Brain Difference Found in Children with ADHD  

Do you or someone you know have ADHD? Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a chronic condition that affects millions of people throughout the world. Symptoms typically begin in childhood, and it has thus far been diagnosed primarily through questionnaires and behavioral observations.  

Hoping to improve this inherently subjective and often challenging means of diagnosing this condition, researchers at Yale used brain imaging data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study, where children who have ADHD, and children without it were both imaged. An entire brain analysis was conducted on over seven thousand 9 to 10 year olds. The researchers found a few key differences—kids with ADHD were found to have narrower frontal cortices (responsible for decision making, reasoning, attention, and memory), narrower white matter (a system of neural connections) and different memory, alertness, and auditory processing. The team was able to use their findings to train a machine learning algorithm that could be used to diagnose ADHD from brain images, eliminating the subjectiveness of previous methods of diagnosis. Their findings reveal that ADHD is more than just a behavioral disorder—removing some of the stigma attached to it. The algorithm is a fantastic development that will make a difference in the lives of many.

Locklear, M. (2022, November 23). Neuromarker for ADHD could improve diagnosis of the disorder. YaleNews. Retrieved December 3, 2022, from https://news.yale.edu/2022/11/23/neuromarker-adhd-could-improve-diagnosis-disorder

Blood Test for Multiple Cancers

Doctors advocate that their patients get regular screening for common cancers—colonoscopies for colon cancer and mammograms for breast cancer. These tests can be both intolerable and inconvenient. President Joe Biden recently declared multi cancer early detection tests (MCEDs) to be prioritized by the Cancer Moonshot Initiative (a coalition to progress our knowledge of and potential treatment of cancer).

MCED tests work to detect different cancers by focusing on identifying trace amounts of tumor DNA in our bloodstream. The DNA found holds details on the kind of tissue it is from, including if it is cancerous or not. Cancer blood tests exist, however they can only be used to detect advanced-stage cancers, so MCED tests, which hone in on a “molecular barcode” may become the future of cancer detection and diagnosis. This could significantly reduce the number of cancer deaths by detecting cancers much earlier than being done so today. On top of that, the testing would be much more comfortable than colonoscopies, mammograms, biopsies and more.

Colin Pritchard Professor of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology. (2022, October 31). A blood test that screens for multiple cancers at once promises to boost early detection. The Conversation. Retrieved December 4, 2022, from https://theconversation.com/a-blood-test-that-screens-for-multiple-cancers-at-once-promises-to-boost-early-detection-191728?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Weekly+Highlights++November+6+2022+-+2457424603&utm_content=Weekly+Highlights++November+6+2022+-+2457424603%2BCID_3c8a0d5250e27baa9a9c84e1aaeaef86&utm_source=campaign_monitor_us&utm_term=A+blood+test+that+screens+for+multiple+cancers+at+once+promises+to+boost+early+detection

Erupting Volcano After 40 Years

Mauna Loa on the Big Island of Hawaii, the largest active volcano on Earth, is now erupting after remaining dormant for almost 40 years. In the past, Mauna Loa tended to erupt on average every seven years.

According to Ingrid Johanson, a geophysicist at the U.S. Geological Survey’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory in Hilo, Mauna Loa had been exhibiting indications of an impending eruption for the past seven years. When they first started to notice signs, there had been an increase in local earthquakes and land deformation which meant the magma below the ground was in motion. These indications grew over the past few months, until Mauna Loa finally erupted again. As of right now, the awakened volcano is not endangering surrounding communities, but volcanologists are watching it closely in case the flow of lava changes and starts to head towards populated areas.

Gramling, C. (2022, December 1). Hawaii's Mauna Loa volcano is erupting. here's what you need to know. Science News. Retrieved December 4, 2022, from https://www.sciencenews.org/article/hawaii-mauna-loa-volcano-erupting-what-you-need-to-know

Does Pregnancy Change the Brain?

We know that pregnancy affects the body long term and can make a woman prone to certain diseases, but it was unknown until recently that pregnancy can actually affect the brain. A recent study looked to discover how giving birth alters the white matter microstructure (the network of nerve fibers in the brain), neural metabolite concentrations (markers for things like neuronal and axonal integrity and excitatory transmission, among others), and neural network organization (the network of neurons, which send electrical signals).

They found that there was reduction in the gray matter of pregnant women compared to non-pregnant women, there was an increase in the Default Mode Network (DMN) connectivity in pregnant women, and they found no significant difference in the white matter microstructure and neural metabolites. This study shows that pregnancy causes changes in the neural architecture and network organization, especially in the DMN, of the brain. This might indicate the change in self-awareness and actions when transforming to a mother. The findings also suggest there is a relation with mother-infant bonding. That’s pretty crazy to think about!

