Thursday, August 26, 2021

University of Surrey awarded close to £3 million funding for perovskite solar cell research

A consortium led by the University of Surrey has been awarded £3 million to help design perovskite solar cells to power wearable technologies and Internet of Things (IoT) devices.

Grant and Award Announcement

UNIVERSITY OF SURREY

A consortium led by the University of Surrey has been awarded close to £3 million to help design perovskite solar cells to power wearable technologies and Internet of Things (IoT) devices.

Crystalline silicon solar cells have dominated the solar market for many years, but they cannot power the rapidly growing portable electronics market, particularly that of wearables and IoT devices which are expected to reach trillions of units in the next few years. There are already over 20 billion IoT devices in the market that currently map and gather information, and 127 new devices are connected to the internet each second, leading to a potential IoT market worth US$1 trillion by 2023.

Therefore, it has become a necessity to develop cheaper materials together with scalable manufacturing techniques to further accelerate the uptake of solar electricity.

The team led by Surrey has received £2.3 million from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and £500K from industrial partners to research, design and develop flexible perovskite photovoltaic devices that can be produced at a high volume and an ultra-low cost.

The research team is a partnership between Surrey and leading experts in perovskite photovoltaics from the Universities of Oxford, Sheffield and Cambridge. The team is also supported by partners including National Physical Laboratory, NSG Group, Swift Solar, Ossila, Oxford PV, Coatema and QinetiQ.

Professor Ravi Silva, project lead and Director of the Advanced Technology Institute at the University of Surrey, said: “We are grateful to the EPSRC and our industrial partners for the support they have shown this project. We are setting out to create a technology that can bridge the multi-scale energy needs of emerging markets -- and beyond this, also tackle the challenge of our age: climate change.

“We are confident that perovskite photovoltaics are a key part of the puzzle of meeting the net-zero emission target by 2050.”

Dr Wei Zhang, co-investigator of the project from the University of Surrey, said: “We are proud to work with some of the best research teams in perovskite photovoltaics. Success in our research will open the very large wearables and IoT power-source markets and will help power the increasing number of mobile wireless technologies.”

For more University of Surrey stories view here.

-ends-

Notes to Editors:

About the University of Surrey

The University of Surrey - a global community of ideas and people, dedicated to life-changing education and research. The University of Surrey is a research-intensive university committed to teaching and research excellence with a focus on practice-based education programmes, providing a world-class experience to its students who go on to make positive contributions to society. It is committed to working in partnership with students, businesses, government and communities in the discovery and application of knowledge.

Janus graphene opens doors to sustainable sodium-ion batteries

Peer-Reviewed Publication

CHALMERS UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

In the search for sustainable energy storage, researchers at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, present a new concept to fabricate high-performance electrode materials for sodium batteries. It is based on a novel type of graphene to store one of the world's most common and cheap metal ions – sodium. The results show that the capacity can match today’s lithium-ion batteries.

Even though lithium ions work well for energy storage, lithium is an expensive metal with concerns regarding its long-term supply and environmental issues.

Sodium, on the other hand, is an abundant low-cost metal, and a main ingredient in seawater (and in kitchen salt). This makes sodium-ion batteries an interesting and sustainable alternative for reducing our need for critical raw materials. However, one major challenge is to increase the capacity.

At the current level of performance, sodium-ion batteries cannot compete with lithium-ion cells. One limiting factor is the graphite, which is composed of stacked layers of graphene, and used as the anode in today’s lithium-ion batteries.

The ions intercalate in the graphite, which means that they can move in and out of the graphene layers and be stored for energy usage. Sodium ions are larger than lithium ions and interact differently. Therefore, they cannot be efficiently stored in the graphite structure. But the Chalmers researchers have come up with a novel way to solve this.

“We have added a molecule spacer on one side of the graphene layer. When the layers are stacked together, the molecule creates larger space between graphene sheets and provides an interaction point, which leads to a significantly higher capacity,” says researcher Jinhua Sun at the Department of Industrial and Materials Science at Chalmers and first author of the scientific paper, published in Science Advances.

Ten times the energy capacity of standard graphite
Typically, the capacity of sodium intercalation in standard graphite is about 35 milliampere hours per gram (mA h g-1). This is less than one tenth of the capacity for lithium-ion intercalation in graphite. With the novel graphene the specific capacity for sodium ions is 332 milliampere hours per gram – approaching the value for lithium in graphite. The results also showed full reversibility and high cycling stability.

