Geckos know their own odor

Objects of the study of the researchers of the University of Bern were Tokay geckos (Gekko gecko).
Photo Credit: © Francesca Angiolani

Geckos can use their tongue to differentiate their own odor from that of other members of their species, as researchers from the University of Bern have shown in a new experimental study. The findings show that geckos are able to communicate socially, meaning that they are more intelligent than was previously assumed.

Self-recognition is the ability to detect stimuli which come from oneself. We as people, and also some animals, can identify ourselves visually when we look in the mirror. However, not all animals rely on their sense of sight, first and foremost. Geckos, and also other lizards and snakes, use their tongues to perceive chemicals, so-called pheromones, from other individuals. For instance, when climbing a wall, geckos pause every so often to dart their tongues around. This enables them to detect potential partners or rivals. But can geckos also detect their own odor and recognize themselves by smell?

In a study recently published in the journal Animal Cognition, researchers at the Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the University of Bern focused on whether Tokay geckos can detect skin chemicals that they themselves produce, and whether they can discriminate between these chemicals and those of other geckos of the same sex. The experiments confirmed that geckos are capable of this. During the tests, the animals were more interested in the skin chemicals of other geckos than in their own. This shows that geckos use pheromones for social communication.

New antioxidants found in beef, chicken, and pork!

Establishment of a highly sensitive detection method for imidazole dipeptide oxidation derivatives
Illustration Credit: Hideshi Ihara, Osaka Metropolitan University

Antioxidants discovered in meat! Osaka Metropolitan University researchers developed a new protocol for selective and highly sensitive detection, discovering five types of 2-oxo-imidazole-containing dipeptides(2-oxo-IDPs) using mass spectrometry. The 2-oxo-IDPs, present in living organisms, exhibit very high antioxidant activity, and were found to be abundant in meat including beef, pork, and chicken.

Osaka, Japan – Imidazole dipeptides (IDPs), which are abundant in meat and fish, are substances produced in the bodies of various animals, including humans, and have been reported to be effective in relieving fatigue and preventing dementia. However, the physiological mechanism by which IDPs exhibit these activities had not been determined previously.

A research team, led by Professor Hideshi Ihara from the Osaka Metropolitan University Graduate School of Science, was the first to discover 2-oxo-imidazole-containing dipeptides (2-oxo-IDPs)—which have one more oxygen atom than normal IDPs—and found that they are the most common variety of IDPs derivatives in the body. The researchers also found that they have remarkably high antioxidant activity.

Evolution: Miniproteins appeared “from nowhere”

An evolutionarily young protein that arose de novo in Old World monkeys: The microprotein in the mitochondria (green) and in the nucleus (blue) was overexpressed in human cells. The yellow and pink areas show that the signal of the microprotein overlaps with the mitochondrial and nuclear signals.
Image Credit: © Clara-Louisa Sandmann, Max Delbrück Center

Evolutionarily young miniproteins are unique in humans, and researchers have recently discovered thousands of them. Writing in Molecular Cell, Norbert Hübner and colleagues from the BIH and other institutions describe the origins of these tiny proteins and explain that they probably influence important cellular processes.

Every biologist knows that small structures can sometimes have a big impact: Millions of signaling molecules, hormones, and other biomolecules are bustling around in our cells and tissues, playing a leading role in many of the key processes occurring in our bodies. Yet despite this knowledge, biologists and physicians long ignored a particular class of proteins – their assumption being that because the proteins were so small and only found in primates, they were insignificant and functionless. The discoveries made by Professor Norbert Hübner at the Max Delbrück Center and Dr. Sebastiaan van Heesch at the Princess Máxima Center for Pediatric Oncology in the Netherlands changed this view a few years ago: “We were the first to prove the existence of thousands of new microproteins in human organs,” says Hübner. 

NIH RECOVER research identifies potential long COVID disparities

Colorized scanning electron micrograph of a cell (purple) infected with the Omicron strain of SARS-CoV-2 virus particles (teal), isolated from a patient sample.
Image Credit: NIAID

NIH-supported studies show variations in symptoms and diagnostic experiences among different racial and ethnic groups.

Black and Hispanic Americans appear to experience more symptoms and health problems related to long COVID, a lay term that captures an array of symptoms and health problems, than white people, but are not as likely to be diagnosed with the condition, according to new research funded by the National Institutes of Health. The findings – from two different studies by NIH’s Researching COVID to Enhance Recover (RECOVER) Initiative – add to a growing body of research aimed to better understand the complex symptoms and other issues associated with long COVID that millions have experienced.

“This new evidence suggests that there may be important differences in how long COVID manifests in different racial and ethnic groups,” said Mitchell S.V. Elkind, M.D., a professor of neurology and epidemiology at Columbia University, New York City, and chief clinical science officer for the American Heart Association. “However, further research is needed to better understand the mechanisms for these differences in symptoms and access to care, and also if diagnostic codes assigned by clinicians may play a role.” 

Using spiders as environmentally-friendly pest control

 Large web from group-living spider Cyrtophora citricola
Photo Credit: Dr Lena Grinsted

Groups of spiders could be used as an environmentally-friendly way to protect crops against agricultural pests.

That's according to new research, led by the University of Portsmouth, which suggests that web-building groups of spiders can eat a devastating pest moth of commercially important crops like tomato and potato worldwide.

The tomato leaf miner moth, Tuta absoluta, has developed resistance to chemical insecticides, which cause human and environmental damage, so different approaches, like using natural predators such as spiders, are needed to combat infestations. 

The researchers explored the use of tropical tent web spiders, Cyrtophora citricola, as pest control, as these spiders form groups and are not cannibalistic, and they create large webs to capture prey.

