Immune cells in ALS patients can predict the course of the disease

Solmaz Yazdani, PhD student at KI.
Photo Credit: Filip Mestanov

ALS is a disease in which nerve cells in the brain, brain stem and spinal cord die. 

By measuring immune cells in the spinal cord fluid when diagnosing ALS, it is possible to predict how the course of the disease will go, according to a study from the Karolinska Institutet published in Nature Communications.

The study shows that a high proportion of so-called effector T cells are associated with a low survival rate. At the same time, the study shows that a high proportion of activated regulatory T cells are protective against the disease. The findings provide new evidence of T-cell involvement in the course of the disease and show that certain types of effector T cells accumulate in the spinal cord fluid in ALS patients.

Genes and Languages

Schematic illustration of possible scenarios of matches and mismatches in the transmission of genes and languages. Genetic (demographic) history is represented by a broad branching tree. Linguistic history is represented by colored lines, differentiating five language families (a-e).
Illustration Credit Barbieri et al., PNAS

More than 7,000 languages are spoken in the world. This linguistic diversity is passed on from one generation to the next, similarly to biological traits. But have language and genes evolved in parallel over the past few thousand years, as Charles Darwin originally thought? An interdisciplinary team at the University of Zurich together with the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig (Germany) has now examined this question at a global level. The researchers put together a global database linking linguistic and genetic data entitled GeLaTo (Genes and Languages Together), which contains genetic information from some 4,000 individuals speaking 295 languages and representing 397 genetic populations.

One in five gene-language links point to language shifts

In their study, the researchers examined the extent to which the linguistic and genetic histories of populations coincided. People who speak related languages tend to also be genetically related, but this isn’t always the case. “We focused on cases where the biological and linguistic patterns differed and investigated how often and where these mismatches occur,” says Chiara Barbieri, UZH geneticist who led the study and initiated it together with colleagues when she was a postdoc at the Max-Planck-Institute.

Another Global Cooling Is Not Expected in the Soon

 

The last century and a half is the warmest in several thousand years.
Photo Credit: Ilya Safarov

Because of the large amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, there will not be another ice age, which, according to scientists' calculations, should come in the not-so-distant future. Interglacial periods typically last 12,000 to 15,000 years, succeeded by glacial periods. The interglacial period, to which the present one belongs, lasts almost 12 thousand years, and should have ended soon and given way to an ice age. However, as climate modelers have shown, not only will temperatures not decrease in the coming decades, but they will increase. Rashit Khantemirov, a Head Specialist of the Laboratory of Natural Science Methods in Humanities at Ural Federal University, talked about it on the broadcast of Komsomolskaya Pravda radio.

"One of our most recent results of our work is an ultra-long tree-ring chronology. Based on data from the annual rings of semi-fossil trees in Yamal, we studied information on summer temperatures for 7,638 years. We found out that the current warming is the strongest. Since the middle of the 19th century temperature has been rising very rapidly and reached its highest level in the last decades. That is, there has been a warming of 1.5 degrees in global temperature over the last 150 years. This is not very critical for us now, but the consequences will be tangible: not we, but our children and grandchildren will suffer," Rashid Khantemirov explains.

Genetic ‘Hitchhikers’ Can Be Directed Using CRISPR

NC State researchers expand the CRISPR toolbox with possible agricultural implications.
Photo Credit: Atlas Green

In a new study, North Carolina State University researchers characterize a range of molecular tools to rewrite – not just edit – large chunks of an organism’s DNA, based on CRISPR-Cas systems associated with selfish genetic “hitchhikers” called transposons.

The researchers investigate diverse Type I-F CRISPR-Cas systems and engineer them to add genetic cargo – up to 10,000 additional genetic code letters – to the transposon’s cargo to make desired changes to a bacterium – in this case, E. coli.

The findings expand the CRISPR toolbox and could have significant implications in the manipulation of bacteria and other organisms at a time of need for flexible genome editing in therapeutics, biotechnology and more sustainable and efficient agriculture.

Bacteria use CRISPR-Cas as adaptive immune systems to withstand attacks from enemies like viruses. These systems have been adapted by scientists to remove or cut and replace specific genetic code sequences in a variety of organisms. The new finding shows that exponentially larger amounts of genetic code can be moved or added, potentially increasing CRISPR’s functionality.

Monitoring “frothy” magma gases could help evade disaster

Aerial photograph of Kusatsu-Shirane area (October 2021). Thanks to its geothermally active location, the town of Kusatsu, Gunma Prefecture (in the background of this image), is one of Japan’s most popular onsen (hot springs) destinations. The acidic and vibrant turquoise Yugama crater lake, however, is definitely not suitable for swimming.
Photo Credit: Tomoya Obase

Scientific Frontline: "At a Glance" Summary

• Main Discovery: The ratio of Argon-40 to Helium-3 isotopes in volcanic gases serves as a precise indicator of underground magma frothiness and specific eruption risks.
• Methodology: Researchers conducted a seven-year longitudinal study (2014–2021) collecting samples from six fumaroles at the Kusatsu-Shirane volcano, analyzing isotopic compositions via noble gas mass spectrometry and computer modeling.
• Key Data: The study identified the specific Argon-40/Helium-3 ratio as the critical metric for measuring magma foaming, a variable derived from the seven-year dataset.
• Significance: Monitoring magma frothiness distinguishes between eruption types; gas transfer to hydrothermal systems signals phreatic eruption risks, while increased buoyancy indicates potential magmatic eruptions.
• Future Application: The research aims to produce portable, real-time mass spectrometers to establish continuous 24/7 early warning systems at active volcanoes.
• Branch of Science: Volcanology and Geochemistry
• Additional Detail: This geochemical analysis detects pre-eruptive precursors in the absence of seismic activity, providing a diagnostic capability that traditional geophysical monitoring often misses.

