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Categories: Biology: Microbiology, Physics: Acoustics and Ultrasound

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Fewer than one percent of people who get the flu every year get tested, in part because most tests require trained personnel and expensive equipment. Now researchers have developed a low-cost paper strip test that could allow more patients to find out which type of flu they have and get the right treatment. The test uses CRISPR to distinguish between the two main types of seasonal flu, influenza A and B, as well as seasonal flu subtypes H1N1 and H3N2. It can also identify strains that resist antiviral treatment, and with further work, could potentially detect swine and avian flu strains, including H5N1, which is currently infecting cattle.

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A new study shows that people with COVID-19 who used cannabis were more likely to be hospitalized and require intensive care than those who did not use the drug.

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Researchers have discovered a new fundamental mechanism governing the rules of ageing in worms. The researchers were able to manipulate the mechanism through genetic interventions which dramatically extend not just the lifespan of the worms, but also their health-span. In other words, trading weak, frail old age with vigorous golden years -- all without altering their diet, environment or other external factors.

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Chimpanzees appear to consume plants with medicinal properties to treat their ailments, according to a new study.

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New strains of yeast for brewing lager beers, created by hybridizing wild strains of yeast from Patagonia with brewer's yeast, can yield novel flavors and aromas, researchers report.

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Viruses, including the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, can get passed from person to person via contaminated surfaces. But can some surfaces reduce the risk of this type of transmission without the help of household disinfectants? Wood has natural antiviral properties that can reduce the time viruses persist on its surface -- and some species of wood are more effective than others at reducing infectivity.

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Researchers discovered that mycoviruses, or oomycete viruses, can increase the sensitivity of plant pathogenic oomycete to fungicides like metalaxyl. Their findings suggest greater potential for mycoviruses in biocontrol and contributing to sustainable agriculture.

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Opera singers have to use the extreme limits of their voice range. Many pedagogical and scientific sources suggest that the highest pitches reached in classical singing can only be produced with a so-called 'whistle' voice register, in analogy to ultrasonic vocalizations of mice and rats. An international research team has now rejected this assumption. In their study, the scientists showed that the high-frequency sounds of operatic sopranos are produced with the same principle than speech and most other forms of singing.

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A study has revealed a link between gut microbiota and Parkinson's disease. The researchers discovered a decrease in bacterial genes related to the synthesis of vitamins B2 and B7. The lack of these genes was associated with reduced intestinal short-chain fatty acids and polyamines, agents that maintain the intestinal barrier and prevent the leakage of toxins into the blood that can then access the brain. Using B vitamin therapy to address these deficiencies may restore the barrier and treat Parkinson's disease.

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New research shows when animals are fed a diet high in saturated fat for nine weeks, their gut bacteria change in ways that influence brain chemicals and fuel anxiety.

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Understanding organismal traits and learning how they evolve and adapt to different environments is crucial for biologists and the battle against biodiversity loss. To be truly efficient, however, the researchers need to use huge amounts of data, including physical traits and DNA. Furthermore, those different data types need to be accurately linked to each other, so that computers and next-age AI technology can correctly process it. Currently, this process of accurate linking is extremely difficult and largely inefficient. To solve this problem, researchers created a brand new computer language called Phenoscript.

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Using genome reconstruction, scientists unveiled a once 'invisible' fish parasite present in many marine fish world-wide that belongs to the apicomplexans, one of the most important groups of parasites at a clinical level. However, it had gone unnoticed in previous studies. The parasite is geographically and taxonomically widespread in fish species around the planet, with implications for commercial fishing and oceanic food webs.

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Brain-computer interfaces or BCIs hold immense potential for individuals with a wide range of neurological conditions, but the road to implementation is long and nuanced for both the invasive and noninvasive versions of the technology. Scientists have now successfully integrated a novel focused ultrasound stimulation to realize bidirectional BCI that both encodes and decodes brain waves using machine learning in a study with 25 human subjects. This work opens up a new avenue to significantly enhance not only the signal quality, but also, overall nonivasive BCI performance by stimulating targeted neural circuits.

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Filamentous cyanobacteria buckle at a certain length when they encounter an obstacle. The results provide an important basis for the use of cyanobacteria in modern biotechnology.

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Scientists have shown in laboratory experiments that an increase in temperature from 37 to 40 degrees Celsius increased the resistance rate for two antimicrobials, while for a third antimicrobial, the higher temperature reduced the resistance rate. If these results can be replicated in human patients, fever control could be a new way to mitigate the emergence of antibiotic resistance.

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In mammals, only 3% of the genome consists of coding genes which, when transcribed into proteins, ensure the biological functions of the organism and the in-utero development of future individuals. But genes do not function alone. They are controlled by other sequences in the genome, called enhancers, which, like switches, activate or deactivate them as required. A team has now identified and located 2700 enhancers -- among millions of non-coding genetic sequences -- that precisely regulate the genes responsible for bone growth. This discovery sheds light on one of the major factors influencing the size of individuals in adulthood, and explains why their failure could be the cause of certain bone malformations.

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The amount of infectious H5N1 influenza viruses in raw milk rapidly declined with heat treatment in laboratory research. However, small, detectable amounts of infectious virus remained in raw milk samples with high virus levels when treated at 72 degrees Celsius (161.6 degrees Fahrenheit) for 15 seconds -- one of the standard pasteurization methods used by the dairy industry. The authors of the study stress, however, that their findings reflect experimental conditions in a laboratory setting and are not identical to large-scale industrial pasteurization processes for raw milk.

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New research may help close the nutrition gap between infant formula and human breast milk. The study shows how plants can be programmed to produce a diverse array of beneficial sugars found in human breast milk. The findings could lead to healthier and more affordable formula for babies, or more nutritious non-dairy plant milk for adults.

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Some species of tardigrades are highly and unusually resilient to various extreme conditions fatal to most other forms of life. The genetic basis for these exceptional abilities remains elusive. Researchers have now successfully edited genes using the CRISPR technique in a highly resilient tardigrade species previously impossible to study with genome-editing tools. The successful delivery of CRISPR to an asexual tardigrade species directly produces gene-edited offspring. The design and editing of specific tardigrade genes allow researchers to investigate which are responsible for tardigrade resilience and how such resilience can work.

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Researchers are unlocking the mystery of how bacteria harness viruses to wipe out the competition. The answers could help spur the development of alternatives to antibiotics.