The tardigrade shows secrets of radiation-resisting powers
Resilience of tardigrade genes: Hypsibius henanensis identifies thousands of genes that become more active when exposed to radiation
It is like in wartime when the factories are refitted to make bombs. It’s almost that level of retooling how gene expression is working,” says Bob Goldstein, a cell biologist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, who has been studying tardigrades for 25 years. “We’re fascinated by how an organism would change their gene expression to a point where they’re making that much transcript for specific genes.”
Now, scientists have sequenced the genome of a species new to science, and revealed some of the molecular mechanisms that give tardigrades their extraordinary resilience. Their study, published in Science on 24 October1, identifies thousands of tardigrade genes that become more active when exposed to radiation. The defence system involves protecting DNA from damage caused by radiation and repairing breaks when they occur.
Around six years ago, Zhang and his colleagues ventured into Funiu Mountain in China’s Henan province to collect moss samples. Back in the laboratory and under the microscope, they identified a previously undocumented species of tardigrade, which they named Hypsibius henanensis. 70% of the genes that were discovered are unique to tardigrades.
What makes Tardigrades different from humans? An animal physiologist’s perspective on the exposure of water bears to extreme radiation
The authors hope that their insights could be harnessed to help protect astronauts from radiation during space missions, clean up nuclear pollution or improve cancer treatment.
Tardigrades, also known as water bears, have long fascinated scientists with their ability to withstand extreme conditions, including radiation at levels nearly 1,000 times higher than the lethal dose for humans. There are over 1500 tardigrade species, but only a few are well studied.
One of the genes, called TRID1, helps to fix double- strand breaks in DNA by recruiting specializedProteins located at sites of damage To my knowledge, nobody was studying thisgene.
The tardigrade’s genes were acquired from other organisms through horizontal gene transfer, according to the researchers. A gene called DODA1, which appears to have been taken from organisms, enables tardigrades to make four types ofoxidants called betalains. These pigments can mop up some of the harmful reactive chemicals that radiation causes to form inside cells, which account for 60–70% of radiation’s damaging effects.
Studying the mechanisms that allow tardigrades to tolerate harsher conditions could have a wide range of applications. It could help improve the shelf life of fragile substances. Tardigrades have expirationdates that don’t correspond to all of your medicines.
Comparing these mechanisms between different tardigrades is an important part of this research, adds Nadja Møbjerg, an animal physiologist at the University of Copenhagen. “We are still lacking knowledge of different tardigrade species out there,” she says.
These animals have “a font of protectants that will probably keep spilling out more that will be useful and interesting to understand”, says Goldstein. We want to know how those work and what potential they have.
Molecular palaeontologist Alexandra Morton-Hayward: Why ancient brains can withstand the decomposing process so much harder than they used to
Feeding a baby born by caesarean section milk containing a tiny bit of their mother’s poo introduces beneficial microbes to their gut. In early results of a clinical trial, poo samples showed there was a marked difference between the microbial diversity of babies who were fed 3.5 milligrams of their mother’s poo in milk and those who received a placebo. Researchers emphasize that this method shouldn’t be used at home. “You have to be certain that the faecal matter you give to the newborn doesn’t contain diseases that can cause disease,” says Otto Hilve, the study’s primary investigator.
muons were accelerated into a beam for the first time. A laser shot at a stream of particles to bring them to a stand still. The muons were cooled by applying an electric field to 4% of the speed of light. The muon collider, which would be smaller and cheaper than other current colliders, would be a reality if researchers were to achieve this feat.
Molecular palaeontologist Alexandra Morton-Hayward investigates why a small proportion of ancient brains somehow resist the decomposition process that begins to destroy most soft tissue within hours after death. She is interested in studying the brain more than simply scientific curiosity. She attempts to kill herself every day because of her brain abnormality and daily headaches, which are extremely painful. She says she is always aware of her brain. “Sometimes, it feels like it’s in worse shape than the ones I have on the bench in the lab.”
Source: Daily briefing: Specialized genes of new tardigrade species arm it with radiation shield
Five books on democracy in the past and present: The case of two cities in Uzbekistan, the ancient city of the Silk Road
Five specialists share essential books for understanding threats to democracy past and present, including an exploration of how diverging perspectives on who should be able to vote and how have shaped voting rights and elections in the United States since the colonial era and a sweeping perspective on how technology — from mobile phones to artificial intelligence — has shaped geopolitics.
The scale of two ancient cities buried high in the mountains of Uzbekistan has been uncovered using drone-mounted laser technology. The city was six times bigger than expected. The two cities were in the center of the medieval Silk Road and played an important role in the trade of the era. “It’s not a village, it’s urbanized, because it has its own citadel where the rulers lived,” says archaeologist Farhod Maksudov. It was the kind of civilization that was independent politically and economically from the Empires which were in the lowlands.
David developed new apple varieties. New apple types need trial and error to be created. You can test for firmness, texture and acidity, and analyse the tree’s DNA to ensure it won’t be vulnerable to disease, but when it comes to testing if they taste good, there’s no substitute for simply taking a bite. The 12 min read was done by Scientific American.
Scientists have sequenced the genome of a new species of tardigrade, Hypsibius Henanensis, that is the world’s third-largest tardigrade species, and have identified thousands of tardigrade genes that become more active when exposed to radiation. 70% of the genes that were discovered are unique to tardigrades. There are over 1500 tardigrade species, but only a few are well studied.