The purrfect gene

Uncovering the genetic basis of purring in cats

Kyoto University

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A cat who participated in the study (photo provided by the owner) 

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Credit: (KyotoU / Maruyama lab)

Kyoto, Japan -- Whether you are lucky enough to have a cat companion or must merely live this experience vicariously through cat videos, Felis catus is a familiar and comforting presence in our daily lives. Unlike most other feline species, cats exhibit sociality, can live in groups, and communicate both with other cats and humans, which is why they have been humans' trusted accomplices for millennia.

Despite this intimacy, there is still much that we don't know about our feline friends. Numerous behavioral studies have been conducted on other mammal species, but relatively few on cats.

In part to fill this gap, a team of researchers at Wildlife Research Center of Kyoto University are investigating the genetic background of cats' behavioral traits. Specifically, they aim to understand the association between traits like purring and variation in the androgen receptor gene. Though the exact function of purring remains unclear, previous studies have indicated that it is beneficial for feline communication and survival.

The team conducted a behavior assessment and focused on 280 cats, all of which were spayed or neutered mixed breeds kept in their owners' homes. They also collected DNA samples and analyzed the androgen receptor gene, comparing this to that of other Felidae species.

"When we called for participants, we were moved to receive responses from 265 cat owners from across Japan in just a single day, and received kind messages. This reminded us of the strong public interest in cat research," says first author Yume Okamoto, a doctoral student.

The results supported the thinking that a genetic basis exists for both purring and vocal communication. Cats with the short-type androgen receptor gene displayed higher owner-assessed purring scores than those with long-type gene. Additionally, short-type males exhibited higher vocalization toward humans, indicating the gene's connection to vocal communication. In contrast, female cats with the short-type gene displayed higher stranger-directed aggression.

These results may also reveal a decrease in the importance of vocal communication for cats raised by humans since kittenhood, which are typically pure-breed cats. Previous studies indicate that pure-breed cats are more likely to carry the long-type gene than mixed-breed cats. Many mixed breed cats in this study are rescued former stray cats, which may imply that rescues tend to meow more.

Comparing the cats' genes to that of 11 other Felidae species, the research team found that the leopard cat and the fishing cat, both closely related to domestic cats, possessed only the short-type, whereas domestic cats had longer types not found in the other species. These findings suggest that the emergence of these longer types may be a result of genetic changes associated with domestication and selective breeding.

These results have the potential to help us predict behavioral tendencies based on genetic data and to facilitate need-based observation and enhanced care, which could ultimately help us improve animal welfare. The research team is also planning to expand their focus to other Felidae species.

"Through our research, we hope to deepen our understanding of cats and contribute to building happier relationships between cats and humans," says Okamoto.

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The paper "Association between androgen receptor gene and behavioral traits in cats (Felis catus)" appeared on 28 May 2025 in PLOS One, with doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0324055

About Kyoto University

Kyoto University is one of Japan and Asia's premier research institutions, founded in 1897 and responsible for producing numerous Nobel laureates and winners of other prestigious international prizes. A broad curriculum across the arts and sciences at undergraduate and graduate levels complements several research centers, facilities, and offices around Japan and the world. For more information, please see: http://www.kyoto-u.ac.jp/en

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Journal

PLOS One

DOI

10.1371/journal.pone.0324055 

Method of Research

Observational study

Subject of Research

Animals

Article Title

Association between androgen receptor gene and behavioral traits in cats (Felis catus)

Article Publication Date

28-May-2025

Does outdoor air pollution affect indoor air quality? It could depend on buildings’ HVAC

Using their campus itself as a lab, Utah researchers conclude inversion and dust pollution is kept out of buildings, but wildfire smoke can sneak inside if efficient 'air-side economizers' are in use.

News Release 28-May-2025
University of Utah

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Wildfire smoke hangs over the University of Utah campus in Salt Lake City on Aug. 6, 2021

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Credit: University of Utah

We typically spend 80% of our time indoors, where the quality of the air we breathe depends on the age and type of building we occupy, as well as indoor pollution and outdoor pollution sources. But also playing an important role is the kind of HVAC system used to heat, ventilate and cool the building, according to new research from the University of Utah.

Using the Salt Lake City campus as a living laboratory, the College of Engineering teamed up with Facilities Management and occupational and environmental health researchers to explore whether and how outdoor air pollution affects indoor air quality. They found that indoor air quality on campus was generally good.  However, depending on a building’s HVAC system, fine particulate pollution, or PM2.5, from wildfire smoke can infiltrate buildings, while pollution associated with dust events and winter inversions is kept out.

