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A high-risk stem cell transplant has rid a middle-aged man of any signs of the human immunodeficiency virus ( HIV) more ...
21/02/2023

A high-risk stem cell transplant has rid a middle-aged man of any signs of the human immunodeficiency virus ( HIV) more than nine years after treatment.

The so-called 'Düsseldorf patient' was diagnosed with HIV in 2008, and put on a course of antiretroviral treatments in 2010. The following year, he was diagnosed with leukemia, which is a cancer of white blood cells in the bone marrow.

Given the serious combination of the man's illnesses, doctors decided to take a dangerous route.

In 2013, the patient underwent a stem cell transplant, which takes stem cells from the bone marrow or blood of a donor and uses the sample to replace a sick patient's own white blood cells.

In this case, however, the donor was selected because they had a genetic mutation that makes them resistant to HIV. The idea was to cure the patient's leukemia, while, at the same time, giving them a genetic-based resistance to HIV.

Nine years after receiving this initial treatment and four years after ceasing to use antiviral treatments, researchers have announced the patient displays no signs of functional, replicating HIV particles in his body, effectively making him virus free.

The Düsseldorf patient was the third patient to have received this type of stem cell transplant.

And though there is no clear line between cured and infectious, the Düsseldorf patient joins four other stem cell recipients researchers are confident have had all traces of functional HIV genomes removed from their body.

The other patients have been dubbed the City of Hope, the London, the New York, and the Berlin patients.

The word 'cure' is in quote marks, because it comes with some serious caveats.

HIV is one of the trickiest viruses for experts to treat. It has a way of lying latent in the body, beyond the reach of the immune system or modern medicines.

Stem cell treatments for cancer like the one detailed above are incredible because they can make immune cells resistant to the virus present.

At the same time, however, they are also potentially fatal and do not always work, not even for leukemia. Currently, they are only used as a last resort and in extreme cases.

That said, the way that some patients are cured by this cutting-edge intervention could "inform future strategies for achieving long-term remission of HIV-1," write researchers from Düsseldorf University Hospital in Germany.

A handful more HIV cases have even been controlled without any stem cell treatments at all.

These patients were able to stop taking anti-retroviral treatments and still maintain low to no evidence of the virus in their system.

Why that is remains unclear, but clinical trials are revealing some possible avenues for a cure.

In 2022, for instance, a common cancer drug was found to 'coax' latent HIV out into the open.

The drug didn't 'eradicate' HIV among patients, but its success does suggest there are ways to tweak the immune system so it's better able to cope with the long-lasting virus.

Stories like those of the Düsseldorf patient give scientists hope for the future. It's evidently possible to eradicate HIV, now we just need to figure out how to make it work for everyone who needs it.

Scientists have used a specially engineered flour to make a bread that keeps you fuller for longer and lowers blood gluc...
21/02/2023

Scientists have used a specially engineered flour to make a bread that keeps you fuller for longer and lowers blood glucose levels, potentially offering a healthier alternative that lowers the risk of obesity and diabetes.

The new flour is based on pulses, which include chickpeas, lentils, and beans. Already known to be useful for helping us maintain a healthy weight and reduce the risk of heart disease, the benefits largely rely on the plant material retaining its integrity. In the production of ordinary wheat flour, the advantages of this fiber structure are believed to thanks to the milling process.

"At a time that we are all being encouraged to increase our fiber intake, this study highlights the importance of the physical form of fiber, as intact cell walls, in slowing starch digestion, improving blood glucose levels and simulating satiety hormones help us feel full," says biochemist Peter Ellis, from King's College London in the UK.

After producing their flour and baking their bread, the researchers tested it on 20 healthy individuals, who were served up samples of white bread with 0 percent, 30 percent, and 60 percent of chickpea flour in them. Jam with no added sugar was added for flavor.

The chickpea-enhanced bread tended to make the volunteers feel fuller according to their own self-reporting. Blood analysis suggested this was the result of an increased release of hormones that promoted satiety.

Then there was the blood glucose reduction: the 30 percent chickpea flour reduced blood glucose levels by up to 40 percent, with a drop of almost as much observed from the 60 percent chickpea flour compared to regular flour. That's down to the starch taking longer to break down in the body, the researchers say.

"We were impressed with the results we've seen in healthy individuals, and now would like to see how our cellular chickpea flour bread can help in the management of body weight or diabetes in larger scale dietary intervention trials with people who suffer with these conditions," says gut physiologist Balazs Bajka, from King's College London.

In their published study, the researchers note getting people to change their eating habits to prevent and tackle potential problems such as obesity and diabetes can be difficult – which is the reason that advancements like this are so promising.

