#3 Dancing Spine Treatments, Climate Change Divorces and a Vaping Dinosaur
Injectable treatments that can repair spine injuries, how climate change is breaking up albatrosses and the respiratory habits of a newly discovered dinosaur.
🦴No More Spinal Injuries?
So Called “Dancing Molecules” Successfully Repair Spinal Cord Injuries…
In a new study, researchers have discovered an injectable therapy that can work to reverse paralysis and repair tissue after injuries to the spinal cord.
The study stated that a single injection of the termed “dancing molecules” around the cords of paralyzed mice lead to recoveries within 4 weeks. So how does it work?!
Bioactive signals that have the ability to trigger cells to repair and regenerate, have sped up the discovery and this scientific breakthrough. There are 5 key ways in which the therapy was improved.
Axons (severed extensions of neurons) were regenerated.
Scar tissue is significantly reduced. This acts as a barrier to regeneration and repair.
Myelin which is the insulating layer of axons is reformed around cells. This helps efficient electrical signal transfer.
Functional blood vessels are formed to deliver nutrients to cells at the injury site.
More motor neurons survived.
The aim of the research is to “find a therapy that can prevent individuals from becoming paralysed after a major trauma or disease.” This has been an ongoing issue for scientists as the bodies central nervous system has no real ability to repair itself.
The secret behind the breakthrough is tuning the movement and motion of the molecules. This is one of the functional reasons as to why they are injected as a liquid. The therapy immediately gels into a complex network of nanofibers that mimic the extracellular matrix of the spinal cord. By matching the matrix’s structure combined with mimicking the motion of the biological molecules the synthetic materials can interact with the cells. Receptors, neurons and other cells constantly move around which makes the key part of this research, controlling collective molecule motion, even more impressive. By making the molecules “dance” out of the 100,000 molecule nanofiber structure, they are able to connect more effectively with the receptors and so have more of an impact in achieving the task required.
Stupp, the lead researcher, found that fine tuning the molecules motion within this nanofiber network made them more “agile” so to speak leading to higher levels of accuracy and efficiency in curing the paralysis. Simply, faster moving molecules are more likely to encounter the receptors than sluggish and slow molecules.
So what happens next? Once the dancing molecule and the receptor are connected, they trigger two key cascading signals. One signal prompts the long tails of the neurons (axons) to regenerate. The damage or loss of axons in the body can lead to loss of feeling and paralysis and so repairing them increased body - brain communication. The second signal helps the neurons survive following injury as it induces other cell types to proliferate and promote blood vessel regrowth. This helps feed neurons and is critical for cell repair. The overall therapy aids myelin regrowth as spoken about earlier.
The overall and global application of this is huge. In the US there are 300,000 people that are currently living with a spinal cord injury with less than 3% ever regaining basic physical functions. Furthermore on a more localised scale, their is potential that the technology can be applied to other therapies and issues that need to be tackled.
Climate Change Leading To Divorces?
Warmer Oceans are Breaking Up Loyal Albatross Couples…
Birds as a whole are much more monogamous than other animals with many species mating for life with few “divorces”. Albatross pairs spend much of the year alone at sea, yet almost always stay together when they return to their breeding grounds. As a whole, divorce is actually a strategy for breeding success. If a pair don’t successfully succeed in raising offspring, they will sometimes divorce for the next mating season.
New findings have shown that Black-browed albatrosses were significantly more likely to divorce in years with a higher ocean surface temperature, even after accounting for breeding failure. This study showed over the 16 year period, that divorce rates went from 1% to nearly 8% in the warmest year. However it is key to remember that environmental changes other than temperature can play a huge roll in this.
One of the most likely explanations for this trend is that fish have become harder and harder to find and eat for the species, this is as a result of the warming ocean surface temperature. Resultantly raising a chick is more energy consuming which can lead to numerous factors in divorce negotiations. One of the reasons that this may lead to divorce is that birds are arriving later to the nest site the following year, and if the two parents arrive at significantly different times then it is more likely for them to find other mates. Francesco Ventura, a bird biologist stated that there is a partner blaming hypothesis. For example a stressed female may blame the male, thinking that he is underperforming and so trigger a divorce.
