Discovery of oldest known fossil gnat shows how insects adapted to a postapocalyptic world

A new fossil discovery dating from ‘just’ a few million years after the greatest mass extinction provides the earliest evidence of the insect group that includes mosquitoes and flies

Peer-Reviewed Publication

SPANISH NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL (CSIC)

 

IMAGE: PROTOANISOLARVA JUAREZI, THE GNAT LARVA REPRESENTING THE OLDEST KNOWN DIPTERAN, 247 MILLION YEARS OLD, FOUND IN MALLORCA, SPAIN view more 

CREDIT: CN-IGME CSIC

Near the small harbour of Estellencs at the northeast of Mallorca (Balearic Islands, Spain), a pebbly beach can be found at the base of an impressive scarp that threatens rockfall. Remains of plants, crustaceans, insects, and fish have been discovered in the grey-blue rock layers formed from sediments deposited 247 million years ago. Fossils in these rocks are of great interest since they offer a window into the time where the planet was recovering from the greatest mass extinction.

A few years ago, Mallorcan researcher Josep Juárez made a surprising find during a palaeontological survey in the area – a complete insect larva that had left a slight imprint of organic remains on the two sides that were left exposed when the rock split in half. The detailed study of the fossil had to wait, but eventual examination with a powerful microscope revealed that it was a unique discovery. The larva, very well preserved, belongs to a group of insects that we all know, the dipterans — that is, true flies, mosquitoes, midges, and gnats. Although thousands of fossil dipterans have been found across the globe, both in thinly layered rocks and in amber, this specimen, 247 million years old (early Middle Triassic) –older than the earliest dinosaurs– is the oldest dipteran ever found. This record was previously held by fossils found in France, about one or two million years younger than those from Estellencs.

Enrique Peñalver, from the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) at the Spanish Geological Survey (CN-IGME), and first author of the recently published study on the new fossil, says: “While I was inspecting it under the microscope, I put a drop of alcohol on it to increase the contrast of the structures, and I was able to witness in awe how the fossil had preserved both the external and internal structures of the head, some parts of the digestive system, and, most importantly, the external openings to its respiratory system, or spiracles.”

Rafel Matamales-Andreu, palaeontologist from the Balearic Museum of Natural Sciences (FJBS-MBCN) and another author of the study, has devoted several years to unravel the environment of this region during the Triassic period, and the changes it underwent for millions of years. “If we were able to visit the region at the beginning of the Triassic, we would see large rivers and floodplains under a climate similar to that found in tropical Africa today, alternating dry and rainy seasons,” he points out.

This larva fed on organic matter from the soil ‘just’ a few million years in the aftermath of likely the most dramatic mass extinction in the history of life on Earth, which erased more than 80 per cent of the species and led to the end of the Palaeozoic Era. “We have been able to look at some of the adaptations by the first dipterans to the postapocalyptic environment at the beginning of the Triassic, for instance, a breathing system that is still found in different groups of insects today”, remarks Ricardo Pérez-de la Fuente, from Oxford University Museum of Natural History and also an author of the study.

The authors have described a new genus and species related to modern window- or wood-gnats named Protoanisolarva juarezi, or “Juárez’s ancestral anisopodoid larva”, honouring its discoverer. This precious fossil is currently being conditioned at the Catalan Institute of Palaeontology Miquel Crusafont for its permanent custody in Mallorca.

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JOURNAL

Papers in Palaeontology

DOI

10.1002/spp2.1472 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Animals

ARTICLE TITLE

Early adaptations of true flies (Diptera) to moist and aquatic continental environments

Discovery of oldest known fossil gnat shows how insects adapted to a postapocalyptic world

A new fossil discovery dating from ‘just’ a few million years after the greatest mass extinction provides the earliest evidence of the insect group that includes mosquitoes and flies

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD

 

IMAGE: COASTAL CLIFFS NEAR ESTELLENCS (BALEARIC ISLANDS, SPAIN) WHERE THE OLDEST KNOWN GNAT WAS FOUND view more 

CREDIT: BALEARIC MUSEUM OF NATURAL SCIENCES

• A new fossil discovery dating from ‘just’ a few million years after the greatest mass extinction provides the earliest evidence of the insect group that includes mosquitoes and flies 

