EarthSpin

Researchers Solve the Mystery of Tiny Ant Queens

04/01/2024 by Stacy W. Kish

Researchers identify two supergenes in one ant species that controls the number and size of queens in the colony

Headshot of a *Formica cinerea* queen. Attribution: Giulia Scarparo.

Ants are fascinating insects. The colony is sustained through complex social dynamics, with each member — the queen, males and workers (sterile females) — contributing to the greater community. While not common to all ants, some species add complexity to this dynamic with the addition of rather small queens.

Researchers at the University of California, Riverside tackled why these additional queens are present by focusing on complex genetic structures, called supergenes, in the community. These supergenes control the origin and duplication of the petite queens in one particular ant species. The results of their study are available in the December issue of the journal Current Biology.

“We were intrigued by the tiny queens,” said senior author Jessica Purcell, associate professor in the Department of Entomology at the University of California, Riverside. “It’s a great system (multiple queen ant colonies) to study the evolution of supergenes, which exist in many types of organisms.”

Posted in Blinding People with Science |

Skills Gap Could Hinder Advances in Cell and Gene Therapies

10/31/2023 by Stacy W. Kish

The current workforce lacks the skills to move these biological treatments through the regulatory and production pipeline, a new report finds.

Cell and gene therapies offer great promise to treat rare and debilitating diseases. In 2023, the European Commission approved Vertex and CRISPR Therapeutics’ exa-cel, a CRISPR therapy for β-thalassemia and sickle cell disease. The same therapy is up for possible approval by the FDA in December. This agency is also scheduled to review nine additional cell and gene therapies (CGT) that address type 1 diabetes, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), metastatic melanoma, and Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

Despite the positive steps forward, Alliance for Regenerative Medicine (ARM) published a report in March that found the sector’s workforce is lacking in technical skills, such as development and manufacturing. The workforce is also deficient in key areas of production, like artificial intelligence (AI) and automation, the report stated, as well as quality control and assurance analytical development. ARM cautioned that if this trend persists, it could threaten the sector’s ability to reach its full potential.

Posted in Blinding People with Science |

Repurposed Skin Cancer Drug Effective for Rare Brain Cancer

08/09/2023 by Stacy W. Kish

A multi-institutional study has identified a new treatment option for papillary craniopharyngioma, a rare form of cancer that forms along the central nervous system.

“Brain tumors are rare, and papillary craniopharyngioma tumors are rare among this group,” said Adam Cohen, M.D., co-director of the neuro-oncology program at the Inova Schar Cancer Institute. “We found that a drug therapy approved for another cancer worked beyond all of our expectations, and some people whose tumor shrank after treatment continue to do well without radiation or surgery.”

Papillary craniopharyngiomas grow deep within the brain and form tumors along critical structures, like the nerves connected to the eyes, memory circuits of the brain, and the hypothalamus that controls the production of hormones that control growth, development, and metabolism. These tumors affect primarily the very young and very old.

Immunotherapy and chemotherapy are ineffective for papillary craniopharyngiomas. Surgery and radiation are both effective but can produce both short- and long-term complications, like endocrine malfunction, vision problems, and impaired intellectual function. In addition, most patients experience recurrence of disease after treatment.

Papillary craniopharyngiomas are genetically simple tumors and are dependent on single-driver mutations that are less prone to develop resistance to drug therapies. Most craniopharyngiomas have a mutation on the BRAF V600E gene.

Vemurafenib and cobimetinib are two drugs approved by the FDA that target the BRAF V600E mutation for a variety of cancers, like melanoma, lung, and thyroid cancer.

“This mutation is fundamental for the formation and growth of these tumors,” said Cohen. “It is difficult to get drugs into the brain, and we wanted to prove the concept that these targeted drugs will work for tumors in the brain.”

Cohen participated in a study led by researchers at the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center and the Mayo Clinic. The results of their study was published in the July issue of New England Journal of Medicine in an article titled “BRAF–MEK Inhibition in Newly Diagnosed Papillary Craniopharyngiomas.”

Posted in Genetics, Medicine |

Cover Crops Support Microbial Diversity: Three Case Studies

08/03/2023 by Stacy W. Kish

Imagine if your neighborhood is routinely destroyed. The houses, streets, and businesses damaged. It would be difficult to have a community thrive under such devastating circumstances. Soil microbes experience a similar scenario when traditional agricultural practices are used on the farm.

The soil microbiome is a collection of bacteria, fungi, and archaea that play an integral role in soil and plant health. These microbes provide vital ecosystem services like breaking down organic matter and cycling nturients to make them available to plants. The microbes also control and suppress pathogens, both fungi and bacteria.

“[These organisms] promote decomposition of materials, like roots and other plant materials, into carbon dioxide and soil organic matter,” said Christoph C. Tebbe, professor at the Thünen Institute, Germany. “[They] are an important for creating the building blocks for keeping soil in a very healthy structure, not compacted but nice aggregates and a pore system that allows plants to grow better.”

In addition, the soil microbiome consumes and stores excess nutrients from fertilizer applications and purifies water, preventing nutrient run-off and eutrophication further downstream. It also degrades pesticides into nontoxic compounds so the chemicals are more easily processed through the environment.

“Industrial agriculture requires large fertilizer applications on large fields to grow monoculture crops, which can be productive for years, even decades, but soil structure gets worse and plant inputs may need to be increased,” said Tebbe. “In the end though, farmers want to give their fields and farms to the next generation in a state as good as they received it.”

Posted in Climate, Food, Plants |

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