It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Sunday, March 10, 2024
Limited correlation between canine lymphoma and proximity to environmental toxins in new study
ASHLEIGH TINDLE, A RESEARCHER INVOLVED IN THE PROJECT AND A PH.D. STUDENT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON, STANDS WITH A POSTER ON HER PROJECT, WHICH EVALUATED THE LINK BETWEEN FRACKING AND RADON AND CANINE CANCER.
DENVER/March 8, 2024 – As awareness of the health risks associated with radon and fracking exposure in connection to cancer continues to rise in human medicine, a recent study explored these ties with multicentric lymphoma, a prevalent canine cancer. Surprisingly, the study did not identify significant correlations between living near sources of environmental toxins, such as fracking by-products and radon, and dogs diagnosed with lymphoma.
The results of this study were published on Monday using data from Morris Animal Foundation’s Golden Retriever Lifetime Study, which enrolled dogs with multicentric lymphoma and matched unaffected dogs. Using special geospatial software, the researchers mapped the dogs’ home addresses to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency radon zones and active fracking wells.
Ashleigh Tindle, a researcher involved in the project and a Ph.D. student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, expressed surprise at the lack of correlation, given similar connections found in children with leukemia living near fracking sites. Acknowledging the study's limitations due to the small sample size and the lack of fracking wastewater data for some states, Tindle emphasized the study’s role as an initial step in exploring the available information.
The study focused on county-level information over a decade but did not have data on individual home radon levels, which is a significant limitation. Additionally, the enrolled dog population was biased toward those who can afford veterinary care and seek a definitive diagnosis, while fracking wells tend to be near lower-income areas.
The research team recommends follow-up studies, including direct measurements of radon emissions and volatile organic compounds, which are pollutants generated by vehicle exhaust and industrial activities, and fracking in the homes of dogs with lymphoma. The team’s next project involves analyzing urine and blood samples from the Study to understand how VOCs and herbicide exposures could alter a dog’s DNA, potentially creating a biomarker of later lymphoma development.
“The next steps are to connect the dots between dogs that are exposed to environmental chemicals and whether there is evidence of DNA damage or other early hallmarks of cancer risk that could lead to lymphoma,” Tindle said.
About Morris Animal Foundation Morris Animal Foundation’s mission is to bridge science and resources to advance the health of animals. Founded in 1948 and headquartered in Denver, it is one of the largest nonprofit animal health research organizations in the world, funding nearly $160 million in more than 3,000 critical animal health studies to date across a broad range of species. Learn more at morrisanimalfoundation.org.
A team of physicists has developed a method to detect gravity waves with such low frequencies that they could unlock the secrets behind the early phases of mergers between supermassive black holes, the heaviest objects in the universe.
The method can detect gravitational waves that oscillate just once every thousand years, 100 times slower than any previously measured gravitational waves.
“These are waves reaching us from the farthest corners of the universe, capable of affecting how light travels,” said Jeff Dror, Ph.D., an assistant professor of physics at the University of Florida and co-author of the new study. “Studying these waves from the early universe will help us build a complete picture of our cosmic history, analogous to previous discoveries of the cosmic microwave background.”
Dror and his co-author, University of California, Santa Cruz postdoctoral researcher William DeRocco, published their findings Feb. 26 in Physical Review Letters.
Gravitational waves are akin to ripples in space. Like sound waves or waves on the ocean, gravitational waves vary in both frequency and amplitude, information that offers insights into their origin and age. Gravitational waves that reach us can be oscillating at extremely low frequencies, much lower than those of sound waves detectable with the human ear. Some of the lowest frequencies detected in the past were as low as one nanohertz.
“For reference,” Dror explained, “the frequency of sound waves created by an alligator roar are about 100 billion times higher than this frequency – these are very low-pitched waves.”
Their new method of detection is based on analyzing pulsars, neutron stars that emit radio waves at highly regular intervals. Dror hypothesized that searching for gradual slowdown in the arrivals of these pulses could reveal new gravitational waves. By studying existing pulsar data, Dror was able to search for gravitational waves with lower frequencies than ever before, increasing our “hearing range” to frequencies as low as 10 picohertz, 100 times lower than previous efforts that detected nanohertz-level waves.
