This Incredible Video Shows CRISPR Snipping A Strand Of DNA In Real Time

For the first time ever, researchers have managed to film in real time the astonishing activity of CRISPR on a strand of DNA. The short few seconds of video actually record the molecules interacting as the protein snips the genetic code, confirming what many clever scientists have worked out about the process from other observations. It really is incredible.

It might just look like a grainy gif of some yellow-brown blobs on a dark background wobbling about a bit, but what you are seeing is what many consider to be one of the biggest genetic breakthroughs in recent times. The video shows the CRISPR-Cas9 enzyme (the yellow blob) physically cutting the strand of DNA on which it is sitting (the brown streak).

When the researcher who filmed this, Osamu Nureki, showed the short clip to a group of scientists at a conference, there were audible gasps from around the room. Most of the audience already knew how the process works, but were stunned to be able to watch it occurring in real time. The work has since been published in Nature Communications.

The CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing technique has somewhat taken the biological community – and in more recent times the media – by storm. Due to the precision and speed at which it can cut DNA in the exact place desired and slip in an extra bit of genetic code, it has been used for a whole variety of things, from making super hench beagles to editing a human embryo.

The astonishing clip was achieved using a technique known as high-speed atomic-force microscopy (AFM). The more standard AFM uses a minuscule needle drawn over the surface of what the researchers are trying to image by touch. It can then be used to build up a picture of the molecules in question. But, it has its limitations, as the rate at which an image is recovered is not very fast, meaning that AFM is usually limited to static molecules.

High-speed AFM, however, is able to scan what is being imaged much faster, and thus can capture the dynamic processes of biological molecules like proteins as they change shape and interact in real time. In this case, Japanese scientists were able to turn the high-speed AFM on DNA and watch as CRISPR physically cut the strand in front of them.

The film doesn’t show them anything new, but reaffirms that their calculations were correct, and proves just how incredible the CRISPR technique actually is.

How A Mass Vaccination Program Made Sex Safer For Everyone

A controversial mass vaccination campaign against the human papillomavirus (HPV) has paid off, making sex safer even for unvaccinated young people with benefits that could last for 70 years. The findings could teach us a lot about how to deploy vaccines against other diseases.

The most damaging of HPV's many strains cause genital warts and trigger changes to cells in the cervix, anus, and even throat that can eventually become cancerous. The announcement of a vaccine brought hope for preventing hundreds of thousands of deaths each year.

Anti-vaxxers and those who hope sexually transmitted infections will discourage sexual activitywere opposed of course. However, even many epidemiologists questioned whether the widespread use of such an expensive vaccine was good value for money.

Governments worldwide responded differently as to how widely to promote the vaccine, creating a natural experiment that has allowed scientists to learn lessons for future vaccines.

The vaccine was based on Australian research, and possibly as a reflection of national pride, Australia was the most enthusiastic adopter, providing a test case for everyone else. A study in the Journal of Infectious Diseases suggests they got it right. Most countries either vaccinated erratically, or concentrated on girls aged 12-13, who were very unlikely to have been exposed to the virus. Australia offered free catch-up vaccinations for women under 26 leading to 1.5 million vaccinations in three years.

Cervical cancer takes a long time to manifest, which has delayed assessing the campaign's success. “We are entering time frame when we expect to start seeing impact on cancer,” Dr Julia Brotherton of the Victorian Cytology Service Registries told IFLScience.

However, HPV-induced cancers are so rare for women in their 20s the Australian sample is probably too small to measure the fall. Genital warts appear more quickly, and previous research has shown a spectacular fall in their occurrence as a result of the vaccination campaign.

Brotherton found the 90 percent decrease in genital warts among women aged under 21. Australia has seen that would have been just 38 percent without the catch-up program. A decline in other HPV-induced cancers such as the head and neck cancers transmitted through oral sex, will take even longer than cervical cancer to be seen, Brotherton told IFLscience.

According to Brotherton, part of the drop is because even people who were not vaccinated are benefiting from herd resistance, as their sexual partners are unlikely to carry the virus if they, or their previous partners, were vaccinated.

The herd resistance, at least for predominantly heterosexual populations, operates very differently from diseases where anyone can spread to anyone. However, Brotherton says the way vaccinated women formed a barrier preventing their male partners from becoming infected could serve as a great model for heard resistance for future vaccinations against STIs.

