Mercury content in tuna can be reduced with new packaging solution

Chalmers University of Technology

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In the image you can see one of the researchers pouring the liquid amino acid cysteine into a jar of canned tuna. The study showed that this novel ‘active packaging’ technique removed up to 35 percent of the accumulated mercury in canned tuna, significantly reducing human exposure to mercury via food.

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Credit: Chalmers University of Technology I Hanna Magnusson

Fish is a high-quality source of protein, containing omega-3 fatty acids and many other beneficial nutrients. However, the accumulation of toxic mercury also makes fish consumption a concern, of which tuna is particularly susceptible. Researchers from Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden have come up with a novel approach to packaging canned tuna infused in the water-based solution of amino acid cysteine. It was shown to remove up to 35 percent of the accumulated mercury in canned tuna, significantly reducing human exposure to mercury via food.

Fish and other seafood, provide people with a broad variety of essential nutrients in their diet However, the consumption of some fish also exposes people to the most hazardous form of mercury, methylmercury. This accumulates in fish (especially those species higher up the food chain, such as tuna) as it binds to proteins in the tissues.

Packaging solution draws out the mercury  

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), mercury is one of the ten most harmful chemicals for humans. Exposure can damage the central nervous system, with foetuses and young children being particularly sensitive to the effects. That is why dietary recommendations for pregnant women advise caution with tuna consumption.

“Our study shows that there are alternative approaches to addressing mercury contamination in tuna, rather than just limiting consumption. Our goal is to improve food safety and contribute to enhanced human health, as well as to better utilise food that is currently under certain restrictions,” says Mehdi Abdollahi, Associate Professor at the Department of Life Sciences at Chalmers and coordinator of a project called Detoxpak.

The concept of so-called active packaging is to develop materials, for example a liquid inside a can, that interact with food during storage − for instance, to increase the shelf life. However, this concept has never previously been used to improve food safety.

In a previous study, the researchers investigated the possibility of coating packages with thiolated silica to capture mercury from canned fish. What they observed, was that the forces binding the mercury within the tuna tissue prevented it from being released.

Proteins in tuna tissues, particularly sulfur-containing amino acids, strongly bind and accumulate mercury due to the strong interactions involving thiol groups from these amino acids. "By knowing that, we decided to add one of them, cysteine, to a water solution in which fish meat can be immersed. We believed this would allow some of the mercury to be drawn out and instead bind to the solution and be discarded. Further research is needed to take care of the removed mercury,” says Przemysław Strachowski, first author, and at the time of study, a postdoc at the Department of Life Sciences at Chalmers.

Up to 35 percent of mercury removed

In the study, the researchers discovered that the greater the surface area of fish flesh in contact with the cysteine solution, the higher the mercury uptake. The highest value of mercury reduction, 35 percent, was reached when testing canned minced tuna, from regular grocery stores. They also discovered a maximum threshold of two weeks, after which no further changes occurred.

In the current study, however, the researchers did not observe any noticeable changes in appearance or smell of the tested fish samples. Cell-based assays have also proven the safety of the developed technology.

“The beauty of this type of packaging is that it is active while the product is on the shelf. No additional production steps would be needed if a method like this were used industrially. The application of our results could increase the safety margin for fish consumption,” says Przemysław Strachowski.

 

More about the scientific study:

• Read the study New Insight into Mercury Removal from Fish Meat Using a Single-Component Solution containg Cysteine in Global Challenges. 
• The authors are Przemysław Strachowski and Mehdi Abdollahi, the Department of Life Sciences, Chalmers University of Technology, Romain Bordes, the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, Geeta Mandava and Johan Lundqvist, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences.  
• The study was funded by Formas

 

More about the method:

• In the study, fish protein extracts in the form of dry powder, fresh and lab-steamed fish in fillet and mince forms, and commercially available samples of canned tuna, both in larger pieces and as minced fish, were used.
• No extra additives, like pH modifiers, were needed for this process. Only the cysteine concentration was adjusted in the water. Increasing cysteine levels improved mercury removal, but only up to a certain point. A 1.2 percent concentration level was optimal.