While gravitational waves with frequencies around a nanohertz have been detected before, not much is known about their origin. There are two theories. The leading idea is that these waves are the result of a merger between two supermassive black holes, which, if true, would give researchers a new way to study the behavior of these giant objects that lie at the heart of every galaxy.
The other main theory is that these waves were created by some sort of cataclysmic event early in the universe’s history. By studying gravitational waves at even lower frequencies, they may be able to differentiate these possibilities.
“Looking ahead, the next step is to analyze newer data sets,” Dror said. “The datasets we used were primarily from 2014 and 2015, and a huge number of pulsar observations have been undertaken since that time.”
Dror also plans to run simulations on mock data using UF’s HiPerGator supercomputer to further unravel cosmic history. The supercomputer can efficiently run large, complex simulations, significantly reducing the time required to analyze data.
This study was supported in part by the National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy.
Using Pulsar Parameter Drifts to Detect Subnanohertz Gravitational Waves
ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE
8-Mar-2024
Primary care scarcity linked to more surgical emergencies & problems
Worse outcomes for patients living in rural and urban areas with few primary care providers suggests need to boost efforts to increase training and geographic distribution
America’s shortage of primary care doctors and nurse practitioners has a downstream effect in the nation’s operating rooms, a new study finds.
And patients suffer as a result.
In all, people living in areas with the most severe shortages of primary care providers have a much higher risk of having emergency surgery, rather than a scheduled operation,
compared with people with the same condition who live in areas with less-dire primary care shortages.Those living in the areas with the lowest availability of primary care providers also have a higher chance of suffering complications after surgery, and needing to go back to the hospital after they’ve left it, according to the findings in the journal Health Affairs from a team at Michigan Medicine, the University of Michigan’s academic medical center.
The team looked at data for people with traditional Medicare coverage who had operations for conditions where timing can really matter: colectomy to remove a cancerous area of the colon, repair of a hernia, and repair of aneurysms in wall of the aorta, the body’s largest blood vessel.
In all, nearly 38% of the patients living in the more-severe shortage areas had their operations on an emergency basis, compared with 30% of those living in the areas with the least-severe shortages.
Those living in areas with more severe shortages also had a higher risk of serious complications from surgery (15% vs. nearly 12%), and those living in the most severe shortage areas also had a higher risk of readmission to the hospital (nearly 16% vs. 13.5%).
Lead author Sara Schaefer, M.D., said her experience growing up in Idaho and going to medical school at the University of Washington -- where she learned alongside primary care providers serving huge rural areas -- informed her interest in the topic. She is now a resident in the U-M Department of Surgery and a healthcare administration fellow at the Center for Healthcare Outcomes and Policy, and notes that she and her colleagues operate on many patients who travel from rural areas of Michigan, especially for emergency operations.
“The primary care provider shortage is a key piece in accessing care, because if you have no access to primary care, that impacts your access to specialists,” she said. “A scheduled surgical case is always better than an emergency case in outcomes, costs and impact on the patient’s life, so the role of the primary care provider in identifying a potential issue, and referring a patient for diagnostic imaging and surgery, can make a major difference in addressing an urgent problem before it becomes an emergency.”
While she and her colleagues on the study – including surgery assistant professor Andrew Ibrahim, M.D., M.Sc. – did not show a difference in patients’ risk of death based on severity of primary care shortage, they did show that mortality risk was lower for those living in non-shortage areas compared with shortage areas.
The results of the study, the authors say, should underscore the importance of efforts to increase the supply of primary care providers and to attract them to practice in underserved areas.
This includes both rural and urban primary care shortage areas; the study found that 58% of the census tracts classified as having a primary care shortage of any level were rural.
Loan forgiveness and restructuring programs, to alleviate the education-related debt of physicians and other providers, are a key tool in this effort, Schaefer notes. Encouraging more providers to choose primary care careers, rather than specializing, and incentivizing them to practice in areas of shortage, could ultimately mean better outcomes when people living in those areas need time-sensitive operations, even if they travel many miles to get to the operating room.