Staple foods like bread could be engineered to be better for us, which would require no real effort on our part. Generally eating foods that require less processing has consistently been shown to be the way to go for a longer, healthier life.

This is the first study of its type, demonstrating how the use of whole-cell pulse flour in bread can have these beneficial effects. There's lots more to come though: the same approach could potentially be used on other food types as well.

"We have long known that the structure of food can have a big impact on its nutritional value," says bioscientist Cathrina Edwards, from the Quadram Institute in the UK. "This study is a promising example of how new ingredient structures can be used successfully to improve the metabolic and fullness effects of everyday food products."

"We hope that our findings will attract interest from food producers looking to improve the health credentials of their products."

Variations in the SARS-CoV-2 virus that have not been detected in human beings for some time are still going strong in a...
18/02/2023

Variations in the SARS-CoV-2 virus that have not been detected in human beings for some time are still going strong in animal populations – specifically, in the white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) roaming across the state of New York in the US, a new study reveals.

What's more, the viral sequences recovered from the deer show substantial genetic changes from the ones carried by humans, suggesting that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, continues to mutate and adapt over time out in the wild.

Based on the time that the samples were gathered, it seems likely that the virus is able to circulate in deer for months after its last detection in people. It's possible that these animals are acting as long-term reservoirs for SARS-CoV-2 variants.

"One of the most striking findings of this study was the detection of co-circulation of three variants of concern – Alpha, Gamma, and Delta – in this wild animal population," says virologist Diego Diel from the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine in New York.

The study was based on 5,462 existing samples of deer lymph tissue, collected as part of an investigation into chronic wasting disease in white-tailed deer. These samples were gathered across 2020 and 2021, and with useful data attached about when and where they were collected, plus the age and s*x of each deer.

All of that data meant the researchers were able to identify hotspots where SARS-CoV-2 was particularly active. Multiple clusters were shown to exist based exclusively around particular variants: Alpha, Gamma, or Delta.

The team was also able to identify as many as 80 mutations in some of the virus variants, indicating that this wasn't a short-term visit. These mutations potentially make it easier for SARS-CoV-2 to pass to other animals, and perhaps even back to humans.

"When we did sequence comparisons between those viruses recovered from white-tailed deer with the human sequences, we observed a significant number of mutations across the virus genome," says Diel.

Across what sort of longer time scales the deer could act as a reservoir for SARS-CoV-2, or whether the virus might be able to be returned to humans, remains to be seen – these are unknowns that scientists are now trying to answer.

It's also not clear exactly how the infection made its way into deer in the first place, though it will be because of some kind of contact with humans: perhaps through hunting, feeding, wildlife rehabilitations, water sources, or wastewater.

So far, there's only one reported case of a deer passing COVID-19 on to a person, so we're still far more likely to catch it from a fellow human being. However, earlier research suggests that it's very easily passed between white-tailed deer populations.

"A virus that emerged in humans in Asia, most likely after a spillover event from an animal reservoir into humans, apparently, or potentially, has now found a new wildlife reservoir in North America," says Diel.

The battle for the most known moons in the Solar System is raging on.After losing its lead to Saturn in 2019, Jupiter ha...
16/02/2023

The battle for the most known moons in the Solar System is raging on.

After losing its lead to Saturn in 2019, Jupiter has once again surged ahead. Astronomers have counted 12 previously unknown moons in orbit around our Solar System's biggest planet, bringing the known total to 92, and leaving Saturn, with its measly count of 83, in the dust.

The orbits of the moons, which are unnamed, have been published in the circulars of the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center, which keeps records of all the small bodies discovered in the Solar System.

The observations were led by astronomer Scott Sheppard of Carnegie Institution for Science, who has spearheaded the discoveries after accidentally discovering a plethora of previously unknown Jovian moons during a hunt for the mysterious hypothetical Planet Nine in the outer Solar System.

"Jupiter just happened to be in the sky near the search fields where we were looking for extremely distant Solar System objects," Sheppard said in 2018, after his team discovered a dozen new moons.

It's actually not that strange that we're just now discovering these objects. They're quite small and dim and hard to see, especially when you have Jupiter right there being all big and reflective.

When looking for evidence of Planet Nine, however, the researchers used a more powerful telescope than ever before, zooming in at higher resolutions, across a wider field of view than other observations in the past.

This allowed them to spot small moons that might have escaped previous detection. According to Sky & Telescope, nine of the newly discovered moons are quite distant from Jupiter, orbiting in a retrograde motion, the opposite direction to Jupiter's rotation.

This is not weird; most of Jupiter's moons are retrograde. This motion means they were probably passing rocks that were snared by Jupiter's gravity and remained in orbit.