• The fossil, found in Mallorca, Spain, is an immature insect related to modern window- or wood-gnats 

• The excellent preservation of the fossil has allowed detailed studies, including determining its breathing system 

Near the small harbour of Estellencs at the northeast of Mallorca (Balearic Islands, Spain), a pebbly beach can be found at the base of an impressive scarp that threatens rockfall. Remains of plants, crustaceans, insects, and fish have been discovered in the grey-blue rock layers formed from sediments deposited 247 million years ago. Fossils in these rocks are of great interest since they offer a window into the time where the planet was recovering from the greatest mass extinction. 

A few years ago, Mallorcan researcher Josep Juárez made a surprising find during a palaeontological survey in the area – a complete insect larva that had left a slight imprint of organic remains on the two sides that were left exposed when the rock split in half. The detailed study of the fossil had to wait, but eventual examination with a powerful microscope revealed that it was a unique discovery. The larva, very well preserved, belongs to a group of insects that we all know, the dipterans — that is, true flies, mosquitoes, midges, and gnats. Although thousands of fossil dipterans have been found across the globe, both in thinly layered rocks and in amber, this specimen, 247 million years old (early Middle Triassic) –older than the earliest dinosaurs– is the oldest dipteran ever found. This record was previously held by fossils found in France, about one or two million years younger than those from Estellencs. 

Enrique Peñalver, from the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) at the Spanish Geological Survey (CN-IGME), and first author of the recently published study on the new fossil, says: “While I was inspecting it under the microscope, I put a drop of alcohol on it to increase the contrast of the structures, and I was able to witness in awe how the fossil had preserved both the external and internal structures of the head, some parts of the digestive system, and, most importantly, the external openings to its respiratory system, or spiracles.”

Rafel Matamales-Andreu, palaeontologist from the Balearic Museum of Natural Sciences (FJBS-MBCN) and another author of the study, has devoted several years to unravel the environment of this region during the Triassic period, and the changes it underwent for millions of years. “If we were able to visit the region at the beginning of the Triassic, we would see large rivers and floodplains under a climate similar to that found in tropical Africa today, alternating dry and rainy seasons,” he points out. 

This larva fed on organic matter from the soil ‘just’ a few million years in the aftermath of likely the most dramatic mass extinction in the history of life on Earth, which erased more than 80 per cent of the species and led to the end of the Palaeozoic Era. “We have been able to look at some of the adaptations by the first dipterans to the postapocalyptic environment at the beginning of the Triassic, for instance, a breathing system that is still found in different groups of insects today”, remarks Ricardo Pérez-de la Fuente, from Oxford University Museum of Natural History and also an author of the study.  

The authors have described a new genus and species related to modern window- or wood-gnats named Protoanisolarva juarezi, or “Juárez’s ancestral anisopodoid larva”, honouring its discoverer. This precious fossil is currently being conditioned at the Catalan Institute of Palaeontology Miquel Crusafont for its permanent custody in Mallorca. 

Detail of one of the preserved external breathing structures (spiracle) of the fossil, with arrows pointing to circular primary openings.

CREDIT

CN-IGME CSIC

Notes 

• The open access paper was published in the journal Papers in Palaeontology and can be found at: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/spp2.1472 

• The international team comprised researchers from the Spanish Geological Survey (CN-IGME) and the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Spain, the Balearic Museum of Natural Sciences (FJBS-MBCN), Mallorca, Spain, the National Museum of Natural History of France and the Sorbonne University in Paris, France, and Oxford University Museum of Natural History, United Kingdom. 

• Funding bodies: Department of Culture, Heritage and Linguistic Policies from the Insular Council of Mallorca, with the project ‘Mallorca before the dinosaurs: study of the continental ecosystems from the Permian and the Triassic, with special emphasis on the vertebrate remains´ (Ref. 15 - 619/2020); Spanish Geological Survey (CN-IGME, Spain), CERCA program (Government of Catalonia, Spain), predoctoral grant FPU17/01922 from the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, Government of Spain.