“It was really exciting when we observed the sodium-ion intercalation with such high capacity. The research is still at an early stage, but the results are very promising. This shows that it’s possible to design graphene layers in an ordered structure that suits sodium ions, making it comparable to graphite,” says Professor Aleksandar Matic at the Department of Physics at Chalmers.

“Divine” Janus graphene opens doors to sustainable batteries
The study was initiated by Vincenzo Palermo in his previous role as Vice-Director of the Graphene Flagship, a European Commission-funded project coordinated by Chalmers University of Technology.

The novel graphene has asymmetric chemical functionalisation on opposite faces and is therefore often called Janus graphene, after the two-faced ancient Roman God Janus – the God of new beginnings, associated with doors and gates, and the first steps of a journey. In this case the Janus graphene correlates well with the roman mythology, potentially opening doors to high-capacity sodium-ion batteries.

“Our Janus material is still far from industrial applications, but the new results show that we can engineer the ultrathin graphene sheets – and the tiny space in between them – for high-capacity energy storage. We are very happy to present a concept with cost-efficient, abundant and sustainable metals,” says Vincenzo Palermo, Affiliated Professor at the Department of Industrial and Materials Science at Chalmers.

More on the material: Janus graphene with a unique structure

The material used in the study has a unique artificial nanostructure. The upper face of each graphene sheet has a molecule that acts as both spacer and active interaction site for the sodium ions. Each molecule in between two stacked graphene sheets is connected by a covalent bond to the lower graphene sheet and interacts through electrostatic interactions with the upper graphene sheet. The graphene layers also have uniform pore size, controllable functionalisation density, and few edges.

CAPTION

Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, present a new concept to fabricate high-performance electrode materials for sodium-ion batteries. It is based on a novel type of graphene to store one of the world's most common and cheap metal ions – sodium. The results show that the capacity can match today’s lithium-ion batteries.

CREDIT

Image: Marcus Folino/Chalmers University of Technology

JOURNAL

Science Advances

DOI

10.1126/sciadv.abf0812

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Real-time imaging of Na+ reversible intercalation in “Janus” graphene stacks for battery applications

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

28-May-2021

Successful glioblastoma treatment in dogs may also be viable in humans

Some dogs’ tumors shrank, one disappeared altogether

Peer-Reviewed Publication

NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY

Glioblastoma tumor in dog — IMAGE: MRI SCANS OF A DOG'S BRAIN WITH GLIOBLASTOMA. THE IMAGE IN THE TOP LEFT PANEL SHOWS A LARGE, BULKY TUMOR BEFORE BEING INJECTED WITH THE STING AGONIST. THE BOTTOM LEFT IMAGE SHOWS THE DIFFUSE INFILTRATION OF THE TUMOR BEFORE TREATMENT WITH THE STING AGONISTS. THE TOP RIGHT IMAGE SHOWS THE BRAIN 12 WEEKS LATER IN WHICH THE BULKY TUMOR HAS DISAPPEARED AFTER TREATMENT. THE BOTTOM RIGHT IMAGE SHOWS THE ASSOCIATED INFILTRATION HAS RESOLVED AFTER TREATMENT WITH THE STING AGONIST. view more
CREDIT: TEXAS A&M

CHICAGO --- Could a brain cancer treatment for man’s best friend also be viable in humans? A promising new study in canines from Northwestern Medicine, Texas A&M University and ImmunoGenesis is giving scientists some hope.

The team of researchers discovered a treatment for canine glioblastoma — the second-most common type of brain cancer in dogs — that reduced the volume of some dogs’ tumors. The findings have promising implications for the human version of the aggressive brain cancer.

In a Phase I clinical trial conducted at the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences (CVMBS) Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital, investigators injected an immunotherapy drug known as a STING (STimulator of INterferon Genes) agonist directly into the glioblastoma of five dogs.

STING agonists can induce immunological responses that allow the immune system to fight otherwise immunologically resistant cancer cells. MRI scans taken of the canines over the course of the trial revealed that some of the dogs, even with a single dose, responded to the treatment with apparent reductions in their tumor volume, including one complete radiographic response, meaning the tumor completely disappeared. The findings lead the team to conclude this therapy can trigger a robust, innate anti-tumor immune response and may be highly effective on recalcitrant tumors such as glioblastoma in humans.

