Uptick in drug overdose rates is widely reported especially among young women

Increase of 356% recorded from 2010 to 2021

Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health

Overdose rates in Colombia involving illegal opioids, hallucinogens, stimulants and sedative psychotropic medication increased greatly during 2018-2021, mainly caused by overdoses in young women, according to a study at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. Drug overdoses increased by 356 percent from 8.5 to 40.5 percent per 100,000 individuals from 2010 to 2021. The findings are published in the American Journal of Public Health.

The study is the first to describe national trends in overdose rates including prescribed and illegal substances and alcohol, across different population groups in Colombia.

“The pandemic in particular contributed to higher levels of distress and mental health problems including depression and anxiety in Colombia, similar to other countries,” said Silvia Martins, MD, PhD, professor of Epidemiology at Columbia Mailman School and senior author of the study. Higher prescriptions rates, and use of tranquilizers/sedatives/antidepressants in Colombia, during the pandemic, due to experiences of higher levels of anxiety, sadness, and difficulties to sleep, may have led to the overuse of drugs. This was more pronounced among women.”

Nearly 14 percent of people using substances in 2020 met criteria for a substance use-related disorder.

Based on results from the 2019 National Survey on Substance Use (CNSSU, Estudio Nacional de Consumo de Sustancias Psicoactivas de Colombia, 2019), the researchers found that substance use increased for most substances in the country in the past three decades, with only a small reduction in the prevalence of alcohol, cannabis, and cocaine use in 2019 compared to 2013.

To examine trends in overdose rates from 2010 to 2021, by type of substance, sex, age-group and intent as well as sociodemographic characteristics the researchers also used data from SIVIGILA --a national public health surveillance system, from 2010 to 2021, a mandatory notification system to determine health events.

The SIVIGILA data included 127,087 substance-use-related overdoses among people ages 10 and older, of which 54 percent were males, 75 percent were persons aged 10-34, 72 percent had at least some high school education or higher, and 51 percent and 38 percent respectively were individuals who either contributed to the health system or who were subsidized.

 

Information was used to group overdoses by substance type in the following categories: hallucinogens; stimulants (including prescription stimulants, cocaine, and methamphetamine); opioids (including prescription opioids, heroin, methadone and buprenorphine); inhalants; tranquilizers, sedatives and antidepressants; as well as cannabis. The researchers identified the most frequent combinations of multiple substances across the study period and the number of overdoses caused by these combinations.

The most frequently reported substances were tranquilizers/sedatives/antidepressants (43 percent), cannabis (16 percent)), stimulants (16 percent), alcohol (16 percent), and opioids (6 percent). The majority (95 percent), of stimulant overdoses were due to cocaine, while opioid overdoses were mostly due to prescription opioids (74 percent).

Overdose rates involving tranquilizers/sedatives/antidepressants and those involving opioids increased over the study period, growing at a faster rate after 2018. Drug overdoses involving cannabis and stimulants also increased until 2017 but decreased afterwards.  Among women, the sharpest increase in overdose rates were for tranquilizers/sedatives/antidepressants, which increased faster from 2018 to 2021 (from 12 to 33 per 100,000, respectively).

 

More research on risk factors, motivations for use, and sources of these medications is needed to improve harm reduction interventions and policies,” observed Julian Santaella-Tenorio, DrPH, professor at Universidad Pontificia Javeriana in Cali, Colombia, former Columbia DrPH student, and first author of the study.  “We also believe that suicide risk screening and access to complementary mental health care addressing suicidal ideation or behavior may improve health outcomes among individuals being prescribed these medications and those having recently experienced an overdose.”

“Addressing substance use challenges, including the emergence of novel drugs and of polysubstance use, is a complex task that requires a good understanding of the magnitude of the problem and the burden it imposes on populations and the health system,“ said Martins and Santaella-Tenorio.

It is possible that the decrease in the prevalence of cannabis and stimulants use in younger populations can be attributed to mobility restrictions during the COVID pandemic; reductions in these overdose rates may be also related to changes in consumption patterns that are less likely to result in overdose, noted the researchers.

