New marine life database touted as tool for ocean research
Biologists have launched a database of marine animals' body sizes that they say could help preserve biodiversity in Earth's oceans.
Why bother measuring animals' body size? In an article in Global Ecology and Biogeography, researchers write that body size affects animals in a multitude of ways, from their behavior and favorite foods to their physiology and habitat choices.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Axolotl Discovery Brings Us Closer Than Ever to Regrowing Human Limbs
Axolotls (Ambystoma mexicanum) have the incredible ability to regenerate limbs, and even entire organs. And of course, people want to know how we might get our own human bodies to do it, too. A team of biologists from Northeastern University and the University of Kentucky has found one of the key molecules involved in axolotl regeneration. It's a crucial component in ensuring the body grows back the right parts in the right spot: for instance, growing a hand, from the wrist. "The cells can interpret this cue to say, 'I'm at the elbow, and then I'm going to grow back the hand' or 'I'm at the shoulder… so I'm going to then enable those cells to grow back the entire limb'," biologist James Monaghan explains. That molecule, retinoic acid, is arranged through the axolotl body in a gradient, signaling to regenerative cells how far down the limb has been severed. Closer to the shoulder, axolotls have higher levels of retinoic acid, and lower levels of the enzyme that breaks it down. This ratio changes the further the limb extends from the body. The team found this balance between retinoic acid and the enzyme that breaks it down plays a crucial role in 'programming' the cluster of regenerative cells that form at an injury site. When they added surplus retinoic acid to the hand of an axolotl in the process of regenerating, it grew an entire arm instead. In theory, the human body has the right molecules and cells to do this too, but our cells respond to the signals very differently, instead forming collagen-based scars at injury sites. Next, Monaghan is keen to find out what's going on inside cells – the axolotl's, and our own – when those retinoic acid signals are received. "If we can find ways of making our fibroblasts listen to these regenerative cues, then they'll do the rest. They know how to make a limb already because, just like the salamander, they made it during development," Monaghan says. "It could help with scar-free wound healing but also something even more ambitious, like growing back an entire finger," he adds. "It's not out of the realm [of possibility] to think that something larger could grow back like a hand." The research is published in Nature Communications. Stomach Ulcer Bacteria Could Be a Surprise Ally Against Alzheimer's Early Signs of Cancer Found in Patient Blood 3 Years Before Diagnosis Fecal Transplants Present a Concerning Risk For Some, Study Finds
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Cannabis Linked to 2x Risk of Heart Disease Death, Scientists Discover
New research suggests that cannabis use is linked to twice the risk of death from cardiovascular disease, and is also associated with increased risk of other major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE). Cannabis is being legalized in more and more places worldwide, increasing medicinal and recreational use – but it may warrant closer monitoring by health professionals. The researchers here, led by a team from the University of Toulouse in France, wanted to look more closely at potential health risks that had previously been flagged. They looked at 24 previous studies published between 2016 and 2023, involving around 200 million people. Overall, the increased risk linked to cannabis use was 29 percent for acute coronary syndrome (reduced blood flow to the heart), 20 percent for strokes, and 100 percent for cardiovascular disease mortality. "The findings reveal positive associations between cannabis use and MACE," write the researchers in their published paper. "These findings should encourage investigating cannabis use in all patients presenting with serious cardiovascular disorders." There are some limitations worth bearing in mind here. The studies included in the research differed in terms of how they defined cannabis use, relied on self-reporting, and didn't measure use of the drug over time. That makes them less statistically robust. The research also notes a high risk of bias in the majority of studies investigated, due to the way they were structured. And it's important to say the research doesn't show direct cause and effect, only an association. It's possible that other factors not considered here are driving both cannabis use and heart health issues in certain groups of people. Nevertheless, the large number of people surveyed on their real-world use of cannabis counts in the study's favor. It also has more recent data than many other studies, and we know that cannabis use and composition is changing over time. That's enough to warrant deeper investigation into the possible health risks. "Legalizing the drug and expanding its medical use worldwide have likely contributed to profound changes in the general perception of cannabis and to the overall rise in cannabis consumption," write