The study does not include data on people covered by Medicaid, VA or private insurance, but Schaefer hopes other researchers will attempt to duplicate the findings in those populations.
In the meantime, she says, the message to people living in shortage areas is to seek out a primary care provider to have as a regular source of care, even if getting an appointment takes a while because of shortages. And, she says, don’t ignore new symptoms; instead, know how to escalate a concern with your regular provider.
For surgeons, she said, the realization that some of their patients having urgent or emergency surgery might be doing so because they don’t have access to a regular primary care provider is an important one.
“Use the post-surgery hospitalization as a time to intervene and facilitate contact with a primary care provider who can assist with recovery and with other health issues the patient may be facing,” she said. “The role of the primary care doctor as a partner in care of our surgical patients cannot be overstated.”
In addition to Schaefer and Ibrahim, who is a member of the U-M Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation, the authors of the study are CHOP fellow and Surgery resident Shukri H. A. Dualeh, M.D., CHOP statistician Nicholas Kunnath, M.S., and John W. Scott, M.D., M.P.H., formerly of U-M and now at the University of Washington.
The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health (CA236621) and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
Higher Rates Of Emergency Surgery, Serious Complications, And Readmissions In Primary Care Shortage Areas, 2015–19, Health Affairs, DOI:10.1377/hlthaff.2023.00843
How much do our emotions depend on our senses? Does our brain and body react in the same way when we hear a fearful scream, see an eerie shadow, or smell a sinister odor? And does hearing an upbeat music or seeing a colorful landascape bring the same joy?
In an innovative study published in Science Advances, researchers have unveiled new insights into the intricate relationship between emotion and perception.
Led by a team of Italian neuroscientists from the IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca, and conducted in collaboration with the University of Turin, the research project investigates whether the brain employs sensory-specific or abstract codes to construct emotional experiences.
"Emotion and perception are deeply intertwined, yet the exact mechanisms by which the brain represents emotional instances have remained elusive," says Giada Lettieri, researcher in psychology at the IMT School, and lead author of the study. "Our research addresses this fundamental question, providing critical insights into how the brain organizes and represents emotional information across different sensory modalities and as a result of past sensory experience."
To conduct the study, the researchers showed the movie 101 Dalmatians to a group of 50 volunteers, and tracked with functional magnetic resonance imaging the brain activity associated with the unfolding of the movie plot. The viewers of the movie in the scanner were both individuals with typical development and congenitally blind and congenitally deaf volunteers, who were presented with the audio play and the silent version of the movie, respectively. The researchers also asked a group of 124 independent participants to express and rate their emotions while watching the same movie outside the scanner, trying to predict the brain response of people with and without sensory deprivation during the experience of amusement, fear, and sadness, among other emotions.
“Including in the experiment individuals with congenital sensory deprivation – blind and deaf people – is a way to dissect and decipher the contribution of sensory experience to neural mechanisms underlying emotions” explains Luca Cecchetti, researcher at the IMT School, and senior author and supervisor of the study. “Our results show that emotions categories are represented in the brain regardless of sensory experience and modalities. In particular, there is a distributed network encompassing sensory, prefrontal, and temporal areas of the brain, which collectively encode emotional instances. Of note, the ventromedial prefrontal cortex emerged as a key locus for storing an abstract representation of emotions, which does not depend on prior sensory experience or modality."
The existence of an abstract coding of emotions in the brain signifies that even though we are tempted to believe that our emotions directly depend on what happens in the surrounding world, it is our brain that is wired to generate emotional meaning regardless of whether we are able to see or hear.
"In a world where sensory-deprived individuals are frequently overlooked, it is essential to understand how mental faculties and their corresponding neural representations can evolve and refine without sensory input, so to further advance the understanding of the emotion and the human brain," says Lettieri.