According to Martins and Santaella, survey data likely underestimates the prevalence of drug use given that the CNSSU is a household survey that excludes populations with high-risk of drug use – i.e. homeless and incarcerated populations. In addition, overdoses not treated at health facilities are not included in the SIVIGILA data.

Over the past three decades, Colombia has transitioned to a human rights and public health-approach regulatory framework regarding substance use, an approach that is aligned with The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime guidelines.

The findings suggest that additional prevention efforts are necessary, including harm reduction and community-based programs, and better access to treatment services that can reduce the risk on overdose in the population. 

“Health surveillance systems are an important tool that can guide overdose prevention efforts in countries with limited data resources. While this particular study focuses on Colombia, their surveillance systems methodology can generate information for public health prevention efforts in other resource-poor countries,” noted Martins.

Co-authors are Jhoan Sebastian Zapata Lopez, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Colombia, Luis E. Segura, Columbia University Department of Epidemiology, Magdalena Cerda, NYU Department of Population Health, Thiago Fidalgo and Vitor Tardelli, Universidade Federal de São Paulo UNIFESP), Brazil.

The study was partially supported by a Columbia University Global Innovation Fund.

About Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health

Founded in 1922, the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health pursues an agenda of research, education, and service to address the critical and complex public health issues affecting New Yorkers, the nation and the world. The Columbia Mailman School is the fourth largest recipient of NIH grants among schools of public health. Its nearly 300 multi-disciplinary faculty members work in more than 100 countries around the world, addressing such issues as preventing infectious and chronic diseases, environmental health, maternal and child health, health policy, climate change and health, and public health preparedness. It is a leader in public health education with more than 1,300 graduate students from 55 nations pursuing a variety of master’s and doctoral degree programs. The Columbia Mailman School is also home to numerous world-renowned research centers, including ICAP and the Center for Infection and Immunity. For more information, please visit www.mailman.columbia.edu.

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Journal

American Journal of Public Health

DOI

10.2105/AJPH.2024.307786 

Article Title

Trends in nonfatal overdose rates due to alcohol, prescription and illegal substances in Colombia, 2010 to 2021

 

New national survey shows hesitancy about vaccines this fall

37% of poll respondents believe they don’t need to be vaccinated

Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center

With flu season just around the corner and COVID-19 cases on the rise, a new nationwide survey from The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center reveals hesitancy around vaccines this fall. The new data comes just as this year’s flu shot rolls out and following the FDA’s approval of an updated round of COVID-19 vaccines.

The national poll of 1,006 people found more than one-third (37%) have gotten vaccines in the past but do not plan to this year. The same percent of respondents said they don’t need any of the vaccines surveyed in the poll, including flu, COVID-19, pneumococcal and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).

Other survey results found:  

• A slight majority (56%) of adults have gotten or plan to get the flu shot this fall.
• Less than half (43%) have gotten or plan to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
• Adults age 65 and older are the most likely to get recommended vaccines.

“We’re at the start of respiratory virus season when you have the triple threat of flu, COVID-19 and RSV. Unfortunately, there is a lot of misinformation about vaccinations, but the reality is that they are safe and highly effective in preventing serious illness and death. Older adults, people with certain chronic medical conditions and those who are pregnant are especially at risk during respiratory virus season,” said Nora Colburn, MD, medical director of clinical epidemiology at Ohio State’s Richard M. Ross Heart Hospital.

CDC’s recommended vaccines

• Flu: Annual vaccination is recommended for everyone age 6 months and older.  
• COVID-19: Updated vaccination is recommended for everyone age 6 months and older. 
• RSV:  Everyone age 75 and older, adults age 60-74 who are at increased risk of severe disease and pregnant people during weeks 32-36 from September to January.
• Pneumococcal: Everyone younger than 5 years and age 65 and older.  Additionally, vaccination is recommended for children and adults at increased risk of severe disease.