the researchers. "Consequently, users' profiles and consumption habits profoundly differ from those in the 2010s, especially as cannabis products show an increasing trend in potency, with rising concentrations of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)." Further research is absolutely needed here, not least to determine whether the chemicals and compounds in cannabis – of which there are hundreds – could be leading to these health risks, and how taking cannabis in different forms, such as inhalables or edibles, might have an influence. Previous studies have already shown how the drug can increase the risk of cancer, and significantly alter our DNA, for example. Cannabis could also trigger psychosis through the impact it has on the brain. The new study is accompanied by an editorial written by epidemiologists Stanton Glanz and Lynn Silver, from the University of California San Francisco. In it, Glanz and Silver argue that as cannabis use rises, more should be done to educate people about the risks – as has been done with cigarettes. "Specifically, cannabis should be treated like tobacco: not criminalized but discouraged, with protection of bystanders from secondhand exposure," they write. The research has been published in the journal Heart. 5 Daily Habits Could Be Causing Your Liver Serious Harm FDA-Approved Sleeping Pill Slows Alzheimer's Tangles in Pre-Clinical Trial Risk of Sleep Breathing Disorder Set to Rise 45% by End of Century
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
The Sad Case of The World's Youngest-Ever Alzheimer's Diagnosis
In 2023, neurologists at a memory clinic in China diagnosed a 19-year-old with what they believed to be Alzheimer's disease – making him the youngest person ever to be diagnosed with the condition. The teen first began experiencing memory decline around age 17, with symptoms worsening over time. Brain scans revealed shrinkage in the hippocampus, a region involved in memory, while his cerebrospinal fluid showed biomarkers consistent with Alzheimer's – the most common form of dementia. Although usually associated with older age, early-onset cases of Alzheimer's (those occurring in individuals under age 65) represent up to 10 percent of all diagnoses. Almost all Alzheimer's patients under the age of 30 can have their disease explained by pathological gene mutations, classifying them as having familial Alzheimer's disease (FAD). The younger a person is when they receive a diagnosis, the more likely it is caused by an inherited faulty gene. However, researchers at Beijing's Capital Medical University were unable to find any of the usual mutations responsible for the early onset of memory loss, nor any suspect genes, after conducting a genome-wide search. Before this diagnosis in China, the youngest patient with Alzheimer's was 21 years old. They carried the PSEN1 gene mutation, which causes abnormal proteins to build up in the brain, forming clumps of toxic plaques, a common feature of Alzheimer's. Cases like this one pose something of a mystery. None of the 19-year-old's family had a history of Alzheimer's or dementia, making it hard to categorize it as FAD, yet the teenager had no other diseases, infections, or head trauma that could explain his sudden cognitive decline either. Two years before being referred to the memory clinic, the teenage patient began struggling to focus in class. Reading also became difficult and his short-term memory declined. Oftentimes, he couldn't remember events from the day before, and he was always misplacing his belongings. Ultimately, the cognitive decline became so bad, the young man was unable to finish high school, although he could still live independently. A year after being referred to the memory clinic, he showed losses in immediate recall, short-delay recall after three minutes, and long-delay recall after 30 minutes. The patient's full-scale memory score was 82 percent lower than that of peers his own age, while his immediate memory score was 87 percent lower. Long-term follow-up is needed to support the young man's diagnosis, but his medical team said at the time the patient was "altering our understanding of the typical age of onset of AD." "The patient had very early-onset AD with no clear pathogenic mutations," neurologist Jianping Jia and colleagues wrote in their study, "which suggests that its pathogenesis still needs to be explored." The case study, published in February 2023, just goes to show that Alzheimer's doesn't follow a single pathway, and is much more complex than we thought, emerging via numerous avenues with varying effects. In a statement to the South China Morning Post, the neurologists who described the patient's case argued that future studies should focus on early-onset cases to further improve our understanding of memory loss. "Exploring the mysteries of young people with Alzheimer's disease may become one of the most challenging scientific questions of the future," they said. The study was published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease. An earlier version of this article was published in February 2023. Compound That Turns People Yellow Could Protect Against Malaria Scientists May Have Finally Figured Out How Bats Avoid Cancer 'Off Switch' in The Brain to Stop Binge Drinking Discovered in Mice
