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, February 05, 2026
Could finger length provide vital clue to understanding human brain evolution?
new research suggests that brain size could be partly dependent on increases in prenatal oestrogen - revealed by looking at the length of a person’s fingers.
The evolution of the human species is marked by an increase in brain size. Now new research suggests that could be partly dependent on increases in prenatal oestrogen - revealed by looking at the length of a person’s fingers.
Professor John Manning, of Swansea’s Applied Sports, Technology, Exercise and Med-icine (A-STEM) research team, is an expert in the field of digit ratio. His work examines the relationship between the length of index and ring fingers, known as the 2D:4D ratio, which is directly linked to the relative concentrations of oestrogen and testosterone a baby receives during the first trimester of pregnancy.
Individuals with high oestrogen relative to testosterone have long index fingers (2D) in relation to their ring fingers (4D) - that is their 2D:4D value is high.
Professor Manning’s latest research has seen him working with colleagues from Istanbul University’s Department of Anthropology and their findings have just been published in the journal Early Human Development.
Head circumference in newborn children is strongly associated with brain size and subsequent measures of IQ. For this research the team looked at 2D:4D and head circumference in 225 newborns - 100 boys and 125 girls.
This revealed that high 2D:4D (indicating high prenatal oestrogen) was related to large head circumference in boys but not girls.
Professor Manning said: “This finding is relevant to human evolution because increases in brain size are found alongside feminization of the skeleton, what is known as the oestrogenized ape hypothesis. High values of 2D:4D in males have been found to be related to elevated rates of heart problems, poor sperm counts and predisposition to schizophrenia.
“However, increases in brain size may offset these problems. Thus, the evolutionary drive for larger brains in humans may inevitably be linked to reductions in male viability including cardiovascular problems, infertility and rates of schizophrenia.”
The researchers believe their findings provide further evidence about the positive influence of prenatal oestrogen on human brain evolution.
Pharmaceutical products are essential for health, and they play and will continue to play a key role in disease prevention and treatment. However, they are exerting a major impact on the environment by affecting ecosystems and human health, and contributing to biodiversity loss, antimicrobial resistance and climate change. The main ingredients of medicines designed to achieve the desired health effect, together with their excipients (inert substances mixed with medicines to provide them with consistency, shape, taste, etc.) and packaging materials, are polluting the air, soil and water worldwide. This leads to problems in ecosystems, which then translate into an impact on human health.
The EHU researchers Iker Egaña and Vladimir Akhrimenko state that “the problem is very broad, with very different effects on different animal communities. Current treatment plants are not designed to remove all types of pharmaceuticals; they only manage to remove some of them. Right now, the concentrations and quantities are very small, but for a number of years now we have been seeing that they are having effects. It is a global problem. And in developing countries the situation is even worse”.
The researchers in the EHU’s Basque Sustainable Pharmacy & Biotherapy group point out that “this global problem must be addressed through global, transdisciplinary solutions, from the perspective of One Health, which encompasses both living beings and the environment. It is essential to raise awareness among all those involved in the global cycle of a medicine —from its design, production and consumption to its disposal in treatment plants— which involves the pharmaceutical, healthcare and veterinary sectors, and even the general public. The EHU researchers are proposing a set of key points designed to move forward in this regard.
Training, eco-prescription and raising awareness
Egaña and Akhrimenko, among others, have conducted a critical review of initiatives already implemented and emerging ones with the aim of achieving a more sustainable pharmacy, following a full life cycle approach to identify the role of pharmacy professionals. As they point out, “to tackle the problem of pharmaceutical pollution, it is necessary to establish a sustainable pharmaceutical framework, starting with drug development and the training of future professionals”.
The solutions proposed include, for example, “the need to train future professionals in the pharmaceutical and medical sectors in the field of pharmaceutical pollution, because this is a topic currently not covered in university courses. This would help, for example, pharmaceutical companies to design more biodegradable medicines without compromising their efficacy or safety. It is important to ensure that the environmental impact analysis of a drug carries more weight”. The researchers also highlight the importance of getting involved “in advising patients regarding a more rational use of medicines, better waste management, etc.”.
The EHU researchers also suggest that environmental damage should be taken into consideration when prescribing medicines, and propose that the healthcare sector should not always go straight for the pharmacological solution, “but should also seek other types of solutions, incorporating eco-prescribing, as far as possible, into their approach. Sometimes a period of rest can be as helpful as a particular medicine,” they cite as an example. However, they believe that this is not just a health or pharmaceutical issue; “we all need to get involved and ask ourselves whether the medicine we are taking could have an environmental impact. We need to know what the consequences are of what we consume”.
European regulation
The researchers pay particular attention to regulatory measures and consider that “Europe is making progress in regulation; it is reformulating a set of directives that address this issue”. The European Directive on Urban Waste Water Treatment, for example, has included the presence of pharmaceuticals and medicines as a quality indicator for the first time. They also consider the integration of extended producer responsibility into wastewater regulations to be of great importance, as this urges the pharmaceutical and cosmetics sectors to pay part of the costs of disposing of these substances in treatment plants. However, “the new drinking water regulations also mention the monitoring and measuring of the presence of pharmaceuticals for the first time”, they add. And they say that regulation is heading in the right direction.
Additional information
This study falls within the framework of the PhD thesis being written up at the EHU by Iker Egaña — Head of Treatment and Quality at AMVISA (Aguas Municipales de Vitoria-Gasteiz, S.A.)—, and supervised by Gorka Orive (Professor of Pharmacy at the EHU) and Unax Lertxundi (Head of the Pharmacy Section in the Mental Araba Health Network), lead researchers in the recently set-up multidisciplinary Basque Sustainable Pharmacy & Biotherapy, group of the EHU. Vladimir Akhrimenko is a pre-doctoral researcher at the EHU.
