Category Archives: Research

Nature, Research, Science

Arthritis gene linked to colonisation and spread of mankind

SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH

Arthritis Gene

The arthritis gene responsible for the painful condition which manifests itself in worn down joints is being linked to the process of natural selection and evolution of mankind.

A single gene that made it easier for early humans to colonise Europe and Asia also causes arthritis, researchers claim.

The gene, which is known to cause people to be more compact, became more common when early humans moved out of Africa.

Being smaller helped humans cope with colder temperatures because it meant less body area to keep warm.

However, the down side is that someone with the gene is twice as likely to develop arthritis as someone without it.

The findings highlight the role that genetics plays in the painful condition – which is often thought of as a disease caused by ‘wear and tear’ on joints.

Around a half of all European and Asian people carry the gene, which is ‘relatively rare’ in most Africans.

Researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine and Harvard University said the gene ‘has been repeatedly favoured [by natural selection] as early humans migrated out of Africa and into colder northern climates.’

Dr David Kingsley, professor of developmental biology at Stanford, said: ‘Even though it only increases each person’s risk by less than twofold, it’s likely responsible for millions of cases of arthritis around the globe.

‘This study highlights the intersection between evolution and medicine in really interesting ways, and could help researchers learn more about the molecular causes of arthritis.’

A more compact body structure due to shorter bones could have helped our ancestors better withstand frostbite and reduce the risk of fracturing bones in falls while slipping on ice, the researchers speculate.

These advantages in dealing with chilly temperatures and icy surfaces may have outweighed the threat of osteoarthritis, which usually starts to occur after prime reproductive age.

Dr Kingsley added: ‘The gene we are studying shows strong signatures of positive selection in many human populations.’

The research was first published in the online journal Nature Genetics. The gene, known as GDF5, was first linked to the growth of bones in the early 1990s.

Researchers found a variant that is very common in Europeans and Asians but also rare in Africans.

Science in motion

Science-in-motion: a series of short articles following topics in science.

. Genetic modification  

This refers to the use of modern biotechnology techniques to change the genes of an organism, altering the DNA that instructs its cells how to build proteins. Many crop plants are genetically engineered to possess desirable traits such as resistance to pests or harsh environments.

In traditional breeding of crops and livestock, farmers pick plants or animals with desirable traits and crossbreed them to create commercially valuable offspring. Genetic modification allows the traits of organisms to be altered in ways that are not possible through traditional breeding.

For example, some cotton plants are modified to carry a gene from soil bacteria. This makes them produce a chemical that kills insect pests, reducing the need for pesticides. Sometimes, genetic modification turns down or ‘silences’ the activity of genes that an organism already has. This can prevent oilseed rape crops producing unhealthy oils, for instance. Genetically modified animals are often used in experiments to study gene functions, but are not yet bred for commercial agriculture.

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Medical, Research, Science

An influenza patch that can replace the annual flu jab

MEDICAL SCIENCE

A PATCH could replace the annual flu jab, research suggests.

In future, the patches could be sent out in the post, enabling people to quickly and easily vaccinate themselves without having to queue at the GPs surgery, experts have said.

A trial of the patch by US scientists at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, found it worked as well as a jab and was preferred by patients.

The study, published this week in the Lancet medical journal, also revealed it could be safely stored for a year without a fridge – meaning it could easily be distributed to patients to administer to themselves.

The device, measuring roughly one inch in diameter, contains the same vaccine as is given in conventional flu injections.

But it can be self-administered by simply placing on the wrist for 20 minutes and then removed.

The patch contains 100 tiny ‘microneedles’ which pierce the top layer of the skin.

The needles dissolve while they are in the skin, meaning there is no danger of piercing a second patient and passing on bloodborne diseases – a major safety fear when people inject themselves without professional medical supervision.

Experts said the device could significantly improve uptake of the flu vaccination.

The disease kills 5,000 people in England each year, and the vast majority of victims are elderly or suffer from existing respiratory conditions.

For this reason, the NHS encourages anyone over the age of 65 to have an annual influenza jab.

Younger people who are considered at risk – including all pregnant women, young children aged two, three and four, and anyone with asthma or other conditions – are also offered the vaccine.

