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Categories: Biology: General
Published Hand washing is important -- but is your sink clean? (via sciencedaily.com) Original source
Handbasins are hotspots for dangerous microbes that can cause illnesses including pneumonia, Legionnaires' disease and wound infections, a new study warns. The environmental health study found handbasin biofilms contained a diverse range of pathogens including microbes typically found in water, and other pathogens not found in water.
Published Beige fat cells with a 'Sisyphus mechanism' (via sciencedaily.com) Original source
A new class of fat cells makes people healthier. The cells consume energy and produce heat through seemingly pointless biochemical reactions.
Published A belly full of jelly (via sciencedaily.com) Original source
For a long time, scientists assumed that jellies (commonly known as jellyfish) were a dead-end food source for predatory fish. However, a team has now discovered that fish in Greenland waters do indeed feed on jellyfish. In two of the analyzed species, they even made up the majority of the food. The results suggest that the role of jellyfish as prey in marine food webs should be reconsidered, especially in regards to the fact that they could be profiting from climate change and spreading farther and farther north.
Published Impact of 700 years of Inuvialuit subsistence hunting on beluga whales (via sciencedaily.com) Original source
An international team of researchers analyzed beluga whale bones retrieved from archaeological sites in the Mackenzie Delta, Northwest Territories, Canada, to shed light on the sustainability of centuries of Inuvialuit beluga whale subsistence harvests.
Published New mechanism of action kills cancer cells (via sciencedaily.com) Original source
Conventional cancer drugs work by triggering apoptosis, that is programmed cell death, in tumor cells. However, tumor cells have the ability to develop strategies to escape apoptosis, rendering the drugs ineffective. A research team now describes a new mechanism of action that kills cancer cells through ferroptosis.
Published Could manure and compost act like probiotics, reducing antibiotic resistance in urban soils? (via sciencedaily.com) Original source
Research suggests that, in some cases, boosting urban soil health with compost and treated manure may reduce the amount of pathogenic and anti-biotic resistant bacteria.
Published C-section antibiotics impact the infant microbiome far less than infant diet (via sciencedaily.com) Original source
Caesarean section recipients are usually given prophylactic antibiotics just before the procedure to prevent later infections at the surgical site. But there have been concerns about whether these antibiotics may have a negative impact on newborns and their microbiomes if the drugs travel through the umbilical cord and reach the baby before the cord is cut. Now, a study has confirmed that although these antibiotics can cause subtle changes to the infant microbiome, they are much less significant than the impact of how the babies are fed.
Published A ketogenic diet could improve the response to pancreatic cancer therapy (via sciencedaily.com) Original source
Scientists have discovered a way to get rid of pancreatic cancer in mice by putting them on a high fat, or ketogenic, diet and giving them cancer therapy.
Published Decoding the world's largest animal genome (via sciencedaily.com) Original source
Scientists have sequenced the largest genome of all animals, the lungfish genome. Their data help to explain how the fish-ancestors of today's land vertebrates were able to conquer land.
Published Researchers call for genetically diverse models to drive innovation in drug discovery (via sciencedaily.com) Original source
Researchers unveiled an approach to drug discovery that could revolutionize how we understand and treat diseases. Their commentary explains the limitations of studies using traditional mouse models and proposes using genetically diverse mice and mouse and human cells to better predict human responses to drugs and diseases.
Published Newly discovered ability of comammox bacteria could help reduce nitrous oxide emissions in agriculture (via sciencedaily.com) Original source
An international research team has discovered that comammox bacteria, first identified by them in 2015, can grow using guanidine, a nitrogen-rich organic compound, as their sole energy and nitrogen source. This unique ability opens new avenues for targeted cultivation of these enigmatic microbes and could also provide a key to reducing agricultural nitrous oxide emissions.
Published Ecologists put an insect group on century-old map of biodiversity (via sciencedaily.com) Original source
The distribution of species around the globe is not a random process but an outcome resulting from several evolutionary mechanisms as well as past and current environmental limitations. As a result, since the mid-19th century, biologists have identified several main regions, called biogeographic realms, that depict these large ensembles of species around the world. These biogeographic realms represent one of the most fundamental descriptions of biodiversity on Earth and are commonly used in various fields of biology.
Published Scientists condition crocodiles to avoid killer cane toads (via sciencedaily.com) Original source
Scientists have trialled a new way to protect freshwater crocodiles from deadly invasive cane toads spreading across northern Australia.
Published Common equine painkiller disrupts assisted reproduction technique efficiency in mares (via sciencedaily.com) Original source
Researchers have discovered that phenylbutazone, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) commonly prescribed in horses, can affect the ability of a mare's egg cells -- called 'oocytes' -- to become viable embryos, which is a crucial step in assisted reproduction in horses.
Published Exciting advance in stem cell therapy (via sciencedaily.com) Original source
A new technique for mechanically manipulating stem cells could lead to new stem cell treatments, which have yet to fulfill their therapeutic potential.
Published Study reveals urban trees suffer more from heat waves and drought than their rural counterparts (via sciencedaily.com) Original source
A recent study details how trees in New York City and Boston are more negatively impacted by heat waves and drought than trees of the same species in nearby rural forests. The finding highlights the challenges urban trees face in the context of climate change and underscores the importance of tailored urban forestry management as a tool for protecting tree species and reducing urban heat islands.
Published Pit-building venom mixers (via sciencedaily.com) Original source
Researchers show that the adaptation of antlions to their ecological niche has also changed their venom. They compared the venom system of antlion and closely related green lacewing larvae. Antlions produce a much more complex venom from three different venom glands than lacewing larvae do. All the venom proteins identified come from the insects themselves, not from symbiotic bacteria. Some of the toxins are new and appear to be unique to antlions. Waiting for their victims in pitfall traps in the sand, antlions can use their venom to immobilize larger prey. The venom therefore plays an important ecological role in adapting to their barren habitat.
Published Surprising insight into cancer comes from unique plant species that find different solutions to evolutionary challenges (via sciencedaily.com) Original source
A study has shown that different plant species tackle the same evolutionary hurdle in different ways, and the findings may give insight into aggressive forms of cancer.
Published Rewriting the evolutionary history of critical components of the nervous system (via sciencedaily.com) Original source
A new study has rewritten the conventionally understood evolutionary history of certain ion channels -- proteins critical for electrical signaling in the nervous system. The study shows that the Shaker family of ion channels were present in microscopic single cell organisms well before the common ancestor of all animals and thus before the origin of the nervous system.
Published Reduce, reuse, 're-fly-cle' (via sciencedaily.com) Original source
Black soldier flies are now commercially used to consume organic waste -- but genetic modifications proposed by bioscientists could see the insects digesting a wider variety of refuse, while also creating raw ingredients for industry.