 

For further information and images, please contact: 

Dr Enrique Peñalver 
Senior Researcher 
Spanish Geological Survey (CN-IGME) and Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) 
e.penalver@igme.es 

Rafel Matamales-Andreu 
Curator
Balearic Museum of Natural Sciences (FJBS-MBCN)
rafel.matamales@icp.cat 

Dr Ricardo Pérez-de la Fuente   
Deputy Head of Research  
Oxford University Museum of Natural History   
ricardo.perez-de-lafuente@oum.ox.ac.uk  
 

Notes to editors   

About Oxford University Museum of Natural History   

Founded in 1860 as the centre for scientific study at the University of Oxford, the Museum of Natural History now holds the University’s internationally significant collections of entomological, geological and zoological specimens. Housed in a stunning Pre-Raphaelite-inspired example of neo-Gothic architecture, the Museum’s growing collections underpin a broad programme of natural environment research, teaching and public engagement.  

www.oumnh.ox.ac.uk  

www.morethanadodo.com  

---

JOURNAL

Papers in Palaeontology

DOI

10.1002/spp2.1472 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Animals

ARTICLE TITLE

Early adaptations of true flies (Diptera) to moist and aquatic continental environments

Sea temperatures control the distributions of European marine fish

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF BRISTOL

An analysis extending from southern Portugal to northern Norway highlights the importance of temperature in determining where fish species are found.

By confirming temperature as a key driver of large-scale spatial variation in fish assemblages the study was able to use future climate projections to predict where species will be most common by 2050 and 2100. The results show that overall, the greatest community-level changes are predicted at locations with greater warming, with the most pronounced effects further north - at higher latitudes.

The study was the first of its kind to use data from fisheries surveys over such a wide area to assess how environmental variation drives species distributions. The study included 198 marine fish species from 23 surveys and 31,502 samples collected by fisheries scientists between 2005 and 2018.

Martin Genner, Professor of Evolutionary Ecology at the University of Bristol’s School of Biological Sciences, who guided the research, said: “This unique study brings together fisheries survey data from across this vitally important marine ecosystem. Using this information, we are able to conclusively demonstrate the broad scale importance of sea temperature in controlling how fish communities assemble.”

Louise Rutterford, lead author of the study that was conducted at both Bristol and Exeter Universities explains: “The team’s analysis showed how temperature proved to be the most critical variable for determining where species are found, with water depth and salinity also being important factors. This enabled us to use predictive models to learn more about how fish will respond to climate warming over the coming decades.”

Professor Steve Simpson, who supervised the research, added: “The study adds to a growing body of evidence indicating that future climate-driven warming will lead to widespread changes in fish communities, potentially resulting in changes to the catches of commercial fisheries across the region.”

The study was funded by the Natural Environment Research Council [NERC] and the UK Government Office for Science.

Paper

‘Sea temperature is the primary driver of recent and predicted fish community structure across Northeast Atlantic shelf seas’ by Louise A. Rutterford, Stephen D. Simpson, Bjarte Bogstad, Jennifer A. Devine and Martin J. Genner in Global Change Biology

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JOURNAL

Global Change Biology

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Observational study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Animals

ARTICLE TITLE

Sea temperature is the primary driver of recent and predicted fish community structure across Northeast Atlantic shelf seas’

A study analyzes the notion of spectacle through the figure of Antigone

Reports and Proceedings

UNIVERSIDAD CARLOS III DE MADRID

A research study at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) analyzes the notion of spectacle as an enunciative space that is located beyond mediatic logic. In contrast to the generalized concept of spectacle laden with negative connotations, the study proposes a distancing of that concept from that of entertainment. UC3M Full Professor Pilar Carrera, in her essay Antígona o la razón espectacular (2023), published in the review Signa,advocates the notion of spectacle from the perspective of spectacular distance as an inherently political enunciation.  The author points to the figure of Antigone as an example of this spectacular logic. 

The spectacular distance or the distance in relation to representation has been practically removed with the dominant mediatic models of enunciation and reception that imply forms of pseudo-intimacy with the media. The digital space has radically reduced this spectacular distance through rhetorical strategies that resort to concepts such as horizontality, empowerment, co-creation and democratization. In light of the foregoing, the author notes the importance of in-depth analysis of the implications of a mediatic environment “whose narrative adheres to a supposedly anti-spectacular form”. 