The Plague May Have First Arrived In Europe During The Stone Age

One of the deadliest diseases in history, the plague once killed between 30 and 60 percent of Europe’s entire population. Exactly when and how it got to Europe has puzzled scientists for some time, but now researchers think the unwelcome bacterium arrived during the late Stone Age.

Led by the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, a team of scientists studied more than 500 human tooth and bone samples from Russia, Germany, Hungary, Croatia, Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia, looking for any signs of the plague-causing bacterium known as Yersinia pestis.

They managed to sequence entire genomes of Y. pestis from six individual people that lived 4,800 to 3,700 years ago from the Late Neolithic period to the Bronze Age, and reported their findings in Current Biology.   

The researchers discovered that all the genomes were quite closely related, despite having infected individuals in a number of different countries.

"This suggests that the plague either entered Europe multiple times during this period from the same reservoir, or entered once in the Stone Age and remained there," explained co-lead author Aida Andrades Valtueña in a statement.

So, to work out how the plague might have made it to Europe, the team used clues from archaeological and ancient DNA representing human movements during the same time period. They concluded that the plague was likely carried to Europe by the nomadic steppe people, who began migrating to the continent about 4,800 years ago from the Pontic-Caspian Steppe. This expanse of steppeland stretches from the northern shores of the Black Sea eastwards to the Caspian Sea.  

The steppe people had distinct genetic markers so they can be traced in modern-day Europeans.

"In our view, the human genetic ancestry and admixture, in combination with the temporal series within the Late Neolithic-Bronze Age Y. pestis lineage, support the view that Y. pestis was possibly introduced to Europe from the steppe around 4,800 years ago, where it established a local reservoir before moving back towards Central Eurasia," said study author Alexander Herbig.

The study also suggests that at this time, the severity of plague infections was also changing, but more research is required to find out more. However, fear of infection might have spurred the movement of people into Europe.

"The threat of Y. pestis infections may have been one of the causes for the increased mobility during the late Neolithic-early Bronze Age period," explained co-lead author Johannes Krause. What’s more: "It's possible that certain European populations, or the steppe people, may have had a different level of immunity."

The team hopes that their research will help to unravel how the plague evolved, and explain why it became more aggressive as time went on. While it may seem like a thing of the past, the plague is currently raging through Madagascar, and has killed 195 people thus far, so finding out more about it is as important as ever.

You Have Been Lied To About Turkey Your Whole Life

The season of eating ridiculous amounts of turkey is upon us. As millions of people flock home for Thanksgiving today, you might have a curious urban myth on your mind that says eating turkey makes you sleepy. 

Whoever told you this might have had one too many eggnogs. Although they're not strictly wrong, it isn’t just the turkey making you sleepy.

Many people claim this post-turkey lethargy is caused by the amino acid tryptophan. According to the theory, turkey is particularly high in this sleep-inducing amino acid, meaning it’s no wonder you're in a food coma by 6pm.

Tryptophan is a component of serotonin, which is then turned into melatonin, the hormone that controls your sleep and wake cycles. Your body is unable to make tryptophan itself, so it can only obtain it through your diet. It is found in many protein-rich foods, such as nuts, seeds, cheese, eggs, fish, and poultry. As such, it does have a mild sedative-like effect on the body when ingested.

The real reason your Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner sends you into a heavy slumber is more likely the sheer excessive amount of carbohydrates, meat, and alcohol you consume. 

Scientifically speaking, a "food coma" is known as postprandial somnolence. 

After a hefty meal, blood rushes to your gut in a desperate bid to digest and metabolize all the food. In theory, this would mean less oxygenation of the brain and other parts of the body, resulting in doziness. However, not all scientists believe this is the case.

It's more likely to be due to a complex cocktail of biochemistry. A feast rich in potatoes, pumpkin, yams, and deserts also contains a hell of a lot of carbohydrates, sending your blood sugars levels into chaos. This means your body ups its levels of insulin, which also removes most amino acids from the blood except tryptophan. Without other amino acids in the way, it’s easier for tryptophan to pass through the highly-selective blood-brain barrier, form serotonin, and then melatonin.

Here’s the thing: turkey is no higher in tryptophan than any other poultry. In fact, chicken has slightly more of the stuff pound for pound. Nevertheless, many other tryptophan-rich foods, of which they are many in a Thanksgiving meal, manage to escape the blame.