However, uptake of the jab is poor, and falling. Only 71 per cent of over-65s had the vaccine in 2015/16, along with just 42 per cent of pregnant women, roughly a third of young children, and less than half of people with existing health conditions.

Experts said alternative ways of delivering the vaccine might improve take-up – particularly among those afraid of needles or too busy to go to the GP.

Researchers tested the patch on 100 people who had chosen not to receive the flu vaccine.

They found that after six months, no serious side effects linked to the vaccine were reported and there were no cases of influenza.

As well as this, participants reported high ‘acceptability’ scores of between 4.5 and 4.8 out of five, with some 70 per cent saying they preferred it to the injection.

Study leader Dr Nadine Rouphael said: ‘Despite the recommendations for adults and children to receive a flu shot, many people remain unvaccinated. The patch could be safely applied by participants themselves, meaning we could envisage vaccination at home, in the work place, or even via mail distribution.

‘These advantages could reduce the cost of the flu vaccine and potentially increase coverage.

‘Our findings now need confirming in larger trials.’

Experts in Britain welcomed the study, saying the patches could be particularly useful for children.

Dr Maria Zambon, director of reference microbiology at Public Health England, said: ‘This is a good early research and we await more tests on these patches to see their effectiveness.

‘Microneedle patches have the potential to be used for vaccination programmes and could help people scared of needles.’

Appendage:

Flu Patch (2)

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China, Research, Science, Technology

A quantum leap in the pursuit of a secure and new type of internet

QUANTUM SCIENCE

Quantum

China’s quantum satellite, Micius. The satellite has beamed entangled particles of light to ground stations more than 700 miles apart.

Scientists have taken a major step towards building a global quantum internet by beaming “entangled” particles of light from a satellite to ground stations more than 700 miles apart.

The feat paves the way for a new kind of internet which draws on the curious ability for subatomic particles to be connected to one another despite being far apart and even on opposite sides of the planet.

Researchers believe that by linking particles together in this way, encrypted information could be sent from place to place across a quantum network with no danger of it being decrypted and read by others, as can be done on the existing internet.

Jian-Wei Pan, who led the research at the University of Science and Technology in Hefei in China, said the demonstration was a moment he had been dreaming of since 2003. “Many people thought it was a crazy idea, because it was very challenging,” he said.

The work obliterates the previous world record for sending pairs of photons that are connected to one another by a strange rule of quantum physics first spotted by Einstein. Until now, the farthest researchers had ever sent entangled photons stood at a mere 65 miles, less than one tenth of the distance achieved in the satellite experiment.

“It’s a first step, and a major step, toward creating a global quantum network,” said Pan. “All the previous methods are limited to about 100km so can only work within a city.”

The experiment relied on the world’s first quantum-enabled spacecraft: a Chinese satellite called Micius. As it soared over China, the satellite created pairs of photons with properties that were linked through quantum entanglement. It then beamed these simultaneously to ground stations in Delingha, Lijiang and Nanshan. Each pair of particles travelled up to 1,240 miles before they reached their destinations. Details of the study are published in Science.

Pan said that the kind of cryptography used to keep data safe today relies on complex mathematics which can often be defeated by hackers. “If a future quantum network is established, the security is ensured by the laws of physics, which are unconditionally secure,” he said. “It will be beneficial for all human beings.”

Martin Stevens, a physicist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Boulder, Colorado, said he was impressed with the work. “These types of experiments are not easy to do, even within the controlled confines of a laboratory environment. Doing them between two remote ground locations and a satellite flying overhead at a speed of thousands of kilometres per hour is mind-bogglingly difficult.”

In 2015, Stevens sent entangled photons down a 65-mile length of optical fibre. That is good enough for quantum communications between neighbouring towns, but it cannot work for much greater distances, because the signal is gradually lost the more optic fibre it travels down. The advantage of using a satellite is that the particles of light travel through space for much of their journey.

Anton Zeilinger at the Vienna Centre for Quantum Science also praised the work. “It’s an important step towards a worldwide quantum network. If you envisage a quantum network, the question is how to cover large distances and that cannot be done with glass fibres on the ground. You have to go into space, because in glass fibres you lose the signal. It’s very important to show that it works with satellites, so I’m very excited by this.”

Zeilinger is working with Pan on an intercontinental quantum network and hopes to have results to report before the end of the year.

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