“A society without spectacle is headed towards totalitarianism. All rhetoric of the “immersive” type is oriented toward propping up that loss of spectacular distance with the narrative. [...] Without this distance, the very notion of the political, knowledge, and freedom is in peril. Neither criticism nor freedom is possible without distance from representation”, observed Professor Carrera.

The “ideology of transparency” and the simulation of empowerment in the digital environment have perpetrated this shortening of the space between the stage and the audience, “directly devouring the audience and having them, supposedly, go up on stage.” In contrast, the article points to the mystics as the most radical theorists of the spectacle, with a discourse “in which the Self becomes a spectacular device, not a commodity that nurtures a reified and technocratic discourse. The mystic Self reestablishes the subject as a political space and intimacy as a transitional place in which discourse and action once again encounter each other”, the author explained. 

As an example of the spectacular logic, the author cites Sophocles’ tragedy, Antigone, because of the way of inhabiting the language it represents and as reflection upon a broader and more political notion of spectacle. 

Myriad analyses of this play have interpreted it as the struggle of an Antigone, representative of the private logic against political power: “clashes of private conscience and public welfare”, in the words of George Steiner. That is, the generalized interpretation is that of Antigone as an impassioned private subject, in line with a generalized cliché of femininity, and Creon symbolizing the cold-heartedness of power. However, Carrera’s proposal is in opposition to that interpretation and holds that “Creon did not consider the logic of Antigone to be the private or sentimental at all, as has been systematically interpreted; he considered it framed completely within the dimension of the public”. Furthermore, she added: “Antigone is resistance, yes, but not the resistance of the private individual to power. Antigone is the political, an eminently discursive act of resistance, defense, and attack against Creon, in whom the political has become ossified, reduced to the most primary, defensive expression and who can only maintain his position by resorting to physical violence and repression (...) Creon represents the political as a parapet that keeps him from being destroyed by his errors, his failures and his lies to the citizens.  It is clearly Creon who has turned the political into a domestic and personal matter, not Antigone”.

In this sense, Antigone is reclaimed as a figure of resistance, not, as it has been said, of the individual against power nor against patriarchy: “Antigone is a pitched battle played out in the scenario of language until Creon’s arrogance and impotency against the dialectic capacity of Antigone breaks the agreement and puts an end to the dialogic. If Antigone were simply the female doomed to end in a sacrificial fight against patriarchy it would not have endured nor would her figure or diction continue to fascinate [...]. What is tragic in the tragedy is the language, not the destiny of some characters who should not be identified with persons in the habitual sense. That is always the tragedy of language, staged at a point in which there is no possibility of judgement nor empathy”, the professor explained. 

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DOI

10.5944/signa.vol32.2023.33700 

SOCIETY OF THE SPECTACLE

Medicaid expansion reduced black-white disparities in preventable hospital visits

Peer-Reviewed Publication

RUTGERS UNIVERSITY

Expanding Medicaid-benefit eligibility to cover all people with income up to 138 percent of the federal poverty line reduced Black-white disparities in preventable hospitalizations and emergency department (ED) visits, according to research from Rutgers University and the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

The analysis of state-level inpatient and ED data from 2011 to 2018 showed that such disparities fell 10 percent or more in states that expanded eligibility compared to states that continued with older, stricter requirements.

Benefit expansion didn’t affect the relatively smaller disparities in preventable hospitalizations and ED visits between Hispanics and non-Hispanic white adults. The study didn’t examine disparities between white and Asian adults.

“Preventable hospitalizations and ED visits are important health metrics for assessing access to outpatient care. These include hospitalizations for diabetes or high blood pressure that are preventable with high-quality community level care,” said Sujoy Chakravarty, an associate research professor and health economist at the Rutgers Center for State Health Policy and a lead author of the study, published in Health Affairs. “The decline in disparities indicates that increased coverage through Medicaid expansion was an effective tool for providing valuable care to underserved communities.”