The study was published Aug. 25 in Clinical Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

The immunotherapy drug was developed by Dr. Michael A. Curran, an immunologist and founder of ImmunoGenesis, and is based on ongoing research that included Dr. Amy B. Heimberger, scientific director of the Malnati Brain Institute at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

Decisions about whether to advance a therapeutic candidate to human clinical trials is typically based on mouse data, Heimberger said. However, these tumors in mice are tiny and there are additional discrepancies in the genetics and immune background between mouse and man brain tumors.

“This is likely one of several reasons why promising preclinical data may not have the same impact during clinical trials,” Heimberger said. “Because canine glioblastoma shares very close similarities to the human counterpoint, we tested this novel immune therapeutic to help us make a go/no-go decision for human clinical trials.”

Both canine and human gliomas tend to have a poor prognosis, as they are difficult to surgically remove, and traditional therapies come with multiple side effects and are expensive. Even after a surgery to remove the tumor and radiation therapy and/or chemotherapy, humans with glioblastoma may only survive a few more months.

Because of the simple delivery of the STING agonist and the marked volume reduction of the tumor, the researchers believe this strategy may provide a viable adjunct therapeutic approach for human glioma.

The trial was conducted at the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences (CVMBS) Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital by Dr. Beth Boudreau, an assistant professor of neurology.

“With this therapy, we were trying to take tumors that do not, on their own, generate a lot of immune response and turn them into tumors that do by injecting them with this immunotherapy agent,” Boudreau said.

In the canine clinical trial, the maximum tolerated dose was limited by the large unresected masses. Heimberger indicated that in human subjects, the standard of care is surgical resection before starting any therapy, and therefore higher doses of the STING agonist in human subjects would likely be needed.

This clinical trial was based on earlier research by the team—including Dr. Jonathan Levine, a neurology professor and head of the CVMBS Small Animal Clinical Sciences Department—which analyzed a massive canine genomic dataset collected from multiple glioma samples. They found that canine and human gliomas are molecularly similar, suggesting that the two diseases have a similar mutational, cancer-causing process that would enable similar treatment strategies.

In the next phase of the project, Heimberger and Curran are exploring using a similar approach in clinical trials of human glioma patients who have undergone a surgical debulking.

Funding for the study, “Intratumoral Delivery of STING Agonist Results in Clinical Responses in Canine Glioblastoma,” was provided by the National Institutes of Health (grant R01 NS120547), the Joan Traver Walsh Family Foundation, the Dr. Marnie Rose Foundation, the Brockman Foundation and Mr. Herb Simmons.

JOURNAL

Clinical Cancer Research

DOI

10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-21-1914

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Animals

ARTICLE TITLE

INTRATUMORAL DELIVERY OF STING AGONIST RESULTS IN CLINICAL RESPONSES IN CANINE GLIOBLASTOMA

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

25-Aug-2021

Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not

STAR TREKNOLOGY

Cellular agriculture development has potential to change food industry, society

Jury still out on the social justice and equity implications

Peer-Reviewed Publication

PENN STATE

Depending on how it occurs, the development of cellular agriculture — food grown in factories from cells or yeast — has the potential to either accelerate socioeconomic inequality or provide beneficial alternatives to the status quo.

That’s the conclusion of a new study led by Penn State researchers, who assessed the potential trajectories for a new technology that synergizes computer science, biopharma, tissue engineering and food science to grow cultured meat, dairy and egg products from animal cells and/or genetically modified yeast.

The entities that currently are best positioned to capitalize on these innovations are large companies, according to researcher Robert Chiles, assistant professor of rural sociology, College of Agricultural Sciences.

“Nonetheless, new technologies such as artificial intelligence, smart agriculture, bioengineering, synthetic biology and 3D printers are also being used to decentralize and personalize food manufacturing,” he said. “They have the potential to democratize ownership and mobilize alternative economic organizations devoted to open-source licensing, member-owned cooperatives, social financing and platform business models.”

Although cellular meat is not yet widely available to consumers, its proponents believe that cellular agriculture could reduce land, water and chemical inputs, minimize greenhouse gas emissions, improve food safety, optimize nutrition, and eliminate the need to raise and slaughter large numbers of animals for food. However, cellular agriculture could also concentrate ownership and power in the global food system, namely by displacing ranchers, farmers, fishermen and ancillary industries.

The latter possibility has led to widespread concern that cellular agriculture could accelerate the concentration of wealth and diminish public participation in agriculture — all while offering fewer environmental and nutritional benefits than promised.