Hoekzema, E., van Steenbergen, H., Straathof, M. et al. Mapping the effects of pregnancy on resting state brain activity, white matter microstructure, neural metabolite concentrations and grey matter architecture. Nat Commun 13, 6931 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-33884-8

Eyes Come Back to Life

Over 250 million people around the world experience vision loss and around 43 million people are blind. For many years, researchers have studied the eyes of mice for an understanding of how our human eyes work, yet mouse eyes have striking differences—they don’t see in color, they have no macula (what’s responsible for our central vision), so they can’t develop macular degeneration (which is a common cause of devastating vision loss in humans including my grandmother).

For six years, Dr. Anne Hanneken has been working to revive eyes from the deceased. The goal is for scientists to eventually carry out experiments on functioning human eyes, increasing our understanding of the factors and diseases causing vision loss so that treatments may potentially be created. Another benefit would be accelerating the concept of eye transplants.

Dr. Hanneken and Frans Vinberg worked together to find that eyes recovered from a patient within 30-60 minutes after life support was removed were still functioning. The eyes could detect the whole light-signaling cascade (they could still respond to light). However, they are unable to prove if the eyes can see since they’re no longer connected to the brain.

This new finding will allow scientists to conduct experiments that are impossible on living people with the goal of finding cures for certain forms of blindness. Imagine what else could be revived and what advances in medicine can be gained!

R. Winslow. A Spark of Life After Death Points to New Hope for Blindness. The Wall Street Journal. September 4, 2022. https://www.wsj.com/articles/a-spark-of-life-after-death-points-to-new-hope-for-blindness-11662303872?st=xfkwkkgk21xkqoa&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink.

Does Air Pollution Cause Cancer?

Researchers at the Francis Crick Institute in London and University College Londen have proposed a new concept of how air pollution affects cancer. Their discovery: our cell’s DNA is already damaged, but something, such as air pollution can trigger that DNA thus making it cancerous.

Their discovery came from studying how non-smokers can acquire lung cancer (which happens disturbingly often).

Through their experiments, they found that there were more non-smokers with lung cancer in locations with high air pollution. Breathing in the pollution (specifically a type called PM2.5) releases a chemical in the lungs causing inflammation and cell activation. They also studied mice that have been exposed to air pollution and found that using a specific drug can stop a signal that causes cancer.  The study is great progress towards our understanding of cancer and its treatments!

J. Gallagher. Cancer Rules Rewritten by Air Pollution Discovery. BBC News. September 10, 2022. https://www.bbc.com/news/health-62797777.

Saving the Caribbean

All across the world, coral ecosystems are dying. Reefs are not only habitats for fish and other sea creatures, but they act as coastal protection and produce oxygen. It is estimated that with climate change, all of the reefs on earth could be dead at the end of this century. As ocean temperatures rise, coral bleaching occurs: when the symbiotic algae that produces nutrients for coral gets driven out.

Elkhorn coral has been an endangered species since 2006, and until recently was incredibly challenging to grow in aquariums. Keri O’Neil, a scientist at the Tampa Aquarium’s spawning center and her colleagues recently spawned the coral in the aquarium. Her experiment created thousands of baby Elkhorn coral (this is big!). Understanding how this coral can spawn outside of the ocean may be crucial to addressing climate change. They hope to be able to breed coral so that they can resist the effects of climate change and other events.

I. Rosales. Scientists Make Major Breakthrough in Race to Save Carribean Coral. CNN. September 5, 2022. https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/04/us/elkhorn-coral-spawn-florida-aquarium-climate/index.html.

Tumors are Full of Microbes and Fungi

You probably know mushrooms, mold, and yeast are types of fungi, but did you know that fungi can be found inside of you? Some fungi live on our skin and break down oils, others feed on sugar from our mouths, however, some fungi inside of us are still widely unknown. Healthy bodies are home to fungi, but in a recent study, fungi have even been found in tumors. In 35 different cancers and tumors from 7 parts of the body, fungi was present in each one.

The research was conducted in combination by a team at UCSD and Narunsky Haziza and Ravid Strausman’s teams at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel. Haziza and Strausman had originally been studying the microbes (small organisms, often bacterium responsible for disease) of tumors. The team at UCSD led by Dr. Speich-Poore has even founded a company to turn their research findings into a blood test to detect cancer. The test would be able to determine what kind of cancer the microbes had come from. The scientists are finding that certain microbes lead to worse cancer outcomes. This is great progress towards understanding how tumors work and finding potential new ways to diagnose cancer!

