Lifeboat Foundation

Eukaryotic genomes contain a variety of endogenous viral elements (EVEs), which are mostly derived from RNA and ssDNA viruses that are no longer functional and are considered to be “genomic fossils.” Genomic surveys of EVEs, however, are strongly biased toward animals and plants, whereas protists, which represent the majority of eukaryotic diversity, remain poorly represented. Here, we show that protist genomes harbor tens to thousands of diverse, ~14 to 40 kbp long dsDNA viruses. These EVEs, composed of virophages, Polinton-like viruses, and related entities, have remained hitherto hidden owing to poor sequence conservation between virus groups and their repetitive nature that precluded accurate short-read assembly. We show that long-read sequencing technology is ideal for resolving virus insertions. Many protist EVEs appear intact, and most encode integrases, which suggests that they have actively colonized hosts across the tree of eukaryotes. We also found evidence for gene expression in host transcriptomes and that closely related virophage and Polinton-like virus genomes are abundant in viral metagenomes, indicating that many EVEs are probably functional viruses.

While a pandemic unleashed by a disease from the distant past sounds like the plot of a sci-fi movie, scientists warn that the risks, though low, are underappreciated. Chemical and radioactive waste that dates back to the Cold War, which has the potential to harm wildlife and disrupt ecosystems, may also be released during thaws.

Permafrost covers a fifth of the Northern Hemisphere, having underpinned the Arctic tundra and boreal forests of Alaska, Canada and Russia for millennia. It serves as a kind of time capsule, preserving — in addition to ancient viruses — the mummified remains of a number of extinct animals that scientist have been able to unearth and study in recent years, including two cave lion cubs and a woolly rhino.

Warmer temperatures in the Arctic are thawing the region’s permafrost — a frozen layer of soil beneath the ground — and potentially stirring viruses that, after lying dormant for tens of thousands of years, could endanger animal and human health.

Continue reading “Scientists have revived a ‘zombie’ virus that spent 48,500 years in permafrost” »

The Tibetan Plateau, the highest and largest plateau above sea level, is one of the harshest environments settled by humans. It has a cold and arid environment and its elevation often surpasses 4,000 meters above sea level (masl). The plateau covers a wide expanse of Asia—approximately 2.5 million square kilometers—and is home to over 7 million people, primarily belonging to the Tibetan and Sherpa ethnic groups.

However, our understanding of their origins and history on the plateau is patchy. Despite a rich archaeological context spanning the plateau, sampling of DNA from ancient humans has been limited to a thin slice of the southwestern plateau in the Himalayas.

Now, a study published in Science Advances led by Prof. Fu Qiaomei from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has filled this gap by sequencing the genomes of 89 ancient humans dating back to 5,100 BP from 29 archaeological sites spanning the Tibetan Plateau.

As a ‘smart knee’ that transmits data rolls out, medical specialists and engineers predict sensors will be added to artificial hips, shoulders and spinal implants.

Researchers in Boston are on the verge of what they say is a major advancement in lung cancer screening: Artificial intelligence that can detect early signs of the disease years before doctors would find it on a CT scan.

The new AI tool, called Sybil, was developed by scientists at the Mass General Cancer Center and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge. In one study, it was shown to accurately predict whether a person will develop lung cancer in the next year 86% to 94% of the time.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention currently recommends that adults at risk for lung cancer get a low-dose CT scan to screen for the disease annually.

In a recent study published in the journal Maturitas, researchers conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to compare the risk of cardiovascular events in women with and without endometriosis.

Study: Endometriosis and cardiovascular disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Image Credit: Bangkok Click Studio / Shutterstock.

Apart from autoimmune disorders, polycystic ovary syndrome, depression, and premature menopause, there are pregnancy-associated risk factors for cardiovascular diseases, such as gestational diabetes, pregnancy-related hypertensive disorders, placental abruption, preterm delivery, and pregnancy loss. Women experience a higher mortality rate due to cardiovascular diseases, and while the treatment methods are the same for men and women, the presentation, symptoms, diagnosis, risk factors, and response to treatment differ for women.

For centuries, it has been suspected that the full moon has a mysterious impact on human behavior. Now, recent research conducted by psychiatrists at the Indiana University School of Medicine has discovered that there is a correlation between the full moon and an increase in suicide deaths.

“We wanted to analyze the hypothesis that suicides are increased during the period around full moons and determine if high-risk patients should be followed more closely during those times,” said Alexander Niculescu, MD, Ph.D.

Niculescu and his colleagues analyzed data from the Marion County coroner’s office covering suicides that occurred from 2012 to 2016. The results showed a marked increase in suicide deaths during the week of the full moon, with a particularly pronounced rise among individuals over the age of 55. The team also observed that suicides were most likely to occur in the afternoon, between 3 and 4 p.m., and that the month of September was also a peak time.

Background: Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in women worldwide. Advances in the early diagnosis and treatment of cancer in the last decade have progressively decreased the cancer mortality rate, and in recent years, immunotherapy has emerged as a relevant tool against cancer. HER2+ and triple-negative breast cancers (TNBCs) are considered more immunogenic and suitable for this kind of treatment due to the higher rate of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) and programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression. In TNBC, genetic aberrations further favor immunogenicity due to more neo-antigens in cancer cells. Methods: This review summarizes the principal ongoing conventional and investigational immunotherapies in breast cancer. Particularly, immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) and their use alone or combined with DNA damage repair inhibitors (DDRis) are described.

In a recent study published in the journal Eurosurveillance, researchers examine antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and their mobility in Bifidobacteriales and Lactobacillales species through the use of a unified bioinformatic pipeline to isolate these bacteria from food and probiotic sources.

Study: A survey on antimicrobial resistance genes of frequently used probiotic bacteria, 1901 to 2022. Image Credit: MilletStudio / Shutterstock.com.

Identifying potential sources of AMR is important, as it is one of the key threats to the treatment of multiple communicable diseases worldwide in both humans and animals. Excessive antimicrobial use (AMU) has contributed to a surge in AMR rates worldwide; however, despite mitigation measures to decrease AMU, excessive antibiotic use by animals and humans remains a common practice in many nations.