Over the past decade, scholars have explored a broad spectrum of socioeconomic and ethical questions pertaining to this technological approach, noted Chiles, who is a research associate at Penn State’s Rock Ethics Institute. However, he explained, this scholarship has done little to explore the types of mechanisms that might facilitate a more just and equitable development of this sector.

To assess cellular agriculture’s potential trajectories, Chiles and colleagues attended 11 cellular agriculture and alternative economic organization events held around the United States over two years, interviewing key experts at those conferences and summits, asking how they think the industry will develop and should develop. Likewise, the researchers collected data from an additional 21 conferences online.

The study’s findings, published today (Aug. 24) in Agriculture and Human Values, affirm the argument for increased public investments in open-source research and education on cellular agriculture, particularly for community and household-level production. The paper is publicly available through open access.

The jury is still out on how cellular agriculture will develop in the U.S. and around the world, Chiles pointed out. This research — which engaged innovators and early adopters in the field in conversation about whether this emerging technology will further concentrate wealth and power in the global food system — yielded valuable clues, he said.

“Government investments in publicly accessible digital infrastructures could help to facilitate a more just transition, as could public policies that protect workers’ rights and consumer privacy,” Chiles added. “Stakeholders who are concerned about the justice and equity implications of cellular agriculture may ultimately find more success by engaging with how these technologies are being developed rather than avoiding them or trying to eradicate them.”

Chiles’ paper recently was honored with the 2020 Roy C. Buck Award in the College of Agricultural Sciences. Read more in this story.

Also involved in the research at Penn State were Leland Glenna, professor of rural sociology and science, technology and society; Mark Gagnon, Harbaugh Entrepreneur and Innovation Faculty Scholar; Megan A. M. Griffin and Lina Tami-Barrera, who are completing master’s degrees in rural sociology and in international agriculture and development in the College of Agricultural Sciences; Siena Baker, recent graduate with a double major in community, environment and development, and economics; and Kelly Baker, recent graduate in community, environment and development. Garrett Broad, associate professor, Department of Communication and Media Studies, Fordham University, and Nicole Negowetti, senior director of policy at the Plant Based Foods Association, also were members of the research team.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture, the College of Agricultural Sciences and the Rock Ethics Institute at Penn State funded this research.

JOURNAL

Agriculture and Human Values

DOI

10.1007/s10460-021-10237-7

ARTICLE TITLE

Democratizing ownership and participation in the 4th Industrial Revolution: challenges and opportunities in cellular agriculture

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

24-Aug-2021

Disclaimer: AAAS and Eur

Unrealistic experiments mean true impact of nitrogen pollution on the environment is unknown, study warns

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF EXETER

Unrealistic scientific experiments mean the true impact of nitrogen pollution on the environment remains poorly understood, a new study warns.

Human actions – mostly burning of biomass and fossil fuels – have dramatically altered the global nitrogen cycle, affecting natural habitats and contributing to acid rain.

The study warns that many decades of experimental work have left us with a skewed understanding of the effects of nitrogen pollution, and this could hamper responses to global change.

Professor Dan Bebber, from the University of Exeter, writing in the journal Science of the Total Environment, says scientific experiments have been “unrealistic”. They often involve simulations of nitrogen deposition far higher than those experienced even in heavily polluted regions, in fact they are similar to mineral fertilizer applications in agriculture.

Professor Bebber said: “Despite decades of research, past experiments can tell us little about how the biosphere has responded to anthropogenic nitrogen deposition. A new approach is required to improve our understanding of this important phenomenon.”

In most experiments scientists have used more than 100 kg N ha-1 y-1 to model the impact of nitrogen, while global average land surface deposition rates are around 1 kg N ha-1 y-1 and only exceed 10 kg N ha-1 y-1 in certain regions, primarily in industrialized areas of Europe and Asia and particularly in forests. Many species are highly sensitive to nitrogen, and react very differently to these lower levels than to unrealistic experimental levels.

In his analysis, Professor Bebber calls for future experiments to be designed to take into account how much nitrogen pollution is found in different ecosystems and regions, and for researchers to monitor the impact of nitrogen pollution for longer periods to detect cumulative effects. Research should also examine the relationship between the concentration of nitrogen released and the environmental response.