“Vaccinations play a critical role in helping to keep individuals and communities healthy. Other things you can do is to stay home when sick, avoid those who are sick and wear a mask if you’re not feeling well and going out of your home. All of these things can help prevent you from getting sick and spreading it to others,” Colburn said.

Survey Methodology
This survey was conducted on behalf of The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center by SSRS on its Opinion Panel Omnibus platform. The SSRS Opinion Panel Omnibus is a national, twice-per-month, probability-based survey. Data collection was conducted from August 16 – August 18, 2024, among a sample of 1,006 respondents. The survey was conducted via web (n=975) and telephone (n=31) and administered in English. The margin of error for total respondents is +/-3.8 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. All SSRS Opinion Panel Omnibus data are weighted to represent the target population of U.S. adults ages 18 or older.

 

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Method of Research

Survey

Subject of Research

People

 

Ignore antifungal resistance in fungal disease at your peril, warn top scientists

Universiteit van Amsterdam

Without immediate action, humanity will potentially face further escalation in resistance in fungal disease, a renowned group of scientists from the across the world has warned. The commentary -  published in The Lancet this week - was coordinated by scientists at The University of Manchester, the Westerdijk Institute and the University of Amsterdam. According to the scientists most fungal pathogens identified by the World Health Organisation - accounting for around 3.8 million deaths a year - are either already resistant or rapidly acquiring resistance to antifungal drugs.

The authors argue that the currently narrow focus on bacteria will not fully combat antimicrobial resistance (AMR). September’s United Nations meeting on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) must, they demand, include resistance developed in many fungal pathogens.

Devastating health impacts
Resistance is nowadays the rule rather than the exception for the four currently available antifungal classes, making it difficult - if not impossible – to treat many invasive fungal infections. Fungicide resistant infections include Aspergillus, Candida, Nakaseomyces glabratus, and Trichophyton indotineae, all of which can have devastating health impacts on older or immunocompromised people.

Dr Norman van Rhijn from The University of Manchester coordinated the comment with Professor Ferry Hagen from the University of Amsterdam and the Westerdijk Institute in the Netherlands.

Dr van Rhijn said: “Most people agree that resistant bacterial infections constitute a significant part of the AMR problem. However many drug resistance problems over the past decades have also been the result of invasive fungal diseases largely underrecognized by scientists, governments, clinicians and pharmaceutical companies. The threat of fungal pathogens and antifungal resistance, even though it is a growing global issue, is being left out of the debate.”

Unlike bacteria, the close similarities between fungal and human cells which, say the experts, means it is hard to find treatments that selectively inhibit fungi with minimal toxicity to patients.

Back to square one
Professor Ferry Hagen added: “Despite the huge difficulties in developing them, several promising new agents including entirely new classes of molecules, have entered clinical trials in recent years. But even before they reach the market after years of development, fungicides with similar modes of action are developed by the agrochemical industry resulting in cross-resistance. That sets us back to square one again. It is true many essential crops are affected by fungi, so antifungal protection is required for food security. But the question is, at what price?”

The scientists recommend:

• Worldwide agreement on restricting the use of certain classes of antifungal molecules for specific applications.
• Collaboration on solutions and regulations that ensure food security and universal health for animals, plants, and humans.
• Adding priority to AMR to fungal infections at the UN’s meeting in September.

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Journal

The Lancet

Method of Research

Commentary/editorial

Subject of Research

Cells

Article Title

Beyond Bacteria: The Growing Threat of Antifungal Resistance

Article Publication Date

12-Sep-2024

 

Discovery could lead to longer-lasting EV batteries, hasten energy transition

University of Colorado at Boulder

 

image: 

Michael Toney and team tested Li-ion battery coin cells for capacity loss over time.

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Credit: Jesse Peterson/CU Boulder

Batteries lose capacity over time, which is why older cellphones run out of power more quickly.  This common phenomenon, however, is not completely understood. 
 
