3D-printed shelters increase baby coral survival rates

Researchers place the modules onto experimental tables in Kāneʻohe Bay.
Photo Credit: Jessica Reichert

To dramatically increase coral survival rates, scientists at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB) have developed innovative 3D-printed ceramic structures that provide crucial protection for baby corals. These new designs offer a low-cost and scalable solution to enhance reef recovery worldwide.

The discovery, published in Biological Conservation, addresses a critical challenge in reef restoration—the low settlement and survival rates of juvenile corals, which often die before adulthood due to predation, being overgrown by algae or being swept away by waves.

“We developed structures that help baby corals find safe homes in the reef,” said Josh Madin, principal investigator at HIMB’s Geometric Ecology Lab and co-author of the study. “Our new designs, with small spiral-shaped shelters called ‘helix recesses,’ give young corals the protection they need during this critical stage.”

Rock art shows earliest known human return to Arabia after the last Ice Age

Rock art has led scientists to revise the timeline of humans repopulating Saudi deserts.
Photo Credit: Sahout Rock Art and Archaeology Project

An international team of scientists, including from Saudi Arabia, use rock art and sediment samples to find that humans returned to Arabia earlier than previously thought after the last ice age  

The Heritage Commission has, in collaboration with an internation team including King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), revealed in Nature Communications the discovery of life-sized rock art panels in the Nefud Desert that were carved 12 000 years ago. 

These findings shift the timelines of when humans and wildlife repopulated the interior desert areas of Saudi Arabia after the Last Glacial Maximum by several thousand years.    

These findings, which can be read in Nature Communications, shift the timelines of when humans and wildlife repopulated the interior desert areas of Saudi Arabia after the Last Glacial Maximum by several thousand years.   

Breast Cancer Polygenic Risk Score Associated with Outcomes after In Situ Breast Disease

Photo Credit: National Cancer Institute

Studying a person’s genetic makeup can predict if they will go on to develop invasive breast cancer after abnormal cells have been found in their breast tissue.

For the first time, researchers at King’s College London have shown the connection between a person’s genetic risk score and their risk of developing the disease after irregular cells have been detected.

The research, published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention and funded by Breast Cancer Now, included over 2,000 women in the UK who had been tested for 313 genetic changes, known as a genetic risk score.

These patients had already been diagnosed with either ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) or lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS) – the most common types of abnormal cells found in breast tissue.

A genetic risk score estimates a person's inherited likelihood of developing a disease or trait by combining the influence of multiple common genetic variants.

Converting toxic styrene oxide into attractive compounds

Selvapravin Kumaran, doctoral student in the Microbial Biotechnology working group, takes a measurement in the laboratory. 
Photo Credit: © Dirk Tischler

Styrene oxide isomerase is proving to be a multifunctional helper for biotechnology.

The bacterial membrane enzyme styrene oxide isomerase can convert toxic compounds into valuable materials. Selvapravin Kumaran, a doctoral student in Professor Dirk Tischler's Microbial Biotechnology working group at Ruhr University Bochum, Germany, has discovered exactly how it does this. These findings could help in the future to use the multifunctional enzyme in other reactions involving the production of industrially attractive compounds from inexpensive precursors. “Enzymes are a powerful tool that can make our lives more environmentally friendly,” says Dirk Tischler. The researchers report their findings in the journal ACS Catalysis.

An enzyme with a previously unexplored mechanism

Bacterial styrene oxidase isomerase has been known to science for over three decades, but its mechanism of action has not yet been elucidated. “Working with this enzyme is difficult because it is anchored in the membrane of the bacterial cell system,” says Dirk Tischler. In collaboration with Delft University of Technology, his team was able to uncover the role of the amino acid tyrosine in the conversion of toxic styrene oxide through the rare Meinwald rearrangement.

Fat particles could be key to treating metabolic brain disorders

For decades, it was widely accepted that neurons relied exclusively on glucose to fuel their functions in the brain. This is not the case.
Photo Credit: The University of Queensland

Evidence challenging the long-held assumption that neuronal function in the brain is solely powered by sugars has given researchers new hope of treating debilitating brain disorders.

A University of Queensland study led by Dr Merja Joensuu showed that neurons also use fats for fuel as they fire off the signals for human thought and movement.

“For decades, it was widely accepted that neurons relied exclusively on glucose to fuel their functions in the brain,” Dr Joensuu said.

“But our research shows fats are undoubtedly a crucial part of the neuron’s energy metabolism in the brain and could be a key to repairing and restoring function when it breaks down.”

Dr Joensuu from the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology along with lab members PhD candidate Nyakuoy Yak and Dr Saber Abd Elkader from UQ’s Queensland Brain Institute set out to examine the relationship of a particular gene (DDHD2) to hereditary spastic paraplegia 54 (HSP54).

Potential new therapeutic target for asthma discovered

Photo Credit: Cnordic Nordic

A new way to treat asthma symptoms and even repair previously irreversible lung damage could be on the horizon following the discovery of a potential new therapeutic target by scientists at the Universities of Aberdeen and Manchester.

Current treatments for asthma largely involve controlling the inflammation of lung tissue using steroid inhalers. However, 4 people die every day in the UK from asthma related complications. With funding from the Medical Research Foundation and Asthma UK, a team of researchers from the University of Aberdeen and the University of Manchester have investigated the scarring that occurs in lung tissue as a result of asthma and have been able to reverse these changes in animal models.

Although still in the early stages of development, this discovery paves the way for a new way to treat not only asthma, but many different diseases in which similar structural changes in tissues occur. Such diseases include conditions like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), chronic heart disease and cirrhosis of the liver and account for approximately 40% of deaths worldwide.

Asthma affects more than 7 million people in the UK and severe asthma can have a hugely detrimental impact on an individual’s quality of life. Even when treated, asthma can be fatal and the most recent data shows it contributed to 1,465 deaths in the UK in 20221 – this is despite the availability of new treatments which aim to dampen down inflammation in the lungs.