C. Zimmerman. A New Approach to Spotting Tumors. The New York Times. September 29, 2022. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/29/science/cancer-tumors-fungi-bacteria-microbiome.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare.

New Cancer Preventing Vaccine Put to the Test

Cancer, the disease that infects almost 2 million people per year, and takes the lives of over six-hundred-thousand people per year, has been studied by so many scientists over the years, who have tried to find anything to prevent those from receiving the deadly disease. Vaccines to prevent cancer caused by viruses (such as hepatitis B and C virus, which can lead to liver cancer, and human papillomavirus which can lead to cervical cancer) have been created, because they can target the viruses I just mentioned. Yet the majority of cancers are caused by certain gene changes, not by viruses.

Lynch syndrome is a disorder that causes many types of cancer; a new trial sets out to test a vaccine for those suffering from the disease. The vaccine will target neoantigens (protein on cancer cells formed when mutations in tumor DNA occur), however other researchers are testing different approaches to non viral cancer vaccines including tumor antigens (molecule such as a protein only present on cancer cells), just a singular antigen (molecule that causes an immune response), or a large number of antigens.

Eduardo Vilar-Sanchez and his team will test a vaccine made of viruses carrying DNA for 209 frameshift (nucleotide bases inserted or deleted in groups not multiples of three) neoantigens found in the tumors of those with Lynch syndrome. The vaccine will be developed by the company Nouscom for treatment in addition to a drug that will trigger the body's immune system in other similar cancers. In the first test of 12 patients, 7 of the patients' tumors shrunk. The next test will take place in the following months, where 45 people with Lynch syndrome have volunteered. Although the process to get this vaccine to function in its intended way, and then get it approved will be long, the potential effects it could have on cancer patients is unrivaled.

J. Kaiser. New generation of cancer-preventing vaccines could wipe out tumors before they form. Science. April 7, 2022. https://www.science.org/content/article/new-generation-cancer-preventing-vaccines-wipe-tumors-form.

The Power to Regenerate Cells in the Heart Muscle Has Been Discovered

Adult human hearts are unable to regenerate cells and thus are unable to repair themselves after injury. So, researchers from the University of Houston set out to solve this problem: by looking at mice, they discovered a technology that can both repair cells in the heart muscle and even go beyond that to regenerate those cells after experiencing a heart attack. The researchers reproduced 15 times the heart cells in just under 24 hours using this technology, and over the course of a month, the mice hearts were back to pretty normal function!

How it works: the technology utilizes synthetic mRNA (messenger ribonucleic acid) as a means to deliver the proteins in charge of converting DNA to RNA in the mice’s hearts (a process also known as mutating transcription factors). The two factors they used are known as Stemin (which starts the process of stem cell regeneration) and YAP5SA (which encourages organ growth). Together, they increase the rate of replication of cells in the heart muscle, or cardiomyocytes. This technology could be crucial for humans, and I’m excited to see where it takes us.

S. Xiao et al. Mutant SRF and YAP synthetic modified mRNAs drive cardiomyocyte nuclear replication. The Journal of Cardiovascular Aging, 2022; 2 (3): 29 DOI: 10.20517/jca.2022.17.

Can Fungi Help Climate Change??

When you hear the word fungi, you may think of mushrooms or mold, often things seen in a negative light. However fungi is so much more, fungi hold great abilities. Some types of fungi can actually store an incredible amount of carbon underground, stopping the carbon from increasing the temperature of our atmosphere. Other fungi species assist plants’ drought survival rate, help get rid of unwanted bugs, and are capable of feeding crops so chemical fertilizers are unnecessary. To Toby Keirs, fungi may be just what our overheating world needs.

With many largely focusing on what is happening above ground, Dr. Keirs is looking below ground, mapping out fungi and their functions. Her research primarily looks at a fungi known as mycorrhizal fungi, characterized by its symbiotic relationship with plants and its habit of grasping onto surrounding roots. Trees receive necessary nutrients from these fungi, and give the fungi carbon in a type of trade. It’s estimated that mycorrhizal fungi take in 5 million tons of carbon each year, which would otherwise flow to our atmosphere. As such, it will be crucial to protect mycorrhizal fungi. I wonder what kind of impact these fungi will have on climate change in future years.

M.Mcann et al. Unearthing the secret superpowers of fungus. The New York Times. July 27, 2022. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/07/27/climate/climate-change-fungi.html?referringSource=articleShare.

Have MIT Scientists Found a Way to Reverse Climate Change?