Now, an international team of researchers, led by an engineer at the University of Colorado Boulder, has revealed the underlying mechanism behind such battery degradation. Their discovery could help scientists to develop better batteries, which would allow electric vehicles to run farther and last longer, while also advancing energy storage technologies that would accelerate the transition to clean energy. 
 
The findings were published September 12 in the journal Science.

“We are helping to advance lithium-ion batteries by figuring out the molecular level processes involved in their degradation,” said Michael Toney, the paper’s corresponding author and a professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering. “Having a better battery is very important in shifting our energy infrastructure away from fossil fuels to more renewable energy sources.”  
 
Engineers have been working for years on designing lithium-ion batteries—the most common type of rechargeable batteries—without cobalt. Cobalt is an expensive rare mineral, and its mining process has been linked to grave environmental and human rights concerns. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, which supplies more than half of the world’s cobalt, many miners are children. 
 
So far, scientists have tried to use other elements such as nickel and magnesium to replace cobalt in lithium-ion batteries. But these batteries have even higher rates of self-discharge, which is when the battery’s internal chemical reactions reduce stored energy and degrade its capacity over time. Because of self-discharge, most EV batteries have a lifespan of seven to 10 years before they need to be replaced. 
 
Toney, who is also a fellow of the Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute, and his team set out to investigate the cause of self-discharge. In a typical lithium-ion battery, lithium ions, which carry charges, move from one side of the battery, called the anode, to the other side, called the cathode, through a medium called an electrolyte. During this process, the flow of these charged ions forms an electric current that powers electronic devices.  Charging the battery reverses the flow of the charged ions and returns them to the anode. 
 
Previously, scientists thought batteries self-discharge because not all lithium ions return to the anode when charging, reducing the number of charged ions available to form the current and provide power. 
 
Using the Advanced Photon Source, a powerful X-ray machine, at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois, the research team discovered that hydrogen molecules from the battery’s electrolyte would move to cathode and take the spots that lithium ions normally bind to. As a result, lithium ions have fewer places to bind to on the cathode, weakening the electric current and decreasing the battery’s capacity. 
 
Transportation is the single largest source of greenhouse gases generated in the U.S, accounting for 28% of the country’s emissions in 2021. In an effort to reduce emissions, many automakers have committed to moving away from developing gasoline cars to produce more EVs instead. But EV manufacturers face a host of challenges, including limited driving range, higher production costs and shorter battery lifespan than conventional vehicles. In the U.S. market, a typical all-electric car can run about 250 miles in a single charge, about 60% that of a gasoline car. The new study has the potential to address all of these issues, Toney said. 
 
“All consumers want cars with a large driving range. Some of these low cobalt-containing batteries can potentially provide a higher driving range, but we also need to make sure they don’t fall apart in a short period of time,” he said, noting that reducing cobalt can also reduce costs and address human rights and energy justice concerns. 
 
With a better understanding of the self-discharge mechanism, engineers can explore a few ways to prevent the process, such as coating the cathode with a special material to block hydrogen molecules or using a different electrolyte. 
 
“Now that we understand what is causing batteries to degrade, we can inform the battery chemistry community on what needs to be improved when designing in batteries,” Toney said. 

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Journal

Science

DOI

10.1126/science.adg4687 

Article Title

Solvent-mediated oxide hydrogenation in layered cathodes

 

How is open access transforming science communication?