The study found the issue lies with commercial HVAC systems that use air-side economizers. Using special duct and damper arrangements, this technology reduces energy use by drawing air from outdoors when temperature and humidity levels are optimal, such as cool summer and fall mornings. This helps with energy efficiency, but if the air is smoky that day, the system could pull in particulate pollution and some particles make it past the filters, according to chemical engineering professor Kerry Kelly, who is overseeing the research.

Campus as laboratory

“Our buildings are big and they’re complicated, and oftentimes they’ve been added onto and integrated with different kinds of systems,” Kelly said. “So I think the management is challenging, but the good thing is it is a very solvable problem. Even simple solutions like portable air filters do a great job.”

The ongoing project deployed low-cost wirelessly connected sensors in 17 indoor and two outdoor locations in an effort to characterize what happens with indoor air quality when particulate pollution is elevated during dust storms, winter inversions and wildfire season—which present different kinds of PM2.5 and occur at different times of the year.

“We look at the ratio of the indoor particulate matter measurements to that of the outdoor particulate matter measurements. The closer that value gets to one, which means more of the particulate matter is going to be sourced from outdoors versus indoor sources,” said study leader Tristalee Mangin, a graduate student in chemical engineering. “We looked at those ratios and then did analyses based on the different groupings of HVAC types.”

How smoke differs from dust and inversions

Wildfire smoke had four to five times more PM2.5 infiltration into buildings than pollution from inversions and wind-driven dust events. However, exceedances of international health guidelines only occurred in buildings ventilated with air-side economizers and were still very rare.

The team used small devices designed by Pierre-Emmanuel Gaillardon, professor of electrical and computer engineering, and commercialized through a U startup called TELLUS. The cost per device was just $450, far less than what compliance-grade equipment would cost. They were installed on walls at breathing height in a variety of buildings spread mostly around the main campus.

According to their findings, outdoor pollution arising from wind-blown dust and inversions did not have much effect on indoor air quality, regardless of the HVAC system. This is likely the result of the nature of the PM2.5 associated with those pollution events.

Dust particles are typically larger and heavier than smoke particles, so they tend to fall out of the air and get caught in filters. Inversion particles are a more complicated story.

“It has to do with the thermodynamics of the particles that are in the inversion. Utah’s particulate matter is primarily ammonium nitrate, like 60% of our particles,” Kelly said. “At indoor temperatures and relative humidities, those particles turn into a gas phase. During an inversion, most of the stuff that’s a particle outside is not a particle when it gets inside. It kind of disappears.”

Research continues to find solutions

This paper is based on an 18-month study window that ended in April 2024, but the research is ongoing and the monitors remain active and visible. A statement about the research and how it’s funded by a Seed2Soil and SCIF grants is posted next to the devices.

Besides shedding light on HVAC systems’ strengths and weaknesses for keeping out pollution, the findings are expected to help campus building managers craft operational adjustments to maintain good indoor air quality, particularly during wildfire season. However, the campus’s approximately 18 million square feet of building space exhibits great variety that defies a uniform approach, according to co-author Sean Nielson, an engineer with Facilities Management’s Sustainability and Energy group.

“Every building and system has unique features,” Nielson said. “Looking at buildings and systems individually is something we’re going to consider in the future and see what we can do to modify that system.”

It will not be a simple matter of just closing dampers on smoky days, but rather adjusting them based on the specific needs of particular buildings.

“You still have code minimum requirements for a certain amount of outside air that must be provided,” Nielson said. “A primary reason for outside air is to dilute and flush out indoor contaminants. Finding the ideal balance between outside air and recirculated inside air is difficult due to the high number of variables.  Applying higher-rated MERV air filtration is one tool that often works to improve air quality for many applications, but there are limitations as to what contaminants can effectively be filtered and how they can practically be applied to existing equipment.

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This ongoing research project stems from a collaboration between the KairLab, Facilities Management and the Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine. Co-authors include Zachary Barrett, Zachary Palmer and Darrah Sleeth of the U’s Division of Occupational and Environmental Health. These results are to be published in the June 15 edition of Building and the Environment under the title, “Understanding the effect of outdoor pollution episodes and HVAC type on indoor air quality,” and are available now online. Additional support for this research came from the U’s Global Change & Sustainability Center, the Sustainable Campus Initiative Fund, or SCIF, and the Wilkes Center for Climate Science & Policy.

  

Tristalee Mangin, chemical engineering graduate student, opens a compact, low-cost air quality sensor developed by University of Utah engineers.

