Lifeboat Foundation

A study published today in Cell Reports reveals how populations of a bacterium called Pseudomonas respond to being treated with Colistin, a “last resort” antibiotic for patients who have developed multi-drug resistant infections.

Antibiotics play a key role in human health by helping to combat bacterial infection, but bacteria can evolve resistance to antibiotics patients rely on. Antibiotic–resistant infections now cause 1 million deaths worldwide per year.

With a small number of “last-resort” antibiotics available, researchers from the University of Oxford are investigating the processes that drive the rise, and fall, of resistance in common bacterial pathogen populations, which is key to tackling the increase in antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

Climate change is slowing down the conveyor belt of ocean currents that brings warm water from the tropics up to the North Atlantic. Our research, published today in Nature Climate Change, looks at the profound consequences to global climate if this Atlantic conveyor collapses entirely.

We found the collapse of this system—called the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation—would shift the Earth’s climate to a more La Niña-like state. This would mean more flooding rains over eastern Australia and worse droughts and bushfire seasons over southwest United States.

East-coast Australians know what unrelenting La Niña feels like. Climate change has loaded our atmosphere with moister air, while two summers of La Niña warmed the ocean north of Australia. Both contributed to some of the wettest conditions ever experienced, with record-breaking floods in New South Wales and Queensland.

The US-based scientists said complete remission in every patient was “unheard-of,” but experts warn the study is very small.

The oil kingdom fears that its population is aging at an accelerated rate and hopes to test drugs to reverse the problem. First up might be the diabetes drug metformin.

One theory for is that it is similar to the “death feint” that some animals show. When faced with a predator of overwhelming size or strength, some prey animals will freeze and presumably the predator may not notice them.

One patient in the study vividly described seeing a snake (which also spoke to her). We can’t say from one example that her body was adopting a primitive defence to a predator, but it’s certainly a possibility.

Catatonia remains a mysterious condition, stuck halfway between neurology and psychiatry. At least by understanding what people may be experiencing, we can provide reassurance and empathy.

Our cells perform a marvel of engineering when it comes to packing information into small spaces. Every time a cell divides, it bundles up an amazing 4 metres of DNA into 46 tiny packages, each of which is only several millionths of a metre in length. Researchers from EMBL Heidelberg and the Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg have now discovered how a family of DNA motor proteins succeeds in packaging loosely arranged strands of DNA into compact individual chromosomes during cell division.

The researchers studied condensin, a protein complex critical to the process of chromosome formation. Although this complex was discovered more than three decades ago, its mode of action remained largely unexplored. In 2018, researchers from the Häring group at EMBL Heidelberg and their collaborators showed that condensin molecules create loops of DNA, which may explain how chromosomes are formed. However, the inner workings by which the protein complex achieves this feat remained unknown.

Continue reading “How the Genome Shapes Up for Cell Division” »

A non-profit organization merges engineering and biology to accelerate drug development for childhood cancers.

Summary: A new injectable therapy that uses specially engineered molecules could help treat spinal cord injury.

Source: DOE

A new injectable therapy for spinal cord injuries uses specially engineered molecules that trigger a healing response in spinal cells.

In a new letter, Elon Musk threatens to walk away from $44 Billion Twitter deal if the management doesn’t provide more data on total bot counts.

According to a letter sent by Elon Musk’s legal team to Twitter, “Twitter refused to provide the information that Mr. Musk has repeatedly requested since May 9, 2022 to facilitate his evaluation of spam and fake accounts on the company’s platform” and “It’s effort to characterize it otherwise is merely an attempt to obfuscate and confuse the issue”.

The letter also reminded that Musk does not believe the company’s lax testing methodologies are adequate so he must conduct his own analysis and “The data he has requested is necessary to do so”. The letter also said “Mr. Musk is entitled to seek, and Twitter is obligated to provide information and data”.