The other three moons are closer to the planet, and orbiting in the same direction as Jupiter's rotation. These smaller, prograde moons are harder to see because Jupiter outshines them, but they probably formed in Jovian orbit.

The moons were spotted in 2021 and 2022. Anything near Jupiter moving across the sky in the same direction and at the same sp*ed is a potential moon, but confirming them takes time.

Follow-up observations need to be made, a month and then a year later, to make sure that the object is still there, still orbiting Jupiter. These follow-up observations can then also be used to map the orbit of the object.

This can tell us about the history of Jupiter and its moons. For example, the retrograde moons are thought to be the remnants of three larger bodies that were captured in Jovian orbit and then broke apart after colliding with other objects. But one of the moons discovered a few years ago, Valetudo, has a prograde orbit that crosses into the orbits of the retrograde moons.

This suggests that the retrograde moons may have been created by collisions with prograde moons with orbits like Valetudo's. Finding more moons will help either validate or refute this idea.

Meanwhile, it's extremely likely that there are a lot more moons around both Jupiter and Saturn that we are yet to find. And really, it doesn't matter which planet has more. There is just one clear winner in this whole race: science.

If you think you have trouble telling when someone's into you, just be grateful you're not a giraffe.Like many even-toed...
13/02/2023

If you think you have trouble telling when someone's into you, just be grateful you're not a giraffe.

Like many even-toed hoofed animals such as goats and antelope, male giraffes need to analyse a female giraffe's p*e to figure out if they're receptive to baby-making.

Unfortunately reaching the ground to sniff at puddles of urine isn't the easiest thing to do when you're several meters tall. So males must convince females to urinate first, and catch the waste fluid mid-stream.

Keep that in mind next time you roll your eyes while swiping left.

The secrets of giraffe s*x lives, as well as a possible grieving ritual have been described by UC Davis veterinary scientists Lynette Hart and Benjamin Hart in a new observational study.

"They don't risk going all the way to the ground because of the extreme development of their head and neck," says Lynette Hart.

So the Harts observed these highly social animals gathering at the Namutoni waterholes, Etosha National Park in Namibia, to see how they compensated for this. Here they witnessed males investigating a female 102 times.

Group of giraffe gathered at a water hole
Gathering at a watering hole in Namibia's Etosha National Park. (Lynette Hart/UC Davis)
"They have to nudge the female," explains Hart," effectively saying, 'Please urinate now.' And often she will. He has to elicit her cooperation. If not, he'll know there's no future for him with her."

To do this, the towering male nuzzles or taps the rump of the slightly smaller female. In some cases, he might simply hang about waiting nearby. Some females in heat will wait until a male is close to p*e.

Once the male giraffe slurps some urine into his mouth he raises his head, sometimes spitting a stream from his mouth like a practiced wine snob, grimacing to allow the urine to pass through a specialized opening in the mouth's roof into what's known as the vomeronasal organ.

By this he assesses the pheromones to determine if the female is receptive to his advances.

Other ungulates' vomeronasal organs have pronounced connections through their nose as well as mouth, but for giraffes the nasal connection is limited – an example of how their other anatomy has changed along with their extreme height.

A large male giraffe curling his lips at a smaller female's urine
Male giraffe lip curling at the female's urine to inhale it. (Lynette Hart/UC Davis)
The researchers also heard examples of giraffe warning growls. Giraffes were once thought to be silent but have recently been shown to cough, whistle, grunt, and even eerily hum to each other at night.

As if witnessing the intimate relations of giraffes in lust wasn't enough, the Harts observed a steady procession of the animals file by to examine one of their own dead, seemingly in mourning.

It's important not to anthropomorphize the animals, of course. After all, as the Harts speculate, they could have been looking for bones to chew.

They noticed these giant herbivores gnawing on bones almost every day of their observations. While this macabre behavior, called osteophagia, has been seen before, it was thought to be rare. Why occurs it in giraffes at all is unknown but other herbivores use it to increase their calcium intake.

It appears to be a risky thing to do though – several giraffes ended up getting the bones lodged in their mouths and were unable to remove them.

"People love watching giraffes," notes Benjamin Hart. "I think the more the public understands about them, the more interested they'll be in their conservation."

Let's hope so, as this rare remaining example of megafauna continues to decline in numbers thanks to the usual suspects of habitat loss, poaching and ecological change.

In 2016 a study identified their numbers had plummeted by up to 40 percent in 30 years, which saw giraffes officially listed as vulnerable on IUCN's threatened species list.

Maybe knowing their appearance isn't the only strange thing about them will help convince us to keep them around for as long as possible.

