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☆ How interbreeding between humans and our Neanderthal cousins 40,000 years ago affects our health today
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-17 | by ( Isobel Van Hagen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Interbreeding with Homo sapiens helps to explain why millions can't straighten their fingers. There is also a Neanderthal gene variant that increases the risk of somebody dying from COVID-19. The study evidences that "intermingling" from Neanderthals and our Homo sapiens ancestors is consequential in examining the prevalence of certain diseases, researchers said. No more than 7% of the human genome is unique to Homo sapiens, according to a study published in the journal Science Advances. Brain development and function are what sets Homo sapiens apart, experts explained.

Persons: sapiens, —, Hugo Zeberg, Nikola Solic, Zeberg Organizations: Service, British Society for Surgery, Karolinska Institute, Times Locations: COVID, Europe, Finland, Africa, Sweden, Asia

☆ Night owls may die younger, but more than sleep is to blame
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-16 | by ( Sandee Lamotte | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

A 2022 study found night owls were more sedentary, had lower aerobic fitness levels, and burned less fat at rest and while active than early birds. Night owls were also more likely to be insulin-resistant, meaning their muscles required more insulin to be able to get the energy they need, the study showed. Studies have revealed night owls may take more risks and are more likely to skip breakfast and eat more later in the day. Night owls also have higher levels of visceral body fat in the abdominal region, a key risk factor for type 2 diabetes and heart disease. “The strongest reset for the circadian system is bright light,” Zee said.

Persons: ”, Christer Hublin, Bhanu Prakash Kolla, ” Kolla, Phyllis Zee, Zee, ” Zee Organizations: CNN —, Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Center for Sleep Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Center, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, CNN, Northwestern Locations: Helsinki, Rochester , Minnesota, Chicago

☆ Eli Lilly CEO says Medicare price negotiations could harm drug development
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Eli Lilly CEO David Ricks on Tuesday said Medicare price negotiations, which aim to cut costs for older Americans, could potentially harm drug development. "I'm really worried about the harm this will do to new cures and possibilities in medicine," Ricks said in an interview on CNBC's "The Exchange." He's the latest pharmaceutical executive to publicly blast the provision and law at large, which will likely reduce company profits. Global drugmaker Merck last week sued the Biden administration over Medicare price negotiations in a bid to weaken the program. Under the IRA provision, Medicare can start negotiating prices on small-molecule drugs as early as nine years after they receive Food and Drug Administration approval, compared with 13 years for biologics.

Persons: Eli Lilly, David Ricks, I'm, Ricks Organizations: Biden, Global drugmaker Merck, Drug Administration

☆ Billion-year-old rocks reveal traces of ancient life
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( Kate Golembiewski | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

V. Diekamp/MARUM/University of BremenThe evidence of these ancient eukaryotes took the form of biological molecules that they produced. Advances in biochemical analyses have allowed scientists to identify ancient molecules preserved in the fossil record, particularly in old rocks that have been relatively undisturbed by geological processes. In the new Nature study, Nettersheim and his colleagues, including Brocks, a professor of geobiology at the Australian National University, examined rocks from Australia’s Barney Creek Formation. Previous studies established that the Barney Creek rocks, which are more than 1 billion years old, contain traces of ancient biomolecules. But “people never looked, really, for these primordial types of steroids in those kinds of rocks,” Nettersheim said.

Persons: Benjamin Nettersheim, ”, Nettersheim, “, Dr, ” Nettersheim, Jochen Brocks, Konrad Bloch, Bloch, Barney, Susannah Porter, Porter, Roger, ” “ Konrad Bloch, Brocks Organizations: CNN, MARUM Center, Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen, Australian National University, University of California, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Locations: Australia, Nature, geobiology, Germany, MARUM, Santa Barbara

☆ Mysterious Covid-19 lineages in US sewers could offer clues to chronic infections
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( Deidre Mcphillips | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

One possible explanation for these “cryptic lineages” is that they can be traced back to people who have been living with a chronic – and serious – Covid-19 infection for years. In a recent preprint study, about two dozen researchers set out to understand the origin of these cryptic lineages by closely examining the evolution of one from Wisconsin. Right now, the cryptic lineages do not pose a public health threat, she said. Wastewater surveillance is inherently messy, and lots of factors can interfere with interpretation of the data, she said. Johnson says that people with chronic infections that could be behind these cryptic lineages might have unexplained symptoms.