Additionally, just like all of the good things in life, our body’s reward system will give us a healthy dose of serotonin after a hearty meal, a chemical that can make us feel content and sleepy among other things.

So, in sum, skipping on the turkey won't necessarily help you avoid the late afternoon lull. Most carb-heavy, meat-rich, overfilling meals are going to have the same effect. Those five glasses of wine you had a lunchtime probably aren't going to help either, but cheers!

Something Deadly Lurked In A Man's Brain For Thirty Years Before Emerging

A new medical case study in BMJ Case Reports tells a very unusual story involving a heart transplant, a vacation in North Carolina, bat poop, and a very sneaky fungal infection.

Doctors from the University of Arizona Health Sciences Center explain how a 70-year-old man visited the hospital in Tucson after suffering from an “altered mental status” and confusion for a number of days. A CT-scan highlighted a number of unusual blotches on the man’s brain, strongly suggesting there was some kind of growth.

Further tests indicated that the man might be suffering from a histoplasmosis fungal infection, better known as “cave disease" or "Ohio valley disease”. This fungus often thrives in decaying bird poop, bat guano, and soil found around the humid caves of the Ohio and Mississippi River valleys, as well as select parts of the Americas, Africa, Asia, and Australia.

However, there was just one problem: the man had remained in Arizona for many years, where there are next to no reported cases of the fungus. Furthermore, symptoms typically appear within just two weeks of inhaling the spores.

The fungal spores usually enter a person’s lungs and trigger a fever, cough, tiredness, and various other nasty flu-like symptoms. However, most people can fight off an infection relatively easily unless they have a suppressed immune system. Johnny Cash even sang about a nasty run-in with the fungus in the song Beans for Breakfast.

Some hard detective work by the doctors revealed what might be behind this odd set of circumstances. The man had a vacation in North Carolina, an area known to harbor the fungus, during the mid-1980s. In 1986, he had also undergone a heart transplant and was given long-term immunosuppressant drugs to make sure his body didn’t reject the transplanted organ. These drugs allowed the fungal spores to lay hidden in his body undetected by the immune system. It appears that the fungus had only just presented itself in his brain, 30 years after the initial infection.

The man was discharged from the hospital, given an antifungal medication to treat the infection, and later made a recovery. The doctors on the case say it's a reminder of how histoplasmosis can often play a fickle game by not always presenting itself where and when you think it should.

Mexico Just Created A 150,000 Square Kilometer Ocean Reserve To Protect Marine Life

In a move that will protect thousands of ocean creatures, the Mexican government has created the largest marine reserve in North America. At a time when Donald Trump is considering downsizing two marine national monuments – the Pacific Remote Islands and Rose Atoll – this is welcome news.

The protected area will be vast, covering a massive 150,000 square kilometers (58,000 square miles) of ocean. It will surround the Revillagigedo Islands, a group of four volcanic islands in the Pacific. Famed for their unique ecosystem, they are often referred to as the “Galapagos of North America". They are located 390 kilometers (242 miles) southwest of the Baja California peninsula.

Enrique Peña Nieto, the president of Mexico, announced the news on Friday, saying that the government was reaffirming its “commitment to the preservation of the heritage of Mexico and the world”.

Human activities like mining and constructing hotels will be banned, as will fishing. This is important because the area provides breeding grounds for commercially fished species, like tuna, which have been decimated in recent years due to overfishing. Staying protected in this new reserve will hopefully allow their numbers to recover somewhat.

The marine world has suffered hugely in recent decades, subjected to pressures like plastic pollution, boat noise, coral bleaching, and oil spills, and it appears that no part of the sea is safe from human impact. Now, the species living in the newly protected area should face fewer dangers than before.

Marine protected areas are often criticized due to lack of enforcement, but the new reserve will be policed by the Mexican navy to prevent activities like illegal fishing from taking place. The new reserve is a bold decision by the Mexican government, as it faced much opposition from the commercial fishing industry.

The Revillagigedo Islands ecosystem is home to around 400 species of fish, rays, and sharks. As they are located where two currents converge, they are important for open-water and migratory animals, like the 2,000 humpback whales that visit the islands each year. Meanwhile, the islands and surrounding seas sustain many other species like turtles, lizards, and migratory birds.

Mario Gómez, executive director of Mexican environmental charity Beta Diversidad, told The Guardian: “We are proud of the protection we will provide to marine life in this area, and for the preservation of this important center of connectivity of species migrating throughout the Pacific.”