Intestinal microorganisms influence white blood cell levels in blood

Under normal conditions (steady state) neutrophils regulate the gut microbiota. When the number of neutrophils drops (neutropenia), the composition of the gut microbiota changes, stimulating T cells to produce IL-17A. IL-17-A in turn stimulates the production of neutrophils in the bone marrow (reactive granulopoiesis).
Illustration Credit: Daigo Hashimoto

White blood cells, or granulocytes, are cells that are part of the innate immune system. The most common type of granulocyte is the neutrophil, a phagocyte that destroys microbes in the body. Low neutrophil counts in the blood is called neutropenia; this condition is commonly seen in cases of leukemia or following chemotherapy. It is known that neutropenia induces granulopoiesis, the process formation of granulocytes. However, the exact mechanisms by which neutropenia drives granulopoiesis are not fully understood.

A team of researchers led by Associate Professor Daigo Hashimoto and Professor Takanori Teshima at Hokkaido University’s Faculty of Medicine have discovered that the gut microbiome plays a critical role in driving granulopoiesis in mice models. Their findings were published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

1,700-year-old spider monkey remains discovered in Teotihuacán, Mexico

Complete skeletal remains of a 1,700 year-old female spider monkey found in Teotihuacán, Mexico.
 Photo Credit: courtesy of Nawa Sugiyama

The complete skeletal remains of a spider monkey — seen as an exotic curiosity in pre-Hispanic Mexico — grants researchers new evidence regarding social-political ties between two ancient powerhouses: Teotihuacán and Maya Indigenous rulers.

The discovery was made by Nawa Sugiyama, a UC Riverside anthropological archaeologist, and a team of archaeologists and anthropologists who since 2015 have been excavating at Plaza of Columns Complex, in Teotihuacán, Mexico. The remains of other animals were also discovered, as well as thousands of Maya-style mural fragments and over 14,000 ceramic sherds from a grand feast. These pieces are more than 1,700 years old.

The spider monkey is the earliest evidence of primate captivity, translocation, and gift diplomacy between Teotihuacán and the Maya. Details of the discovery will be published in the journal PNAS. "This finding allows researchers to piece evidence of high diplomacy interactions and debunks previous beliefs that Maya presence in Teotihuacán was restricted to migrant communities," said Sugiyama, who led the research.

Short gamma-ray bursts traced farther into distant universe

Credit: W. M. Keck Observatory/Adam Makarenko

A Northwestern University-led team of astronomers has developed the most extensive inventory to date of the galaxies where short gamma-ray bursts (SGRBs) originate.

Using several highly sensitive instruments and sophisticated galaxy modeling, the researchers pinpointed the galactic homes of 84 SGRBs and probed the characteristics of 69 of the identified host galaxies. Among their findings, they discovered that about 85% of the studied SGRBs come from young, actively star-forming galaxies.

The astronomers also found that more SGRBs occurred at earlier times, when the universe was much younger — and with greater distances from their host galaxies’ centers — than previously known. Surprisingly, several SGRBs were spotted far outside their host galaxies — as if they were “kicked out,” a finding that raises questions as to how they were able to travel so far away.

“This is the largest catalog of SGRB host galaxies to ever exist, so we expect it to be the gold standard for many years to come,” said Anya Nugent, a Northwestern graduate student who led the study focused on modeling host galaxies. “Building this catalog and finally having enough host galaxies to see patterns and draw significant conclusions is exactly what the field needed to push our understanding of these fantastic events and what happens to stars after they die.”

A possible game changer for next generation microelectronics

Magnetic fields created by skyrmions in two-dimensional sheet of material composed of iron, germanium and tellurium.
Image Credit: Argonne National Laboratory.

Magnets generate invisible fields that attract certain materials. A common example is fridge magnets. Far more important to our everyday lives, magnets also can store data in computers. Exploiting the direction of the magnetic field (say, up or down), microscopic bar magnets each can store one bit of memory as a zero or a one — the language of computers.

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory wants to replace the bar magnets with tiny magnetic vortices. As tiny as billionths of a meter, these vortices are called skyrmions, which form in certain magnetic materials. They could one day usher in a new generation of microelectronics for memory storage in high performance computers.

“We estimate the skyrmion energy efficiency could be 100 to 1000 times better than current memory in the high-performance computers used in research.” — Arthur McCray, Northwestern University graduate student working in Argonne’s Materials Science Division

“The bar magnets in computer memory are like shoelaces tied with a single knot; it takes almost no energy to undo them,” said Arthur McCray, a Northwestern University graduate student working in Argonne’s Materials Science Division (MSD). And any bar magnets malfunctioning due to some disruption will affect the others.

New quantum tool developed in groundbreaking experimental achievement

SFLORG Stock Photo

For the first time in experimental history, researchers at the Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC) have created a device that generates twisted neutrons with well-defined orbital angular momentum. Previously considered an impossibility, this groundbreaking scientific accomplishment provides a brand-new avenue for researchers to study the development of next-generation quantum materials with applications ranging from quantum computing to identifying and solving new problems in fundamental physics.

“Neutrons are a powerful probe for the characterization of emerging quantum materials because they have several unique features,” said Dr. Dusan Sarenac, research associate with IQC and technical lead, Transformative Quantum Technologies at the University of Waterloo. “They have nanometer-sized wavelengths, electrical neutrality, and a relatively large mass. These features mean neutrons can pass through materials that X-rays and light cannot.”

While methods for the experimental production and analysis of orbital angular momentum in photons and electrons are well-studied, a device design using neutrons has never been demonstrated until now. Because of their distinct characteristics, the researchers had to construct new devices and create novel methods for working with neutrons.