Summary author: Walter Beckwith

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

In a Policy Forum, Mark McCabe and Frank Mueller-Langer explore how new open access (OA) mandates and agreements are changing how scientists share their work. They outline key contemporary unknowns in the open access landscape, as well as avenues for continued research. Since 2003, many national governments and international organizations have supported the Berlin Declaration on Open Access (OA) to Knowledge. More recently, some governments and organizations have introduced mandates to ensure open access to scientific publications and data. Notable initiatives include cOAlition S, launched in 2018 and supported by the European Commission and European Research Council, and a 2022 directive from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) known as the “Nelson Memo,” which requires all U.S. taxpayer-funded research to be openly accessible to the public, without embargo or cost, by the end of 2025. Despite increasing adoption of open access practices, the various downstream impacts of related changes aren’t widely understood. McCabe and Mueller-Langer focus on the effects of OA “big deals,” or Transformative Agreements (TAs), where universities and a single publisher negotiate the fees for publishing (i.e. APCs, or article processing charges); these agreements influence market prices and structures for the different stakeholders in the publishing industry and in academia, say the authors. They point out that APC-based OA business models are not models all publishers can adopt. “It seems likely that OA and traditional reader-pay journals will coexist in the immediate future, and probably should in the long run.” The authors argue that research funders and publishers responding to OA mandates should help gather more data to inform related policy updates. “Experimental research design and evidence collection supported by research funders and publishers are important elements for rigorous evidence-based policy advice on OA and the future of scientific communication,” write McCabe and Mueller-Langer.

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Journal

Science

DOI

10.1126/science.adp8882 

Article Title

Open access is transforming scientific communication

Article Publication Date

13-Sep-2024

 

Scientists developing portable neuroimaging see need for ethics guidance

University of Minnesota

Imagine gathering brain data in classrooms as students take a test or traveling to remote communities across the globe to study brain structure. Such possibilities are becoming more realistic as smaller, cheaper and more portable neuroimaging technologies allow researchers to acquire brain data in the field in real-world conditions. 

A new study by the University of Minnesota, published in NMR in Biomedicine, found ethical and legal guidance is not keeping up with the fast pace of development for highly portable and accessible neuroimaging.

The authors include faculty and two trainees from the U of M: Frances Daniels, Efrain Torres, Frances Lawrenz and Susan Wolf. They found that developers of the emerging technology have failed to formally address ethical, legal and social issues (ELSI) as they designed and deployed portable magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) systems.

The study was based on interviews with developers and scientists on the front lines of the portable brain scanner revolution, and covered a range of technologies: portable magnetoencephalography, electroencephalography, positron emission tomography, functional near-infrared spectroscopy, high-density diffuse optical tomography, and MRI. Developers of these technologies were not aware of guidance for how to effectively address the ELSI challenges emerging in their work.

“It’s important to highlight the lack of specific ELSI guidance and engagement at the portable neuroimaging technology product development stage, where stakeholders have the opportunity to make choices that could prevent or address future harms or concerns specific to their imaging modality,” said Daniels.

“Discussions with scientists and engineers made it clear that it’s easy to miss the societal implications of engineering decisions,” said Torres. “This work highlights the need for researchers, engineers and companies developing highly impactful technology to engage directly with the stakeholders they will one day impact.”

To address the gap, the authors recommend developers of these technologies work with ethics and legal experts to formulate guidelines. One base for such guidance could come from a recently-published article in the Journal of Law and the Biosciences. 

This research is supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Health BRAIN Initiative, and is based at the U of M’s Consortium on Law and Values in Health, Environment & the Life Sciences, chaired by Wolf and co-chaired by U of M Professor Francis Shen. 

About the Consortium on Law and Values in Health, Environment & the Life Sciences
Founded in 2000, the Consortium on Law and Values in Health, Environment & the Life Sciences links 21 member centers working across the University of Minnesota on the societal implications of biomedicine and the life sciences. The Consortium publishes groundbreaking work on issues including genetic and genomic research, oversight of nanobiology, cutting-edge neuroscience, and ethical issues raised by advances in bioengineering.

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Journal

NMR in Biomedicine

DOI

10.1002/nbm.5243 

Method of Research

Survey

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Scientists' perspectives on ethical issues in research with emerging portable neuroimaging technology: The need for guidance on ethical, legal, and societal implications (ELSI)

Article Publication Date

8-Sep-2024

 

Microbe dietary preferences influence the effectiveness of carbon sequestration in the deep ocean

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

 

image: 

Benjamin Van Mooy (WHOI) deploys a sediment trap aboard R/V Neil Armstrong to collect sinking particles for lipid analysis. This study was a collaboration between WHOI, ETH-Zürich, and the University of Calgary.

view more 

Credit: (Image credit: Helen Fredricks, ©Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

Woods Hole, Mass. (September 13, 2024) - The movement of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the surface of the ocean, where it is in active contact with the atmosphere, to the deep ocean, where it can be sequestered away for decades, centuries, or longer, depends on a number of seemingly small processes.