Along with countries like Chile, which set up a huge marine reserve back in 2015, Mexico is setting an example to the rest of the world, highlighting the importance of maintaining our ocean ecosystems before it is too late.

 [H/T: The Guardian]

Having A Dog May Add Years To Your Life, New Study Finds

No doubt the cat versus dog debate will wear on, but we have some good news for dog people. According to research recently published in Scientific Reports, owning a pooch can add years to your life. 

A team of researchers at Uppsala University tracked the health and dog ownership status of more than 3.4 million Swedes aged 40 to 80 years old for 12 years, starting in 2001. No one involved had a history of cardiovascular disease.

Everyone in Sweden must carry a unique personal identification number, all hospital visits are recorded, and dog ownership registration is mandatory, which makes it the perfect case study for this sort of experiment. As the researchers point out, however, the results can be generalized to all other countries with a similar culture towards dog ownership (including other European countries and the US).

The researchers found that dog owners were less at risk of dying from cardiovascular disease and other causes. If they owned a pure breed, that is. The results were less clear for those who owned mixed-breeds.

On average, people's risk of death in a multi-person household was reduced by 11 percent, with their risk of dying from a cardiovascular disease decreased by 15 percent. The health benefit was even more pronounced in single-person households.

“Perhaps a dog may stand in as an important family member in the single households," Mwenya Mubanga, lead junior author of the study and PhD student at the Department of Medical Sciences and the Science for Life Laboratory at Uppsala University, explained in a statement. "The results showed that single dog owners had a 33 percent reduction in risk of death and 11 percent reduction in risk of myocardial infarction during follow-up compared to single non-owners."

So why does owning a dog seem so good for you? The study revealed a correlational relationship between dog ownership and longer lives, but didn't explore the reasons behind it. The researchers do, however, offer some possible explanations.

“We know that dog owners in general have a higher level of physical activity, which could be one explanation to the observed results,” Tove Fall, senior author of the study and associate professor in Epidemiology at the Department of Medical Sciences and the Science for Life Laboratory at Uppsala University, said in a statement.

This is backed up by the fact that hunting dogs like terriers, retrievers, and scent hounds need more exercise. “Other explanations include an increased well-being and social contacts or effects of the dog on the bacterial microbiome in the owner," Tove added.

Tove also notes, however, some limitations of the study: "There might also be differences between owners and non-owners already before buying a dog, which could have influenced our results, such as those people choosing to get a dog tending to be more active and of better health.”

World Health Organization Warns Farmers To Stop Using Antibiotics In Healthy Animals

The World Health Organization (WHO) has put forward an official recommendation to farmers and the food industry to stop them using antibiotics in healthy animals to promote growth and prevent disease. This is of paramount importance if we want to maintain the effectiveness of antibiotics.

The recommendation comes after a review paper was published in The Lancet Planetary Health. The study found that by restricting the amount of antibiotics in food-producing animals, the number of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in these animals fell by up to 39 percent.

Antibiotic resistance is a serious and global threat. Scientists and policy makers around the world are worried that the overuse or misuse of antibiotics might eventually lead to the formation of a particularly infectious microbe that we cannot kill. There are already several bacteria that are immune to most or all of our antibiotics.

“A lack of effective antibiotics is as serious a security threat as a sudden and deadly disease outbreak,” Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of WHO, said in a statement. “Strong, sustained action across all sectors is vital if we are to turn back the tide of antimicrobial resistance and keep the world safe."

There are countries around the world where 80 percent of antibiotics are used to make healthy animals grow faster. Stopping this is something the WHO strongly recommends. They also suggest that, whenever possible, sick animals are treated with the antibiotics that are “least important” to human health, rather than the most effective ones which for some people might be the last resource against certain infections, like the superbug MRSA.

"Scientific evidence demonstrates that overuse of antibiotics in animals can contribute to the emergence of antibiotic resistance," added Dr Kazuaki Miyagishima, Director of the Department of Food Safety and Zoonoses at the WHO. "The volume of antibiotics used in animals is continuing to increase worldwide, driven by a growing demand for foods of animal origin, often produced through intensive animal husbandry.”

Curbing antibiotic usage can be done by improving animals' living conditions and hygiene, and by vaccinating them. Several countries have already implemented these policies and some have banned the use of antibiotics to enhance growth. For example, this practice has been illegal in the European Union since 2006.