Over ten years ago, a tsunami triggered a disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant on Japan's east coast. A...
11/02/2023

Over ten years ago, a tsunami triggered a disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant on Japan's east coast. After the accident, large amounts of radioactivity contaminated the ocean leading to the imposition of a marine exclusion zone and huge reputational damage to the regional fishing industry.

Huge volumes of contaminated water have accumulated on the site since. Water was needed to cool the damaged reactors and groundwater that became contaminated as it infiltrated the site had to be pumped out and stored. Over 1,000 tanks have been built on site to store over a million tonnes of radioactive water.

But the site is running out of storage space and the tanks could leak, particularly in the event of an earthquake or a typhoon. So the Japanese authorities have given the site permission to release the stored radioactive water through a pipeline to the Pacific Ocean.

As an environmental scientist, I have worked on the impacts of radioactive pollutants in the environment for more than 30 years. I think that releasing the wastewater is the best option.

Contaminated water
Before it is stored, the wastewater produced at Fukushima is treated to remove almost all of the radioactive elements. These include cobalt 60, strontium 90 and caesium 137. But tritium – a radioactive form of hydrogen – is left behind.

When one of the hydrogen atoms in water is replaced by tritium, it forms radioactive tritiated water. Tritiated water is chemically identical to normal water, which makes separating it from wastewater expensive, energy intensive and time consuming. A review of tritium separation technologies in 2020 found that they are unable to process the huge volumes of water required.

But as radioactive elements go, tritium is relatively benign and its existence as tritiated water reduces its environmental impact. Chemically identical to normal water, tritiated water passes through organisms like water does and so does not strongly accumulate in the bodies of living things.

Tritiated water has a bioaccumulation factor of about one. This means exposed animals would have roughly the same concentration of tritium in their bodies as the surrounding water.

By comparison, radioactive caesium 137, released in large quantities after Fukushima and from the UK's Sellafield nuclear site in the 1960s and 70s, has a bioaccumulation factor in marine environments of roughly 100. Animals tend to have around 100 times more radiocaesium than in the surrounding water because caesium magnifies up the food chain.

Low radiation dose
When tritium decays, it gives off a beta particle (a fast-moving electron that can damage DNA if ingested). But tritium's beta particle is not very energetic. A person would need to ingest a lot of it to be given a significant radiation dose.

The World Health Organization's drinking water standard for tritium is 10,000 Becquerels (Bq) per liter. This is several times higher than the planned concentration of the discharge water at Fukushima.

The difficulty of separating tritium from wastewater and its limited environmental impact is the reason nuclear facilities around the world have been releasing it into the sea for decades. The Fukushima Daiichi site is planning to release about 1 Petabecquerel (PBq – 1 with 15 zeros after it) of tritium at a rate of 0.022 PBq per year.

This sounds like a huge number but globally, 50-70 PBq of tritium is produced naturally in our atmosphere by cosmic rays each year. While annually, the Cap de la Hague nuclear fuel reprocessing site in northern France releases roughly 10 PBq of tritium into the English Channel.

Significantly higher rates of release from Cap de la Hague than planned at Fukushima have shown no evidence of significant environmental impacts and doses to people are low.

Safe release
But the release of radioactive water must be done properly.

Japanese studies estimate that the wastewater will be diluted from hundreds of thousands of Bq per liter of tritium in the storage tanks to 1,500 Bq per liter in discharge water. Diluting the wastewater before it is released will reduce the radiation dose to people.

The radiation dose to people is measured in sieverts, or millionths of sieverts (microsieverts), where a dose of 1,000 microsieverts represents a one in 25,000 chance of dying early from cancer. The maximum estimated dose from Fukushima's discharged water will be 3.9 microsieverts per year. This is much lower than the 2,400 microsieverts people receive from natural radiation on average each year.

The Japanese authorities must also ensure that there are not significant amounts of "organically bound tritium" in the released water. This is where a tritium atom replaces ordinary hydrogen in an organic molecule. The organic molecules containing tritium can then be absorbed in to sediments and ingested by marine organisms

In the mid-1990s, organic molecules containing tritium were released from the Nycomed-Amersham pharmaceuticals plant in Cardiff Bay, Wales. The release led to bioaccumulation factors as high as 10,000.

Treatment for other more dangerous radioactive elements also tends to leave small amounts of these elements in the wastewater. The wastewater stored at Fukushima will be re-treated to make sure levels of these elements are low enough to be safe for discharge.

On the grand scale of the environmental problems we face, the release of wastewater from Fukushima is a relatively minor one. But it is likely to do more reputational damage to Fukushima's beleaguered fishing industry. This will not be helped by the political and media furore that's likely to surround new releases of radioactive water to the Pacific Ocean.

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