A healthy honeybee population is a critical component of healthy ecosystems, clean air, and stable soil. Honeybees also play a critical role in food production, providing an astonishing estimated $15 billion in crops annually in the United States alone. So the rapid decline in the honeybee population, which has been plummeting since 2006, has been …
Flush Analysis Reveals Potentially Harmful Plumes from Powerful Public Toilets
Flushing a toilet sends waste and water down, but do you ever wonder about what is sprayed up into the air at the same time? Research using a pulsing laser beam, a lidless toilet, and a camera positioned to document the aerosol plume has provided new insight into the potential pathogens you may encounter in …
Is Stool Screening an Effective Tool for Preventing Colon Cancer?
Colonoscopies have historically been the dominant method of screening for early detection of colon cancer, the third leading cause of cancer death in the United States for both men and women. However, recent research has not only challenged the conventional wisdom on the effectiveness of colonoscopies in reducing the risk of developing and dying from …
Discovery: Pupal Ants Produce Milk for Their Colonies
Pupating ants produce milk — and scientists have only just noticed. Research published in Nature in November describes researchers observing for the first time that during their otherwise inactive pupal stage, ant pupae secrete a nourishing, milk-like secretion that not only helps increase the chances of the pupae’s survival but also provides nourishment for the …
Pigs Could Solve the Organ Transplant Crisis
2022 held a number of significant breakthroughs in researchers’ ongoing efforts to solve the organ transplant crisis. Many of those breakthroughs were in xenotransplantation, or the use of animal organs in humans, and most of that research has looked specifically at using genetically modified pig organs in humans. As research continues and scientists’ understanding grows, …
Burden of Disease by Social Status
Inequality in the United States has never been more apparent, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. In a time when higher income correlates strongly with longer life expectancy, one study found that food and agricultural workers in California had an almost 40-percent higher risk of dying in 2020 compared with the state’s general …
More Simple Rabies Test Could Reduce Rabies Deaths
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the rabies virus leads to an estimated 59,000 human deaths globally each year. This deadly viral disease, which is transmitted by animal bites, is almost 100 percent fatal once symptoms appear. That dire survival rate has led the medical community to ask, “How can we …
Holding Out Hope for a Deal on Long-Lasting HIV Prevention Drug
Although a new injectable anti-HIV drug, cabotegravir, could be instrumental in drastically reducing the spread of disease, its price tag may render the drug unattainable in the countries where it is most needed. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that more than two-thirds of new HIV infections worldwide are in Africa and that 470,000 African …
From Shark Tank to Pharmaceuticals: Billionaire Mark Cuban Makes a Leap for Affordable Medicines
Mark Cuban is spearheading an effort to widen Americans’ access to generic pharmaceuticals, adding a direct-to-consumer online pharmacy to the Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company (MCCPDC) in January of 2022. The ecommerce site currently sells generic medications with a focus on drugs on the FDA shortage list. Cuban’s involvement may come as a shock. …
Sea Squirts and Missing Genes
It might seem odd to use a tiny sea creature to explore human genetics. However, as recently reported on Shamini Bundell’s Nature Podcast, marine organisms known as sea squirts may shed light on the origins of vertebrate animals – including humans. That research involved studying missing genes, which could be a significant factor in positive …