The reason that this story is so important is not that their are a couple of bird “break ups” which is sad to hear, but rather population wide damage. Albatross raising a chick is deeply coordinated in terms of duties, such as incubation and feeding. It relies on both partners finding food and success and arriving back to the vulnerable chick inn time, and can be thrown off if one of the parents is late. Long term albatross relationships are key as they practice the art of raising a chick. They are well rehearsed and practiced. Therefore a lot of pairs divorcing means that there will be a net decrease in quality and so success of chick rearing. Luckily no changes in population number have been so far in key locations such as the Falkland Islands.
Due to the birds being under so much human induced stress on the ecosystem, global seabird numbers have dropped by 70% since the 1950s. Changing landscapes as well as climate change and fishing nets are increasing the threat these birds are facing and increasing the probability of an upset to the marriages strict timing regulations.
💨A Vaping Dinosaur
Well Preserved Fossil is Key For A Better Understanding of Dinosaur Respiration
A new illustration of a dinosaur exhaling is recent artwork depicting a dinosaur breathing many years ago. It turns out that this group of dinosaurs breaths like never seen before.
Recently scientists have found unusually shaped ribs and sternum bones in the well preserved fossil skeleton of this turkey size herbivore dinosaur. The group that these dinosaurs belong to also includes triceratops and duck billed dinosaurs.
The fossils were found in South Africa Eastern Cape in 2009 and X Rays and technologies have allowed the skeleton to be digitally reconstructed in 3D. The 3D model revealed features that were previously unknown in the ornithischians group with new discoveries on the rib and hip bones. The scans showed the connections of the muscle to help the animal breathe in a way that was novel for dinosaurs through expansion of the chest and belly.
The 3 metre tall dinosaur roamed South Africa. The gastralia are tiny abdominal rib bones that are found in modern day reptiles and crocodiles. Gastralia were thought to be absent from the ornithischians but have recently been proven to be a part of their early evolution. The H. Tucki species shown in the image, also had paddle-shaped ribs and elongated breastbone plates. These would move with the ribs to facilitate breathing, these features were later lost.
The H tucki’s anatomy is different to that of mammals and breaths by flexing muscles connecting the gastralia and the pelvis, as well as the sternal plates and bony paddles. The dinosaur would have inhaled air by inflating its chest and then relaxing those muscles to push the air out.
Prior to this discoveries, ornithischians breathing techniques were unknown, however believed to breath differently to other dinosaurs. This discovery was the “Missing piece of the puzzle”.
Weekly Topics
As always, take some things with a pinch of salt and be analytical! 🧂
🏞️ Environmental
River Mersey to Be Sewage Free by 2030
Species of Diversity in Northern India
Could Seaweed Help Us Mitigate The Effects of Climate Change
🐼 Conservation
Conservation Biology - Four Decades of Problem-Solution Based Research
Larger Conservation Areas Didn’t Protect African Animals
Direct and Indirect Effects of Roads on Space Use By Jaguars in Brazil
🦠 Disease and Illness
Previously Unknown Cell Components Revealed by AI Based Technique
Shape Morphing Microbots that Deliver Localised Cancer Treatment
Cystic Fibrosis Faithfully Modelled in a Human Lung Airway Chip
😷 COVID
The Real Long Term Effects of COVID - Death and Serious Illness
Mild COVID Induces Lasting Antibody Protection
🧪 Biochemistry
Biological Computer That Lives Inside The Body Is One Step Closer…
Plants and How Phytochromes Help
Research into The Link Between Vitamin D and Inflammation
🔬 Evolution
Fast Evolving Species More Likely to Become Extinct
Bat Corona Virus Ecology and Evolution
🧬 Genetics
Genetics Control Who Your Friends Are?
Human Genetic Architecture of COVID-19
📷 Weekly Camera Roll
Here we have 5 images with linked caption. If the picture interests you enough, click and keep reading!
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