 gene linked to substantial risk of Parkinson’s disease

A new study published in Cell Reports reveals a breakthrough discovery linking genetic variants in the gene ITSN1 to a significantly elevated risk of Parkinson’s disease, a neurodegenerative condition that affects nearly 2% of adults older than 65 years.

These findings were subsequently validated across three independent cohorts comprising more than 8,000 cases and 400,000 controls. Importantly, ITSN1 carriers trended toward earlier age of disease onset.

ITSN1 plays an important role in how neurons send messages to each other – a process called synaptic transmission – making it particularly relevant to Parkinson’s disease, a condition in which disruption of nerve signals leads to the typical symptoms of impaired gait and balance, tremors and rigidity. “We also showed in fruit flies that reducing ITSN1 levels worsens Parkinson’s-like features, including the ability to climb. We plan to extend these investigations to stem cell and mouse models,” the author said.

Interestingly, previous studies have recently implicated similar ITSN1 mutations in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Other emerging data also have suggested an association between ASD and Parkinson’s disease, indicating that people with ASD are three times more likely to develop parkinsonism.

Electrons travel one of two routes in nano-biohybrid systems

Peanut butter and jelly. Simon and Garfunkel. Semiconductors and bacteria. Some combinations are more durable than others. In recent years, an interdisciplinary team of Cornell researchers has been pairing microbes with the semiconductor nanocrystals known as quantum dots, with the goal of creating nano-biohybrid systems that can harvest sunlight to perform complex chemical transformations for materials and energy applications.

Now, the team has for the first time identified exactly what happens when a microbe receives an electron from a quantum dot: The charge can either follow a direct pathway or be transferred indirectly via the microbe’s shuttle molecules.

The findings are published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The lead author is Mokshin Suri.

What does it mean for a technology to scale?

An excellent concise newsletter article by the legendary Ben Reinhardt on how to think about scaling new technologies, what kinds of bottlenecks can occur, and strategies for maximizing chances of success. #development #industry #biotech #tech

A particular failure mode that we’ve noticed among scientists and engineers doing ambitious technology research is ignoring the question “does this technology scale?” It’s a question that gets thrown around a lot by VCs and technology analysts, but people rarely unpack what that means and (I suspect) many of us don’t even know.

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