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)
Thursday, March 18, 2021
US and Canada setting up for showdown with 'murder hornets' as 2021 nesting season starts
2020 is over, but many of the nightmares it brought upon us still remain. Exhibit A: The "murder hornet."
Scientists from Washington, British Columbia and U.S. federal agencies joined forces in a virtual press conference Wednesday to declare open season on the Asian giant hornet, an invasive species that was first found in the U.S. and Canada in 2019.
The agencies are collaborating on their plans to track, trap and eradicate any Asian giant hornets they find in 2021.
The joint announcement comes as the predatory insects are setting up nests this spring.
"They start to emerge as early this time of year. And any queen that's detected by the public and taken out of commission takes out a potential nest," said Sven-Erik Spichiger, an entomologist for the Washington State Department of Agriculture. "This is not a species, the (Asian giant hornet), that we want to tolerate here in the United States."
There were 31 confirmed sightings of the hornets last year in Washington, half of which came from public tips, Spichiger said. "That does not count the some 500 specimens involved in the first nest eradication" in October 2020.
In British Columbia, Canada, six hornet sightings were confirmed in 2020, all coming from public reports, said Paul van Westendorp, with the province's Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries.
"There are three major issues here," van Westendorp said. "The first one is public health and public exposure," including potential exposure to pets, wildlife and livestock animals.
These hornets are also recognized as a "serious honeybee predator," van Westendorp said. And they can impose ecological pressure on local habitats since they go after prey of all kinds.
Asian giant hornets can destroy entire hives of honeybees, critical to crops like raspberries and blueberries because they provide needed pollination.
The insects are the world's largest hornet and can grow up to 2 inches long. Terrifying in appearance, their stings could also deliver a potentially deadly venom, especially for those who are allergic or if someone were to stumble upon a nest and sustain multiple stings, Spichiger said in 2020. The stings can cause necrosis and lead to organ failure, he added.
Outrage as 172Republicans vote to oppose Violence Against Women Act Maroosha Muzaffar Thu, March 18, 2021
Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) , one of the lead sponsors of VAWA(Getty Images)
One day after seven women were killed in attacks across three massage parlours in Atlanta, Georgia, the US House of Representatives voted to reauthorise the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA).
The act, according to the National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV), “creates and supports comprehensive, cost-effective responses to domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence and stalking.”
The act was originally authored by the now-president Joe Biden, but had lapsed two years ago.
Representatives voted 244 to 172 in favour of the bill, largely along party lines, though 29 Republicans joined the Democrats in supporting its passage.
NNEDV, in a press release, said that it “applauds the bill’s lead sponsors, Representatives Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), and Jerry Nadler (D-NY), and all those who voted for VAWA’s passage.”
Deborah Vagins, president of NNEDV, said it was a vote “to support survivors... that both maintains established protections and resources and expands VAWA to address ongoing gaps in the law”.
“The pandemic continues to reveal deep racial and gender inequalities that impact survivors’ lives and jeopardise their safety,” she added. The VAWA addresses the needs of historically marginalised survivors in a number of critical ways, she said.
According to The Hill, among other things, the act will end the so-called “boyfriend loophole”, where spouses convicted of domestic violence are banned from owning guns but non-married partners and ex-partners are not.
Ms Vagins said the bill “builds on the progress that has been made for survivors, but acknowledges there is much more to be done to prevent violence, address abuse, and ensure safety. The bill takes a comprehensive approach, addressing the complex realities of survivors’ lives. We celebrate the House bill and urge the Senate to swiftly pass it.”
One user on Twitter also thanked lawmakers who voted for the VAWA reauthorisation. “My daughter’s ex-husband was financially abusive to her during their marriage. She’s fortunate that she had a godfather & extended family who could support her as she left the marriage. Obviously, not all women are that blessed. So, TY for your advocacy,” she said.
While the bill’s passage in the House was celebrated, there was also a widespread reaction to the fact that so many lawmakers chose to vote against the bill.
One social media, Jake Lobin, whose bio identifies him as a “devout Democrat”, tweeted” “172 Republicans voted against renewing the Violence Against Women Act today because they see no problem with violence against women.”
