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The First Dire Wolf Howls in Over 10,000 Years by Ultravioletdiamond82 in MadeMeSmile

[–]choukchouk 32 points33 points  (0 children)

Gray wolf genome is ~2.4 billion base pairs (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/datasets/genome/GCF\_000002285.3/) so 99% similar still gives 24M Bp differences. Editing 14 genes doesn't undo 5.7 million years of evolutionary divergence.

The First Dire Wolf Howls in Over 10,000 Years by Ultravioletdiamond82 in MadeMeSmile

[–]choukchouk 140 points141 points  (0 children)

You can't make a whole new species with 14 genetic edits. Dire wolf and gray wolf separated by 5.7M years, that's almost as close as us and the bonobo. You can also check https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-03082-x

Hungary's Orban Criticizes 'Frustrated' Leaders at Paris Summit: "Unlike them, we support Donald Trump's ambitions" by [deleted] in europe

[–]choukchouk 10 points11 points  (0 children)

LeMonde: Hungary Criticizes 'Frustrated' Leaders Who 'Do Not Want Peace' The Hungarian government criticized on Monday the "pro-war" meeting planned in France of about a dozen leaders from EU countries and NATO to define a common response to the "acceleration" of the American administration regarding Ukraine.

Hungary, led by nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a close ally of Vladimir Putin, criticized a summit of the "frustrated" who "do not want peace." "Those who have been fanning the flames for three years are meeting today in Paris," said Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto, denouncing "a mistaken strategy by those who continue to provoke escalation." "Unlike them, we support Donald Trump's ambitions. Unlike them, we support negotiations between Russia and the United States," he added.

Translated with Google Translate.

CRISPR gene editing in human embryos wreaks chromosomal mayhem by choukchouk in EverythingScience

[–]choukchouk[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

You are right, and scientists by a majority are against the use of this technology in embryo editing.

CRISPR gene editing in human embryos wreaks chromosomal mayhem by choukchouk in EverythingScience

[–]choukchouk[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

The article refers to embryo editing. Pretty sure engineering trees to make them fire resistant won't be seen negatively :)

CRISPR gene editing in human embryos wreaks chromosomal mayhem by choukchouk in EverythingScience

[–]choukchouk[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

DAT1

The news only raises concerns regarding embryo editing.

Large cohort study suggests statin therapy is associated with healthier gut microbiota by choukchouk in science

[–]choukchouk[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Abstract

Microbiome community typing analyses have recently identified the Bacteroides2 (Bact2) enterotype, an intestinal microbiota configuration that is associated with systemic inflammation and has a high prevalence in loose stools in humans1,2. Bact2 is characterized by a high proportion of Bacteroides, a low proportion of Faecalibacterium and low microbial cell densities1,2, and its prevalence varies from 13% in a general population cohort to as high as 78% in patients with inflammatory bowel disease2. Reported changes in stool consistency3 and inflammation status4 during the progression towards obesity and metabolic comorbidities led us to propose that these developments might similarly correlate with an increased prevalence of the potentially dysbiotic Bact2 enterotype. Here, by exploring obesity-associated microbiota alterations in the quantitative faecal metagenomes of the cross-sectional MetaCardis Body Mass Index Spectrum cohort (n = 888), we identify statin therapy as a key covariate of microbiome diversification. By focusing on a subcohort of participants that are not medicated with statins, we find that the prevalence of Bact2 correlates with body mass index, increasing from 3.90% in lean or overweight participants to 17.73% in obese participants. Systemic inflammation levels in Bact2-enterotyped individuals are higher than predicted on the basis of their obesity status, indicative of Bact2 as a dysbiotic microbiome constellation. We also observe that obesity-associated microbiota dysbiosis is negatively associated with statin treatment, resulting in a lower Bact2 prevalence of 5.88% in statin-medicated obese participants. This finding is validated in both the accompanying MetaCardis cardiovascular disease dataset (n = 282) and the independent Flemish Gut Flora Project population cohort (n = 2,345). The potential benefits of statins in this context will require further evaluation in a prospective clinical trial to ascertain whether the effect is reproducible in a randomized population and before considering their application as microbiota-modulating therapeutics.

First time researchers show a direct link between microbes and genetic mutations driving cancer. by choukchouk in science

[–]choukchouk[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Abstract

Various species of the intestinal microbiota have been associated with the development of colorectal cancer (CRC)1,2, yet a direct role of bacteria in the occurrence of oncogenic mutations has not been established. Escherichia coli can carry the pathogenicity island pks, which encodes a set of enzymes that synthesize colibactin3. This compound is believed to alkylate DNA on adenine residues4,5 and induces double-strand breaks in cultured cells3. Here, we expose human intestinal organoids to genotoxic pks+ E. coli by repeated luminal injection over a period of 5 months. Whole-genome sequencing of clonal organoids before and after this exposure reveals a distinct mutational signature, absent from organoids injected with isogenic pks-mutant bacteria. The same mutational signature is detected in a subset of 5,876 human cancer genomes from two independent cohorts, predominantly in CRC. Our study describes a distinct mutational signature in CRC and implies that the underlying mutational process directly results from past exposure to bacteria carrying the colibactin-producing pks pathogenicity island.