Credit

Brian Maffly, University of Utah

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Journal

Building and Environment

DOI

10.1016/j.buildenv.2025.112978 

Method of Research

Observational study

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Understanding the effect of outdoor pollution episodes and HVAC type on indoor air quality

Article Publication Date

15-Jun-2025

COI Statement

The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Kerry Kelly reports financial support was provided by Global Change & Sustainability Center, University of Utah. Tristalee Mangin reports financial support was provided by Sustainable Campus Initiative Fund, University of Utah. Tristalee Mangin reports travel was provided by Wilkes Center for Climate Science & Policy, University of Utah. Kerry Kelly reports a relationship with Tellus Networked Solutions, LCC that includes: board membership and equity or stocks. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

 

Long shot science leads to revised age for land-animal ancestor

University of Texas at Austin

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The fossil of the Westlothiana lizziae, which was found in the East Kirkton Quarry in West Lothian, Scotland.

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Credit: National Museums Scotland

In 1984, an amateur paleontologist in Scotland found a remarkable specimen: a nearly complete fossil of what looked to be a lizard or salamander. Rather small in size at 20 centimeters, it would turn out to be a crucial piece in the puzzle of animal evolution.

This creature, called Westlothiana lizziae, is one of the earliest examples of a four-legged animal that had evolved from living underwater to dwelling on earth. It, and other stem tetrapods like it, are common ancestors of the amphibians, birds, reptiles and mammals that exist today, including humans.

Despite its significance, researchers had never determined an accurate age of the fossil. But thanks to new research out of The University of Texas at Austin, scientists now know that the Westlothiana lizziae, along with similar salamander-like creatures from the same spot in Scotland, are potentially 14 million years older than previously thought.

The new age — dating back to 346 million years ago — adds to the significance of the find because it places the specimens in a mysterious hole in the fossil record called Romer’s Gap.

The research, published recently in the journal PLOS One, was led by Hector Garza, who just graduated with his doctoral degree from the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at the UT Jackson School of Geosciences. Garza took a risk when he embarked on his mission to date the ancient fossils using a geochemical technique called radiometric dating.

That’s because while geoscientists can use zircon crystals to determine how long ago a rock was formed, not all rock types are amenable to this type of analysis. And the site in Scotland where the fossils were discovered was near ancient volcanoes whose lava flows had long hardened into basalt rock, where zircons do not typically form. Fellow scientists warned Garza that chemically dating the rocks might be fruitless.

“I think that was one of the reasons why no one tried to go into them before,” Garza said. “Because of all the time and effort that it takes to obtain the zircons and then taking the risk of not finding any.”

But he got lucky. As mud cascaded down from the volcanoes, the flowing lava and debris eroded sediment that contained zircons, which got swept into a lake where limestone was forming, entombing these early tetrapod creatures.

Garza X-rayed 11 of the rock samples at the Jackson School and was able to extract zircons from the rock surrounding six of the fossils. He then conducted uranium-lead laser dating on the zircons at the University of Houston to determine their oldest possible age.

Before Garza’s gamble, scientists had figured the fossils were as old as similar fossils from around the world — about 331 million years old.

The more accurate, older maximum age of 346 million years is significant because it places the specimens in Romer’s Gap. This is a time period from 360 to 345 million years ago where, for reasons scientists are not exactly sure of, very few fossils have been discovered. It is during this crucial point in history that water-dwelling fish took an evolutionary leap, growing lungs and four legs to become land animals. This is one of the most pivotal milestones in the history of animal evolution.

“I can’t overstate the importance of the iconic East Kirkland tetrapods,” said Julia Clarke, professor at the Jackson School and co-author of this paper. “Better constraining the age of these fossils is key to understanding the timing of the emergence of vertebrates on to land. Timing in turn is key to assessing why this transition occurs when it does and what factors in the environment may be linked to this event.”

The site in Scotland where the fossils were found is the East Kirkton Quarry, a veritable treasure trove of early tetrapod records. Seven stem tetrapod fossils, including the Westlothiana lizziae, have been found there. Hundreds of millions of years ago when these early four-legged creatures roamed, this site was a tropical forest with nearby active volcanoes, a toxic lake, and a diverse plant and animal community.

The National Museum of Scotland provided Garza with bits of rock that surrounded the fossils to use for the sampling. Other study co-authors are Associate Professor Elizabeth Catlos and Michael Brookfield, both of the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at the Jackson School, and Thomas Lapen, professor and chair of the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Houston.

