Low number of right whale births this season worries scientists at the New England Aquarium
Three females gave birth for the first time, offering some hope for the
Advertisement
Three of the new mothers have prominent scars from being struck by vessels, according to Amy Warren, the Anderson Cabot Center's scientific program officer.
'These injuries are a harsh reminder of their daily threats and an additional hurdle to overcome on their journey to motherhood,' Warren said in the statement.
At least seven of the 11 mother-calf pairs have been seen in Massachusetts waters this spring, the aquarium said.
An aerial survey team from the Center for Coastal Studies discovered the 11th mother of the season, named Monarch, on April 17 in Cape Cod Bay, the Aquarium said.
A 44-year-old right whale, known as Grand Teton, mothered another calf this season, at least her ninth calf overall. Grand Teton is one of an estimated 70 reproductive females remaining in the population, scientists said.
Advertisement
'Whales like Grand Teton give me hope for the species,' Hamilton said. 'She has been calving for over four decades, and unlike the majority of the population, remains relatively free of scars from past entanglements. The future of the species hangs on females like her.'
Sarah Mesdjian can be reached at
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
NeuroSigma Announces Notice of Allowance for Patent Protecting Monarch eTNS System in China
LOS ANGELES, June 10, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NeuroSigma, Inc., a Los Angeles-based bioelectronics company commercializing the Monarch external Trigeminal Nerve Stimulation (eTNS) device for treating attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), today announced a notice of allowance in China for a patent protecting the Monarch eTNS System. The patent, titled Pulse Generator for Trigeminal Nerve Stimulation, protects certain embodiments of NeuroSigma's core eTNS technology, including its second-generation Monarch device. The patent was allowed by China's National Intellectual Property Administration on May 27, 2025. In 2022, NeuroSigma licensed rights to the Monarch eTNS System for treating ADHD in China to Ignis Therapeutics, a leader in the development of novel therapeutics for central nervous system (CNS) conditions. 'As NeuroSigma continues to grow and work with our partners at Ignis, China will be a critical market for the Monarch eTNS System,' said Colin Kealey, M.D., President and CEO of NeuroSigma. 'This patent protects our second-generation Monarch device in China and significantly strengthens the company's intellectual property position.' "NeuroSigma's Monarch eTNS System is a highly innovative and effective therapy for ADHD,' added Tom Paschall, Director of NeuroSigma and CEO of Checkmate Capital. 'China is one of the largest and most important markets in the world for new CNS therapies. With this patent award, the Monarch device will benefit from robust intellectual property protection, which, we believe, will facilitate commercialization in this key market.' About NeuroSigma NeuroSigma is a Los Angeles, California-based bioelectronic medical device company developing technologies to transform medical practice and patients' lives. The company's lead product is the Monarch eTNS System, which is the first non-drug treatment for pediatric ADHD cleared by the FDA. Pipeline indications for the Monarch eTNS System include neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), learning disabilities, and epilepsy. NeuroSigma has received Breakthrough Device Designation for the Monarch eTNS System from the FDA in drug-resistant epilepsy. For more information about NeuroSigma, please visit For more information on the Monarch eTNS System, please visit Contact:Colin Kealey, M.D., President of NeuroSigma at CKealey@
Washington Post
2 days ago
- Washington Post
These glowing axolotls may hold the secret to human limb regeneration