Another user blasted the Republicans for having “no redeeming qualities”, and others accused the party of not caring for the safety of women in the country.
Many also celebrated the reauthorisation of VAWA.
President Biden welcomed the bill’s passage, adding: “I urge the Senate to follow their lead to renew and strengthen this landmark law.
“Writing and passing VAWA is one of the legislative accomplishments of which I’m most proud. VAWA has transformed the way our country responds to violence against women,” he said.
Many also celebrated the reauthorisation of VAWA.
Study explores how environmental exposures before conception may impact fetal development
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (March 16, 2021) -- Older age at the time of conception and alcohol consumption during pregnancy have long been known to impact fetal development.
Although the study did not determine the ultimate physical effects of this change, it provides important insights into the intricate relationship between environmental exposures, genetic regulation and human development.
"While the outcome of the change isn't clear, our findings give us a valuable look into how environmental factors affect gene regulation through epigenetics and imprinting," said Peter A. Jones, Ph.D., D.Sc. (hon), Van Andel Institute chief scientific officer and the study's senior author. "A better understanding of these complex processes further our understanding of health and disease and -- one day -- may be the foundation for new disease prevention measures."
Today's study centers on a gene called nc886, which is one of about 100 "imprinted" genes that pass from the mother to the fetus. Imprinted genes retain important chemical tags applied by either the mother or the father before conception. The result is an "epigenetic memory" through which non-genetic information, such as maternal age, may flow directly from parent to offspring. To date, nc886 is the only known imprinted gene that exhibits variation in the likelihood of imprinting based on maternal factors.
Using data from 1,100 mother-child pairs from South Africa, Jones and colleagues found the imprinting of nc886 was increased in older mothers but decreased in mothers who drank alcohol the year before conception. The team also investigated cigarette smoking but found no impact on imprinting of nc886.
A 2018 study published by Jones and his collaborators demonstrated that failure to imprint nc886 was associated with higher body mass in children at five years of age. Research by other groups also have linked failure to imprint nc886 with increased survival in people with acute myeloid leukemia, an aggressive type of blood cancer. Most recently, a group in Taiwan found that lack of imprinting on nc886 may reduce response to an anti-diabetic drug.
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Authors include Brittany L. Carpenter, Ph.D., Tanaka K. Remba, Stacey L. Thomas, Ph.D., Zachary Madaj, M.S., and Rochelle L. Tiedemann, Ph.D., of VAI; and Lucy T. Brink, M.Sc., and Hein J. Odendaal, M.B.Ch.B., F.C.O.G.(S.A.), M.Med., M.D., F.R.C.O.G., of Stellenbosch University. The VAI Bioinformatics and Biostatistics Core contributed to this work. Blood spot and cord blood samples were provided by the Prenatal Alcohol and SIDS and Stillbirth Network.
Research reported in this publication was supported by Van Andel Institute and the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number F32GM129987 (Carpenter). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
The Safe Passage Study, which provided access to samples and drinking and smoking data, was funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, and National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders under award numbers U01 HD055154, U01 HD045935, U01 HD055155, U01 HD045991 and U01 AA016501 (Odendaal).
ABOUT VAN ANDEL INSTITUTE
Van Andel Institute (VAI) is committed to improving the health and enhancing the lives of current and future generations through cutting edge biomedical research and innovative educational offerings. Established in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 1996 by the Van Andel family, VAI is now home to more than 400 scientists, educators and support staff, who work with a growing number of national and international collaborators to foster discovery. The Institute's scientists study the origins of cancer, Parkinson's and other diseases and translate their findings into breakthrough prevention and treatment strategies. Our educators develop inquiry-based approaches for K-12 education to help students and teachers prepare the next generation of problem-solvers, while our Graduate School offers a rigorous, research-intensive Ph.D. program in molecular and cellular biology. Learn more at vai.org.
It has long been understood that a parent's DNA is the principal determinant of health and disease in offspring. Yet inheritance via DNA is only part of the story; a father's lifestyle such as diet, being overweight and stress levels have been linked to health consequences for his offspring. This occurs through the epigenome - heritable biochemical marks associated with the DNA and proteins that bind it. But how the information is transmitted at fertilization along with the exact mechanisms and molecules in sperm that are involved in this process has been unclear until now.