An environmental reconstruction of the East Kirkton area some 346 million years ago depicts the Westlothiana lizziae resting on a rock.

Credit

Hector Garza

Mississippian geological time scale illustrating the previously assessed biostratigraphic age of the East Kirkton Quarry tetrapods (green box) and the updated interpreted age from this study (red dashed box). The approximate temporal extent of Romer’s Gap is highlighted in the orange box.

Credit

Garza et al.

Journal

PLOS One

DOI

10.1371/journal.pone.0321714 

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

New U-Pb constraints and geochemistry of the East Kirkton Quarry, Scotland: Implications for early tetrapod evolution in the Carboniferous

 

New 3D flood visualizations help communities understand rising water risks

NYU research shows dynamic simulations dramatically outperform traditional maps for communicating evacuation needs

NYU Tandon School of Engineering

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As climate change intensifies extreme weather, two new NYU studies show 3D flood visualizations developed by a cross-institutional research team dramatically outperform traditional maps for communicating risk.

When Sunset Park, Brooklyn residents compared both formats that visualized flooding, 92% preferred the dynamic 3D approach.

"The challenge we face is that substantial sectors of the population ignore flood warnings and fail to evacuate," said Professor Debra F. Laefer, the NYU Tandon School of Engineering senior researcher involved in both studies who holds appointments in the Civil and Urban Engineering Department and in the Center for Urban Science + Progress (CUSP). "Our findings suggest dynamic 3D visualizations could significantly improve how we communicate these life-threatening risks."

A Laefer-led team from NYU Tandon and NYU Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development — with colleagues from University College Dublin and Queen’s University Belfast — developed a low-cost visualization method that transforms LiDAR scans of urban streets into immersive flood simulations, detailed in a paper called "Low-Cost, LiDAR-Based, Dynamic, Flood Risk Communication Viewer” published in Remote Sensing.

Under leadership of Tandon and Steinhardt researchers, the team evaluated these visualizations in a second paper, "From 2D to 3D: Flood risk communication in a flood-prone neighborhood via dynamic, isometric street views," published in Progress in Disaster Science. This study compared visualization methods for a Category 3 hurricane scenario: a conventional NOAA flood map versus a 3D simulation showing water rising to three feet at the intersection of 4th Avenue and 36th in Sunset Park.

The results were stark. Not only did participants overwhelmingly prefer the 3D visualization, but 100% found it more authoritative than the traditional map, with a significantly better understanding of evacuation challenges.

What makes this approach innovative is its computational efficiency. Unlike existing systems that require powerful hardware, it decouples flood prediction from visualization, allowing operation on standard computers.

"We achieved this using a Potree viewer coupled with Inkscape to create dynamic flood water flow," Laefer notes. "Our study didn't require a graphics card — just a single, quad-core processor."

The visualization includes realistic water movement created through compounding sine wave functions, with algorithms controlling transparency, color, and flow speed.

"One of the most rewarding aspects was seeing how participants instantly grasped the flood severity without technical explanations," said Kshitij Chandna, a master’s student advised by Laefer at the time of the research, who is the co-author on both studies. "When someone looks at a 3D simulation and says 'I would need to evacuate,' you know you've successfully communicated risk in a way traditional maps cannot."

For Sunset Park's immigrant community, many facing language barriers, the intuitive 3D visualization proved particularly valuable. Participants described it as "more realistic," "clearer," and "more visual" than traditional maps.

The implications extend beyond flood visualization. The researchers have already demonstrated visualizing water flowing through pipes and are exploring applications for other types of flooding.

As climate change increases flooding frequency, this research suggests dynamic 3D visualization could bridge the gap between abstract warnings and concrete actions needed to save lives.

The Remote Sensing paper's authors are Laefer, Chandna, Evan O'Keeffe, Kim Hertz (NYU Tandon); Jing Zhu and Raul Lejano (NYU Steinhardt); Anh Vo and Michela Bertolotto (University College Dublin); and Ulrich Ofterdinger (Queen's University Belfast). The Progress in Disaster Science paper was authored by Zhu, Laefer, Lejano, Peter Gmelch (NYU Tandon), O'Keeffe, and Chandna.

The United States National Science Foundation provided funding for this research, which builds upon Laefer's pioneering work in LiDAR and remote sensing technologies for urban applications.