Scientists from MIT may have found a way to help or even reverse climate change. Their theory uses film-like silicon bubbles (known as “Space Bubbles”) linked together to serve as a shield from the sun's radiation. The “Space Bubbles” would work by locating themselves at something known as the L1 Lagrangian Point—located right in the middle of the Sun and Earth, a point where stars and earth’s gravity negate—where the bubbles could float freely.

The idea stems from astronomer Roger Angel, who had thought to use a spacecraft as a barrier from the sun. The MIT scientists have considerably improved Angel’s idea. This discovery could be a crucial step towards reversing climate change, but is currently meant to be a backup plan. Thus, we must continue doing our part in the climate crisis, reducing our individual carbon emissions and searching for other solutions/aids.

J. Hawkings. MIT scientists think they’ve discovered how to fully reverse climate change. Yahoo!entertainment. July 9, 2022. https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/mit-scientists-think-ve-discovered-180800050.html?guccounter=1.

Groundbreaking Technology: AI Protein Predictions

DeepMind, an Artificial intelligence (AI) lab has created a technology known as AlphaFold, something capable of predicting protein shapes. Within a year of uncovering the technology, DeepMind produced predictions for over 350,000 proteins, a crazy number, spanning the entire human genome and more. Now, the company has disclosed their predictions for pretty much every protein known, a staggering 200 million+. What used to take immense time to figure out, often spending months studying x-rays and using microscopes and other tools, can now be viewed with a simple click.

The ultimate hope behind releasing all the predictions is that research can be sped up—by understanding the shape of a protein to begin with, it is much easier to use the protein, whether that be for understanding diseases, producing new medicine and vaccines, or really anything. DeepMind also wants scientists to be able to investigate more unknown organisms.

Although AlphaFold is unable to predict protein shapes to perfect accuracy, it has proven to be fairly close to discovering the shape physically. AlphaFold is already being used by scientists throughout the world, speeding up their work by months and allowing research to be done that seemed impossible in the past.

C. Metz. A.I. Predicts the Shape of Nearly Every Protein Known to Science. The New York Times. July 28, 2022. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/28/science/ai-deepmind-proteins.html?referringSource=articleShare.

New Progress in Epilepsy Treatment

Epilepsy is a disorder that produces seizures as a result of the brain’s nerve cell activity being disrupted. Around 1.2% of the entire world has experience with epilepsy. This may not sound like a lot, but this percentage turns out to be around 65 million people. Although there are multiple anti epilepsy drugs, (AEDs) some patients become resistant to these treatments.

To combat this issue, researchers from Trinity College Dublin looked at the connection between blood vessels in the brain and epilepsy. Our brains use around 20% of the energy we produce daily, which we produce from the blood-brain-barrier (a web of capillaries that transport blood to the brain and spinal cord tissue, and prevents harmful substances from passing). The researchers found that a protein called claudin-5 was reduced in people with temporal lobe epilepsy (the most common type), and that the loss of this protein can produce seizures. They conjecture that restoring claudin-5 could prevent seizures. Additionally, these findings can be applied to other neurological disorders! Relief could soon be at hand for millions of people.

New discovery from Trinity College Dublin could lead to new treatments in preventing seizures. Epilepsy Ireland. April 4, 2022. https://www.epilepsy.ie/content/new-discovery-trinity-college-dublin-could-lead-new-treatments-preventing-seizures.

Does COVID-19 Impact the Brain?

COVID-19 has been widely studied since it spread around the world in 2020, but most scientists were focused on how it affects the lungs, even though COVID actually affects the entire body. COVID’s impact on the brain has remained a mostly under researched area until more recent studies conducted by a group of scientists including Avindra Nath of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke found damages to the brain in patients who had died of COVID.

The damages include harmed blood vessels, inflammatory cells (heal damaged tissue or attack bacteria) around the brain, immune cells (help the body fight off infections/diseases) in the brain itself, antibodies (proteins that act against an invader and produce an immune response) attacking the blood vessels, and even a small number of people have reported a tiny amount of virus in the brain itself. Patients reported brain fog, feeling as though their skin is abnormal, or suffering from headaches. And, a very small group of people experienced psychiatric issues of delusion or psychosis syndrome (losing touch with reality) as well. Keep in mind that those who were studied had severe cases of COVID.

Serena Spudich, a neurologist at Yale University has three hypotheses for why these symptoms are happening:

1. The virus is directly infecting cells in the nervous system or the brain’s supportive structures.
2. Autoimmune responses are attacking the brain
3. The lung has distal inflammation that can prompt cells in the brain to trigger long term changes of the cells.
   

Researchers around the world are racing to find answers and treatments to these impactful neurological symptoms.

