Science News
Super monosex shrimps created in the laboratory to prevent the spread of parasites
Super monosex shrimps created in the laboratory that could reduce the spread of an important parasite as well as increase the results of aquaculture: this is the purpose that is being carried out by a group of researchers from the Ben-Gurion University of Negev (BGU).
In a study published in Scientific Reports, the group talks about a “super shrimp” that produces only female offspring. This is precisely the reason for the increase in results in terms of aquaculture.
This is an interesting biotechnological result that could have important implications also in the economic field.
The researchers, by transplanting androgenic gland cells, were able to cause complete sex reversal in females of Macrobrachium rosenbergii shrimps that have become functional males. Through the latter, an all-female progeny without the Z chromosome can be produced.
Tom Levy is one of the researchers involved in the project together with Professor Amir Sagi. Levy himself speaks of the usefulness of this research also with regard to the fight against parasites: “Shrimps serve as effective biocontrol agents against parasite-carrying snails. And because we can now use monosex shrimps, which do not reproduce, it reduces the risk of the shrimp becoming an invasive species.”
The snails that shrimp feed on, in fact, can carry parasites that cause schistosomiasis, a disease that can have bad effects on the human urogenital system.
The results have also been achieved without the use of hormones or genetic modifications.
Links/Sources:
https://in.bgu.ac.il/en/pages/news/super_shrimp.aspx
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-47509-6
Janice Carter
3060 Scheuvront Drive, Northglenn Colorado, 80221
303-450-0541
[email protected]
Latest posts by Janice Carter (see all)
- The gene of “laziness” has been identified in mice - November 4, 2019
- Study proposes a tax on sugary snacks - October 29, 2019
- Student locates new armored archosaur that lived 200 million years ago - October 27, 2019
Science News
Frontera, the fifth fastest supercomputer in the world, has been opened at the University of Texas
The University of Texas has officially “inaugurated” Frontera, the fastest supercomputer available in any university in the world and generally the fifth most powerful computer in the world.
Located in the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) of the Texas faculty, this computer joins Stampede2, the second-fastest supercomputer available for any American university, also located in the same faculty.
These two computers make the University of Texas in Austin one of the leading institutions in the field of supercomputers. The same press release speaks of a “new era” in academic supercomputing with a resource that will help the nation’s best scientists to explore science on a large scale and make the next generation of discoveries.
The Frontera supercomputer has firmly placed fifth in the ranking of the fastest supercomputers in the world reaching 23.5 PetaFLOPS. The computer uses over 16,000 processors and a total of almost half a million cores.
However, the supercomputer has already been used by several researchers in recent months. For example, Olexandr Isayev, a chemist from the University of North Carolina, used it to perform more than 3 million atomic force field calculations in less than 24 hours.
But it is in the field of quantum mechanics that, according to the researchers themselves, this supercomputer will shine. “We are really looking forward to performing large-scale calculations that were not possible before,” says Isayev himself.
Links/Sources:
https://fronteraweb.tacc.utexas.edu/
Janice Carter
3060 Scheuvront Drive, Northglenn Colorado, 80221
303-450-0541
[email protected]
Latest posts by Janice Carter (see all)
- The gene of “laziness” has been identified in mice - November 4, 2019
- Study proposes a tax on sugary snacks - October 29, 2019
- Student locates new armored archosaur that lived 200 million years ago - October 27, 2019
A new Hadrosaurus dinosaur that lived in the late Cretaceous was classified by a group of Japanese researchers.
The study, published in Scientific Reports, talks about the methods of analysis performed by researchers on a fossil found in the formation of Hakobuchi, an island of Hokkaido.
The new dinosaur has been named Kamuysaurus japonicus. The first term refers to “Kamuy,” a deity of the Ainu, an indigenous population of the Japanese island of Hokkaido. The second term refers to Japan.
The discovery, made by Yoshitsugu Kobayashi and colleagues, is related to an adrosaur of about eight meters long that lived about 72 million years ago. It can be considered an average-sized adult hadrosaur weighing 4 tonnes or 5.3 tonnes, depending on whether it was walking on two or four legs.
Unique features found by researchers include a small crest on the head and a row of neural spines pointing forward. According to the researchers, the Kamuysaurus japonicus is related to other adrosaurs whose fossils have been found in the Far East. Among the latter are the Chinese Laiyangosaurus and the Russian Kerberosaurus.
Important discovery
This is an important discovery because it could allow a better understanding of the evolution of the Hadrosaurids during the late Cretaceous period, from 100.5 to 66 million years ago, that is until the period of the very disappearance of the dinosaurs.