 

For more information please contact:

Mehdi Abdollahi, Associate Professor at the Department of Life Sciences, Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, khozaghi@chalmers.se  +46 31 772 38 23

Przemyslaw Strachowski, former Postdoctoral Researcher at the Department of Life Sciences, Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, pawelpr@chalmers.se

The contact persons both speak English. Mehdi Abdollahi also speaks Persian and Przemyslaw Strachowski speaks Polish. They are available for live and pre-recorded interviews. At Chalmers, we have podcast studios and broadcast filming equipment on site and would be able to assist a request for a television, radio or podcast interview.

 

Banner image caption: In the image you can see one of the researchers pouring the liquid amino acid cysteine into a jar of canned tuna. The study showed that this novel ‘active packaging’ technique removed up to 35 percent of the accumulated mercury in canned tuna, significantly reducing human exposure to mercury via food.

Banner image credit: Chalmers University of Technology I Hanna Magnusson

• All images related to this press release can be downloaded via this link.  

Chalmers researchers Przemyslaw Strachowski and Mehdi Abdollahi work with samples in the lab.

Credit

Chalmers University of Technology I Hanna Magnusson

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Journal

Global Challenges

DOI

10.1002/gch2.202400161 

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

Animal tissue samples

Article Title

New Insight into Mercury Removal from Fish Meat Using a Single-Component Solution Containing cysteine

Article Publication D

DEI

New impetus for female founders

Goethe University Frankfurt and partners launch EXIST Women program

Goethe University Frankfurt

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FRANKFURT. In what can be considered an important milestone for the promotion of start-ups in the Rhine-Main region, Goethe University Frankfurt and its start-up center Goethe Unibator, together with TU Darmstadt and Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences, are delighted to have successfully applied for the renowned EXIST Women funding program. Aimed at supporting female founders, the initiative strengthens the cooperation between the Rhine-Main Universities (RMU) and Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences.

EXIST Women supports female students and researchers interested in founding their own company to either turn innovative ideas into their own start-ups, or to actively help shape start-up projects as co-founders. Participants benefit from individual coaching, mentoring and a strong network. At Goethe University, the program is known as females@Unibator.

“We need more female role models in the start-up scene. EXIST Women gives women the chance to confidently realize their ideas and actively shape the innovation scene. I am delighted to be part of this program as a mentor and to accompany female founders on their journey,” says Sally Schulze, successful founder and mentor at females@Unibator.

Program highlights:

•          Developing entrepreneurial skills: Workshops and coaching sessions strengthen participants' personal and professional skills.
•          Mentoring and networking: Experienced mentors and a broad network offer support and valuable insights into the start-up world.
•          Financial support: Participants receive a material budget of €2,000 as well as a three-month grant of up to €3,000 per month.

Participation in the program does not require a concrete start-up idea; instead, the decisive factors are entrepreneurial drive and a desire to explore new perspectives. Further information on the application process and the conditions of participation can be found on the Goethe Unibator website (www.goetheunibator.de/femalesunibator).

EXIST Women
The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection’s EXIST Women program supports women at universities and research institutions who are interested in setting up their own business, especially with regard to developing their entrepreneurial personality and further refining their start-up idea.

Further information on EXIST Women is available at https://www.exist.de/EXIST/Navigation/EN/Start-upFunding/EXIST-WOMEN/exist-women.html

 

Corn’s ancient ancestors are calling

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

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To grow the corn of tomorrow, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory geneticists and plant biologists are digging up maize’s ancient roots.

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Credit: Jon Cahn/Martienssen lab/CSHL

The domestication of maize is one of the greatest examples of humankind’s impact on evolution. Early farmers’ pre-industrial plant breeding choices turned corn from a nearly inedible crop into the major global food source it is today.