Starting in 2014, the Affordable Care Act allowed states (and encouraged them with subsidies) to expand Medicaid coverage to adults with income up to 138 percent of federal poverty thresholds.

The researchers utilized hospitalization data from 29 states and ED data from 26 states to understand the effects by comparing changes in disparities in states that expanded to states that didn’t expand eligibility.

The study population comprised adults ages 27 to 64. Family coverage mandates from 2010 cover younger people; Medicare covers older ones. The analysis controlled for age, sex and state variables such as median household income, poverty rate and community hospital beds per 1,000 residents.

In the five years after expansion became possible, Black-white disparities in preventable hospitalizations – as defined by Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality’s Prevention Quality Indicators – decreased more in expansion states than non-expansion states reflecting a 10.4 percent decrease in disparities associated with the Medicaid expansion.

In contrast, Black-White disparities in preventable ED visits rose in non-expansion states and to a lesser extent in expansion states which was not statistically significant - reflecting a 13.5 percent reduction in disparities associated with the Medicaid expansion.

The effects are significant in the context of the large disparities that existed before 2014. Rates of preventable hospitalizations and ED visits for non-Hispanic Black adults were 2.1 to 2.7 times those of non-Hispanic white adults in 2011–13.

The study’s findings suggest that Medicaid expansion would improve access to care and address health gaps in the 11 states that have opted against Medicaid expansion. States with expanded eligibility will need to test new strategies for service delivery and financing, as many of them currently do.

“The federal government has established statutes for Medicaid programs, but states apply for waivers to innovate care by covering new services or populations,” said Chakravarty, who leads a team of researchers evaluating the effects of several such experiments in New Jersey. “State waivers may allow coverage of upstream services such as housing or transportation, and access to these social determinants of health are critical for ensuring health and equity.”

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JOURNAL

Health Affairs

DOI

10.1377/hlthaff.2022.00460 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Data/statistical analysis

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Racial And Ethnic Disparities In Preventable Hospitalizations And ED Visits Five Years After ACA Medicaid Expansions

COI STATEMENT

Sujoy Chakravarty has received funding for work unrelated to this manuscript from the New Jersey Department of Human Services, National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and New Jersey Department of Health.

WAIT, WHAT?!

Microbes can create a more peaceful world: Scientists call to action 

Microorganisms should be ‘weaponized’ to stave off conflicts across the globe, according to a team of eminent microbiologists

Peer-Reviewed Publication

APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY INTERNATIONAL

 

IMAGE: WEAPONIZING MICROBES FOR PEACE view more 

CREDIT: IMAGE BY FRANZISKA JEBOK

Microorganisms should be ‘weaponised’ to stave off conflicts across the globe, according to a team of eminent microbiologists. 

The paper ‘Weaponising microbes for peace’ by Anand et al, outlines the ways in which microbes and microbial technologies can be used to tackle global and local challenges that could otherwise lead to conflict, but warns that these resources have been severely underexploited to date. 

Professor Kenneth Timmis, Founding Editor of AMI journals Environmental Microbiology, Environmental Microbiology Reports and Microbial Biotechnology, says that worldwide deficits and asymmetries in basic resources and services considered to be human rights, such as drinking water, sanitation, healthy nutrition, access to basic healthcare and a clean environment, can lead to competition between peoples for limited resources, tensions, and in some cases conflicts. 

“There is an urgent need to reduce such deficits, to level up, and to assure provision of basic resources for all peoples. This will also remove some of the causes of conflicts. There is a wide range of powerful microbial technologies that can provide or contribute to this provision of such resources and services, but deployment of such technologies is seriously underexploited,” Professor Timmis said. 

The paper then lists a series of ways in which microbial technologies can contribute to challenges such as food supply and security, sanitation and hygiene, healthcare, pollution, energy and heating, and mass migrations and overcrowding. For example, microbes are at the core of efforts to tackle pollution by bioremediation, replacing chemical methods of treating drinking water with metalloid conversion systems, and producing biofuels from wastes. 

“There is now a desperate need for a determined effort by all relevant actors to widely deploy appropriate microbial technologies to reduce key deficits and asymmetries, particularly among the most vulnerable populations,” Professor Timmis said..  