One of these key microscale processes is the dietary preferences of bacteria that feed on organic molecules called lipids, according to a journal article, "Microbial dietary preference and interactions affect the export of lipids to the deep ocean," published in Science.

"In our study, we found incredible variation in what the different microbes preferred to digest. Bacteria seem to have very distinct diet preferences for different lipid molecules. This has real implications for understanding carbon sequestration and the biological carbon pump," said journal article co-author Benjamin Van Mooy, a senior scientist in the Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry Department at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). "This study used state-of-the-art methods to link the molecular composition of the sinking biomass with its rates of degradation, which we were able to link to the dietary preferences of bacteria." The biological carbon pump is a process where biomass sinks from the ocean surface to the deep ocean.

About 5 to 30% of surface ocean particulate organic matter is composed of lipids, which are carbon-rich fatty acid biomolecules that microbes use for energy storage and cellular functions. As the organic matter sinks to the deep sea, diverse communities of resident microbes degrade and make use of the lipids, exerting an important control on global CO2 concentrations. Understanding this process is vital to improve our ability to forecast global carbon fluxes in changing ocean regimes. Geographic areas where more lipids reach the deep ocean undegraded could be hotspots for natural carbon sequestration.

"Bacteria isolated from marine particles exhibited distinct dietary preferences, ranging from selective to promiscuous degraders," the article states. “Using synthetic communities composed of isolates with distinct dietary preferences, we showed that lipid degradation is modulated by microbial interactions. A particle export model incorporating these dynamics indicates that metabolic specialization and community dynamics may influence lipid transport efficiency in the ocean's mesopelagic zone." The mesopelagic zone extends about 200-1000 meters below the ocean surface.

"I was thrilled to see how much there is to learn about the functioning of the ocean by combining two technologies– high-end chemical analysis and microscale imaging–that have historically never been used together", said co-author Roman Stocker, professor at the Institute of Environment Engineering, Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering, ETH Zurich, Switzerland, "I believe that work at the interface between the exciting technologies we now have available in microbial oceanography will continue to yield important insights into how microbes shape our oceans, now and into the future."

“Scientists are starting to understand that lipids in the ocean can vary significantly depending on different environments, such as the coast versus the open ocean, and the season,” said Van Mooy. “With this information, researchers can start to consider whether there are places in the ocean where lipids sink and are sequestered very efficiently, while there may be other locations where lipids are barely sequestered at all or are very inefficiently sequestered.”

"What excites me about this paper is that it shows bacteria are not just eating any type of lipid, but are very specialized and, like us, have specific food preferences," said article co-author Lars Behrendt, associate professor and SciLifeLab fellow at the Science for Life Laboratory, Department of Organismal Biology, Uppsala University, Sweden. "This changes how we think about how microorganisms consume food in their natural environment and how they might help each other or compete for the same resource. It also supports the idea that combinations of bacteria better break down specific compounds, including lipids, or to achieve other desired functions."

In addition to studying specific bacteria species in isolation, the researchers also looked at how dietary preference affects degradation rates by multispecies communities of bacteria, which they stated is ecologically more relevant than species in isolation. The researchers found that simple synthetic co-cultures exhibited different degradation rates and delay times when compared to monocultures. The researchers also noted that the degradation of particulate organic matter in the natural environment is even more complex than what is described in the study.

“Phytoplankton are the main reason the ocean is one of the biggest carbon sinks. These microscopic organisms play a huge role in the world's carbon cycle - absorbing about as much carbon as all the plants on land combined,” said co-author Uria Alcolombri, senior lecturer, Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Sciences, Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel. "It's fascinating that we can study tiny microbial processes under the microscope while uncovering the biological factors that regulate this massive 'digestive system' of the ocean."