A new study from McGill, published recently in Developmental Cell, has made a significant advance in the field by identifying how environmental information is transmitted by non-DNA molecules in the sperm. It is a discovery that advances scientific understanding of the heredity of paternal life experiences and potentially opens new avenues for studying disease transmission and prevention.
A paradigm shift in understanding of heredity
"The big breakthrough with this study is that it has identified a non-DNA based means by which sperm remember a father's environment (diet) and transmit that information to the embryo," says Sarah Kimmins, PhD, the senior author on the study and the Canada Research Chair in Epigenetics, Reproduction and Development. The paper builds on 15 years of research from her group. "It is remarkable, as it presents a major shift from what is known about heritability and disease from being solely DNA-based, to one that now includes sperm proteins. This study opens the door to the possibility that the key to understanding and preventing certain diseases could involve proteins in sperm."
"When we first started seeing the results, it was exciting, because no one has been able to track how those heritable environmental signatures are transmitted from the sperm to the embryo before," adds PhD candidate Ariane Lismer, the first author on the paper. "It was especially rewarding because it was very challenging to work at the molecular level of the embryo, just because you have so few cells available for epigenomic analysis. It is only thanks to new technology and epigenetic tools that we were able to arrive at these results."
Changes in sperm proteins affect offspring
To determine how information that affects development gets passed on to embryos, the researchers manipulated the sperm epigenome by feeding male mice a folate deficient diet and then tracing the effects on particular groups of molecules in proteins associated with DNA.
They found that diet-induced changes to a certain group of molecules (methyl groups), associated with histone proteins, (which are critical in packing DNA into cells), led to alterations in gene expression in embryos and birth defects of the spine and skull. What was remarkable was that the changes to the methyl groups on the histones in sperm were transmitted at fertilization and remained in the developing embryo.
"Our next steps will be to determine if these harmful changes induced in the sperm proteins (histones) can be repaired. We have exciting new work that suggest that this is indeed the case," adds Kimmins. "The hope offered by this work is that by expanding our understanding of what is inherited beyond just the DNA, there are now potentially new avenues for disease prevention which will lead to healthier children and adults."
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To read: "Histone H3 lysine 4 trimethylation in sperm is transmitted to the embryo and associated with diet-induced phenotypes in the offspring" by Ariane Lismer et al in Developmental Cell https://doi.org/10.1016/j.devcel.2021.01.01
The research was funded by the Canadian Institute of Health Research
In women, higher body fat may protect against heart disease death, study shows
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA - LOS ANGELES HEALTH SCIENCES
A new UCLA study shows that while men and women who have high muscle mass are less likely to die from heart disease, it also appears that women who have higher levels of body fat -- regardless of their muscle mass -- have a greater degree of protection than women with less fat.
The researchers analyzed national health survey data collected over a 15-year period and found that heart disease-related death in women with high muscle mass and high body fat was 42% lower than in a comparison group of women with low muscle mass and low body fat. However, women who had high muscle mass and low body fat did not appear have a significant advantage over the comparison group.
Among men, on the other hand, while having high muscle mass and high body fat decreased their risk by 26% (compared to those with low muscle mass and low body fat), having high muscle mass and low body fat decreased their risk by 60%.
BACKGROUND
The American Heart Association estimates that 5 million men and 3 million women have heart attacks annually. Yet despite this wide gender gap and an overall decrease in heart attack-related deaths for both men and women over the past 50 years, an equal number of men and women still die from heart disease.
In addition, mortality among women over those five decades has fallen at a slower rate than for men, and the incidence of heart attacks appears to be increasing among women between the ages of 35 and 54. Recent research has also found that women have significantly higher levels of risk factors associated with adverse heart disease than men.
METHOD
The researchers analyzed body composition data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999-2004 and cardiovascular disease data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999-2014. They evaluated 11,463 individuals aged 20 and older, who were then divided into four body-composition groups: low muscle mass and low body fat, low muscle and high fat, high muscle and low fat, and high muscle and high fat. Heart disease-related mortality rates where then calculated for each of these groups.