Moreover, the fact that it was found near the sea, makes this fossil an important finding in relation to the understanding of the development and evolution of the same adrosaurids in such environments. This discovery, in fact, suggests that the members of the adrosaurids and its subfamilies, Hadrosaurinae and Lambeosaurinae, preferred to live near the coasts.
Links/Sources:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-48607-1
Janice Carter
3060 Scheuvront Drive, Northglenn Colorado, 80221
303-450-0541
[email protected]
Latest posts by Janice Carter (see all)
- The gene of “laziness” has been identified in mice - November 4, 2019
- Study proposes a tax on sugary snacks - October 29, 2019
- Student locates new armored archosaur that lived 200 million years ago - October 27, 2019
A team of researchers at the University of Sheffield studied how the pathogen Salmonella typhi, which causes typhoid, accelerates the aging of body cells by “hijacking” molecules for DNA repair.
Typhoid fever, also known as “typhus,” affects more than 21 million people worldwide each year, killing about 168,000 people. The disease is particularly widespread in Southeast Asia.
Researchers have infected human cells with Salmonella typhi in the laboratory and used fluorescent microscopes to understand how this pathogen damaged DNA. They then discovered that it induced a particular form of damage to the DNA itself by taking control of DNA repair machines and making cells more susceptible to infection, in practice accelerating their aging.
DNA repair “machines” are molecules inside the cells that constantly protect our DNA when it is threatened by environmental factors such as ultraviolet light or smoke. By attacking these molecules, the typhoid pathogen causes serious damage that damages cellular DNA.
Daniel Humphreys, one of the authors of the study, comments on the results: “Our results have shown that pathogenic bacteria can accelerate cell aging through a toxin and take advantage of it to establish infections. This makes sense because infections are often more difficult to fight and recover as we age, which is partly due to cellular aging, but the fact that bacterial pathogens affect this phenomenon was unexpected.”
Another author of the study, Sherif El-Khamisy, a researcher at the Healthy Lifespan Institute at the University of England, comments: “Until now, how Salmonella typhi’s typhoid toxin contributed to the infection was a mystery. If we want to fight typhoid, understanding how the toxin causes breakage in the DNA of human cells and promotes infection is key and we hope this discovery will be the first step in developing new strategies to control typhoid, which affects some of the most vulnerable communities in the world.”
Researcher Angela Ibler was also involved in the research.
Links/Sources:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-019-12064-1
Janice Carter
3060 Scheuvront Drive, Northglenn Colorado, 80221
303-450-0541
[email protected]
Latest posts by Janice Carter (see all)
- The gene of “laziness” has been identified in mice - November 4, 2019
- Study proposes a tax on sugary snacks - October 29, 2019
- Student locates new armored archosaur that lived 200 million years ago - October 27, 2019
Frontera, the fifth fastest supercomputer in the world, has been opened at the University of Texas
A new dinosaur in Japan that lived 72 million years ago was just classified
Scientists discover how typhoid bacterium causes DNA breakage
Even monkeys can figure out where others are looking
Pets help to counter the risk of depression in elderly people who have lost a spouse
Classified trout genome: researchers now hope to solve taxonomic issues
The gene of “laziness” has been identified in mice
Boy goes blind because he only eats junk food
Scientists analyze how people feel about initiatives for environmental sustainability
Fake shrimps made from algae and vegetable proteins will come on the market
Pets help to counter the risk of depression in elderly people who have lost a spouse
Classified trout genome: researchers now hope to solve taxonomic issues
Scientists discover how typhoid bacterium causes DNA breakage
Boy goes blind because he only eats junk food
Fake shrimps made from algae and vegetable proteins will come on the market
Even monkeys can figure out where others are looking
Study proposes a tax on sugary snacks
Australian birds are losing much of their habitat
Frontera, the fifth fastest supercomputer in the world, has been opened at the University of Texas
The gene of “laziness” has been identified in mice
-
Science News1 month ago
Pets help to counter the risk of depression in elderly people who have lost a spouse
-
Science News1 month ago
Classified trout genome: researchers now hope to solve taxonomic issues
-
Science News4 weeks ago
Scientists discover how typhoid bacterium causes DNA breakage
-
Science News1 month ago
Boy goes blind because he only eats junk food
-
Science News1 month ago
Fake shrimps made from algae and vegetable proteins will come on the market
-
Science News1 month ago
Even monkeys can figure out where others are looking
-
Science News3 months agoIndian spacecraft Chandrayaan-2 ready to release landers and rovers on the Moon
-
Science News2 months ago
Study proposes a tax on sugary snacks