“Not only will this contribute to the improvement of humanitarian conditions and levelling up, and thereby to a reduction in tensions that may lead to conflicts, but also advance progress towards attainment of Sustainable Development Goals,” he said. . 

“In this paper, we draw attention to the wide range of powerful microbial technologies that can be deployed for this purpose and how sustainability can be addressed at the same time. We must weaponise microbes for peace.” 

The editorial is published in Microbial Biotechnology, an Applied Microbiology International publication, on March 7 2023. 

RECOMMENDED ACTIONS TO IMPLEMENT RELEVANT MICROBIAL TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS TO DEFICITS 

We need to urgently supply to communities lacking adequate levels of basic resources/services the infrastructure and know-how (capacity building), and funding for 

1. use of agrobiologics to increase crop yields, by providing green nitrogen, stimulating plant growth, and combatting pathogens and pests, 

2. exploitation of plant:microbe partnerships to improve soil health and implement regenerative agriculture, 

3. creation of nutritious fermented food from locally available crops, 

4. better use of microbes in the feed and food supply chains, 

5. production of microbial food for humans and farm animals, 

6. drinking water production and quality safeguarding, 

7. waste treatment with resource recovery, 

8. creation of modular DIY digital medical centres, 

9. production of vaccines and medicines, 

10. bioremediation and biorestoration of the environment in general and natural ecosystems in particular, to create healthier habitats and promote biodiversity 

11. reduction of greenhouse gas production and capturing carbon, 

12. production of biofuels, 

13. creation of local employment opportunities associated with the above, 

14. development of transdisciplinary approaches, using chemistry-related, computation technologies, psychology-related and other approaches that are synergistic to microbial solutions and 

15. education in societally relevant microbiology 

‘Weaponising microbes for peace’ is published in Microbial Biotechnology, an Applied Microbiology International publication, on March 7 2023. 

The authors are Shailly Anand, John E. Hallsworth, James Timmis, Willy Verstraete, Arturo Casadevall, Juan Luis Ramos, Utkarsh Sood, Roshan Kumar, Princy Hira, Charu Dogra Rawat, Abhilash Kumar, Sukanya Lal, Rup Lal, Kenneth Timmis. 

To read the full paper, click HERE. 

To find out more about AMI, visit https://appliedmicrobiology.org/ or https://www.the-microbiologist.com/. 

To interview Professor Kenneth Timmis, email kntimmis@googlemail.com. 

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JOURNAL

Microbial Biotechnology

DOI

10.1111/1751-7915.14224 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Commentary/editorial

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Weaponising microbes for peace

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

7-Mar-2023

Period: The Real Story of Menstruation - video available

Book Announcement

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN, NEWS BUREAU

 

VIDEO: KATHRYN CLANCY DESCRIBES HER BOOK. view more 

CREDIT: VIDEO BY STEVE DRAKE

Neutrons reveal how the spider lily preys on cancer, preserves healthy cells

Business Announcement

DOE/OAK RIDGE NATIONAL LABORATO

 

IMAGE: FROM LEFT ARE UWINDSOR STUDENTS ISABELLE DIB, DOMINIK DZIURA, STUART CASTILLO AND MAKSYMILIAN DZIURA AT ORNL’S NEUTRON SPIN ECHO SPECTROMETER. THEIR WORK ADVANCES STUDIES ON A NATURAL CANCER TREATMENT. view more 

CREDIT: GENEVIEVE MARTIN/ORNL, U.S. DEPT. OF ENERGY

A scientific instrument at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory could help create a noninvasive cancer treatment derived from a common tropical plant.

Pancratistatin is a chemical compound found in the spider lily, a native Hawaiian flower. Unlike traditional treatments, it kills cancer cells while keeping healthy cells intact.

Until recently, pancratistatin’s workings have mystified scientists, clouding hope for potential new treatments. But after conducting neutron experiments at ORNL, students from the University of Windsor have gained fundamental insights into the mechanics of pancratistatin that could open new doors to much-improved cancer treatments.

