Monthly Archives: January 2018

by Daniel GregoryUniversity of California, Riverside, CA, USA The Earth has undergone profound changes in the chemistry of its oceans and atmosphere from the time before life began to the present day. This has resulted in a wide variety of different ocean and atmospheric compositions, including variations in oxygen composition, over the last 3 billion or more years of Earth’s history. Understanding what these changes were has important implications for not only a better understanding how life came into being, but also to predict what atmospheres may nurture life on planets that are orbiting other stars. Conventional ways to determine the chemical conditions of oceans at a given time involves getting samples of rock that formed during that time period, analyzing the chemical constituents of the rock, and interpreting the results. However, the earth is a dynamic environment and rocks are often buried so deep that their chemistry gets altered,…

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Bonobo apes are among our closest genetic relatives. Like humans, they are very social and are known to cooperate to find food. However, new research published in the journal Cell describes a key way our species differ: unlike humans, bonobos may prefer individuals who don’t cooperate. Researchers from Duke University came to that conclusion while studying bonobo behavior at Lola ya Bonobo, a bonobo sanctuary in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The researchers wanted to know if bonobos react differently to individuals who help others and individuals who harm or get in the way of other bonobos. We know from past experiments that, even as babies, humans naturally prefer to interact with helpful people and avoid those who hurt or interfere with others. The Duke researchers were curious if bonobos also behave this way. To answer that question, the researchers conducted several experiments. In the first, adult and young adult…

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The 1997 US film Men In Black followed two secret agents who protected humans from extraterrestrial aliens, and aliens from humans. They had access to several (fictional) gadgets — the most notable of which was the “neuralizer.” The neuralizer allowed an agent to flash a light into the victim’s eyes, which deleted their memory and allowed the agent to suggest a new memory to overwrite the old one. A research team at University of Oxford, UK, developed a gene that could only be activated with a laser, a technology that at first glance bears the same mystique as Hollywood’s neuralizer. While the Oxford team’s development cannot affect memory, it may have beneficial medical uses. With this idea in mind, it is possible to imagine using a laser to activate only the toxic genes in cancerous tumors to destroy them. What is meant by “toxic genes?” Cells contain genes that turn…

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The first contact between the Aztecs of Mesoamerica and Spanish Conquistadors is well documented as bloody and disastrous for the Aztecs. However, it was the period of time just after first contact that was much deadlier for the native people, as diseases tore through these communities. These diseases were strong enough to wipe out up to 80% of the population and create a new term in the Aztec language – cocoliztli. One such epidemic, a disease that burned through the town of Teposcolula-Yucundaa between 1545 and 1550, has remained a mystery until recently when a group of researchers found evidence of the disease’s cause. Five-hundred year old diseases are difficult to identify, but do leave behind small traces of DNA in the remains of those that were infected. In the case of Teposcolula-Yucundaa, teeth from 28 bodies found within the mass graves were tested for bacterial DNA. Of those 28…

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Microgreens are a specialty crop that is growing in popularity. It is most often served as a garnish, flavoring, or embellishment on dishes at upscale and gourmet restaurants. Microgreens are primarily grown by small climate controlled operations run by just a few people. Since these crops are new and not grown on an industrial scale like most other fresh produce, there is very little scientific research out there on the ability of microgreens to carry foodborne illness. It is often assumed that microgreens are safer than sprouts because microgreens do not include the root, and soil is often a source of contaminating bacteria. However, there isn’t much evidence available yet to support or refute this claim. Microgreens can also become contaminated via handling, irrigation water, and equipment. Bacteria and viruses can sometimes be found on the surface of the edible portion of the plant. This is why we wash our…

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From mushrooms, cheese, and bread to beer, wine, and sake, fungi play an important role in the foods we eat, whether we know it or not. These incredible organisms and their products can be great food sources that are packed with protein. Most people are already familiar with mushroom species with fruiting bodies such as the shiitake, truffles, and morels. Fruiting bodies are the part observed above ground that can sometimes be safely consumed by humans (though some are also highly toxic!). Yeast are another group of fungi important for both food and beverage fermentation – the process that converts sugars into alcohol and carbon dioxide. Bracket Fungus. Image Source: Pixabay Similar to how humans have domesticated dogs, cats, and many farm animals, microbes and fungi have also been domesticated. Anyone a fan of cheese? It turns out, without cheese fungi and bacteria your favorite cheese wouldn’t exist. The earliest…

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Human immunodeficiency virus, more commonly known as HIV, is one of the deadliest infectious diseases around the world. However, there are now medications available to help stop this disease. Once people get tested for HIV and come back as positive for the virus, the guidelines from around the world are now to get on medication right away. The guideline used to be to wait to get on medication until people were sicker, measured by the amount of a certain type of immune cell in people’s blood called CD4 cells. Fewer CD4 cells mean a less effective immune system, and when the CD4 cell count gets low enough in the blood, that means a person’s diagnosis of HIV turns into AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome). Because the HIV virus is a retrovirus, it must be treated with antiretroviral drugs.  Antiretroviral therapy works against the HIV virus to stop it from spreading throughout…

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