Now, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Professors Rob Martienssen and Thomas Gingeras are uncovering the genetics behind choices farmers made 9,000 years ago. They aim to better understand how evolution works and to help today’s farmers update corn so it can grow in harsh conditions. To get there, they’ve launched a new genomic encyclopedia called MaizeCODE. The research project is based on the Encyclopedia of DNA Elements (ENCODE). ENCODE aimed to identify functional elements in the human genome. Gingeras was one of its principal investigators. He explains:

“The original purpose—and it’s copied in the MaizeCODE effort—is to find all the domains of the genome that encode operational and coding information that the cell uses to reproduce and carry out the functions the cell serves.”

In a new study, the Gingeras and Martienssen labs analyzed regulatory sequences across five different tissue types from three strains of maize and its ancestor teosinte. They found hundreds of thousands of regulatory regions, called enhancers, that help turn genes on and off in plants.

They also saw that maize has a few thousand “super enhancers.” Each controls several genes at once. Incredibly, these super enhancers were very strongly selected when maize was domesticated 9,000 years ago. Martienssen explains:

“We can now say that maize domestication was really focused—unwittingly perhaps —by selection on this rather narrow set of super enhancers in maize ears.”

In addition to expanding our understanding of evolution, these findings could help point the way to new strains of maize. Martienssen and Gingeras have received a grant from the National Science Foundation to work on creating crops that can grow in soil with high levels of aluminum. Such conditions are common in South America. The scientists will use MaizeCODE “to find all the regulatory regions that are responsible for endowing both maize and sorghum with aluminum resistance,” Martienssen says.

But that’s not MaizeCODE’s only use. The genome database may one day help farmers further improve their maize crops. Imagine plants that are more resistant to disease or tolerant to droughts. Better still, imagine crops with higher yields that can feed more people. MaizeCODE may help make all of this possible. And because the data is publicly available, it can be accessed by plant biologists and breeders across the globe. “We’re only touching the tip of the iceberg,” Martienssen says.

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Journal

Nature Communications

DOI

10.1038/s41467-024-55195-w 

Article Title

MaizeCODE reveals bi-directionally expressed enhancers that harbor molecular signatures of maize domestication

 

Rethinking energy demand can foster sustainable development and reduce emissions from buildings and transport

International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis

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In a new study, IIASA scientists show that a mix of policy measures, including both technological solutions and behavioral changes, can significantly reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from energy use in buildings and transport.

Energy use in buildings and transport is a significant source of GHG emissions, accounting for over 20% of those globally. In a recent study, IIASA scientists and their colleagues from other institutions highlight that a set of comprehensive demand-focused strategies could reduce CO2 emissions from buildings and transport by 51-85% and 37-91% respectively, compared to a scenario based on current policies.

“Reducing energy demand also has major benefits beyond greenhouse gas emissions reduction,” says Bas van Ruijven, IIASA Sustainable Service Systems Research Group Leader and a coauthor of the study. “The demand-side measures explored in this study lead to higher energy security, better air quality, more food security, and several other Sustainable Development Goals.”

The study outlines a mix of promising policy measures, which could help to maximize the benefits. In buildings, measures such as electrifying energy use through heat pumps, improving insulation, and reducing energy demand through behavioral shifts can significantly lower emissions. Similarly, in transport, electrifying vehicles, enhancing efficiency, and promoting the behavioral shift to popularize the use of public transport and cycling can drastically reduce emissions. Moreover, the study shows that many of the identified measures can interact synergistically with minimal trade-offs, further accelerating decarbonization.

“Demand-side strategies are essential for achieving both rapid and significant emission cuts,” says Alessio Mastrucci, senior research scholar in the IIASA Energy, Climate, and Environment Program and coauthor of the study. “Such strategies could help governments address the root causes of emissions directly, as well as lower energy demand and reduce the need for costly supply-side investments and infrastructure.”

The study uses quantitative scenarios generated with global Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs), specifically designed to capture the interactions between the energy system, the economy, and the environment. In addition, to refine the scenarios, the authors have also gathered input from policymakers and experts in demand sectors.

“Shifting to renewable energy is vital for achieving net-zero, but how we use energy is just as important,” concludes Rik van Heerden, researcher at the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL) and lead author of the study. “With support of the right policies and infrastructure, final energy users can make a powerful contribution to reaching climate goals.”