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Journal

Progress in Disaster Science

DOI

10.1016/j.pdisas.2025.100419 

Method of Research

Computational simulation/modeling

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

From 2D to 3D: Flood risk communication in a flood-prone neighborhood via dynamic, isometric street views

 

ASCO 2025: Alcohol-fueled cancer deaths are on the rise in the US

Sylvester study is first to analyze trends over time in alcohol-linked cancer mortality across the nation

University of Miami Miller School of Medicine

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Chinmay Jani, MD, and Gilberto Lopes, MD, at the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center led a study that is the first to look at trends over time in alcohol-linked cancer mortality across the United States.

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Credit: Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center

VIDEO AVAILABLE HERE

MIAMI, FLORIDA (May 29, 2025) – A new study led by experts at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, part of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, is the first to look at trends over time in alcohol-linked cancer mortality across the United States. The findings, titled “Escalating Impact of Alcohol-Related Cancer Mortality in the U.S.: A call for action,” will be presented May 31 at ASCO 2025, the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Chicago.

Earlier this year, the former U.S. surgeon general issued an advisory warning Americans of the strong links between alcohol consumption and increased risk of several types of cancer. Although many of these links have been well known among scientists for years, awareness of this connection among the general public is low.

To understand how alcohol may be fueling rates of cancer-related deaths, researchers at Sylvester delved into data from the Global Burden of Disease database. This public dataset captures detailed disease information from around the world and estimates risk factors – including alcohol consumption – that likely contribute to diagnoses and deaths.

ASCO Merit Award

The researchers looked at total cancer deaths, as well as those due to specific cancer types known to be influenced by alcohol consumption: breast, liver, colorectal, throat, voice box, mouth and esophageal cancers. They found that between 1990 and 2021, the total number of alcohol-related cancer deaths nearly doubled in the U.S., rising from just under 12,000 deaths per year to just over 23,000. The burden is especially high in men over 55, who saw their alcohol-linked cancer mortality rise by a bit over 1% every year between 2007 and 2021.

“That’s a big and concerning rise,” said Chinmay Jani, M.D., a Sylvester hematology and oncology fellow who led the study and will present the research findings at ASCO; his abstract has also won an ASCO Merit Award. “We need to increase awareness of this link among the general population and even in the medical field,” he said. “There’s a lot of awareness about, for example, tobacco and the risk of cancer. But for alcohol, that awareness isn’t there.”

Alcohol-Linked Cancer

A 2019 survey from the American Institute for Cancer Research found that while 89% of American adults know that tobacco raises the risk of cancer, only 45% know that alcohol does as well. There are about 100,000 new cancer diagnoses related to alcohol every year in the U.S., or around 5% of all cancer cases, according to the surgeon general’s report, and around 20,000 deaths due to alcohol-linked cancer. That’s significantly higher than the deaths caused by drunk driving every year.

The increase in alcohol-related cancer mortality rate seems to be entirely due to an increase among men. In women, both young and old, the rates have declined slightly since 1990. In men ages 20-54, the mortality rates increased slightly. However, the team also looked at proportions of cancer deaths due to alcohol and found that, even for cancers with declining mortality rates, the proportion due to alcohol for nearly all of them rose between 1990 and 2021, for both men and women. Among all cancers combined, the percentage of cancer deaths likely due to alcohol consumption increased by nearly 50% between 1990 and 2021. That is, even if other factors, such as improved screening and treatment, are driving overall cancer deaths down, alcohol consumption is responsible for a larger percentage of cancer mortality than in the past.

The Largest Increases

Liver cancer, colorectal cancer and esophageal cancer saw the largest increases in alcohol-related mortality; colorectal and esophageal cancers saw the largest proportional increases. The researchers also looked at trends at the state level: The District of Columbia and Texas had the highest rates of alcohol-linked cancer mortality, while Utah had the lowest. State-level differences could reflect different drinking cultures in different regions, but could also be due to socioeconomic and health access differences, the researchers said.

Besides calling for an increased awareness of the link between alcohol and cancer, Jani said it will be important to further tease out the biology behind this connection. Alcohol is known to increase cancer risk through several different mechanisms, including DNA damage and altering levels of hormones. Biological differences among people may impact how alcohol consumption raises their individual risk, and further understanding these differences could eventually allow physicians to screen for patients at highest risk and tailor counseling individually.

“We hope that our study will help educate the public on the impact of alcohol on individual cancer risk, as this is a potentially modifiable factor,” said Gilberto Lopes, M.D., Sylvester’s chief of the Division of Medical Oncology, associate director and medical director for International Affairs and senior author on the study.

Read more about this important research on the InventUm Blog and follow @SylvesterCancer on X for the latest news on its research and care.