In lab settings, different types of prey - the small tomato leaf miner, flightless fruit flies (Drosophila hydei) and larger black soldier flies (Hermetia illucens) - were introduced to colonies of spiders of varying body sizes. Researchers found that larger spiders built larger webs and generally caught more prey, and they easily caught and ate the tomato leaf miner and fruit flies, while the larger black soldier flies were rarely caught. 

Canine distemper now threatens big cats in Nepal

 A Bengal tiger in the jungle. Although researchers have suspected distemper was infecting tigers and leopards, a new study is the first definitive proof of infection in Nepal’s big cats.
Photo Credit: R. Gilbert

Researchers with the College of Veterinary Medicine have confirmed the first cases of canine distemper virus (CDV), which can cause fatal neurological disease, in tigers and leopards in Nepal.

“Canine distemper virus has been repeatedly identified as a threat to wild carnivores and their conservation,” said Martin Gilbert, Cornell Wildlife Health Center wild carnivore health specialist and associate professor of practice in the Department of Population Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences. “This study is a first step to understanding the potential impact for Nepalese tiger and leopard populations.”

Although researchers have suspected distemper was infecting these species, the study, published Jan 28 in the journal Pathogens, is the first definitive proof of infection in Nepal’s big cats. The survey found 11% of tigers (three out of 28) and 30% of the leopards (six out of 20) had antibodies to CDV, indicating prior infection with the virus.

Relatively little is known about the status of Nepal’s leopards, but scientists believe the population is in decline due to a combination of poaching, habitat loss and human-wildlife conflict. Leopards also face increasing competition for space due to the expansion of the country’s tiger population. Could CDV push them even further into decline?

Feathered ‘fingerprints’ reveal potential motivation for migratory patterns of endangered seabirds

The Wandering Albatross has a wingspan of up to 3.5 meters.
Photo Credit: Paul Carroll

With the largest wingspan of any living bird, the Wandering Albatross is a giant of the sea. But like several other tube-nosed bird species, it is under threat of extinction.

Now, world first research from CSIRO and the University of South Australia shows that the feathers of seabirds such as the Wandering Albatross can provide clues about their long-distance foraging, which could help protect these species from further decline.

Comparing 15 element concentrations in the feathers of 253 tube-nosed seabirds of the Southern Hemisphere (representing 15 species), researchers found that the feathers of large seabirds (400g+) such as the Wandering Albatross (and other highly mobile seabirds) contained nutrients that did not solely match the availability of nutrients in the seawater at the collection site.

Conversely, smaller bird species that foraged more locally had feathers with trace element concentrations that were ten-to-hundred-fold higher than those of larger bird species, clearly representing the ocean basins in which they were feeding.

AI could improve mental health care

Photo Credit: SHVETS production

Patients are often asked to rate their feelings using a rating scale, when talking to psychologists or doctors about their mental health. This is currently how depression and anxiety are diagnosed. However, a new study from Lund University in Sweden shows that allowing patients to describe their experience using their own words - is potentially viewed as more precise and preferred by the patients. The Lund researchers have developed an AI-tool that could help doctors analyze their patients’ answers.

The study, published in PLOS ONE, shows that clinicians and patients differ somewhat, as clinics often prefer rating scales when diagnosing a patient (e.g., little interest in doing things: not at all, sometimes, often, daily) whereas patients prefer free language (e.g., Describe your mental health).

The researchers surveyed a group of 150 patients with self-diagnosed depression or anxiety, posing the same questions to a control group of 150 other participants.

New study identifies key success factors for large carnivore rewilding efforts

A puma known as Anhanguera is released into Serra do Japi, Jundiaí, state of São Paulo, Brazil, as part of the Vida Livre da Mata Ciliar program.
Photo Credit: Associação Mata Ciliar.

New research led by the University of Oxford has identified the top factors that determine whether efforts to relocate large carnivores to different areas are successful or not. The findings, published today in Biology Conservation, could support global rewilding efforts, from lynx reintroductions in the UK to efforts to restore logged tropical forests.

As apex predators, large carnivores play crucial roles in ecosystems, however their numbers have plummeted over recent decades. Relocating large carnivores can support their conservation, for instance to reintroduce a species to an area where it has been exterminated, or to reinforce an existing population to increase its viability. But to date, there has been little information about what factors determine whether these (often costly) efforts are successful or not.

To investigate this, an international team led by researchers at the University of Oxford’s Department of Biology, Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU), and School of Geography and the Environment analyzed data from almost 300 animal relocations which took place between 2007 and 2021. These spanned 22 countries in five continents, and involved 18 different carnivore species, including bears, hyaenas, big cats, and wild dogs.

Moms’ and babies’ medical data predicts prematurity complications, Stanford Medicine-led study shows

Researchers used an algorithm of medical record data to predict how at-risk newborns will fare in their first two months of life.
Photo Credit: Alexander Grey

Stanford Medicine scientists and their colleagues have shown they can tap mothers’ and babies’ medical records to better predict newborn health risks.

By sifting through electronic health records of moms and babies using a machine-learning algorithm, scientists can predict how at-risk newborns will fare in their first two months of life. The new method allows physicians to classify, at or before birth, which infants are likely to develop complications of prematurity.

A study describing the method, developed at the Stanford School of Medicine, was published online Feb. 15 in Science Translational Medicine.

“This is a new way of thinking about preterm birth, placing the focus on individual health factors of the newborns rather than looking only at how early they are born,” said senior study author Nima Aghaeepour, PhD, an associate professor of anesthesiology, perioperative and pain medicine and of pediatrics. The study’s lead authors are postdoctoral scholar Davide De Francesco, PhD, and Jonathan Reiss, MD, an instructor in pediatrics.