Professor Bebber said: “Understanding the impacts of anthropogenic nitrogen has been a major goal of global change research, through observational and experimental studies. However, there remains a wide gulf between global nitrogen deposition rates, and the experimental treatments applied to simulate them.

“Where the purpose of an experiment is to understand the effects of agricultural fertilizers, then high levels of N application rates are justified. Researchers employing more realistic nitrogen treatments have questioned the validity of rates far exceeding current or predicted N deposition levels. The responses of organisms and ecosystems to enhanced N availability can be subtle and non-linear.”

DOI

10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.149774

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

The gap between atmospheric nitrogen deposition experiments and reality

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

19-Aug-2021

University of Louisville cardiac surgery team second in US to implant new artificial heart

Device is a new-generation bridge to transplant for patients with disease on both sides of the heart

Business Announcement

UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE

Aeson® total artificial heart. Image courtesy CARMAT. — IMAGE: AESON® TOTAL ARTIFICIAL HEART. IMAGE COURTESY CARMAT. view more
CREDIT: CARMAT

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – A University of Louisville cardiac surgery team at UofL Health - Jewish Hospital is the second in the United States to implant a new experimental advanced total artificial heart within the framework of an early feasibility study.

The team, led by Mark Slaughter, M.D., professor and chair of the Department of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery in the UofL School of Medicine and lead cardiothoracic surgeon at UofL Health – Jewish Hospital, performed the implant of the investigational device on Aug. 20.

The artificial heart, Aeson®, developed by French medical device company CARMAT, serves as a bridge to transplant for patients with end-stage biventricular heart failure – heart disease affecting both left and right sides of the heart – allowing more time for the patient to receive a permanent heart organ transplant. More than 3,400 individuals in the U.S. currently are awaiting a heart transplant and there are few other treatment options for patients with biventricular heart disease.

“We are excited to bring this new technology to patients in Kentucky and the surrounding region and be one of the first U.S. centers to implant this new total artificial heart,” Slaughter said. “This device has the potential to save the lives of critically ill patients suffering from biventricular heart failure who currently have very limited treatment options.”

The new total artificial heart was implanted into a middle-aged man from Southern Indiana with severe biventricular heart failure during a seven-and-a-half-hour surgery. The recipient, whose identity is being withheld upon request, was referred to the advanced heart failure program at Jewish Hospital. The patient currently is doing well in the cardiac surgery ICU.

The new device is designed to solve limitations of left-ventricular assist devices (LVAD), which pump blood in just one chamber, by pumping blood in both heart chambers. Aeson also contains biosensors that detect the patient’s blood pressure and position and automatically adapts cardiac output according to the sensor information. It is fully implanted as a heart replacement and powered by a portable external power supply.

“We are honored that our device is implanted at UofL Health - Jewish Hospital, which is recognized throughout the United States for its quality of care and cardiovascular research” said Stéphane Piat, chief executive officer of CARMAT. “I would like to congratulate the teams at the Jewish Hospital, the University of Louisville, as well as our technical and medical staff, on this exceptional milestone for both patients and our company.”

The device is medically approved in Europe, where approximately 20 have been implanted. The first Aeson artificial heart in North America was implanted in July at Duke University.

This is not the first time University of Louisville physicians and Jewish Hospital have made artificial heart history. Just over 20 years ago, on July 2, 2001, UofL cardiothoracic surgeon Laman Gray led the surgical team that implanted the first self-contained artificial heart in the United States at Jewish Hospital. The AbioCor artificial heart was implanted into Robert Tools, who lived five months on the device. The UofL surgical team also performed the first heart transplant in Kentucky at Jewish Hospital in 1984.

CAPTION
Aeson® total artificial heart showing Open view with pumps and electronics (blue), blood chambers (maroon) and conduits (top, white). Image courtesy CARMAT.
CREDIT
CARMAT

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

Action platform for cosmetic products without animal testing

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF KONSTANZ

According to the European Union (EU) Cosmetics Regulation, animal testing for the risk assessment of cosmetic products or their ingredients is prohibited in the EU and all its member countries. The regulation includes an EU-wide marketing ban on cosmetics with ingredients tested on animals. This landmark political decision secured the EU a leading role in the protection of animal welfare and has contributed to positive developments in using alternative methods to animal testing beyond the EU's borders. "In fact, the cosmetics sector has become an engine for change, which – fuelled by European legislation – has greatly advanced the use of alternative methods to animal testing in other parts of the world as well", explains Dr Giorgia Pallocca, deputy director of CAAT-Europe at the University of Konstanz.