M. Cantwell. Here’s what we know about Covid-10’s impact on the brain. Science. April 15, 2022. https://www.science.org/content/article/here-s-what-we-know-about-covid-19-s-impact-brain.

How Does Hair Grow Back?

A recent study conducted by researchers at Yale University looked at the connection between molecular signals and growth of hair follicles. Let’s first look at how hair follicles are formed: dermal condensates (cells under the skin) send signals to the outer layer of skin, directing hair follicles to form. The formation of dermal condensates has so far been unknown, and the team at Yale hoped to change that. Dr. Peggy Myung, Yuval Kluger, and her other colleagues looked at single-cell RNA-sequencing data from the skin of a mouse; from this, they were able to investigate the molecular signals involved in the formation and combine this information with other findings from in vivo genetic experiments (experiments in living things).

They found that the signals included in dermal condensate formation were Wnt (transduction pathways for immune cell renewal and upkeep) and SHH (informs how to make the protein Sonic hedgehog, a crucial signal for embryonic development). Genetically adjusting these signals changes the speed of dermal condensate formation. This finding is key for hair regrowth therapies and will most definitely be a tool used in regeneration. FInding a cure for baldness has been close to a holy grail for sufferers around the world. Any progress on this front is super exciting.

J. Shelton. One step closer to creating new hair follicles. April 13, 2022. https://news.yale.edu/2022/04/13/one-step-closer-creating-new-hair-follicles?utm_source=YaleToday&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=YT_YaleToday-Public_4-21-2022.

Gene Therapy: Once Again Saving Lives

Imagine getting a cut and fearing that you could die from bleeding out. That's what people with hemophilia, a genetic disorder that prevents a person from forming blood clots and in turn causes extreme bleeding with even the smallest cuts, worry about every day. Hemophilia is a rare and life-threatening disease. It is caused when someone does not have something called a coagulation factor, (the proteins in the blood that control bleeding) usually factor VIII type. A recent study set out to look at the effects that gene therapy would have on those with hemophilia.

Here’s how the gene therapy, known as valoctocogene roxaparvovec, works: a patient receives a one-time infusion that produces factor VIII. The genetic code is delivered by something called an adeno-associated virus (a virus that does not have a lipid (fat) covering and can be altered to deliver genetic code without causing disease). The virus then interacts with liver cells to create the protein needed for blood clots.

The encouraging results were as follows: the majority of patients who received the injection experienced an increase in their factor VIII level, allowing them to form blood clots. Still, a small portion of participants did not benefit from the treatment. Additionally, many individuals suffered from side effects in their liver.

Long term usage: as of now, it is unknown how long the treatment will last, but the effects proved to decrease after a year. The treatment can also only be used once. Although this gene therapy does not work for everyone, this could ultimately save many lives. Further advances should be on the horizon.

A. Cunningham. A gene therapy for hemophilia boosts levels of a crucial clotting protein. Science News. March 16, 2022. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/gene-therapy-hemophilia-clotting-blood-clot-protein.

An Incredible Brain Implant

Over the years countless methods have been tried to communicate with those in paralyzed/unresponsive states, including pen and paper, twitches and blinks, and, more recently, computer interface technology. In 2017, a man who had been diagnosed with ALS knew he would ultimately become completely paralyized and prevented from even moving his eyes. So, before he progressed to this point, he began to work with Dr. Ujwal Chaudhary and other doctors and scientists.

Three years later, Ujwal Chaudhary accomplished something no one else had been able to: he watched his computer, connected to the paralyzed man who then imagined his eyes moving to select letters from a list projected by the computer. This man selected a letter every minute or so, and formed sentences for the first time in years.

In order to achieve this remarkable feat, Dr. Birbaumer, the leader of the study, had two electrodes implanted in the section of the patient’s brain that is in charge of movement. The doctors played the patient a high or low note, signifying yes or no. They then played him a second note with the goal of having him match the second to the first. Through the process of the electrodes first detecting the tone, to him imagining his eyes moving, (which would heighten or lower his brain activity) he succeeded in matching the tones. This process gave him the right feedback to further enable him to change the pitch to match yes or no.

The team of doctors looked to extend the man’s success to words. Letters were grouped into five colors. The man would choose the color that his letter was a part of, then choose the letter; all of this was read out by a computer. The man continued these steps to form words and sentences. He was even able to tell the doctors what he wanted to eat.

This is an incredible study that will continue to benefit research and eventually help others who are paralyzed.

J. Moens. Brain Implant Allows Fully Paralayzed Patients to Communicate. The New York Times. March 22, 2022. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/22/science/brain-computer-als-communication.html?referringSource=articleShare.