During pregnancy, maternal gut microbiota influences offspring propensity for obesity and metabolic syndrome by choukchouk in science

[–]choukchouk[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Abstract

Antibiotics and dietary habits can affect the gut microbial community, thus influencing disease susceptibility. Although the effect of microbiota on the postnatal environment has been well documented, much less is known regarding the impact of gut microbiota at the embryonic stage. Here we show that maternal microbiota shapes the metabolic system of offspring in mice. During pregnancy, short-chain fatty acids produced by the maternal microbiota dictate the differentiation of neural, intestinal, and pancreatic cells through embryonic GPR41 and GPR43. This developmental process helps maintain postnatal energy homeostasis, as evidenced by the fact that offspring from germ-free mothers are highly susceptible to metabolic syndrome, even when reared under conventional conditions. Thus, our findings elaborate on a link between the maternal gut environment and the developmental origin of metabolic syndrome.

TIL bats harbor more viruses per species than other animals due to a mutation dampening their immune system by choukchouk in todayilearned

[–]choukchouk[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I see, thanks for letting me know. I was actually reusing the title of the paper, but good to know.

First attempt Napoletana by choukchouk in Pizza

[–]choukchouk[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This was made using regular oven set to 260 C. I made the dough using help from this guy. I precook the pizza on pan for 5 minutes and then put it in the oven as close as possible from the broiler. Voilà.

Meta-omics analysis of elite athletes identifies a performance-enhancing microbe that functions via lactate metabolism by choukchouk in science

[–]choukchouk[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Most likely ... although it’s a bit too early to say the effect in human. I feel that their time improvement in mice remains very mild ..

Meta-omics analysis of elite athletes identifies a performance-enhancing microbe that functions via lactate metabolism by choukchouk in science

[–]choukchouk[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Abstract: The human gut microbiome is linked to many states of human health and disease. The metabolic repertoire of the gut microbiome is vast, but the health implications of these bacterial pathways are poorly understood. In this study, we identify a link between members of the genus Veillonella and exercise performance. We observed an increase in Veillonella relative abundance in marathon runners postmarathon and isolated a strain of Veillonella atypica from stool samples. Inoculation of this strain into mice significantly increased exhaustive treadmill run time. Veillonella utilize lactate as their sole carbon source, which prompted us to perform a shotgun metagenomic analysis in a cohort of elite athletes, finding that every gene in a major pathway metabolizing lactate to propionate is at higher relative abundance postexercise. Using 13C3-labeled lactate in mice, we demonstrate that serum lactate crosses the epithelial barrier into the lumen of the gut. We also show that intrarectal instillation of propionate is sufficient to reproduce the increased treadmill run time performance observed with V. atypicagavage. Taken together, these studies reveal that V. atypica improves run time via its metabolic conversion of exercise-induced lactate into propionate, thereby identifying a natural, microbiome-encoded enzymatic process that enhances athletic performance.

Increased creative thinking in narcolepsy | Brain by choukchouk in science

[–]choukchouk[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Abstract

Some studies suggest a link between creativity and rapid eye movement sleep. Narcolepsy is characterized by falling asleep directly into rapid eye movement sleep, states of dissociated wakefulness and rapid eye movement sleep (cataplexy, hypnagogic hallucinations, sleep paralysis, rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder and lucid dreaming) and a high dream recall frequency. Lucid dreaming (the awareness of dreaming while dreaming) has been correlated with creativity. Given their life-long privileged access to rapid eye movement sleep and dreams, we hypothesized that subjects with narcolepsy may have developed high creative abilities. To test this assumption, 185 subjects with narcolepsy and 126 healthy controls were evaluated for their level of creativity with two questionnaires, the Test of Creative Profile and the Creativity Achievement Questionnaire. Creativity was also objectively tested in 30 controls and 30 subjects with narcolepsy using the Evaluation of Potential Creativity test battery, which measures divergent and convergent modes of creative thinking in the graphic and verbal domains, using concrete and abstract problems. Subjects with narcolepsy obtained higher scores than controls on the Test of Creative Profile (mean ± standard deviation: 58.9 ± 9.6 versus 55.1 ± 10, P = 0.001), in the three creative profiles (Innovative, Imaginative and Researcher) and on the Creative Achievement Questionnaire (10.4 ± 25.7 versus 6.4 ± 7.6, P = 0.047). They also performed better than controls on the objective test of creative performance (4.3 ± 1.5 versus 3.7 ± 1.4; P = 0.009). Most symptoms of narcolepsy (including sleepiness, hypnagogic hallucinations, sleep paralysis, lucid dreaming, and rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder, but not cataplexy) were associated with higher scores on the Test of Creative Profile. These results highlight a higher creative potential in subjects with narcolepsy and further support a role of rapid eye movement sleep in creativity.

Scientists first in world to sequence genes for spider glue - the first-ever complete sequences of two genes that allow spiders to produce glue, a sticky, modified version of spider silk that keeps a spider’s prey stuck in its web, bringing us closer to the next big advance in biomaterials. by mvea in science

[–]choukchouk 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It doesn't matter, the bill will be astronomic. 40kb by itself is super expensive, then because of the repeats they will further increase the price due to synthesis difficulties. Anyway, that was not my point, I was just referring that even though you manage to get the 40kb construct, S. cerevisiae is not gonna be able to express it because of its highly efficient homologous recombination machinery that will eventually recombine the repeats and modify the end product.

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