Consumers who buy cosmetic products in one of the EU member states therefore generally assume that no animal testing was conducted for the market approval of the products, at least not after the bans from the Cosmetics Regulation came into force in 2013. This assumption is incorrect, however, as reported in a recent article by the Transatlantic Think Tank for Toxicology (t4), which has just been published in the scientific journal ALTEX. According to the report, one reason for this is a second EU regulation that partly contradicts the Cosmetics Regulation, namely the Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals regulation (REACH). All substances manufactured in or imported into the EU in quantities of more than one ton per year have to be registered with the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), including a registration dossier with a full toxicological evaluation.

Loopholes and conflicting legislation
Many cosmetic ingredients are used also in other products, such as laundry detergents or wall paint. In such cases, the substances fall under other regulations that allow and require animal testing. "This dual use of substances is one of the 'loopholes' through which ingredients continue to enter cosmetic products, despite the fact that their risk assessment was partially based on animal testing", says Dr Costanza Rovida, CAAT-Europe’s regulatory affairs coordinator.

Also compounds that are only used in cosmetics are being animal-tested. This is the case, if the regulatory agency ECHA is concerned about the health of industrial workers manufacturing the products or about the environmental impacts (e.g. killing of fish) of substances intended for cosmetic use. In such cases, where different regulations clash, often the REACH regulation dominates, and animal testing may be required.

Animal testing continues despite ban
By analyzing the publicly available REACH dossiers, the scientists involved in the report found that in the REACH database (as of 23 December 2020), 419 substance dossiers reported cosmetics as their only use. Of these, 63 – or around 15 percent – used the results of "new" animal tests for risk assessment. These are tests that were conducted after the respective bans under the Cosmetics Regulation came into force. In some of these cases, risk assessments based on alternative methods to animal testing had been used by the registrants, but were later rejected by ECHA who explicitly requested additional animal tests. "The fact that animal testing continues to be carried out on substances that are later found in cosmetics is clearly the result of the conflict between REACH and the EU Cosmetics Regulation. However, a lack of harmonization and political will also plays a role here", Professor Thomas Hartung, CAAT-Europe’s co-director, states.

As ECHA is still reviewing a large number of REACH dossiers, it is likely that animal testing will continue to be requested for the registration of ingredients for cosmetics, according to the scientists’ report. What is also problematic in this context is that the latest EU status report (2020) on the use of animals for scientific purposes includes animal testing of cosmetic ingredients for REACH registration in the category of “industrial chemicals legislation uses”. Since it is important for both consumers and the cosmetic industry that cosmetics are truly "free of animal testing", the scientists call for more transparency on REACH testing as long as the conflict between the two EU regulations – the Cosmetics Regulation and REACH – is not resolved.

Action platform for cosmetic products without animal testing
In order to resolve this conflict and to contribute to a solution, CAAT-Europe, which is associated with the University of Konstanz and the Baden-Württemberg platform on alternatives to animal testing (BW-3R), is currently creating an action platform for cosmetic products without animal testing. With more than 10 years of experience as an independent institution, CAAT-Europe maintains extensive relationships with various stakeholders and decision-makers and is an official external advisor to the European Parliament on issues related to future technologies in the life sciences. "We would like to use our action platform to demonstrate the will of individual stakeholders, such as the cosmetic industry, to implement cruelty-free cosmetic products and to develop a joint strategy with scientists and policy makers to achieve this goal", describes Professor Marcel Leist, co-director of CAAT-Europe and professor of in vitro toxicology and biomedicine at the University of Konstanz.

###

Key facts:

Original publication: Jean Knight, Costanza Rovida, Reinhard Kreiling, Cathy Zhu, Mette Knudsen, Thomas Hartung (2021) Continuing testing on cosmetic ingredients for REACH in the EU. ALTEX. DOI: https://doi.org/10.14573/altex.2104221.
Despite a ban under the European Union's Cosmetics Regulation, animal testing is still required and conducted in the context of REACH approval of cosmetic ingredients in the EU.
Report sheds light on the role of the EU’s Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals regulation (REACH), which partly conflicts with the Cosmetics Regulation when it comes to animal testing for risk assessment.
Konstanz-based European Centre for Alternative Methods to Animal Testing (CAAT-Europe) is planning an action platform for cosmetic products without animal testing.