IMPACT
The findings highlight the importance of recognizing physiological differences between women and men when considering body composition and the risk of death from heart disease, particularly when it comes to how differences in body fat may modify that risk.
The research also underscores the need to develop sex?appropriate guidelines with respect to exercise and nutrition as preventive strategies against the development of cardiovascular disease. Even with the current emphasis by health experts on reducing fat to lower disease risk, it may be important for women to focus more on building muscle mass than losing weight, the study authors say.
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by Enrique Rivero
AUTHORS
Study authors included Dr. Preethi Srikanthan, Dr. Tamara Horwich, Dr. Marcella Calfon Press, Jeff Gornbein and Dr. Karol Watson, all of UCLA.
JOURNAL
The study is published in the peer-reviewed Journal of the American Heart Association.
FUNDING
The study was funded by the Barbra Streisand Women's Heart Health Program.
Electromagnetic fields hinder spread ofbreast cancer, study shows
Lab tests suggest the fields interfere with the inner workings of cancer cells
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Electricity may slow - and in some cases, stop - the speed at which breast cancer cells spread through the body, a new study indicates.
The research also found that electromagnetic fields might hinder the amount of breast cancer cells that spread. The findings, published recently in the journal Bioelectricity, suggest that electromagnetic fields might be a useful tool in fighting cancers that are highly metastatic, which means they are likely to spread to other parts of the body, the authors said.
"We think we can hinder metastasis by applying these fields, but we also think it may be possible to even destroy tumors using this approach," said Vish Subramaniam, senior author of the paper and former professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at The Ohio State University. Subramaniam retired from Ohio State in December.
"That is unclear at this stage, but we are working on understanding that - how big should the electromagnetic field be, how close should it be to the tumor? Those are the next questions we hope to answer."
The study is among the first to show that electromagnetic fields could slow or stop certain processes of a cancer cell's metabolism, impairing its ability to spread. The electromagnetic fields did not have a similar effect on normal breast cells.
Travis Jones, lead author of the paper and a researcher at Ohio State, compared the effects to what might happen if something interfered with a group running together down a path.
The effect, Subramaniam said, is that some of the cancer cells slow down when confronted with electromagnetic fields.
"It makes some of them stop for a little while before they start to move, slowly, again," he said. "As a group, they appear to have split up. So how quickly the whole group is moving and for how long they are moving becomes affected."
The electromagnetic fields are applied to cancerous cells without touching them, said Jonathan Song, co-author of the paper, associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at Ohio State and co-director of Ohio State's Center for Cancer Engineering.
Song compared the cancer cells with cars. Each cell's metabolism acts as fuel to move the cells around the body, similar to the way gasoline moves vehicles.
"Take away the fuel, and the car cannot move anymore," Song said.
The work was performed on isolated human breast cancer cells in a lab and has not been tested clinically.
The electromagnetic fields appear to work to slow cancer cells' metabolism selectively by changing the electrical fields inside an individual cell. Accessing the internal workings of the cell, without having to actually touch the cell via surgery or another more invasive procedure, is new to the study of how cancer metastasizes, Subramaniam said.
"Now that we know this, we can start to answer other questions, too," Subramaniam said. "How do we affect the metabolism to the point that we not only make it not move but we choke it, we completely starve it. Or can we slow it down to the point where it will always remain weak?"
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This research is an extension of two previous pioneering studies, published in 2015 and 2019, that showed electromagnetic fields could hinder breast cancer metastasis. (Read an Ohio State News story about the 2019 study here.)
Other Ohio State researchers who authored this study include Kirti Kaul, Ayush Garg and Ramesh Ganju.
Exposure to common chemical during pregnancy may reduce protection against breast cancer
UMass Amherst research suggests propylparaben is an endocrine disruptor
IMAGE: SENIOR AUTHOR LAURA VANDENBERG IS AN ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR IN THE UMASS AMHERST SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH AND HEALTH SCIENCES. view more
CREDIT: UMASS AMHERST
Low doses of propylparaben - a chemical preservative found in food, drugs and cosmetics - can alter pregnancy-related changes in the breast in ways that may lessen the protection against breast cancer that pregnancy hormones normally convey, according to University of Massachusetts Amherst research.