Dissecting abstract, modality-specific and experience-dependent coding of affect in the human brain
ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE
8-Mar-2024
Harnessing the mechanisms of fungal bioluminescence to confer autonomous luminescence in plants and animal cells
Many tropical mushroom species glow in the dark. When scientists discovered the mechanism of luminescence, they found similarity to healthy plant metabolism. New research reveals plants might possess the native capability to emit light themselves
In a striking new study published today in Science Advances, a team of synthetic biologists led by Karen Sarkisyan at the MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences, have reported the discovery of multiple plant enzymes – hispidin synthases – that can perform the most complex reaction of the bioluminescence pathway. This discovery is a significant milestone towards figuring out whether plants can natively produce all the molecules required for light emission. It also means that the glow of bioluminescent plants can now be more closely aligned with their internal biology.
The technology reported in the paper is a hybrid pathway that couples the newly found plant hispidin synthases to other necessary bioluminescence enzymes found in mushrooms. This hybrid pathway allows the subtle inner rhythms and dynamics within plants to be unveiled as an ever-changing display of living light. “This technology is a plug-and-play tool to visualise virtually any molecular physiology at the organismal level, completely non-invasively” Sarkisyan states. His work also revealed that not only does a single indigenous plant gene effectively substitute for two fungal genes, the plant gene is notably smaller and has simpler biological requirements for luminescence. The gene's reduced size also enhances its usability and flexibility, making it more adaptable for extended applications.
This research was sponsored by Light Bio, a plant synthetic biology company co-founded by Sarkisyan, which aims to transform the horticulture industry with beautiful biotech creations, such as glowing plants. The first product to exploit the hispidin-based pathway is Firefly Petunia, so named because its bright light-emitting flower buds resemble fireflies.
Beyond the advances in aesthetics that luminous vegetation may provide to plant-lovers, the foundational science offers profound insights into plant molecular physiology. By enabling continuous monitoring of plant responses to various stresses, such as drought stress or attacks by pests, the technology may lead to significant progress in fields such as crop development and disease resistance.
Sarkysian’s bioluminescence pathway has been replicated in other species including yeast and even in human cells. “We love growing our bioluminescent petunias, they are truly magical. But beyond aesthetics, understanding how we can adapt self-sustained luminescence to monitor disease progression and assist in the screening of drug candidates will make this technology even more impactful”, says Sarkysian.
MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences synthetic biologist Karen Sarkysian observes his glowing plants which could one day be used to signal health or disease.
By exploiting the hispidin synthase pathway in plants, MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences scientists have created Chrysanthemums that glow in the dark.
By exploiting an enzyme pathway found in bioluminescent fungi, MRC-LMS scientist Karen Sarkysian has created glow in the dark Firefly Petunias™️ with biotech company LightBio
This timelapse film shows the growth and movement of different plants that have been bioengineered by MRC LMS scientist Karen Sarkysian to glow in the dark sustainably without the need for chemicals or UV light.
This study was partially funded by Light Bio and Planta. The Synthetic biology Group is funded by the MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences (UKRI MC-A658-5QEA0). Cloning and luminescent assays performed in BY-2 were partially supported by RSF, project number 22-14-00400, https://rscf.ru/project/22-14-00400/. Plant transformations were funded by RFBR and MOST, project number 21-54-52004. Plant imaging experiments were funded by RSF, project number 22-74-00124, https://rscf.ru/project/22-74-00124/. Viral delivery experiments were funded by the grant PID2019-108203RB-I00 Plan Nacional I+D from the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (Spain) through the Agencia Estatal de Investigación (co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund).
Glowing flowers illuminate homes and gardens with organic light
THE FIREFLY PETUNIA EMITS A CONTINUOUS GLOW SIMILAR TO MOONLIGHT. ITS ENCHANTING LIGHT IS PRODUCED BY GENES ISOLATED FROM BIOLUMINESCENT MUSHROOMS. THE PETUNIA HAS PROVEN TO BE HUGELY POPULAR, OFFERING A NATURAL SOURCE OF ILLUMINATION FOR HOMES, GARDENS, AND BEYOND.