Major funding for this research was provided by the Moore Foundation, Simons Foundation, and National Science Foundation. Additional support was provided by the European Molecular Biology Organization, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Canada Foundation for Innovation, Human Frontier Science Program, Canada Research Chair from the Canadian Institutes for Health Research, Independent Research Fund Denmark, Swedish Research Council, Science for Life Laboratory, European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme, and Swiss National Science Foundation.

###

 

 

 

Authors: Lars Behrendt1*#, Uria Alcolombri2#, Jonathan E. Hunter3#, Steven Smriga4, Tracy Mincer5, Daniel P. Lowenstein3, Yutaka Yawata6, François J. Peaudecerf4,7, Vicente I. Fernandez4, Helen F. Fredricks3, Henrik Almblad8, Joe J. Harrison8, Roman Stocker4*, Benjamin A. S. Van Mooy3*   

Affiliations:

1Department of Organismal Biology, Science for Life Laboratory, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden

2Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Institute of Life Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel

3Department of Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA, USA

4 Institute of Environmental Engineering, Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering, Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich (ETHZ), Zürich, Switzerland

5Florida Atlantic University, Wilkes Honors College, Jupiter, FL, USA

6Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan

7University of Rennes, CNRS, Institut de Physique de Rennes, Rennes, France

8Department of Biological Sciences, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, AB, Canada

#These authors contributed equally

*Corresponding authors

About Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) is a private, non-profit organization on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, dedicated to marine research, engineering, and higher education. Established in 1930, its primary mission is to understand the ocean and its interaction with the Earth as a whole, and to communicate an understanding of the ocean's role in the changing global environment. WHOI's pioneering discoveries stem from an ideal combination of science and engineering—one that has made it one of the most trusted and technically advanced leaders in basic and applied ocean research and exploration anywhere. WHOI is known for its multidisciplinary approach, superior ship operations, and unparalleled deep-sea robotics capabilities. We play a leading role in ocean observation and operate the most extensive suite of data-gathering platforms in the world. Top scientists, engineers, and students collaborate on more than 800 concurrent projects worldwide—both above and below the waves—pushing the boundaries of knowledge and possibility. For more information, please visit www.whoi.edu

 

 

Key takeaways:

•             The movement of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the surface of the ocean, where it is in active contact with the atmosphere, to the deep ocean, where it can be sequestered away for decades, centuries, or longer, depends on a number of seemingly small processes.

•             A key microscale process in the ocean is the dietary preferences of bacteria that feed on organic molecules called lipids, according to a journal article, "Microbial dietary preference and interactions affect the export of lipids to the deep ocean," published in Science.

•             "We found incredible variation in what the different microbes preferred to digest. Bacteria seem to have very distinct diet preferences for different lipid molecules. This has real implications for understanding carbon sequestration and the biological carbon pump," said journal article co-author Benjamin Van Mooy, a senior scientist in the Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry Department at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

•             "This study uses state-of-the-art  methods to link the molecular composition of the sinking biomass with its rates of degradation, and linking that to the preferences of bacteria," said WHOI's Benjamin Van Mooy.

•             About 5 to 30% of surface ocean particulate organic matter is composed of lipids, which are carbon-rich fatty acid biomolecules that microbes use for energy storage and cellular functions. As the organic matter sinks to the deep sea, diverse communities of resident microbes degrade and make use the lipids, exerting an important control on global CO2 concentrations. Understanding this process is important to improve our ability to forecast global carbon fluxes in changing ocean regimes. Areas where more lipids reach the deep ocean undegraded could lead to greater rates of carbon sequestration.

Co-lead authors Lars Behrendt (left; ETH-Zürich) and Jon Hunter (right;WHOI) aboard the R/V Neil Armstrong, sampling sinking particles for lipid analysis.

Credit

(Image credit: Helen Fredricks, ©Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

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Journal

Science

DOI

10.1126/science.aab2661 

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

Animals

Article Title

Microbial dietary preference and interactions affect the export of lipids to the deep ocean

Article Publication Date

13-Sep-2024