Persons: Marc Johnson, Johnson, it’s, ”, Amy Kirby, ” Kirby, ” Johnson, We’ve, IE2GB6CwPO — Marc Johnson, “ Don’t, “ I’m Organizations: CNN, University of Missouri, US Centers for Disease Control, Surveillance, Kirby, Washington Court House Locations: United States, Wisconsin, Ohio, Columbus, Washington

☆ Molecular fossils open window on 'lost world' of primordial life
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Will Dunham | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The researchers discovered that the molecular fossils indicating the presence of these primitive eukaryotes were commonplace in rocks spanning from about 1.6 billion years ago to 800 million years ago. "It is a lost world in the sense that we had not been able to see or detect them - although there was an entire world of them. It is a lost world also because these forms are now entirely extinct, Brocks added. The oldest of the rocks bearing these fossils were unearthed in the remote Outback of northern Australia, near Darwin. Scientists long were puzzled about the seeming absence of molecular fossils from this time span indicative of primitive eukaryotes.

Persons: Jochen Brocks, geobiologist Jochen Brocks, Benjamin Nettersheim, Brocks, sapiens, Konrad Block, Will Dunham, Rosalba O'Brien Organizations: Australian National University, Handout, REUTERS, University of Bremen, Thomson Locations: Creek, Northern Australia, REUTERS WASHINGTON, Canberra, Germany, Australia, Darwin

June 7 (Reuters) - European regulators have approved the region's first vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), which causes thousands of hospitalisations and deaths annually. The shot, called Arexvy, is made by British drugmaker GSK (GSK.L) and is designed to protect people aged 60 and over. The complex molecular structure of the virus and safety concerns with previous vaccine attempts had stymied efforts to successfully develop a shot since the virus was first discovered in 1956. Given the different definitions of the trial endpoints across the GSK and Pfizer trials, a direct comparison of efficacy is difficult. In Europe, RSV leads to over 270,000 hospitalisations and about 20,000 in-hospital deaths in adults over 60 each year.

Persons: Luke Miels, Peter Welford, TD Cowen, Steve Scala, Natalie Grover, Eva Mathews, Maggie Fick, Savio D'Souza, Mark Potter Organizations: GSK, European Commission, European Medicines Agency, Reuters, U.S . Food, Drug Administration, Pfizer, Jefferies, Thomson Locations: British, Europe, U.S, London, Bengaluru

☆ Contraceptive injections for cats show promise
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Kate Golembiewski | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Now, scientists have announced a potential new method of feline contraception that’s shown early promise: long-lasting contraceptive injections that prevent ovulation. “That’s what led us to start collaborating with Bill (Swanson).”The Cincinnati Zoo, Swanson says, is home to the widest array of wild cats in North America, including lions, tigers and tiny sand cats. Three cats were a control group, while six received injections of the gene of the hormone in question, hitched to a mild virus. The three control-group cats all became pregnant, but none of the six cats in the experimental group did. “We’re really focused on adopting these cats out,” said Swanson, who’s adopted three cats from earlier studies.

