Lifeboat Foundation

Norovirus, a highly infectious virus that is the leading cause of diarrhea and vomiting in the U.S., has no approved therapeutics or vaccines to prevent its miserable effects. This is partly due to a lack of reliable animal models to study norovirus infection and predict how effective interventions would be in people. To solve this, NIAID scientists have developed an animal model to study human norovirus infection that could help facilitate the development of new vaccines and therapeutics to treat norovirus infection. Findings from this research were published Feb. 6 in Nature Microbiology.

Human norovirus causes illness in tens of millions of people in the U.S. each year and, in some cases, can result in hospitalization and even death. It is easily spread when people ingest foods, drinks or particles from surfaces contaminated by virus from the stool or vomit of an infected individual. Noroviruses are genetically diverse, with different genogroups—groups characterized by genetic similarity—of the virus infecting different species of animals. Several genogroups of noroviruses infect people without similarly infecting animals. This has led to difficulties in establishing an animal model for human norovirus infection.

Following up on earlier evidence that rhesus macaque monkeys could develop norovirus infections, a team of researchers led by scientists at NIAID’s Vaccine Research Center set out to determine whether macaques could serve as an effective animal model for the human disease. The macaques were challenged with several genotypes of human noroviruses at once. Throughout the experiment, the animals were kept in biocontainment, and their health and behavior were carefully monitored. Levels of virus in the animals’ stool were measured, and antibodies against norovirus in the animals’ blood serum were analyzed. The researchers found that the macaques were susceptible to viral infection with at least two genotypes of norovirus, with similar antibody responses, shedding of virus in stool, and pathology as in human norovirus infection. Notably, the infections in the animals did not result in clinical symptoms, such as diarrhea and vomiting.

In a recent breakthrough, DNA sequencing technology has uncovered the culprit behind cassava witches’ broom disease: the fungus genus Ceratobasidium. The cutting-edge nanopore technology used for this discovery was first developed to track the COVID-19 virus in Colombia, but is equally suited to identifying and reducing the spread of plant viruses.

The findings, published in Scientific Reports, will help plant pathologists in Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand protect farmers’ valued cassava harvest.

“In Southeast Asia, most smallholder farmers rely on cassava. Its starch-rich roots form the basis of an industry that supports millions of producers. In the past decade, however, cassava witches’ broom disease has stunted plants, reducing harvests to levels that barely permit affected farmers to make a living,” said Wilmer Cuellar, Senior Scientist at the Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT.

Algae provide a wide range of nutrients that are beneficial for health, including protein, sterols, and vitamins. Numerous health-promoting characteristics, including antioxidant and anti-proliferative actions in relation to algal phenolic and flavonoid concentrations, have been shown by scientific research ^6–9. Produced for both humans and animals, algae and microalgae are often rich sources of fats (especially omega-3 fatty acids and carotenoids), carbohydrates, minerals, enzymes, hormones, and colors ¹⁰.

Health benefits supported by science

Algae have been shown to have multiple health benefits, including the ability to combat microbiological infections, hypertension, obesity, and diabetes, owing to their complex nutritional composition. As a result, the market for nutraceuticals generated from algae is growing quickly in the food supplement industry. A major factor in this has also been the idea of algae prebiotics and how they affect the gut microbiota ¹¹.

The need to quash outbreaks, quickly create medicines, stress-proof crops and fend off other 21st century threats is providing a lucrative arena for biotech companies to sell their services.

Why it matters: But the infrastructure to support such ambitions is increasingly recognized by the U.S., China and other countries as a linchpin of national security and economic strategy, putting it at the center of geopolitics.

In the animal kingdom, there are many grand examples of species that make sense of their world by expertly deciphering even weak signals from their surroundings.

An eagle soaring above the ground spies a river fish down below, about to swallow a bug; a hungry black bear smells a morsel of food two miles away in a dense thicket; a duck-billed platypus, swimming in a freshwater creek, closes its eyes and detects the electric impulses of a tasty tadpole nearby.

Then there are the pit vipers.

ERS Genomics discusses how gene editing is transforming the future of food.

Researchers have overcome a major challenge in biomimetic robotics by developing a sensor that, assisted by AI, can slide over braille text, accurately reading it at twice human speed. The tech could be incorporated into robot hands and prosthetics, providing fingertip sensitivity comparable to humans.

Human fingertips are incredibly sensitive. They can communicate details of an object as small as about half the width of a human hair, discern subtle differences in surface textures, and apply the right amount of force to grip an egg or a 20-lb (9 kg) bag of dog food without slipping.

Continue reading “Breakthrough could see robots with ‘fingertips’ as sensitive as humans” »

The Telangana state government in South India, in collaboration with various agricultural aid organizations and technology companies, launched a groundbreaking project known as “Saagu Baagu.” This initiative focused on assisting 7,000 chilli farmers with AI-powered tools, marking a significant step…

Saagu Baagu shows AI’s growing role in agriculture, helping developing-world farmers achieve sustainable and profitable practices.

SpaceX is teaming up with Northrop Grumman today to deliver more than 8,000 pounds of cargo, fresh food and scientific experiments to astronauts on the International Space Station.

The NG-20 resupply mission will take off from the Space Force’s Cape Canaveral in Florida on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at around 12:07 p.m. EST. Northrop’s Cygnus cargo capsule will arrive at the International Space Station on February 1.

Northrop has been launching Cygnus to the ISS for resupply missions using its own Antares rocket since 2013, with the exception of just two missions that used a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5. But Northrop retired that version of Antares last year, and the next version — an all-American launch vehicle called Antares 330, which it is developing with Firefly Aerospace — will not be ready to fly until around mid-2025.