Lifeboat Foundation

WASHINGTON, June 22 (Reuters) — Evidence is growing about the many ways that traveling in the microgravity environment of space tampers with the human body, with new research showing how it dials down the activity of genes in white blood cells crucial to the immune system.

A study involving 14 astronauts who spent 4−1÷2 to 6−1÷2 months aboard the International Space Station found that gene expression in these cells, also called leukocytes, quickly decreased when they reached space and then returned to normal not long after returning to Earth, researchers said on Thursday.

The findings offer insight into why astronauts are more susceptible to infections during flights, showing how the body’s system for fighting off pathogens is weakened in space.

A study of more than 8 million adults in Ontario, Canada suggests that even a modest loss of kidney function is associated with increased health risks. The study, published in The BMJ, could lead to better approaches to prevent chronic kidney disease and related conditions, particularly in younger adults.

“The dogma is that healthy, young adults don’t need to worry about kidney function unless it drops to around 50% of the normal level, but our research suggests that even a more modest 20–30% drop may have consequences and we may want to have earlier conversations about prevention and monitoring,” said senior author Dr. Manish Sood, senior scientist, nephrologist and Jindal Research Chair for the Prevention of Kidney Disease at The Ottawa Hospital and professor at the University of Ottawa.

The research team examined ICES health record data from 2008 to 2021 for every Ontario adult aged 18–65 who had at least one blood test for kidney function, but no history of kidney disease. They found that 18% of those in the 18–39 age group had kidney function that was modestly below normal levels, but not low enough to be diagnosed with chronic kidney disease. Individuals in this “gray zone” faced a modestly increased risk of kidney failure, death and cardiovascular events such as heart attack.

Stem cells are a kind of blank slate; these cells are able to specialize or differentiate into various types of cells. Researchers also now know how to make stem cells from several adult cell types, so they can be widely used in research. Samples can also be taken from patients, and used to create cells that can be experimented with and studied in the laboratory. But to perform these studies, many cells had to be harvested from a lot of different donors, and then grown separately. Now researchers have developed a method for studying stem cells from many different people in the same dish, which could have major implications for the study of complex traits, drug safety, or personalized medicine.

The research team has called this method a “village in a dish” system, and it has been reported in the open-access journal Nature Communications. The investigators showed that by studying stem cells from many donors in the same culture dish, cell culture studies could be up to one hundred times more efficient.

Immunotherapy is a fast-growing field designed to stimulate the immune system and target different diseases, including cancer. Some immunotherapies include immune cell activation therapies such as checkpoint inhibitors that block the interaction of cell markers which in turn allows the cell to kill the bound tumor cell. One example of a checkpoint inhibitor is anti-programmed cell death-1 (Anti-PD-1). Programmed cell death-1 (PD-1) is expressed on immune cells, specifically T cells. On responsibility of T cells include killing infected cells, such as cancer. The PD-1 marker is bound to PD-L1 on the infected cell and blocks the T cell’s ability to kill the tumor. Checkpoint inhibitors are effective in some subsets of cancer patients, but in more aggressive cancers such as liver cancer, immunotherapy is limited. Interestingly, a recent study in Nature Medicine by Dr. Miriam Merad and colleagues from the Ichan School of Medicine at Mount Sinai recently reported a new strategy to improve immunotherapy in liver cancer.

Merad and colleagues have uncovered a “trio of immune cells” within the tumor that helps improve immunotherapy. Researchers discovered this cohort of cells specifically in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), an aggressive and deadly liver cancer. It was demonstrated that specific populations in the tumor would be needed to activate T cells with immunotherapy, specifically anti-PD-1. Increased activation of T cells in HCC is critical because it demonstrates that an aggressive tumor has become sensitized to the immune system.

Researchers studied this phenomenon in patients to determine why some immune cells present in the tumor allow improved immunotherapy response, while others do not. The research team analyzed patient samples before and after checkpoint inhibitor treatment. Analysis was performed through computational methods, which allowed Merad and others to determine the immune cells necessary that help patients improve with immunotherapy. Through this computational cell analysis researchers are able to improve patient outcomes by determining if the “trio of cells” is present in the tumor.

A colonoscopy is the best way to screen for colorectal cancer. Everyone at average risk for the disease should start getting them at age 45.

If you’re scheduled for your first colonoscopy, you may be wondering what to expect and how much time it will take. While the procedure itself could take as little as 20 minutes, once you factor in the prep and recovery time, the experience does take longer.

We spoke with gastroenterologist Mazen Alasadi, M.D., to learn more.

Making the yogurt of the future requires a cast of 21st-century helpers: machine learning, gut science and even a mysterious artificial stomach.

At a new Danone facility near Paris, researchers feed dollops of yogurt into globular glass vessels and plastic tubes designed to mimic the human gut. Once the bacteria inside show they can survive the digestive juices, artificial intelligence is put to work to probe their potential health benefits.

To consumers bombarded with claims about the supposed power of probiotics, the goal may sound familiar: souped-up yogurt. But the owner of Activia and Actimel is betting technology can yield answers on which friendly bacteria work best and why, giving its products a scientific edge at a time when revenue is lagging and consumers are growing wary of processed food.

Infection is a constant risk. Any germs that make it past the body’s barriers, like the skin, can cause illness if the immune system does not respond properly and efficiently. Most people can easily fight off common bacteria that could be pathogenic, but people with weaker or compromised immune systems have a greater risk of infection. For the immunocompromised, bacteria like Pseudomonas aeruginosa that are everywhere in the environment can start to grow in different parts of the body, including the lungs; if this occurs, a chronic and even lifelong infection can arise. If bacteria that cause these chronic infections move to the bloodstream, they can become far more serious and even deadly. Scientists are still learning about how bacteria are able to make the transition.

New work has provided insight into how P. aeruginosa can change from causing one type of infection to another. This study used human samples to reveal a biomarker that indicates when this transition has taken place, in the form of a small RNA generated by the bacterium. The findings have been reported in Nature.

Ants were just as accurate as cancer-sniffing dogs. Better yet, they could be trained in minutes rather than months.

A new family of DNA elements which control the activation of certain genes known to cause a rare disease known as MSL3 syndrome in children has been identified.

The study led by researchers at the Queen Mary University of London and published in Nature Structural & Molecular Biology shines a new light on the mechanism behind this poorly understood disease, hoping that it can lead to better treatments for this and similar diseases in the future.

Mutations in the MSL3 gene are known to cause a rare disease in children called MSL3 syndrome—a newly discovered disease with only around 50 registered diagnoses worldwide, although scientists predict that more cases are currently undiagnosed.