Persons: ”, Bill Swanson, “, David Pépin, Pépin, ” Pépin, Bill, Swanson, ” Swanson, Michelle, Betty, Abigail, Nancy, Dolly, Barbara, Rosalyn, Jacque, Mary, We’re, can’t, we’ll, it’s, Pierre Comizzoli, It’s, ” Jacque, Jacqueline, Jackie, Kennedy Onassis, who’s, they’ve, Kate Golembiewski Organizations: CNN, Cincinnati Zoo, Botanical, Nature Communications, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, Animals Foundation, Michelson, Conservation Biology Institute, Kennedy Onassis . Cincinnati Zoo Locations: Massachusetts, Boston, Angeles, North America, Cincinnati, Chicago

☆ Structures newly discovered in the Milky Way
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Kristen Rogers | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —An international team of astrophysicists has discovered hundreds of mysterious structures in the center of the Milky Way galaxy. Sagittarius A* “is the closest supermassive black hole to us, but it’s relatively quiet and therefore somewhat difficult to really study,” Hamden added. The vertical filaments surround the nucleus of the Milky Way, but the horizontal ones appear to spread out to one side toward the black hole. The vertical filaments, on the other hand, are magnetic and hold cosmic ray electrons moving nearly as fast as the speed of light. “One way to confirm that the (filament) structure is created by something like a jet is to find both sides of it.”This would add “to the complex, active picture of our own Milky Way,” she said.

Persons: astrophysicists, Farhad Yusef, Yusef, Zadeh, “, ”, who’s, Erika Hamden, ” Yusef, Hamden Organizations: CNN, Northwestern University’s Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration, Research, Astrophysics, University of Arizona, South African Locations: Hamden

☆ Cathie Wood's Ark Invest misses out on Nvidia's powerful rally — dumped stock too early, citing high valuation
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( Yun Li | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Ark Invest's Cathie Wood, known for her investments in next-generation technologies, missed out on the jaw-dropping rally in Nvidia — the biggest winner in artificial intelligence this year. Her flagship Ark Innovation ETF (ARKK) exited Nvidia entirely in early January, before the chipmaker went on to enjoy a powerful rally that propelled it to a $1 trillion market capitalization. She even trimmed Nvidia holdings in her smaller funds on Thursday when the stock spiked 26% on a huge forecast beat driven by AI chip demand. & Robotics ETF (ARKQ) now has 4.4% in Nvidia, while its biggest holding is Tesla with a 14% weighting. In its base case, Ark believes Exact Sciences could compound at an average annual rate of 25%, reaching $140 by 2027.

☆ NASA released stunning new space images by combining the visual powers of the James Webb Space Telescope and Chandra X-ray Observatory
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( Jacob Zinkula | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The images were enhanced using data from the James Webb Space Telescope and the Chandra X-ray Observatory. The images were made possible by data collected from the Chandra X-Ray Observatory, the James Webb Space Telescope, and the Hubble Space Telescope. "The Chandra data also reveal young, hot, and massive stars that send powerful winds outward from their surfaces," NASA said. The beautiful spiral galaxy NGC 1672 shows off its black holes and neutron starsNGC 1672 is a spiral galaxy about 60 million light-years from Earth. "Webb outlines gas and dust in the infrared while Chandra data spotlights high-energy activity from stars at X-ray wavelengths," NASA said.

☆ 2,500-year-old toilets reveal that the people of ancient Jerusalem were afflicted by painful stomach cramps and diarrhea
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-27 | by ( Isobel Van Hagen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Archeologists excavated the cesspits below two toilets from Iron Age Jerusalem. At the time, Jerusalem was the capital of Judah — a vassal state under the control of the Assyrian Empire. "Toilets with cesspits from this time are relatively rare and were usually made only for the elite," Mitchell said. The study suggests the "long-term presence" of the disease across the Near East. Indeed, medical texts from the first and second millennium BC describe diarrhea afflicting the Near and Middle East populations.

☆ A body odor buffet reveals which scents attract mosquitoes
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Kate Golembiewski | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —Anyone who has spent a summer evening swatting away mosquitoes, or a summer day scratching mosquito bites, can agree: Mosquitoes stink. In a scientific report published Friday, scientists helped pinpoint the different chemicals in body odor that attract these insects by building an ice-rink size testing arena and pumping in the scents of different people. Hundreds of mosquitoes in the main 20-by-20-meter facility were then treated to a buffet of the sleeping subjects’ scents. The researchers found what many who have been on a picnic would attest to: Some people attract more mosquitoes than others. (Vosshall said that even scrubbing with unscented soap doesn’t get rid of the natural scents that attract mosquitoes.)