Discovery of the Entire Human Genome

For over 20 years, scientists have been searching for the full human genome, (the genetic code that makes us who we are, more specifically, the total set of nucleic acid sequences in a human) and, just recently, they finally found the missing 8%! The discovery led by scientists at UC Santa Cruz and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) confirms that the human genome is in fact composed of 3.055 billion base pairs, (the two chemical bases that when bonded form a “rung” of the DNA ladder) the bases are known as adenine, cytosine, guanine, and thymine, and these form 19,969 working genes.

The group of scientists was able to add 200 million base pairs along with 115 active genes to the draft of the genome which had previously been undiscovered. The newfound sequence supplies the very first full account of essential parts of the human chromosomes (a structure inside the cell nucleus made of proteins and DNA). The full human genome and increased understanding of genes will help scientists for years to come with understanding genetics behind diseases and even provides further insight into human evolution!

E. Allday. In research breakthrough, California scientists help decode entire human genome. San Francisco Chronicle. March 31, 2022. https://www.sfchronicle.com/california/article/Scientists-complete-sequencing-of-human-genome-in-17048849.php

Pleasure Pushes Mice to Dream

Why do we dream while we sleep? Mice were recently found to transition into a dreaming state after their level of dopamine (a neurotransmitter that causes feelings of pleasure and satisfaction) was increased. The growth causes the mice to start an REM (rapid eye movement) stage.

Humans and animals likewise shift between REM and non REM sleep stages, in other words, they switch between intense dreams with rapid brain activity to light sleep. Prior to this study, the causes of the two types of sleep were unknown.

So how did they discover the impact of dopamine?

Dopamine is produced in the ventral tegmental area of a mouse's brain, the part of the brain that assesses needs to assure satisfaction. The cells in this area send dopamine to an area known as the amygdalae (the region associated with emotions). Takeshi Sakuri, a neuroscientist, and his colleagues studied how the mice’s dopamine acted by using a molecular sensor—their results revealed that before the mice went into REM (deep) sleep, their dopamine levels rose in the amygdalae.

It is still unknown whether the same process occurs in humans, but thanks to Sakuri and his team, scientists are on the right track to discovering human properties and helping those suffering from sleep disorders.

E. Hasegawa et al. Rapid eye movement sleep is initiated by basolateral amygdala dopamine signaling in mice. Science. Vol. 375, March 4, 2020, p. 994. DOI: 10.1126/science.abo1987.

Extinct to Reality

Scientists have been fascinated with the idea of bringing extinct animals back to life. Their reasoning: 1) the challenge of reviving a species in itself and 2) certain extinct animals were key parts of their habitats’ ecosystems (the interaction of all organisms in that area), and could aid in restoring those ecosystems.

How bringing back an extinct species would work: the first step is sequencing the species’ genome (all the genetic information of the organism), followed by editing a close relative’s DNA to match the original genome. To reproduce the species, the genome has to be present in the embryo (multicellular organism during the early development stage) of a surrogate mother. So far, only the first step has been achieved.

Recent scientists Tom Gilbert and Jian-Qing Lin worked to de-extinct the Christmas Island Rat. They were able to sequence over 60 times coverage of the rat’s genome, but when compared to its close relative the Norway rat, about 5% of the Christmas Island Rat’s genome were still missing. Although 5% may seem small, it makes a huge difference. There are so many questions about this process and how/if it will work, but one thing we know is that scientists are putting great effort into this discovery.  

E. Pennis. Bringing back the wooly mammoth and other extinct creatures may be impossible. Science. March 9, 2022. doi: 10.1126/science.adb1930.

Progress in Memory Loss Treatment

Memory loss is a huge issue affecting many people as they get older (over 40% of those over 65), but it remains a widely un-researched area. A study back in 1972 discovered that oxygen treatments had a positive effect. More recently, this idea that exposing people to 100% oxygen at very high pressures to aid their cognitive ability has been revisited.

So far, oxygen treatments have improved memory in those with mild head trauma, those who have had strokes, and those with Alzheimer’s disease. The oxygen treatment decreases inflammation in the brain, helping the patients cognitive abilities. It is still unknown how these treatments work in the long term and whether they will have a more lasting effect on memory. But this is much needed progress in the field of memory loss.

E. Garcia de Jesus. 50 years ago, oxygen was touted as a potential memory loss treatment. Science News. March 11, 2022. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/50-years-ago-oxygen-memory-loss-treatment.