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Journal

Nature Energy

DOI

10.1038/s41560-025-01703-1 

Article Title

Demand-side strategies enable rapid and deep cuts in buildings and transport emissions to 2050

Article Publication Date

5-Feb-2025

 

Whale poop contains iron that may have helped fertilize past oceans

University of Washington

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An illustration of the (A) pre-whaling and (B) post-whaling interactions between whales, shrimp-like krill (pink), and photosynthesizing organisms known as phytoplankton (top left of each panel) in the Southern Ocean. The decimation of whales in this ecosystem and coincident drop in krill in some former whaling grounds implies a large shift in the amount of iron available due to the loss of whales and thus micronutrients in whale poop (lower left).

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Credit: Monreal et al./University of Washington

The blue whale is the largest animal on the planet. It consumes enormous quantities of tiny, shrimp-like animals known as krill to support a body of up to 100 feet (30 meters) long. Blue whales and other baleen whales, which filter seawater through their mouths to feed on small marine life, once teemed in Earth’s oceans. Then over the past century they were hunted almost to extinction for their energy-dense blubber.

As whales were decimated, some thought the krill would proliferate in predator-free waters. But that’s not what happened. Krill populations dropped, too, and neither population has yet recovered.

A recent theory proposes that whales weren’t just predators in the ocean environment. Nutrients that whales excreted may have provided a key fertilizer to these marine ecosystems.

Research led by University of Washington oceanographers supports that theory. It finds that whale excrement contains significant amounts of iron, a vital element that is often scarce in ocean ecosystems, and nontoxic forms of copper, another essential nutrient that in some forms can harm life.

The open-access study, the first to look at the forms of these trace metals in what’s commonly known as whale poop, was published in January in Communications Earth & Environment.

“We made novel measurements of whale feces to assess how important whales are to recycling important nutrients for phytoplankton,” said first author Patrick Monreal, a UW doctoral student in oceanography. “Our analysis suggests that the decimation of baleen whale populations from historical whaling could have had larger biogeochemical implications for the Southern Ocean, an area crucially important to global carbon cycling.”

The Southern Ocean encircling Antarctica harbors little human life but is thought to play an important role in the global climate. Strong circumpolar currents bring deep ocean water up to the surface. Huge blooms of plant-like organisms known as phytoplankton support populations of krill, which are still harvested in unprotected waters today for aquaculture and pet food.

To investigate what role whale poop may have played in this ecosystem, the study analyzed five stool samples. Two samples were from humpback whales in the Southern Ocean and three were from blue whales off the central Californian coast. The samples were collected when researchers out studying whale populations saw an opportunity.

“The nice thing, I guess, is that whale excrement floats,” said senior author Randie Bundy, an assistant professor of oceanography at the UW. Researchers collect it using a net attached to a jar to collect the substance typically found as a slushy or slurry material.

“The hypothesis is that the whales were actually adding nutrients to the ecosystem that these phytoplankton were able to use, so they would bloom more and then the krill could eat them,” Bundy said.

Previous research had found significant amounts of major nutrients, like nitrogen and carbon, in whale poop samples. The new paper instead looked for metals that are in short supply far from land and are often a limiting factor for the growth of ocean ecosystems.

“In the Southern Ocean, iron is considered to be one of the most scarce, or limiting, nutrients that phytoplankton need to survive,” Bundy said

Results showed iron was present in all the samples. The researchers also found another metal, copper.

“We were really shocked by how much copper was in the whale poop. We initially thought, ‘oh, no, is the whale poop actually toxic?’” Bundy said.

Further analysis showed that organic molecules known as ligands attached to the copper atoms transformed them into a form that is safe for marine life. Other ligands helped make the iron accessible to living organisms. The researchers don’t yet know the source of the ligands but suspect they may come from bacteria in the whales’ stomachs.

Bundy’s research focuses on trace metals in the ocean environment. This project began as Monreal’s introductory research project as a graduate student but it grew into a larger endeavor as the results came in.