The findings, published March 16 in the journal Endocrinology, suggest that propylparaben is an endocrine-disrupting chemical that interferes with the actions of hormones, says environmental health scientist Laura Vandenberg, the study's senior author. Endocrine disruptors can affect organs sensitive to hormones, including the mammary gland in the breast that produces milk.
"We found that propylparaben disrupts the mammary gland of mice at exposure levels that have previously been considered safe based on results from industry-sponsored studies. We also saw effects of propylparaben after doses many times lower, which are more reflective of human intake," Vandenberg says. "Although our study did not evaluate breast cancer risk, these changes in the mammary tissue are involved in mitigating cancer risk in women."
Hormones produced during pregnancy not only allow breast tissue to produce milk for the infant, but also are partly responsible for a reduced risk of breast cancer in women who give birth at a younger age.
The researchers, including co-lead author Joshua Mogus, a Ph.D. student in Vandenberg's lab, tested whether propylparaben exposure during the vulnerable period of pregnancy and breastfeeding adversely alters the reorganization of the mammary gland. They examined the mothers' mammary glands five weeks after they exposed the female mice to environmentally doses of propylparaben during pregnancy and breastfeeding.
Compared with pregnant mice that had not received propylparaben, the exposed mice had mammary gland changes not typical of pregnancy, the researchers report. These mice had increased rates of cell proliferation, which Vandenberg says is a possible risk factor for breast cancer. They also had less-dense epithelial structures, fewer immune cell types and thinner periductal collagen, the connective tissue in the mammary gland.
"Some of these changes may be consistent with a loss of the protective effects that are typically associated with pregnancy," says Mogus, who was chosen to present the research, deemed "particularly newsworthy" by the Endocrine Society, at the international group's virtual annual meeting, ENDO 2021, beginning March 20.
Mogus says future studies should address whether pregnant females exposed to propylparaben are actually more susceptible to breast cancer. "Because pregnant women are exposed to propylparaben in many personal care products and foods, it is possible that they are at risk," Mogus says, adding that pregnant and breastfeeding women should try to avoid using products containing propylparaben and other parabens.
"This chemical is so widely used, it may be impossible to avoid entirely," Mogus adds. "It is critical that relevant public health agencies address endocrine-disrupting chemicals as a matter of policy."
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This research received funding from the University of Massachusetts Commonwealth Honors College Grant, the Endocrine Society's Summer Research Fellowship and the National Institutes of Health.
Other study co-authors are Charlotte LaPlante, Ruby Bansal, Klara Matouskova, Shannon Silva, Elizabeth Daniele, Mary Hagen and Karen Dunphy, all of UMass Amherst; Benjamin Schneider and Sallie Schneider of Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, Mass.; and D. Joseph Jerry of UMass Amherst's Department of Veterinary and Animal Sciences and Pioneer Valley Life Sciences Institute in Springfield.
Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.
Could birth control pills ease concussion symptoms in female athletes?
High levels of progesterone during menstrual cycle reduce stress after concussion and speed recovery
Higher progesterone level is protective in mild traumatic brain injury
Blood flow in brain is linked to progesterone and stress symptom levels
Most concussion research has been focused on male athletes
CHICAGO --- Could birth control pills help young female athletes recover faster from concussions and reduce their symptoms?
A new Northwestern Medicine pilot study has shown when a female athlete has a concussion injury during the phase of her menstrual cycle when progesterone is highest, she feels less stress. Feeling stressed is one symptom of a concussion. Feeling less stressed is a marker of recovery.
The study also revealed for the first time the physiological reason for the neural protection is increased blood flow to the brain as a result of higher levels of progesterone.
"Our findings suggest being in the luteal phase (right after ovulation) of the menstrual cycle when progesterone is highest -- or being on contraceptives, which artificially increase progesterone -- may mean athletes won't have as severe symptoms when they have a concussion injury," said co-author Amy Herrold, research assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
"Resolving those symptoms is especially problematic for our athletes who are trying to return to school, their sports and everyday life after a concussion," said lead author Jennie Chen, research assistant professor of radiology at Feinberg.