“By experimenting with cellular extracts here at the lab, we’re building on previous work to get a more detailed picture for pancratistatin,” said Stuart Castillo, the UWindsor doctoral candidate leading the study. “Our hope is to create a new path for treating cancer that doesn’t damage healthy cells.”

ORNL’s Spallation Neutron Source provides one of only a handful of neutron beamlines in the world capable of making the kinds of measurements the study needed. The Neutron Spin Echo instrument allowed the students to simultaneously measure cellular dynamics in angstroms and microseconds. One angstrom equals one ten-billionth of a meter. One microsecond equals one millionth of a second.

Cancerous tumors begin with an overgrowth of cells, a process that starts in mitochondria, the parts of a cell that produce energy. In theory, cancer cells get an influx of cholesterol that stiffens mitochondria’s cellular walls, or membranes, stopping their communication with other parts of the cell. Then, the mitochondria go rogue, causing cells to overmultiply.

One step back, one leap forward

Decades ago, scientists used living cells to discover pancratistatin’s effect on cancer. In these early experiments, pancratistatin successfully triggered apoptosis, or cell death, in cancerous testicular, breast, liver, pancreatic and nerve cells. Since then, research has been confined to experiments on synthetic membranes until more could be understood about this natural remedy. Experimenting with synthetic material allows researchers to build their understanding of specific changes without the variables that come with living systems.

“Something we say about working with synthetic membranes is that it’s never 100% representative of a cell and never will be. The scientific community as a whole eventually wants to transition from this basic synthetic model to a more realistic cell model,” said UWindsor graduate researcher Maksymilian Dziura. “We want to use living cells to understand cells, but getting there isn’t easy. We need to fully understand the picture before we can slowly transition into using more realistic systems.”

SNS and its sister facility, the High Flux Isotope Reactor, provide essential tools to help researchers observe and measure materials at the atomic scale. Neutrons are particularly suited for investigating biological membranes, because neutrons can pass through delicate biological materials without damaging them. Before coming to ORNL, the students showed that pancratistatin stiffened synthetic mitochondrial membranes in a way that triggered apoptosis, providing the basis for working with cells.

The students used SNS’s Neutron Spin Echo spectrometer to compare how pancratistatin affects the inner and outer layers of the mitochondria’s membranes in cancerous and noncancerous cells.

“We’re looking specifically at how stiff the membrane is, how thick it is and how those molecules behave next to each other,” said UWindsor graduate researcher Dominik Dziura. “The thought is that a healthy membrane will be flexible and move like it’s supposed to, binding to other receptors and membranes and allowing communication between cells, unlike the cancerous membranes.”

“There’s so much we don’t know about cancer,” said UWindsor graduate researcher Isabelle Dib. “And we haven’t really looked at the differences between cancerous and noncancerous cellular membranes. This is a new approach.”

  

University of Windsor students prepare samples at the University of Tennessee Shull Wollan Center.

CREDIT

Genevieve Martin/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

The team also used labs at the ORNL’s Shull Wollan Center and Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences to develop and prepare their samples. Both are a short walk to SNS. The proximity of these resources enabled the team to do research a few short weeks that otherwise could have taken them months or longer.

“The setup we have here, with SNS, the Shull Wollan Center and CNMS, it’s perfect for us to conduct our experiments and analyze our data,” said Castillo. “It’s the whole package.”

This research was supported by the University of Tennessee Shull Wollan Center, co-located at ORNL.

SNS and CNMS are DOE Office of Science user facilities. UT-Battelle manages ORNL for the Department of Energy’s Office of Science, the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States. The Office of Science is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit energy.gov/science.

UK

Occupants, councils and builders can all help clean the air in kitchens: new guidance published

Reports and Proceedings

UNIVERSITY OF SURREY

Advice on improving indoor air quality when cooking is today published by the University of Surrey's Global Centre for Clean Air Research (GCARE), with roles of occupants, builders, landlords and local councils across the globe. This global initiative by 34 co-authors from 19 countries included 10 generic and 10 evidence-based targeted measures.  

