A major antibiotic breakthrough
Scientists have developed a powerful new antibiotic for the first time in 30 years – a breakthrough being hailed as a “paradigm shift” in the fight against antibiotic-resistant superdrugs, reports BBC News online. In tests on mice, teixobactin has been found to be effective against many common bacterial infections, including TB, septicaemia and Clostridium difficile, and could be available within five years. But scientists say the most exciting thing about the breakthrough is the way it came about. The source of nearly all antibiotics – most of which are chemical substances extracted from bacteria that can kill other bacteria – is the soil. It teems with bacteria, but only about 1% can be grown in the lab. To develop theirs, the researchers at Northeastern University in Boston created an
electronic chip they liken to a “subterranean hotel”, with one room (actually a minute sealed pod) for each different bacterium. When the chip was buried, the bacteria became accessible for study yet could still benefit from the soil’s chemistry, as it permeated the pods. The chip was kept underground in a back garden for two weeks to give the bacteria time to grow; it was then dug up, and chemicals
produced by the bacteria were tested for antimicrobial properties. “So far 25 new antibiotics have been discovered using this method and teixobactin is the latest and most promising one,” said lead
researcher Professor Kim Lewis.
Ebola source revealed
A little boy playing in a tree full of bats may have been the original source of the ongoing Ebola epidemic in West Africa, which has infected more than 20,000 people and killed some 8,100. Researchers recently identified a two-year-old boy named Emile Ouamouno as the current strain’s “patient zero”, but they were unsure at first how the toddler – who died in December 2013 – initially
contracted the disease. Previous outbreaks have typically begun in adult patients who probably contracted Ebola by eating contaminated bushmeat. But a team of scientists from the Robert Koch Institute in Germany now reports that Ouamouno probably caught Ebola while playing in a hollowed-out tree on the outskirts of his village – a tree that was also home to a colony of bats from the species
Mops condylurus, mouse-size mammals that are known to be carriers of the disease. “These bats are reportedly often targeted by children who regularly hunt and grill them over small fires,” lead
researcher Fabian Leendertz tells NationalGeographic .com. Ebola is a zoonotic virus that can pass directly from animals to humans, often without making the initial host sick.
Is porridge key to a healthy life?
A bowl of porridge every day for breakfast – or a helping of brown rice – could be the key to a healthy heart and a long life, reports The Independent. A Harvard University study into the impact of whole grains on longevity monitored 100,000 people – all apparently healthy at the start of the study – for around 15 years, during which period 26,000 of them died. The researchers found that for 28g of whole grains eaten a day – the equivalent of a small bowl of porridge – the risk of all death was reduced by 5% and heart deaths by 9%. This was true even after accounting for factors such as body mass index and exercise levels.
Ancient tools unearthed in Turkey
An ancient stone knife recently found in western Turkey suggests that mankind’s prehistoric ancestors migrated into Europe much earlier than previously believed, reports LiveScience.com.
Researchers from London’s Royal Holloway University uncovered the sharp stone tool from the Gediz riverbed on Turkey’s Anatolian Peninsula, a prehistoric gateway to the continent. At 1.2 million years old, the artefact confirms that early humans inhabited the area some 500,000 years
earlier than anthropologists had thought. Probably crafted by a member of a huntergatherer clan from the Homo erectus species, the tool was used to skin prey and cut meat. Because it was found in the river sediments and was “sandwiched” between layers of volcanic deposits, scientists were able to date it using highly accurate methods. “The discovery is critical for establishing the timing and route of early human dispersal in Europe,” said lead researcher Danielle Schreve.
Some of us age faster than others
Science has confirmed what anyone who has ever been to a school reunion will have already observed, says The Guardian: that people age at wildly different rates. Using 18 physiological markers including blood pressure, cholesterol levels and organ function, researchers assessed the biological age of 1,000 people, who were all born in New Zealand in 1972 or 1973, when they were 26, 32 and 38. The results showed that while most, at 38, had a biological age similar to their actual age, some were, biologically, still in their late 20s, while quite a few were in their 50s, and one was even older – 61. They also noted that the 38-year-olds with the oldest biological ages looked older
than their peers, and performed worse in problem solving tests, and in tests of balance and coordination.
Nature’s cure for anxiety
People tormented by an endless stream of negative thoughts can greatly benefit from an alternative to
expensive psychotherapy or medications: a walk in the woods. Psychologists at Stanford University
found that strolling outdoors in natural settings can stave off the human tendency to dwell on that breakup, layoff, or family problem, The Washington Post reports. The study involved 38 city dwellers with no history of mental illness. Half of the participants strolled for 90 minutes through an unspoilt landscape surrounded by greenery; the others walked along a busy downtown street. Before and after their walks, the participants underwent a brain scan and questioning about how often they engaged in
rumination – inward, self-referential thinking, which is tied to depression and anxiety. The nature
walkers brooded far less, and their brain scans revealed reduced activity in the subgenual prefrontal cortex, the region that regulates negative emotions. “This provides robust results for us that nature experience, even of a short duration, can decrease this pattern of thinking that is associated with
the onset, in some cases, of mental illnesses,” says the study’s lead author, Gregory Bratman. One downer: By 2050, about 70% of the world’s population is expected to reside in cities.
Dengue fever spreading
Mosquitoes, once limited to tropical regions, are moving north, carrying both dengue fever and
chikungunya, a virus that causes fever, chills, headache, and joint pain that can persist for years. Until the 1960s, chikungunya (or “that which bends up” in the language of the Makonde people of south-east Tanzania and northern Mozambique) was mainly confined to Africa; since then, however, the disease has become a global menace owing to the spread of two species of mosquito: the tiger mosquito and Aedes aegypti. These insects also carry dengue fever, which infects around 100 million people a year worldwide, causing severe, flu-like symptoms. Researchers at Oxford University created global distribution maps of the two species, and found concentrations growing in China, southern Europe, Brazil, Mexico, and the US. There is currently no vaccine or treatment for either
chikungunya or dengue fever.