The study was published in the Journal of Neurotrauma.
The athletes in the study were in soccer, ultimate frisbee, crew, triathlon, lacrosse, women's rugby and tennis clubs. The focus on club athletes is important because more college students take part in club athletics than varsity athletics, Herrold said. In addition, club athletics are not as tightly monitored, possibly leading to increased exposure and under-reporting of concussion.
Northwestern investigators found increased blood flow in the brain when a female athlete had a higher level of progesterone due to her menstrual cycle phase. The region, the middle temporal gyrus, is important for information processing and integrating visual and auditory stimuli. It also has been implicated in social anxiety disorder. Recovering from concussion is stressful for athletes Following a concussion or mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), athletes are pulled from classes for a period of time and struggle to keep up with classes.
"When they are recovering from a concussion, they get very stressed trying to keep up with coursework and making up for lost time," Herrold said. "Their ratings on perceived stress are really important for their overall recovery from the injury and getting back to normal."
Big gap in research on female concussion
The bulk of sports-related concussion research has been focused on male athletes. The study fills a big gap in literature by studying female club athletes, Herrold said. "The trajectory of recovery from mild traumatic brain injury is different in female athletes than male athletes. Male athletes have shorter length of recovery than females, despite similar symptom severity."
For the study, investigators enrolled 30 female collegiate athletes and assessed them three to 10 days after a concussion or mTBI. Assessments included an MRI scan to examine brain blood flow, a blood draw to examine progesterone levels and self-reported mTBI symptom questionnaires including the perceived stress questionnaire. Once an injured athlete was studied, the investigators enrolled a healthy control athlete that was matched based on age, ethnicity contraceptive use and type, and menstrual cycle phase.
Clinicians may consider menstrual cycle phase when caring for injured athletes
It may be helpful for clinicians caring for injured athletes to consider the phase of the athlete's menstrual cycle and what, if any, hormonal contraceptives they are on, Herrold said. Both will affect progesterone levels and could affect brain blood flow and perceived stress.
"Clinicians also may want to evaluate wider use of hormonal contraceptives that raise progesterone levels for athletes who are at risk for incurring a concussion or mild TBI as there could be potential for neuroprotection," Herrold said.
In future research, Chen and Herrold plan to study if these results can be replicated in a larger more heterogenous sample of female athletes. They also want to compare what they found in males and females competing in sports with concussion risk such as soccer.
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This study was funded by the Northwestern Memorial Foundation Eleanor Wood Prince Grant Initiative.
New study predicts changing Lyme disease habitat across the West Coast
Army of 'citizen scientists' collect more than 18,000 tick samples for analysis in study funded by Bay Area Lyme Foundation
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. -- March 16, 2021 -- The findings of a recent analysis conducted by the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), an affiliate of City of Hope, suggest that ecosystems suitable for harboring ticks that carry debilitating Lyme disease could be more widespread than previously thought in California, Oregon and Washington.
Bolstering the research were the efforts of an army of "citizen scientists" who collected and submitted 18,881 ticks over nearly three years through the Free Tick Testing Program created by the Bay Area Lyme Foundation, which funded the research, producing a wealth of data for scientists to analyze.
This new study builds on initial research led by the late Nate Nieto, Ph.D., at Northern Arizona University, and Daniel Salkeld, Ph.D., of Colorado State University.
This immense sample collection represented a multi-fold increase in the number of ticks that could be gathered by professional biologists conducting field surveys in far less time and at a fraction of the cost. This kind of citizen participation -- which in the future could include smart-phone apps and photography -- could become "a powerful tool" for tracking other animal- and insect-borne infectious diseases important for monitoring human and environmental health, according to study results published in the scientific journal PLOS ONE.
This study expands on previous work in California and is the first study to produce high resolution distributions of both actual and potential tick habitat in Oregon and Washington. AND BY ECOLOGY BC
"This study is a great example of how citizen scientists can help -- whether tracking climate change, fires, habitat changes or species distribution shifts -- at a much finer scale than ever before," said Tanner Porter, Ph.D., a TGen Research Associate and lead author of the study.