With a silly smile and frilly gills, the axolotl has wriggled its way into the hearts of millions, becoming a popular aquarium pet and pop-culture icon in video games, children's books and toy stores. But this adorable species of salamander is also helping researchers investigate a serious medical mystery: Could the human body be coaxed to regrow a severed arm or leg? Scientists are turning to the axolotl because it is an expert at regeneration. After losing a limb, an adult axolotl can grow it back fresh and new. In a study published in the journal Nature Communications on Tuesday, scientists used axolotls genetically engineered to glow in the dark to understand the molecular underpinnings of this amazing trait. 'This species is special,' said James Monaghan, a Northeastern University biologist who led the research. They've 'really become the champion of some extreme abilities that animals have.' Although critically endangered in the wild in Mexico, axolotls have been kept and studied in labs since the 19th century. They are known for being, naturally, forever young. Unlike other amphibians such as frogs, axolotls never go through full metamorphosis, instead retaining into adulthood certain juvenile characteristics such as external gills and webbed feet that make them look so weirdly cute to their human admirers. The species is also a comeback king, able to regrow not only lost limbs but also tissue in the heart, lungs and even the brain. One marvel is that to enable a body part to grow back, the cells responsible for that growth need to somehow register where they are on the body. If an amputation is at the upper arm, for example, they have to re-create upper arm, then the lower arm and finally, the hand. But if it's at the lower arm, the cells have to know to grow back just the lower arm and hand. 'Salamanders have been famous for their ability to regenerate arms for centuries,' Monaghan said. 'One of the outstanding questions that has really plagued the field is how a salamander knows what to grow back.' For their study, Monaghan and his colleagues investigated a tiny molecule called retinoic acid that seems to be responsible for this careful choreography. A derivative of vitamin A, it is known for its regenerative ability and is related to retinol found in skin-care products. 'Anyone that watches TV for 30 minutes watches a skin commercial with retinol,' Monaghan said. His team worked with axolotls that had been genetically engineered so that their tissue glows in the presence of the acid, allowing real-time tracking of its presence. Then, in the name of vitally important science, the researchers did something that might strike some axolotl fans as shocking: they severed axolotl arms. Monaghan said his team anesthetized the axolotls before the procedure and closely monitored their health. 'Importantly, they don't show signs of pain or distress after limb amputation the way mammals might, and they regenerate fully within weeks,' he said. When given a drug that blocks an enzyme responsible for breaking down retinoic acid, the axolotls regrew their missing limbs incorrectly, with an upper arm sprouting out where a forearm should be. A control group of animals that did not receive the drug regenerated normally. The work suggests that retinoic acid acts like a GPS device, helping cells to determine their location: the higher the concentration of the acid, the closer to the center of the body. The chemical appears to activate a gene or genes within the cells to regulate limb growth. 'While we are still far from regenerating human limbs, this study is a step in that direction,' said Prayag Murawala, an assistant professor at MDI Biological Laboratory in Maine. His lab helped Monaghan produce the genetically engineered animals used in the study, but was otherwise not involved in the research. 'Better understanding of gene regulatory circuit is essential if we have to re-create this in humans,' Murawala said. When it comes to human limb regeneration, Monaghan noted that every cell already contains in its DNA the blueprints to rebuild body parts. 'We all have the same genes,' he said. 'We've all made these limbs when we were embryos.' The question now is figuring out the right chemical signals to unlock those early developmental instructions in humans after birth, as axolotls are able to do. 'It's one of the oldest questions in biology, but it's also the most futuristic-looking,' he said. When Monaghan began his research two decades ago, 'most people didn't know what an axolotl was.' But for the past decade the animal has been an obsession for kids, boosted in popularity after debuting in the video game 'Minecraft' in 2021. 'It's a little surreal,' he said. 'You just see axolotls at the airport, axolotls at the mall. My kids are coming home with axolotl toys all the time, because people know what I do.'