“I think animals play a larger role in chemical cycles than many experts give them credit for, especially when thinking at the ecosystem scale,” Monreal said. “When I say animals, I really mean their gut microbiome. Based on what we see, it seems like bacteria in the whales’ guts could be important.”

Co-authors are postdoctoral researcher Angel Ruacho, former doctoral student Laura Moore and former undergraduate student Dylan Hull from the UW; Matthew Savoca and Jeremy Goldbogen at Stanford University; Lydia Babcock-Adams at Florida State University; Logan Pallin, Ross Nichols and Ari Friedlaender at the University of California, Santa Cruz; John Calambokidis at the Cascadia Research Collective in Olympia, Washington; and Joseph Resing at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the UW’s Cooperative Institute for Climate, Ocean and Ecosystem Studies. Funders are MAC3 Impact Philanthropies, the MUIR Program at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, the University of Washington Program on Climate Change and the Ford Foundation.

 

For more information, contact Monreal at pmonreal@uw.edu and Bundy at rbundy@uw.edu. Note: Monreal is on New Zealand time through mid-February and responses may be delayed.

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Journal

Communications Earth & Environment

DOI

10.1038/s43247-024-01965-9 

Method of Research

Observational study

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Organic ligands in whale excrement support iron availability and reduce copper toxicity to the surface ocean

 

Korea University researchers analysis of income-related disparities in mortality among young adults with diabetes

Type 2 diabetics (T2D) under 40 years of age with low income have a threefold higher risk of mortality, Young people with T2D are more affected by income than elderly people with T2D

Korea University College of Medicine

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The research team of Professor Sin Gon Kim(Rt.) and Professor Nam Hoon Kim(Lt.) of department of internal medicine (Endocrinology and Metabolism) of Korea University Anam Hospital, 

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Credit: KU Medicine

 

The research team of Professor Sin Gon Kim and Professor Nam Hoon Kim of department of internal medicine (Endocrinology and Metabolism) of Korea University Anam Hospital, and Professor Ji Yoon Kim of Samsung Medical Center confirmed that young adults with T2D with low income have 3 times higher mortality risk than those with high income.

 

The number of young people with diabetes is increasing globally. In South Korea, the number of incidence and prevalence of young people with diabetes under the age of 40 is also increasing. Approximately more than 300,000 people are suffering from diabetes currently.

 

Studies have shown that the social and economic environment of diabetic patients influences the risk of complications or death, but no research has been conducted on whether income level affects young diabetic patients.

 

The research team utilized the Korean National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) database between 2008 and 2013 and analyzed approximately 600,000 T2D patients aged 20 to 79 years. This research categorized participants’ income into 3 levels (low, middle, and high) and investigated the relations with mortality.

 

 

As a result, within the T2D group under the age of 40, patients in the low-income level had 2.88 times as higher mortality risks than the high-income level group. The same analysis was conducted for the T2D patients over the age of 60, and the mortality risk was 1.26 times higher. This implies that the T2D patient group under the age of 40 have much higher income-related mortality risk than the T2D patient group over the age of 60.

 

 

In addition, T2D patients with low income have 2.66 times higher cardiovascular mortality, and 1.41 times higher risk of developing atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) than those with high income.

 

 

Professor Nam Hoon Kim mentioned, “Young adults with diabetes have difficulty in controlling blood glucose level, and the tendencies in developing complications earlier. Other than medical perspectives, it seems that socioeconomic environment greatly affect the health outcomes of young people with diabetes.” He also added that “There is a need for efforts to resolve health disparities from various perspectives such as expanding the support for the young diabetics at the national and policy levels.” 

 

The study ‘Income-Related Disparities in Mortality Among Young Adults With Type 2 Diabetes’ was published in JAMA Network Open in November.

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Journal

JAMA Network Open

DOI

10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.43918 

Method of Research

Data/statistical analysis

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Income-RelatedDisparitiesinMortalityAmongYoungAdultsWithType2Diabetes