Specifically, Dr. Porter said the findings of this study could help raise awareness among physicians across the West, and throughout the nation, that tick-borne diseases are possible throughout a wider expanse than ever thought before.
Lyme disease is caused by a bacteria, Borrelia burgdorferi (sensu lato), which is carried by ticks, and in this study specifically, the western black-legged tick known as Ixodes pacificus. These ticks also carry pathogens associated with relapsing fever and anaplasmosis, which like Lyme disease can cause fever, headache, chills and muscle aches. Some patients with Lyme disease may experience a rash that may look like a red oval or bull's-eye.
If not treated promptly, Lyme disease can progress to a debilitating stage, becoming difficult and sometimes impossible to cure. This may include inflammation of the heart and brain.
Lyme disease is the most common tickborne illness in the U.S., annually causing an estimated 500,000 infections, according to the CDC. However, even the most commonly-used diagnostic test for Lyme disease misses up to 70% of early stage cases. There is no treatment that works for all patients.
"We hope this study data encourages residents of California, Oregon and Washington to take precautions against ticks in the outdoors, and helps to ensure that local healthcare professionals will consider diagnoses of Lyme when patients present with symptoms," said Linda Giampa, Executive Director of the Bay Area Lyme Foundation.
Citizen scientists were encouraged to mail in ticks collected off individuals' bodies, pets and clothing. They noted the time and place where the ticks were discovered, and described activities involved, the surrounding environment, and in many cases specific GPS coordinates.
Field studies could take decades to produce the same amount of data, said Dr. Porter, adding, "this citizen science technique could allow for real-time distribution monitoring of ticks and other relevant species, an important consideration with emerging pathogens, changing land-use patterns, and climate change."
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This study builds on TGen's "One Health Collaborative," an initiative that uses a holistic approach to monitor the health of humans, animals and the environment, according to David Engelthaler, Ph.D., head of TGen's infectious disease studies.
The study -- Predicting the current and future distribution of the western black-legged tick, Ixodes pacificus, across the Western US using citizen science collections -- was published Jan. 5 In PLOS ONE.
About TGen, an affiliate of City of Hope
Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) is a Phoenix, Arizona-based nonprofit organization dedicated to conducting groundbreaking research with life-changing results. TGen is affiliated with City of Hope, a world-renowned independent research and treatment center for cancer, diabetes and other life-threatening diseases: CityofHope.org. This precision medicine affiliation enables both institutes to complement each other in research and patient care, with City of Hope providing a significant clinical setting to advance scientific discoveries made by TGen. TGen is focused on helping patients with neurological disorders, cancer, diabetes and infectious diseases through cutting-edge translational research (the process of rapidly moving research toward patient benefit). TGen physicians and scientists work to unravel the genetic components of both common and complex rare diseases in adults and children. Working with collaborators in the scientific and medical communities worldwide, TGen makes a substantial contribution to help our patients through efficiency and effectiveness of the translational process. For more information, visit: tgen.org. Follow TGen on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter @TGen.
Soil microbes left behind during decades of corn breeding
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURAL, CONSUMER AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
IMAGE: USING A CHRONOSEQUENCE OF CORN LINES, UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS RESEARCHERS FOUND DECADES OF BREEDING AND RELIANCE ON CHEMICAL FERTILIZERS PREVENTS MODERN CORN FROM RECRUITING NITROGEN-FIXING MICROBES. view more
CREDIT: ALONSO FAVELA, UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS.
URBANA, Ill. - Corn didn't start out as the powerhouse crop it is today. No, for most of the thousands of years it was undergoing domestication and improvement, corn grew humbly within the limits of what the environment and smallholder farmers could provide.
For its fertilizer needs, early corn made friends with nitrogen-fixing soil microbes by leaking an enticing sugary cocktail from its roots. The genetic recipe for this cocktail was handed down from parent to offspring to ensure just the right microbes came out to play.
But then the Green Revolution changed everything. Breeding tools improved dramatically, leading to faster-growing, higher-yielding hybrids than the world had ever seen. And synthetic fertilizer application became de rigueur.
That's the moment corn left its old microbe friends behind, according to new research from the University of Illinois. And it hasn't gone back.