The Hill
4 days ago
- The Hill
Endangered species deserve a home, too
The elusive Northern Spotted Owl. The majestic Whooping Crane. Charismatic Florida panthers and beloved Monarch butterflies. These and many other endangered species now face even graver threats in the wake of two recent developments in the world of conservation. On Apr. 7, the billion-dollar biotech firm Colossal announced the 'de-extinction' of the dire wolf, a canine species that vanished in the Late Pleistocene (approximately 13,000 years ago). And on Apr. 17, the Trump administration revealed its intention to weaken decades-old endangered species protections by redefining a key word: harm. This narrower definition effectively rescinds protection of an endangered species' habitat, limiting harm to actions that 'directly' harass, injure or kill organisms. What these two developments have in common is a disregard for the vital connection that exists between species and the places they call home. Habitat refers to the place where an organism naturally or normally lives. Removal of habitat protection opens the door to logging, development and extraction of oil and minerals. The proposed definition of harm could convert fragile wetlands into farmland, migration corridors into freeways and nesting sites into beachfront property — and none of this would qualify as harm to the creatures who live there. A habitat includes the specific resources and conditions that a given species needs to survive — the plants or animals it feeds on, and particular features of topography, soil, climate and water. Some species are especially vulnerable to extinction because they require a very rare or specific type of habitat. Others are at risk because they range across several. Many butterfly species, for example, are reliant on a single host plant for every stage of their life cycle — mating, laying eggs and feeding their young. Even plants closely related to the host plant cannot replace these vital functions, however indistinguishable they may appear to the human eye. Migratory creatures, meanwhile, depend upon many habitats in far-flung geographic locations. A recent study found that approximately half of all migratory species are in decline. Annually, billions of migratory birds crisscross state and national boundaries, with varying degrees of legal protections for the places where they nest, feed or rest. Further erosion of habitat protection could be the death knell for these and other vulnerable species. Were species not so intimately tied to their environments, it might make sense to regard lab-created or genetically engineered organisms, like the recently unveiled dire wolves, as suitable replacements for endangered or extinct species. Conservation would be akin to curating museum or zoo specimens, with living representatives of endangered species, or mere samples of their genetic material, maintained in artificial environments. Disregard for the importance of habitat is evident in the fanfare over Colossal's so-called dire wolves — more accurately, grey wolves with dire wolf DNA spliced into their genome. Consider that in their original Pleistocene environments, true dire wolves preyed upon large herbivorous megafauna that are now extinct: sloths, mastodons, giant bison and camels. By contrast, Remus, Romulus and Khaleesi, the telegenic trio of fluffy white wolves created by Colossal, will live their entire lives in a highly secured, undisclosed site, subsisting on a hand-fed diet of ground meats and kibble. In short, the same flawed logic lies behind the dire wolf 'de-extinction' and the Trump proposal to redefine harm: Both treat species as if they live in a vacuum. Doug Burgum, the Trump-appointed secretary of the Interior, exemplified this sort of thinking when he took to social media to hail de-extinction as the 'bedrock' of future conservation, arguing simultaneously for re-think of endangered species protections: 'It has been innovation—not regulation—that has spawned American greatness,' he said. Citing Colossal's breakthrough, Burgum questioned the need for an endangered species list. Ten days later, the administration moved to weaken endangered species regulation by excluding habitat from the definition of harm. Yet, habitat loss remains the primary culprit of species endangerment and extinction. While these losses can occur naturally through periodic events like fires or earthquakes, the vast majority of habitat degradation, fragmentation and loss stems from human activity: land development, deforestation, large-scale agriculture, air and water pollution, and human-caused climate change, among other factors. Even amid intensified political polarization, endangered species protection is wildly popular, with 84 percent of Americans supporting the Endangered Species Act. In the past month, some 350,000 members of the public weighed in to protest changes to the act. Many offered the commonsense argument that destroying the home of any living being, human or nonhuman, clearly constitutes harm, as surely as a gun pointed to the head. Innovation in conservation science, including cutting-edge genetic techniques aimed at saving species on the brink of extinction, is welcome and should be encouraged. But innovation is no substitute for regulation, any more than a laboratory or zoo is a substitute for the places where animals naturally live. Endangered species face a barrage of threats from human activities. We owe them a place to call home. Lisa H. Sideris is a Public Voices fellow of The OpEd Project and the University of California. Santa Barbara, where she is professor and vice-chair of the Environmental Studies Program.
