In 12 years, 5 billion starfish ‘wasted away' from a mysterious disease: How culprit was finally found
The starfish, or sea stars, of various species were dying off a wasting disease, in which their limbs fell off and their bodies melted away to leave just a pile of gunk. The epidemic was found along the Pacific coast of North America, all the way from the freezing waters off Alaska to the warmer shores of Mexico.
Till a few years ago, scientists believed a virus was causing the outbreak. However, a study published in the journal Nature on August 5 said the starfish were falling victim to Vibrio pectenicida, which is related to the bacteria that causes cholera in humans.
Why was this epidemic a cause for major concern, and how has the bacterium responsible finally been found?
The problem
The wasting disease was impacting whole populations of starfish, but the worst affected were sunflower sea stars, which lost almost 90 per cent of their population.
Starfish perform a vital function in the marine ecosystem, maintaining a stable food chain. When billions of starfish died, the population of sea urchins, which they feed on, exploded. These sea urchins started eating away whole forests of kelp, a seaweed other marine animals thrive on and which helps sequester carbon.
It was a long process. While studies earlier focused on a virus type called the densovirus, it was later found to occur naturally in some starfish.
Also, some studies were examining the tissue samples of the dead starfish, when the bacterium was in fact present in the coelomic fluid, the equivalent of starfish blood.
The breakthrough came at the Hakai Institute in British Columbia, Canada, where scientists raised sunflower sea stars in the labs, and then began exposing them to the infected starfish in various ways, like bringing them physically in contact with diseased body parts or injecting mixtures from such parts.
It was found that injections passed on the infection, but not when their contents had been treated with heat. In effect, boiling was killing off the cause of the disease, pointing to a bacterium.
The scientists then examined the coelomic fluid of both healthy and infected starfish. Dr Alyssa Gehmanopens, co-author of the study, was quoted by the UK's National History Museum as saying, 'When we compared the coelomic fluid of exposed and healthy sea stars, there was basically one thing different: Vibrio. We all had chills. We thought, 'That's it. We have it. That's what causes wasting'.'
However, they conducted further confirmatory tests, by injecting the bacterium in healthy starfish, and examining sea water before and after an outbreak.
How will this finding help?
Understanding the cause of a disease is of course the first step to treating it. Scientists will now see if starfish in the sea can be given probiotics to fight off the bacteria, and if Vibrio-resistant starfish can be grown in labs and introduced into the wild, among other measures.
Is there need for caution?
Yes. 'It's absolutely critical not to jump the gun…It's really, really hard to do these type of experiments, and particularly the interpretation of it is somewhat difficult,' Cornell marine biologist Ian Hewson told The Washington Post. He pointed out that the study was carried out on only one type of starfish, and also injecting a starfish in a lab may throw up different results from what actually happens in the ocean.
To add to this, the environment in an ocean is highly changeable, unlike the controlled surroundings of a lab.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Economic Times
4 hours ago
- Economic Times
Alzheimer's symptoms and memory loss reverses by lithium supplement, offering new hope for cure
A Harvard Medical School study reveals that lithium orotate supplementation effectively reverses Alzheimer's-like memory loss and brain pathology in mice. The research highlights lithium depletion in Alzheimer's brains due to amyloid plaque binding. Supplementation restores lithium levels, reduces plaque burden, and improves cognitive function, offering a promising therapeutic avenue for Alzheimer's disease. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Understanding Alzheimer's and the role of lithium What the study found: Lithium depletion in Alzheimer's Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads How lithium deficiency affects the brain Healthy mice deprived of lithium showed early signs of brain aging, increased inflammation, and the formation of amyloid plaques and tau pathology. Alzheimer's-model mice on a lithium-deficient diet experienced a more rapid buildup of plaques, worsened memory decline, and impaired function of microglia, reducing the brain's ability to clear toxic proteins. The revolutionary solution: Lithium orotate supplement Alzheimer's mice treated with lithium orotate showed up to a 70% reduction in amyloid plaque burden. Memory tests revealed treated mice regained significant cognitive abilities, performing tasks they previously failed. Crucially, the lithium orotate supplement did not show toxic effects at the doses used, suggesting it could be safe for long-term use. Why this matters From mice to humans A groundbreaking study from Harvard Medical School , published in Nature , has unveiled that lithium orotate supplementation can reverse Alzheimer's-like memory loss and brain pathology in mice, suggesting a promising new therapeutic cure for this devastating neurodegenerative disease affecting around 55 million people disease, a progressive brain disorder characterized by memory loss and cognitive decline, has long eluded curative disease is marked by the accumulation of toxic proteins in the brain — primarily amyloid beta plaques and tau tangles — that disrupt neuron function and trigger inflammation. This causes neurons to die over time, leading to memory loss and cognitive is a naturally occurring mineral that has been used for decades in psychiatric medicine, especially to treat bipolar disorder. Importantly, lithium also supports essential cellular processes in the brain, helping to regulate signaling pathways, reduce oxidative stress, and protect neurons from new research uncovers a previously unknown problem: in the brains of individuals with Alzheimer's, lithium levels drop significantly. This happens because amyloid beta plaques physically bind lithium ions, sequestering them away from neurons and other brain cells that need lithium to function lithium is trapped inside plaques, nearby neurons and