"Increasing selection for aboveground traits, in a soil setting where we removed all reliance on microbial functions, degraded microbial sustainability traits. In other words, over the course of half a century, corn breeding altered its microbiome in unsustainable ways," says Angela Kent, professor in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois and co-author of a new study in the International Society of Microbial Ecology Journal.
Kent, along with co-authors Alonso Favela and Martin Bohn, found modern corn varieties recruit fewer "good" microbes - the ones that fix nitrogen in the soil and make it available for crops to take up - than earlier varieties. Instead, throughout the last several decades of crop improvement, corn has been increasingly recruiting "bad" microbes. These are the ones that help synthetic nitrogen fertilizers and other sources of nitrogen escape the soil, either as potent greenhouse gases or in water-soluble forms that eventually end up in the Gulf of Mexico and contribute to oxygen-starved "dead zones."
"When I was first analyzing our results, I got a little disheartened," says Favela, a doctoral student in the Program in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology at Illinois and first author on the study. "I was kind of sad we had such a huge effect on this plant and the whole ecosystem, and we had no idea we were even doing it. We disrupted the very root of the plant."
To figure out how the corn microbiome has changed, Favela recreated the history of corn breeding from 1949 to 1986 by planting a chronological sequence of 20 off-patent maize lines in a greenhouse.
"We have access to expired patent-protected lines that were created during different time periods and environmental conditions. We used that understanding to travel back in time and look at how the associated microbiome was changing chronologically," he says.
As a source of microbes, Favela inoculated the pots with soil from a local ag field that hadn't been planted with corn or soybeans for at least two years. Once the plants were 36 days old, he sequenced the microbial DNA he collected from soil adhering to the roots.
"We characterized the microbiome and microbial functional genes related to transformations that occur in the nitrogen cycle: nitrogen fixation, nitrification, and denitrification," he says. "We found more recently developed maize lines recruited fewer microbial groups capable of sustainable nitrogen provisioning and more microbes that contribute to nitrogen losses."
Kent says breeding focused on aboveground traits, especially in a soil context flooded with synthetic nitrogen fertilizers, may have tweaked the sugary cocktail roots exude to attract microbes.
"Through that time period, breeders weren't selecting for maintenance of microbial functions like nitrogen fixation and nitrogen mineralization because we had replaced all those functions with agronomic management. As we started selecting for aboveground features like yield and other traits, we were inadvertently selecting against microbial sustainability and even actively selecting for unsustainable microbiome features such as nitrification and denitrification," she says.
Now that it's clear something has changed, can breeders bring good microbes back in corn hybrids of the future?
Bohn, corn breeder and associate professor in the Department of Crop Sciences at Illinois, thinks it's very possible to "rewild" the corn microbiome. For him, the answer lies in teosinte, a wild grass most people would have to squint pretty hard at to imagine as the parent of modern corn.
Like wild things everywhere, teosinte evolved in the rich context of an entire ecosystem, forming close relationships with other organisms, including soil microbes that made soil nutrients easier for the plant to access. Bohn thinks it should be possible to find teosinte genes responsible for creating the root cocktail that attracts nitrogen-fixing microbes. Then, it's just a matter of introducing those genes into novel corn hybrids.
"I never thought we would go back to teosinte because it's so far removed from what we want in our current agricultural landscape. But it may hold the key not only for encouraging these microbial associations; it also may help corn withstand climate change and other stresses," Bohn says. "We actually need to go back to teosinte and start investigating what we left behind so we can bring back these important functions."
Bringing back the ability for corn to recruit its own nitrogen fixation system would allow producers to apply less nitrogen fertilizer, leading to less nitrogen loss from the system overall.
"Farmers don't always know how much nitrogen they will need, so, historically, they've dumped as much as possible onto the fields. If we bring these characteristics back into corn, it might be easier for them to start rethinking the way they manage nitrogen," Bohn says.
Kent adds that a little change could go a long way.
"If we could reduce nitrogen losses by even 10% across the growing region of the Midwest, that would have huge consequences for the environmental conditions in the Gulf of Mexico," she says.
The Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences and the Department of Crop Sciences are in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois.
