Cycling. Health. Covid. Diet.

lenny

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 3, 2023
2,779
828
Why Do Animals Adopt?

Taking responsibility for another’s young reveals the deep evolutionary roots of care.


 

lenny

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 3, 2023
2,779
828
‘Unprecedented risk’ to life on Earth: Scientists call for halt on ‘mirror life’ microbe research
Experts warn that mirror bacteria, constructed from mirror images of molecules found in nature, could put humans, animals and plants at risk of lethal infections

"Although a viable mirror microbe would probably take at least a decade to build, a new risk assessment raised such serious concerns about the organisms that the 38-strong group urged scientists to stop work towards the goal and asked funders to make clear they will no longer support the research. "

“The threat we’re talking about is unprecedented,” said Prof Vaughn Cooper, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Pittsburgh. “Mirror bacteria would likely evade many human, animal and plant immune system responses and in each case would cause lethal infections that would spread without check.”

 

lenny

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 3, 2023
2,779
828
Why hasn’t the bird flu pandemic started?
Some scientists examining mutations found in H5N1 viruses fear major outbreak is imminent but others say pathogen remains unpredictable

"So why hasn’t H5N1 touched off a pandemic yet?

One simple answer is that the virus may just need more time to hit the right combination of mutations. The high mutation rate of influenza viruses should tip the odds in H5N1’s favor: “My rule of thumb is that one in 4000 [virus] particles will have a mutation at the amino acid that you are interested in,” Paulson says. Indeed, one polymerase mutation the virus likely needs, dubbed 627K because it leads to the amino acid lysine (K) at position 627 of the protein, has been found several times in strains infecting mammals but also in virus isolated from the first human case associated with the U.S. outbreak in dairy cows."

 
  • :D
Reactions: POLLY