☆ AI boom could expose investors’ natural stupidity
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Felix Martin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

Indeed, enthusiasm about AI has become the one ray of light piercing the stock market gloom created by the record-breaking rise in U.S. interest rates. It’s a good moment for investors to be especially alert to the tendency of natural stupidity to drive stock market valuations to unrealistic – and therefore ultimately unprofitable – extremes. However, the most important lessons of behavioural economics relate to a more fundamental question: Will the new generation of AI do what it promises? Behavioural economics offers some cautionary tales for such attempts to apply AI in the wild. For example, stock market returns can be affected by a small number of rare but extreme movements in share prices.

We're initiating a position in GE Healthcare (GEHC), buying 325 shares at roughly $79 each. GE Healthcare is the global leader in medical imaging, diagnostics, and digital solutions. GE Healthcare is one of the global leaders in Precision Diagnostics with an industry-leading injectable pharmaceutical portfolio in contrast media and molecular imaging. GE Healthcare is one of a few companies that offer a full suite of products and solutions to support patients. GEHC YTD mountain GE Healthcare YTD performance Analysts see GE Healthcare growing EPS to $4.33 in 2024, about a 15% increase from this year's outlook.

“If you can understand the role, the protein structure and role, now you can start developing drugs around that,” Maniar said. Scientists can take around 12 months just to identify a biological target, according to the National Center for Biotechnology Information. Google Cloud’s suite has a three-pronged approach for making that process more efficient. The final component of Google Cloud’s suite helps researchers identify how the protein’s structure interacts with different molecules. But Renger said the company will be able to weed out molecules faster using Google Cloud's suite.

☆ Link Between Long Telomeres and Long Life Is a Tall Tale, Study Finds
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Gina Kolata | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Cells have a molecular clock that determines how long they live. The clocks come in the form of caps on the end of chromosomes — the long twisted strings of DNA carrying the cells’ genes. Every time a cell divides, its telomeres get a little shorter, until finally they get so short that the cell dies. While short telomeres do lead to health problems, long telomeres lead to health problems of their own. Far from extending life, long telomeres appear to cause cancer and a blood disorder known as CHIP, a condition that increases the risk of blood cancers and heart disease.

☆ The pendant is 20,000 years old. Ancient DNA shows who wore it
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Will Dunham | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Scientists have recovered the DNA of a woman from the tooth, which was used as a pendant 19,000 to 25,000 years ago. The pristine collection of the pendant from Denisova Cave paid dividends. The researchers who found the pendant, which was determined to be 19,000-25,000 years old, used gloves and face masks when excavating and handling it, avoiding contamination with modern DNA. The oldest-known objects used as personal adornments date to about 100,000 years ago from Africa, according to the University of Leiden's Marie Soressi, the study's senior archeologist. Denisova Cave long ago was inhabited at different times by the extinct human species called Denisovans, Neanderthals and our species.

☆ Ancient DNA extracted from 25,000-year-old pendant reveals intriguing details about its wearer
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Katie Hunt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —Traces of ancient DNA contained in old bones have spilled fascinating secrets about the past. The research, published in the journal Nature on Wednesday, revealed intriguing details about its ancient wearer and is the first time scientists have successfully isolated ancient human DNA from a Stone Age artifact. Shown here is the ancient DNA extraction lab at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary AnthropologyTypically, researchers would use a small drill to extract bone powder from an artifact or bone. The pierced deer tooth discovered in Denisova Cave in southern Siberia yielded ancient human DNA.