Oil Spills Helped by Sunlight

A new study shows that sunlight may aid cleaning up oil spills much more so than previously thought. Let’s look at how this works: when sunlight hits plots of oil in the sea, a chain of chemical reactions occur, including one known as photo-dissolution (the process of turning the insoluble oil into water-soluble products). It is still unknown, however, how often this occurs in oil spills.

To find out the factors of this process, two chemists, Danielle Haas Freeman and Collin Ward, studied the effect of sunlight by placing oil on glass plates and using simulated sunlight from LED’s. They discovered that the different wavelengths of light, the season and/or latitude, and different thicknesses of the oil proved different outcomes of the photo dissolution. They estimate from their discovery that the process of sunlight irradiation has actually dissolved between 3-17% of oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill in 2010. I hope this percentage increases as time goes on.

D.H. Freeman and C.P. Ward. Sunlight-driven dissolution is a major fate of oil at sea. Science Advances. Published online February 16, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abl7605.

More Side Effects of COVID-19

There have been countless studies about the lasting health effects of COVID-19, often regarding the lasting loss of taste and smell, shortness of breath, damage to the lungs and heart, and fatigue, but the psychological effects are still lesser known. This is in part due to the fact that many mental health impacts show up months after the infection.

A recent large-scale study looked at millions of people who use the US Department of Veterans Affairs health system to find that those who contract COVID-19 are at a much higher risk for brain fog, depression, substance use disorders, and other mental illnesses. One thing to keep in mind, though, is that the data is skewed towards a certain type of person: white males in their sixties. Additionally, the health records studied were mostly before the vaccine was available.

Now for the results: when compared to those in the pandemic who did not get COVID-19, those who were infected were 46% more likely to be diagnosed with a neuropsychiatric disorder. The risk of brain fog specifically was 80% higher and those infected were also 86% more likely to have been prescribed a type of neuropsychiatric drug. This is an absolutely shocking contrast and I wonder if future covid patients will show the same neurological symptoms.

M. Wadman. COVID-19 Patients Face Higher Risk of Brain Fog and Depression, Even 1 Year After Infection. Science. February 16, 2022. doi: 10.1126/science.ada1381.

Lizard Tails: The Science Behind Their Detachable Tails

Lizards intentionally lose their tails as a defense mechanism, but how does their tail only detach at the right moment and doesn’t just fall off at any moment? Well, there must be some type of balance between the two.

Let’s look at what a lizard tail is made of: inside, there are segments that connect in the same way that a phone charger plugs into an outlet. Each segment is called a fracture plane: the point where the tail can detach. Each segment has prongs (bundles of muscles situated in a circle) between them that fit into a socket. The prongs are covered in bumps that look like small mushrooms.

Yong-Ak Song and his colleagues studied how this tail structure allowed lizards to detach their tails. In the study, they amputated the tails of three different types of lizards and used microscopes to look at the separated appendages. Their findings: each of the mushroom-like bumps is covered in little holes, and on the walls of sockets there seemed to be small indentations where the prong's micropillars were. The researchers later discovered that both the small holes and large spaces in between the micropillars allowed the speed of the tail fracture to be slowed down. Just imagine how their tails have changed over years and years in the process of evolution and how they might continue to evolve.

N.S. Baban et al. Biomimetic fracture model of lizard tail autotomy. Science. Vol. 18, February 18, 2022, p. 770. doi: 10.1126/science.abh1614.

Miraculous Cancer treatment

Twelve years ago, two patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (a type of cancer affecting blood and bone marrow) were successfully treated with something called CAR-T cell therapy. Today, the super cells developed during the treatment are still working, fighting off cancer left and right. CAR-T cell therapy has the promise to become a long lasting treatment for many more than just two people, and might help those suffering from other types of cancers as well.

Let’s look at how it works: CAR-T cell therapy genetically modifies T cells (a type of white blood cells) in a lab to fight and kill the cancerous cells. When foreign substances enter the body, the immune system recognizes them by their antigens (a type of protein on these cells’ surface). The T cells have receptors (their own version of protein) which attach to the antigens to destroy them. The altering of the T cells makes sure that they will attach to the antigens well enough to kill these cancer cells.

Although this process hasn’t worked for everyone, and has at times produced terrible side effects, it’s still pretty amazing. This is an extremely exciting discovery for the future of cancer cures and will continue to advance over the years.

Melenhorst, J.J., Chen, G.M., Wang, M. et al. Decade-long leukaemia remissions with persistence of CD4+ CAR T cells. Nature (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-04390-6.

Covid Vaccine Curing More?

The Covid-19 vaccine was created with a very futuristic technology: mRNA or messenger RNA. Older vaccines were built by growing a virus or proteins from it and then using a weakened version of this to build up an immune response in the body. But mRNA actually dictate instructions to the cells to build certain proteins which will then create an immune response.