microglia — the brain's immune cells responsible for clearing out waste proteins — become lithium-deficient. This deficiency worsens plaque buildup and disrupts brain cleanup mechanisms, accelerating disease understand the impact, researchers studied mice with genetic modifications that cause Alzheimer's-like symptoms. They experimented with diets lacking lithium and observed that:This strongly suggested lithium deficiency is not just a side effect but an active driver of disease scientists then tested whether supplementing lithium could reverse these problems. They used a compound called lithium orotate, which is chemically structured to bypass the plaque sequestration that traps regular lithium salts, allowing lithium to effectively reach and nourish brain results were striking:Previous Alzheimer's treatments have largely focused on removing amyloid plaques or targeting other symptoms without restoring brain cell health. This new approach suggests that restoring lithium levels directly supports the brain's natural defense and repair systems, allowing neurons and immune cells to function normally and remove toxic since lithium is a naturally occurring nutrient found in food, water, and already used medically, translating these findings into human trials could be faster and more cost-effective compared to developing entirely new these findings are highly promising, scientists emphasize that more research is needed to determine if lithium orotate will have the same benefits and safety in people with Alzheimer's. Clinical trials are required to find optimal dosing, evaluate long-term effects, and understand potential these results translate to humans, we could see more accessible, affordable, and safe treatments emerging, potentially transforming the outlook for millions suffering from this devastating disease.
The Hindu
4 hours ago
- The Hindu
Major climate change-GDP study under review after facing challenge
A blockbuster study published in top science journal Nature last year warned that unchecked climate change could slash global GDP by a staggering 62 percent by century's end, setting off alarm bells among financial institutions worldwide. But a re-analysis by Stanford University researchers in California, released Wednesday (August 6, 2025), challenges that conclusion — finding the projected hit to be about three times smaller and broadly in line with earlier estimates, after excluding an anomalous result tied to Uzbekistan. The saga may culminate in a rare retraction, with Nature telling AFP it will have "further information to share soon" — a move that would almost certainly be seized upon by climate-change skeptics. Both the original authors — who have acknowledged errors — and the Stanford team hoped the transparency of the review process would bolster, rather than undermine public confidence in science. Climate scientist Maximilian Kotz and co-authors at the renowned Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), published the original research in April 2024, using datasets from 83 countries to assess how changes in temperature and precipitation affect economic growth. Influential paper It became the second most cited climate paper of the year, according to the UK-based Carbon Brief outlet, and informed policy at the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, U.S. federal government and others. AFP was among numerous media outlets to report on it. Yet the eye-popping claim that global GDP would be lowered by 62 percent by the year 2100 under a high emissions scenario soon drew scrutiny. "That's why our eyebrows went up because most people think that 20 percent is a very big number," scientist and economist Solomon Hsiang, one of the researchers behind the re-analysis, also published in Nature, told AFP. When they tried to replicate the results, Hsiang and his Stanford colleagues spotted serious anomalies in the data surrounding Uzbekistan. Specifically, there was a glaring mismatch in the provincial growth figures cited in the Potsdam paper and the national numbers reported for the same periods by the World Bank. "When we dropped Uzbekistan, suddenly everything changed. And we were like, 'whoa, that's not supposed to happen,'" Hsiang said. "We felt like we had to document it in this form because it's been used so widely in policy making." The authors of the 2024 paper acknowledged methodological flaws, including currency exchange issues, and on Wednesday uploaded a corrected version, which has not yet been peer-reviewed. "We're waiting for Nature to announce their further decision on what will happen next," Kotz told AFP. He stressed that while "there can be methodological issues and debate within the scientific community," the bigger picture was unchanged: climate change will have substantial economic impacts in the decades ahead. Undeniable climate impact Frances Moore, an associate professor in environmental economics at the University of California, Davis, who was not involved in either the original paper or the re-analysis, agreed. She told AFP the correction did not alter overall policy implications. Projections of an economic slowdown by the year 2100 are "extremely bad" regardless of the Kotz-led study, she said, and "greatly exceed the costs of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to stabilize the climate, many times over." "Future work to identify specific mechanisms by which variation in climate affects economic output over the medium and long-term is critical to both better understand these findings and prepare society to respond to coming climate disruption," she also noted. Asked whether Nature would be retracting the Potsdam paper, Karl Ziemelis, the journal's physical sciences editor, did not answer directly but said an editor's note was added to the paper in November 2024 "as soon as we became aware of an issue" with the data and methodology. "We are in the final stages of this process and will have further information to share soon," he told AFP. The episode comes at a delicate time for climate science, under heavy fire from the U.S. government under President Donald Trump's second term, as misinformation about the impacts of human-driven greenhouse gases abounds. Yet even in this environment, Hsiang argued, the episode showed the robust nature of the scientific method. "One team of scientists checking other scientists' work and finding mistakes, the other team acknowledging it, correcting the record, this is the best version of science."