Cooking is the leading contributor to poor indoor air quality, contributing to four million premature deaths each year and is linked to illnesses including heart disease, lung cancer and strokes. In a ground-breaking study of 60 low-income kitchens across Asia, South America, the Middle East and Africa, GCARE researchers found that unhealthy cooking practices such as frying resulted in more than a 50% increase in harmful fine particulate matter emissions.  

Professor Prashant Kumar from the University of Surrey, who led the research that informed the guidelines, said:  

"Few people think about the fumes generated by cooking meals for their family, but the associated health risks are all too real. However, simple actions can improve home health significantly. For example, opening a window, steaming rather than frying, and keeping those who aren't actively cooking out of the kitchen can protect people from inhaling harmful toxins."  

Frying is the most particle-emitting activity that can contribute to more than 50% of the total harmful fine particulate matter emissions during cooking. Using extraction fans and keeping doors and windows open during cooking can reduce exposure to harmful fumes by 2-times compared to keeping just the doors open.   

 
Some of the actions recommended in the new guidance are for home cooks, others are for policymakers, builders, landlords and local authorities.  

 
Professor Kumar continued:  

 
"In the UK, housing authorities could include a safety sheet in kitchens advising on healthy and safe cooking practices and facilitate the installation of extraction fans in their properties. Architects could design kitchens with a separate but spacious area adjacent to where toddlers can be supervised during cooking without breathing fumes. In some countries, priority must be given to phasing out harmful fuels like charcoal and kerosene and subsidising cleaner cooking fuels and options.  

 
"A holistic approach, with communication and participation among home occupants, homeowners and builders, and local councils are crucial for overall change and effective exposure reduction."  

 
Dr Anwar Ali Khan, a co-author of the guidance from the Department of Environment, Government of Delhi, who is supporting the implementation of the guidance in India, said:   

 
"The user-friendly kitchen emission guidelines will support individual households, builders, and policymakers to bridge the knowledge gap and inform themselves about efficient ways to mitigate the harmful impacts of kitchen emissions on health and the environment. I believe that in the Indian context, such guidelines can be a significant resource to develop inventories of air pollution from household kitchens and create a similar novel framework document on kitchen emission safeguards." 

 Her Excellency Dr Yasmine Fouad, Egypt's Minister of Environment, who is leading the dissemination of the guidelines in Egypt, said:  

 
"Indoor air pollution is a grave issue that affects everyone. We need to be conscious of the risks, and scientific research and knowledge sharing are key to driving behavioral changes. This guideline takes positive steps towards achieving a holistic approach, emphasizing communication and participation among home occupants, homeowners, builders, and local councils, which are crucial for overall change and effective exposure reduction." 

 
Read the full guidelines at https://www.surrey.ac.uk/global-centre-clean-air-research/resources/kitchen-pollution-guidance  

We're keen to see how this guidance is used, so please share updates on social media using the hashtag #CleanAirKitchens.  

 To arrange for the guidelines to be translated into your local language, contact Professor Prashant Kumar (p.kumar@surrey.ac.uk) 

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Notes to editors 

• Reference: Kumar, P., Abbass, R.A., Abulude, F.O., Adelodun, A.A., Aghamohammadi, N., Andrade, M.F., Asfaw, A., Aziz, K.H., Castañeda, D.M.A., Cao, S.J., deSouza, P., El-Gendy, A., Gurjar, B.R., Fankam, B.T., Hama, S., Jain, S., Kakosimos, K.E., Khan, A.A., Khare, M., Khaiwal, R., Kota, S., Larrahondo, J.S., McNabola, A., Mor, S., Morawska, L., Muula, A.S., Nardocci, A.C., Ngowi, A.V., Nogueira, T., Olaya, Y., Omer, K., Osano, P., Pant, P., Parikh, P., Rojas, N., Salam, A., Shiva Nagendra, SM., Wu, H.W., 2023. Mitigating Exposure to Cooking Emissions in Kitchens of Low-Middle Income Homes - A guide for Home Occupants, Owners, 
  Builders & Local Councils. pp. 24. https://doi.org/10.15126/900568 

• Professor Kumar is available for interview upon request. 

• For more details please contact the University of Surrey press office via mediarelations@surrey.ac.uk 

 

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SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People