Sun Valley, ID - March 8, 2024 – Recent discoveries published in Science Advances have unveiled a native plant gene that enables researchers to more effortlessly harness the captivating glow of bioluminescent plants. This gene, which varies across different plant species, allows for the redirection of living energy into organic light. The advancement reveals the intricate inner rhythms and dynamics of plants through continuously evolving luminosity, offering a natural source of illumination for homes, gardens, and beyond.
The study received support from Light Bio, a pioneer in the development of bioluminescent plants. Light Bio is dedicated to fostering greater connection and enjoyment of plants through the enchanting appeal of living light.
The latest research builds upon earlier findings, showing that the natural glow of luminous mushrooms aligns seamlessly with central metabolic processes in plants. Utilizing a gene native to plants further amplifies this bioluminescent harmony, optimizing the interplay between light production and energy utilization.
Prior approaches for creating bioluminescent plants involved incorporating five genes derived from fungi. In the new findings, a solitary gene indigenous to plants can effectively substitute for two of the fungal genes. The plant gene's compact size and simpler biological requirements enhance its versatility for diverse applications.
The compact gene plays a pivotal role, acting as a bridge between plant metabolism and light production. This connection allows the plant’s inner dynamics to be translated into a constantly changing spectacle of natural light.
Bioluminescent plants have garnered immense popularity among the public. Light Bio recently began taking orders for a bioluminescent petunia under the brand Firefly™ Petunia, so named because the bright buds resemble fireflies. The petunia emits a soft glow similar to moonlight.
Keith Wood, the CEO of Light Bio, reports that the Firefly Petunia is selling fast. He says that “sales for this remarkable plant have been impressively robust. We've had to ramp up production twice already to keep pace with the demand."
The company selected the petunia as its inaugural offering due to its popularity as an ornamental plant. Light Bio recently announced that their plants glow up to 100 times brighter than previously possible, with the petunia standing out as the most radiant. Known for their ease of cultivation and prolific flowering, petunias make an ideal choice for this innovative enhancement.
In September, following an independent review, the USDA concluded that the Firefly Petunia is safe for cultivation and breeding across the United States. Available for purchase at $29 USD per plant from Light Bio's website (www.light.bio), the petunia is set to start shipping in April to all 48 contiguous US states.
In partnership with Ginkgo Bioworks, Light Bio envisions future plants to be at least ten times brighter, with an expanded range of varieties and colors. Beyond the sheer delight these luminous plants provide, the foundational science offers profound insights into plant molecular physiology. The collaborative teams are confident that discoveries from this research will lead to significant progress in essential fields such as crop development and disease resistance.
For more information on Light Bio and the Firefly Petunia, please visit
Founded in 2019, Light Bio is a pioneering synthetic biology startup focused on cultivating vibrant bioluminescent plants. Through the melding of proprietary technology and advanced genetic engineering, Light Bio is bringing the magic of living light to ornamental horticulture. The company enjoys robust backing from industry leaders such as NFX, Ginkgo Bioworks, and others. To learn more, please visit www.light.bio and follow on X (formerly known as Twitter) @Light_Bio, Instagram @Light.Bio, and LinkedIn.
About Ginkgo Bioworks
Ginkgo Bioworks is the leading horizontal platform for cell programming, providing flexible, end-to-end services that solve challenges for organizations across diverse markets, from food and agriculture to pharmaceuticals to industrial and specialty chemicals. Ginkgo's biosecurity and public health unit, Concentric by Ginkgo, is building global infrastructure for biosecurity to empower governments, communities, and public health leaders to prevent, detect and respond to a wide variety of biological threats. For more information, visitginkgobioworks.com andconcentricbyginkgo.com, read ourblog, or follow us on social media channels such as X (formerly known as Twitter) (@Ginkgo and @ConcentricByGBW), Instagram (@GinkgoBioworks and @ConcentricByGinkgo), Threads (@GinkgoBioworks) orLinkedIn.