☆ Shake Shack is rolling out new plant-based menu items made using AI, including dairy-free shakes and veggie burgers
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Jordan Hart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Shake Shack is launching three plant-based menu options this week. The new items include a veggie burger and two desserts with recipes designed by AI. The fast food chain is rolling out a new Veggie Shack burger, non-dairy chocolate shake, and non-dairy frozen custard this week, each designed using AI. The new veggie burger was "born out of testing many different veggie burger iterations" and includes "mushrooms, sweet potatoes, carrots, farro, and quinoa, topped with American cheese, crispy onions, pickles and ShackSauce," Shake Shack said in a statement. NotCo also makes it own line of products including NotMilk, NotBurger, and NotChicken, and the new Shake Shack milkshake options use the company's non-dairy milk.

☆ How Do We Ensure an A.I. Future That Allows for Human Thriving?
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( David Marchese | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +16 min

Some of us would like to slow this down because we are seeing more costs every day, but I don’t think that means that there are no benefits. We may someday have a technology that revolutionizes science and technology, but I don’t think GPT-5 is the ticket for that. Combine that human overattribution with the reality that these systems don’t know what they’re talking about and are error-prone, and you have a problem. I don’t think we should go after an individual who posts a silly story on Facebook that wasn’t true. I don’t think, however, that the technology we have right now is very good for that — systems that can’t even reliably do math problems.

☆ Fact Check-Aerofarms leafy greens do not contain a COVID vaccine
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Vertical farms operator Aerofarms grew protein-producing plants for research on COVID-19 therapies in 2021 in a research facility separate from its retail vegetables. Posts online, however, have misrepresented the company’s work to falsely claim its commercial leafy greens sold at Whole Foods and other businesses contain a COVID-19 vaccine. In the clip, Rosenberg referred to research involving Aerofarms plants creating ACE-2 proteins, Oshima said. Commercial greens produced by Aerofarms do not contain COVID-19 vaccines, a spokesperson for the company told Reuters. A clip circulating misrepresents separate research related to an experimental COVID-19 therapeutic, not an edible vaccine.

☆ The EU outlined its plan to equalize drug access and lower prices. Pharma firms are not happy
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Jenni Reid | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

A molecular biologist examines wastewater samples for pathogens in the safety laboratory at the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in Mitte. One of the EU's key aims is to deliver more timely and equitable patient access to medicines across the 27-nation bloc. The group also found 92% of "innovative medicines" were available in Germany, compared with 30% in smaller and Eastern European EU member states. Companies can extend it up to 10 years if they launch the drug in all 27 EU member states within two years. However, pharmaceutical firms and lobby groups say the move could hamper innovation and the overall availability of drugs.

☆ A drug company abandoned a treatment for ‘bubble boy disease.’ After a 5-year fight, this little girl is about to get it
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Elizabeth Cohen Lauren Mascarenhas | Elizabeth Cohen | Lauren Mascarenhas | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +29 min

The Sulacks weighed their options: Have a transplant with a match that was less than ideal – far less – or wait for gene therapy to become available. The news release didn’t say anything else about the SCID gene therapy. Or was the company abandoning its plans for SCID gene therapy altogether? In February, 2021, the parents of more than 20 children who were waiting for the gene therapy treatment, including the Sulacks, wrote a letter to Gaspar. Insurance companies have sometimes balked at paying for gene therapy, which is typically given in one treatment.

☆ Chris Sacca's Lowercarbon Capital just invested $20 million in Woodoo, a startup making wooden alternatives to steel, cement, and glass, after seeing this pitch deck
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Woodoo is a biotech startup creating alternatives to leather, glass, cement, and steel using wood. We got a peek inside the 8-slide pitch deck it used to raise from Chris Sacca's Lowercarbon Capital. Now his company, a biotech converting wood into alternatives for emissions-intensive materials such as concrete and steel, has just secured $31 million. Boitouzet is set on becoming the go-to option for building materials, having already seen traction in the luxury goods market. Woodoo's materials are currently more expensive than conventional but costs will come down when the company reaches scale, Boitouzet said.

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