Contact:
University of Konstanz
Communications and Marketing
Phone: + 49 7531 88-3603
Email: kum@uni-konstanz.de

- uni.kn/en

JOURNAL

ALTEX

DOI

10.14573/altex.2104221

ARTICLE TITLE

Continuing animal tests on cosmetic ingredients for REACH in the EU

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

17-Aug-2021

Exposure to sunlight enhances romantic passion in humans

Sunlight makes you fall in love

Peer-Reviewed Publication

TEL-AVIV UNIVERSITY

(Left to right): Prof. Carmit Levy & PhD student Roma Parikh. — IMAGE: (LEFT TO RIGHT): PROF. CARMIT LEVY & PHD STUDENT ROMA PARIKH. view more
CREDIT: TEL AVIV UNIVERSITY

Researchers at Tel Aviv University have found that exposure to ultraviolet radiation from sunlight enhances romantic passion in humans. In the study both men and women were exposed to UVB (ultraviolet radiation type B) under controlled conditions, and the findings were unequivocal: increased levels of romantic passion in both genders. The study revealed that exposure to sunlight affects the regulation of the endocrine system responsible for the release of sexual hormones in humans.

The study was led by PhD student Roma Parikh and Ashchar Sorek from the laboratory of Prof. Carmit Levy at the Department of Human Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry at the Sackler Faculty of Medicine. UVB phototherapy was administered to the subjects at the Tel Aviv Sourasky (Ichilov) and Assuta Medical Centers. The groundbreaking discovery was published as a cover story in the prestigious scientific journal Cell Reports.

Prof. Levy explains: "It has been known for many years now that ultraviolet radiation from sunlight increases testosterone levels in males, and we also know that sunlight plays a major role in both the behavioral and hormonal regulation of sexuality. However, the mechanism responsible for this regulation remained unknown. Our study enabled a better understanding of this mechanism."

The study began in an animal model, exposing the animals to UVB - sunrays at wavelengths of 320-400 nanometers. The effect was dramatic: females' hormone levels rose significantly, enlarging their ovaries and prolonging their rut season; the attraction between males and females increased; and both were more willing to engage in sexual intercourse.

In the second stage, the researchers repeated the experiment in the animal model, this time removing from the skin a protein called p53, which identifies DNA damage and activates pigmentation during exposure to sunlight, as protection against its adverse effects. The removal of p53 eliminated the effect of UVB exposure on the animals' sexual behavior, convincing Prof. Levy and her colleagues that exposure to radiation through the skin was the cause of the observed hormonal, physiological and behavioral changes, and that the protective system is also responsible for the regulation of sexuality.

The last stage of the study included 32 human subjects, who filled out validated questionnaires on behaviors of romantic passion and aggression. Treated with UVB phototherapy at the Tel Aviv Sourasky (Ichilov) and Assuta Medical Centers, both genders exhibited a rise in romantic passion, and males also noted an increase in levels of aggression.

Similar results were found when the subjects were asked to avoid sunlight for two days, and then tan themselves for approximately 25 minutes. Blood tests revealed that exposure to sunlight resulted in a higher release of hormones like testosterone compared to one day before exposure. A rise in testosterone in males during the summer was also found in analyses of data from the Clalit and Maccabi Health Services.

Prof. Levy: "The skin contains various mechanisms for dealing with radiation from sunlight, and one of these is the p53 protein. We must remember that exposure to UV is dangerous, and can damage the DNA, as in the case of skin cancer. At the same time, two built-in programs in the skin, activated following exposure to sunlight, are in place to protect against DNA damage: the DNA repair system and pigmentation, namely the suntan, based on degree of exposure. By activating both systems, the p53 protein regulates the level of DNA damage. In our study we found that the same system also activates the endocrine system of sexuality and potentially breeding. "

In the future this new discovery from TAU may lead to practical applications, such as UVB treatments for sexual hormone disorders. However, more research is still required before this can be achieved. According to Prof. Levy, the breakthrough will also lead to further discoveries in basic science. "Our findings open many scientific and philosophical questions. As humans, we have no fur, and our skin is thus directly exposed to sunlight. We are only beginning to understand what this exposure does to us, and the key roles it might play in various physiological and behavioral processes. It's only the tip of the iceberg."

Link to the article:

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2021.109579

JOURNAL

Cell Reports

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2021.109579

ARTICLE TITLE

Skin exposure to UVB light induces a skin-brain-gonad axis and sexual behavior

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

23-Aug-2021