Forward-Looking Statements of Ginkgo Bioworks
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws, including statements regarding the capabilities and potential success of the partnership and Ginkgo's cell programming platform. These forward-looking statements generally are identified by the words "believe," "can," "project," "potential," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "intend," "strategy," "future," "opportunity," "plan," "may," "should," "will," "would," "will be," "will continue," "will likely result," and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are predictions, projections and other statements about future events that are based on current expectations and assumptions and, as a result, are subject to risks and uncertainties. Many factors could cause actual future events to differ materially from the forward-looking statements in this press release, including but not limited to: (i) volatility in the price of Ginkgo's securities due to a variety of factors, including changes in the competitive and highly regulated industries in which Ginkgo operates and plans to operate, variations in performance across competitors, and changes in laws and regulations affecting Ginkgo's business, (ii) the ability to implement business plans, forecasts, and other expectations, and to identify and realize additional business opportunities, (iii) the risk of downturns in demand for products using synthetic biology, (iv) the uncertainty regarding the demand for passive monitoring programs and biosecurity services, (v) changes to the biosecurity industry, including due to advancements in technology, emerging competition and evolution in industry demands, standards and regulations, (vi) our ability to realize the expected benefits of merger and acquisition transactions, (vii) the outcome of any legal proceedings against Ginkgo, including as a result of recent acquisitions, (viii) our ability to realize the expected benefits from and the success of our Foundry platform programs, (ix) our ability to successfully develop engineered cells, bioprocesses, data packages or other deliverables, and (x) the product development or commercialization success of our customers. The foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive. You should carefully consider the foregoing factors and the other risks and uncertainties described in the "Risk Factors" section of Ginkgo's quarterly report on Form 10-Q filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") on November 8, 2023 and other documents filed by Ginkgo from time to time with the SEC. These filings identify and address other important risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events and results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements, and Ginkgo assumes no obligation and does not intend to update or revise these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Ginkgo does not give any assurance that it will achieve its expectations.
A research team from the University of St Andrews and the University of Cologne has developed a new wireless light source that might one day make it possible to 'illuminate' the human body from the inside. Such light sources could enable novel, minimally invasive means to treat and better understand diseases that today require the implantation of bulky devices. The study was published under the title ‘Wireless Magnetoelectrically Powered Organic Light-Emitting Diodes’ in Science Advances.
The new approach presented by the scientists from Germany and Scotland is based on the integration of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) on ‘acoustic antennas’. Acoustic antennas are currently being explored for various applications such as the detection of low magnetic fields. As a major advantage over electric antennas, acoustic antennas can be designed to be much smaller. OLEDs are commonly found in modern smartphones and high-end televisions and consist of thin layers of organic materials that can be applied to almost any surface. In their work, the researchers exploit this property to deposit OLEDs directly onto the acoustic antenna, thus merging the unique properties of both platforms into a single extremely compact device. In this way, the acoustic antennas serve as substrate and power source for the custom-developed OLED. They convert energy from a magnetic field into a mechanical oscillation and subsequently into an electric current by means of an effect known as the composite magnetoelectric effect.
The new devices operate at sub-megahertz frequencies, a frequency range used for example for submarine communication, as electromagnetic fields at this frequency are only weakly absorbed by water. However, unlike in submarines, the intended application in biomedicine requires a small device in order to avoid a negative impact on the tissue.
In recent years, optical stimulation techniques have emerged as a promising alternative to electrical stimulation because they can be more cell selective and even enable the stimulation of individual cells. Such techniques have already shown promising results in early clinical trials, for instance, to treat an otherwise untreatable eye disease.
“Our novel wireless light source combines minimal device size, low operation frequency and optical stimulation,” said Humboldt Professor Dr Malte Gather, head of the Humboldt Centre for Nano- and Biophotonics at the Department of Chemistry of the University of Cologne’s Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences. “Many emerging applications require multiple sites to be stimulated independently, which is why modern brain stimulators often incorporate a large number of electrodes. In the case of our wireless light sources, the devices can be independently controlled and operated without the need of additional and potentially bulky electronics.”
This is possible because the operation frequencies of different acoustic antennas can be tuned to different values. In the future, this could allow for the individual control of multiple stimulators in different parts of the body, for example to treat tremor in the late stages of Parkinson's disease. As a next step, the researchers aim to further reduce the size of their wireless OLEDs and to test their technology in an animal model.