The content of this study has been published in a prestigious journal in the field of pharmacy and aims to give the sector a wake-up call. The article could be regarded as a summary of the lines of work being pursued by the group which, although only set up recently, has members with an extensive track record in the field.
Credit: Shaojing Sun, Chao Chen, Jie Wang, Yan Sun & Qing Wang
Antibiotic resistance is widely recognized as one of the greatest global public health threats, but scientists are now uncovering an unexpected contributor to the problem living quietly in rivers, lakes, and coastal waters. A new review highlights how microalgae, microscopic photosynthetic organisms that support aquatic food webs, may also help concentrate and spread antibiotic resistance genes in natural water environments.
The study, published in the journal Biocontaminant, synthesizes emerging research showing that microalgae create microenvironments that can foster the growth and transmission of antibiotic resistance genes, often abbreviated as ARGs. These genes allow bacteria to survive antibiotic treatment and are a key driver of antimicrobial resistance worldwide.
“Microalgae are essential to aquatic ecosystems and play a fundamental role in carbon fixation and oxygen production,” said corresponding author Qing Wang. “However, our review shows that the microscopic environment surrounding algal cells can also become a hotspot where antibiotic resistance genes accumulate and spread.”
Microalgae live in close association with bacteria in a region known as the phycosphere, a nutrient-rich microenvironment surrounding algal cells. Within this zone, algae release organic compounds that attract bacteria and promote microbial growth. While this interaction supports ecological balance, researchers have found that it also creates favorable conditions for bacteria carrying resistance genes to thrive.
According to the review, the phycosphere can act as a reservoir for antibiotic resistance genes. Studies have shown that the abundance of these genes around certain freshwater microalgae can be dramatically higher than in the surrounding water. Dense microbial populations and protective biofilm structures formed by extracellular polymeric substances help bacteria survive and exchange genetic material more efficiently.
“This environment increases contact between bacterial cells and enhances horizontal gene transfer, which is one of the main mechanisms that allows antibiotic resistance genes to spread between microorganisms,” Wang explained.
The research also highlights how environmental stressors can amplify this problem. Nutrient pollution, rising temperatures, and antibiotic residues from human and agricultural activities can stimulate algal growth and alter microbial communities. These changes can increase the abundance of resistance genes and accelerate their transmission.
For example, algal blooms fueled by nutrient pollution can create ideal conditions for bacterial colonization. During bloom events, researchers have observed significant increases in resistance gene abundance compared to non-bloom conditions. Additionally, low concentrations of antibiotics in water bodies may unintentionally encourage bacteria to develop and share resistance mechanisms over time.
Other emerging contaminants, including microplastics and heavy metals, may further complicate the situation. Microplastics can serve as surfaces where microbial communities form and interact, potentially increasing gene transfer. Meanwhile, certain heavy metals can influence bacterial biofilm formation and indirectly affect resistance gene dynamics.
Despite growing evidence, scientists emphasize that research into microalgae-mediated antibiotic resistance remains at an early stage. Many questions remain about how resistance genes move between algae, bacteria, and surrounding environments under real-world conditions.
“Our findings highlight a hidden ecological pathway contributing to antimicrobial resistance,” Wang said. “Understanding how these genes move through aquatic ecosystems is critical for developing strategies to reduce environmental and public health risks.”
The authors suggest that future research should focus on tracking resistance gene transmission in complex natural ecosystems and developing advanced monitoring technologies. Improved understanding of the phycosphere could help scientists design more effective strategies to manage water pollution and limit the environmental spread of antibiotic resistance.
As antibiotic resistance continues to rise globally, the study underscores the importance of viewing the problem through an environmental lens. The interactions between microscopic organisms in aquatic ecosystems may play a larger role in resistance transmission than previously recognized, offering both new challenges and opportunities for mitigation.
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Journal reference: Sun S, Chen C, Wang J, Sun Y, Wang Q. 2026. Microalgae in the enrichment and spread of antibiotic resistance genes in watersheds: a review. Biocontaminant 2: e003 doi: 10.48130/biocontam-0025-0028
About Biocontaminant: Biocontaminant (e-ISSN: 3070-359X) is a multidisciplinary platform dedicated to advancing fundamental and applied research on biological contaminants across diverse environments and systems. The journal serves as an innovative, efficient, and professional forum for global researchers to disseminate findings in this rapidly evolving field.
Light can be used for various treatments, provided that the parameters and devices are properly established. To use light in the treatment of microorganisms, combining it with molecules that absorb light and trigger oxidative processes in unwanted cells, such as bacteria, is called photodynamic therapy. This technique can be applied to different environments, such as blood plasma bags, thereby ensuring sterility and a longer shelf life. However, it is essential to remember that the treatment parameters must be set appropriately. The chosen molecule is haemoporphyrin, which resembles the molecule present in red blood cells, haemoglobin. The light used is in the red region of the electromagnetic spectrum, ensuring that it does not interact with other biomolecules present in the plasma bags. With this combination, researchs from Texas A & M University and University of São Paulo published their work, entitled “Photodynamic inactivation of Staphylococcus aureus in plasma using photogem: optimization and mechanistic insights”, in Frontiers of Optoelectronics (published on Jan. 22, 2026). The work demonstrates the effectiveness of this technique as an alternative to antibiotics to minimise their use, which are essential for controlling infection but have become obsolete due to excessive use. “At Biophotonic, our goal has been to use optical and photonic techniques to develop and refine medical technologies for diagnosis, cancer treatment, and microbiological control.”, said the authors.