Scientists are now trying to figure out whether using mRNA technology will work for other diseases and illnesses. Different companies are working on this for HIV, cancer, malaria, influenza, and more. We will surely see updates in these quests over the next few years.

Hopkins, J.S., & Schwartz, F. Can the Technology behind Covid Vaccines Cure Other Diseases? The Wall Street Journal. February 4, 2022. https://www.wsj.com/articles/can-the-technology-behind-covid-vaccines-cure-other-diseases-11643990913.

New Machine, New Opportunity

We know the state of the climate crisis and the search for carbonless power, now we may be on path for a solution thanks to nuclear fusion (when atoms fuse to form a larger one, releasing a great amount of energy). Nuclear fusion is what powers the majority of stars in our universe, including the sun. Now, scientists in the United Kingdom are working on sustaining nuclear fusion as a source of power.

A record-breaking 59 megajoules of fusion energy was sustained for more than five seconds in December in a huge machine shaped like a donut. Although the machine can only sustain power for five seconds before overheating, scientists found that this process of fusion is a possible solution for the climate crisis. Let’s hope scientists can figure out how to maintain and apply this fusion energy!

Gainor, D., & Dewan, A. A Giant Donut-Shaped Machine Just Proved a Near-Limitless Clean Power Source is Possible. CNN. February 9, 2022. https://apple.news/AcKBay5uORhS_hzNr_dBMIg.

Speaking of Cures, Let’s Look at Sickle Cell Diseases

Our genes are incredible, but sometimes they can cause disorders like sickle cell disease— a condition in which red blood cells affect hemoglobin (a protein that carries oxygen and transports carbon dioxide) causing extreme pain. But, we can now use our genes to cure these genetic disorders by replacing or fixing genes.

Sickle cell disease is the newest target of gene therapies for two reasons: first, the molecular pathways are straightforward and second, not every gene has to be altered. Current trials consist of a gene therapy targeting babies and fetuses to make healthy hemoglobin, another works to bring a copy of the HBB gene (a protein coding gene in hemoglobin) to people, and a third trial involves using CRISPR technology (a tool for editing genomes) to cut out the defective part of the gene. Millions of people suffer from a type of sickle cell disease; if these trials work, imagine how many could gain their lives back!

Garcia de Jesús, E. Gene Therapies for Sickle Cell Disease Come With Hope and Challenges. Science News. February 11, 2022. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/gene-therapy-sickle-cell-disease-esrick-genetics.

Let’s Learn From Squirrels!

Squirrels use their gut microbes (microorganisms in their intestines) to maintain their muscle throughout winter. A squirrel's ability to prevent losing muscle mass could guide scientists to help humans suffering from muscular diseases or undernourishment.

So how does it work? Well, when muscles suffer from inactivity, they release nitrogenous compounds (compounds containing a nitrogen atom). Most of the time, the compounds are removed through urination, which is necessary because having too much nitrogen is toxic. But squirrel's gut microbes recover the nitrogen to create amino acids (molecules used to make protein) to refuel their muscles.

Imagine if humans could one day do the same! This would mean athletes who sustain injuries and couldn’t build/retain muscle mass on their own would now be able to.

M.D. Regan et al. Nitrogen recycling via gut symbionts increases in ground squirrels over the hibernation season. Science. Vol 375, January 27, 2022, p. 460-463. DOI: 10.1126/science.abh2950.

Frogs Can Regrow Limbs!

Similar to the discovery with squirrels, scientists have discovered an amazing ability of frogs' that will guide future efforts to help humans! In a study led by Michael Levin, a biologist at Tufts University, a team amputated the hind legs of African Clawed frogs and found something incredible.

Their stumps were treated with five growth-promoting drugs. The scientists attached BioDomes (silicon caps holding a gel containing drugs) to the stumps of the frogs for a day. These drugs encouraged blood vessel, nerve, and muscle tissue growth while also working to stop scarring.

Over the next year and a half, these treated frogs were able to regenerate parts of their bone and develop new nerves and muscles. They wound up growing appendages, knee joints, and even some boneless toes. Although the legs were not fully functioning, they were certainly close. Imagine if people were able to regrow limbs that were lost. I hope we will see many advancements in regenerative medicine due to Levin and his team. Awesome work!!

N.J. Marugan et al. Acute multidrug delivery via a wearable bioreactor facilitates long-term limb regeneration and functional recovery in adult Xenopus laevis. Science. Vol 8, January 26, 2022.  DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abj2164.