Time of India
4 hours ago
- Time of India
Alzheimer's symptoms and memory loss reverses by lithium supplement, offering new hope for cure
Understanding Alzheimer's and the role of lithium What the study found: Lithium depletion in Alzheimer's Live Events How lithium deficiency affects the brain Healthy mice deprived of lithium showed early signs of brain aging, increased inflammation, and the formation of amyloid plaques and tau pathology. Alzheimer's-model mice on a lithium-deficient diet experienced a more rapid buildup of plaques, worsened memory decline, and impaired function of microglia, reducing the brain's ability to clear toxic proteins. The revolutionary solution: Lithium orotate supplement Alzheimer's mice treated with lithium orotate showed up to a 70% reduction in amyloid plaque burden. Memory tests revealed treated mice regained significant cognitive abilities, performing tasks they previously failed. Crucially, the lithium orotate supplement did not show toxic effects at the doses used, suggesting it could be safe for long-term use. Why this matters From mice to humans (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel A groundbreaking study from Harvard Medical School , published in Nature , has unveiled that lithium orotate supplementation can reverse Alzheimer's-like memory loss and brain pathology in mice, suggesting a promising new therapeutic cure for this devastating neurodegenerative disease affecting around 55 million people disease, a progressive brain disorder characterized by memory loss and cognitive decline, has long eluded curative disease is marked by the accumulation of toxic proteins in the brain — primarily amyloid beta plaques and tau tangles — that disrupt neuron function and trigger inflammation. This causes neurons to die over time, leading to memory loss and cognitive is a naturally occurring mineral that has been used for decades in psychiatric medicine, especially to treat bipolar disorder. Importantly, lithium also supports essential cellular processes in the brain, helping to regulate signaling pathways, reduce oxidative stress, and protect neurons from new research uncovers a previously unknown problem: in the brains of individuals with Alzheimer's, lithium levels drop significantly. This happens because amyloid beta plaques physically bind lithium ions, sequestering them away from neurons and other brain cells that need lithium to function lithium is trapped inside plaques, nearby neurons and microglia — the brain's immune cells responsible for clearing out waste proteins — become lithium-deficient. This deficiency worsens plaque buildup and disrupts brain cleanup mechanisms, accelerating disease understand the impact, researchers studied mice with genetic modifications that cause Alzheimer's-like symptoms. They experimented with diets lacking lithium and observed that:This strongly suggested lithium deficiency is not just a side effect but an active driver of disease scientists then tested whether supplementing lithium could reverse these problems. They used a compound called lithium orotate, which is chemically structured to bypass the plaque sequestration that traps regular lithium salts, allowing lithium to effectively reach and nourish brain results were striking:Previous Alzheimer's treatments have largely focused on removing amyloid plaques or targeting other symptoms without restoring brain cell health. This new approach suggests that restoring lithium levels directly supports the brain's natural defense and repair systems, allowing neurons and immune cells to function normally and remove toxic since lithium is a naturally occurring nutrient found in food, water, and already used medically, translating these findings into human trials could be faster and more cost-effective compared to developing entirely new these findings are highly promising, scientists emphasize that more research is needed to determine if lithium orotate will have the same benefits and safety in people with Alzheimer's. Clinical trials are required to find optimal dosing, evaluate long-term effects, and understand potential these results translate to humans, we could see more accessible, affordable, and safe treatments emerging, potentially transforming the outlook for millions suffering from this devastating disease.
