(Press-News.org) DENVER/Dec. 12, 2023 – A new article published in the journal Methods in Ecology and Evolution by Morris Animal Foundation-funded researchers describes a simplified method to detect a deadly fungus killing European salamanders. The ability to rapidly find the fungus is significant as the disease, although not detected in the U.S., could impact the millions of amphibians and salamanders annually imported.
The fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans, or Bsal, threatens salamander diversity. Initially identified in northern Europe, evidence suggests it was introduced from Southeast Asia via the pet trade.
“The impacts of Bsal in Europe have been idiosyncratic but include some of the most severe population declines we have witnessed,” said Jesse Brunner, the study’s principal investigator and Associate Professor at Washington State University. “A large, diverse group of researchers, government biologists, and amphibian lovers in the pet trade are working hard to avoid such devastating impacts.”
Despite a temporary U.S. ban on importing about 200 salamander species, Brunner noted the researchers’ focus is on preparing for potential arrivals and safeguarding amphibians. To address that concern, the research team developed a noninvasive method to quickly detect Bsal in shipments and captive settings, surpassing the conventional individual animal infection determination — this new method tests environmental DNA for Bsal DNA to assess the pathogen’s prevalence.
“Our approach instead focused on detecting Bsal in a batch of animals in an aquarium or similar habitat if at least one of those animals were infected,” he said. “This is the scale at which we can help inspectors at borders or workers in pet trade facilities establish, with some confidence, that Bsal is absent. It provides a way to make this essentially invisible pathogen visible.”
Brunner attributed this work, involving thousands of polymerase chain reaction tests and years of researcher time, to Morris Animal Foundation’s $61,816 grant, which has catalyzed multiple projects.
About Morris Animal Foundation
Morris Animal Foundation’s mission is to bridge science and resources to advance the health of animals. Founded in 1948 and headquartered in Denver, it is one of the largest nonprofit animal health research organizations in the world, funding nearly $160 million in more than 3,000 critical animal health studies to date across a broad range of species. Learn more at morrisanimalfoundation.org.
Media Contact: Annie Mehl
END
Novel early-detection method aims to stem disease spread in animal trade
2023-12-12
[Attachments] See images for this press release:
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
EMBO launches new award for sustainability in the lab
2023-12-12
EMBO launches a new award for laboratory sustainability: The EMBO Lab Sustainability Award will recognize new and significant contributions to the development of sustainable wet and dry labs with a focus on their environmental impact. The award will be presented to an individual representing the initiative or project. Applications can be submitted between 15 January and 15 March 2024.
The award winner will have the opportunity to present their initiative or project at scientific events and publish a commentary in EMBO Reports. In addition, the winning project will be supported with a grant of 10,000 euros. The award is one of ...
Clinical trial finds cell therapy improves quality of life in advanced heart failure
2023-12-12
ROCHESTER, Minn. — Stem cell-based therapy improved quality of life for patients with advanced heart failure, Mayo Clinic researchers and international collaborators discovered in a late-stage multinational clinical trial. In one of the largest studies of cell intervention after a heart attack, patients reported their daily hardship lessened when stem cells optimized for heart repair supplemented standard of care. This clinical study further documented lower death and hospitalization rates among those treated with cell therapy. This research ...
ASH: Mantle cell lymphoma patients see improved outcomes with oral combination of ibrutinib and venetoclax
2023-12-12
ABSTRACT: LBA-2
SAN DIEGO ― The targeted therapy combination of ibrutinib and venetoclax significantly improved progression-free survival (PFS) and achieved an overall remission rate in 82% of patients with relapsed/refractory mantle cell lymphoma (MCL), according to researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Results from the Phase III SYMPATICO trial were presented at the 2023 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting.
At a median follow-up of 51.2 months, median PFS was 31.9 months with the combination compared to 22.1 months with ibrutinib plus placebo. PFS benefits were consistent across patient subgroups, including those with blastoid-variant ...
New test predicts risk of cognitive dysfunction in older surgery patients
2023-12-12
DURHAM, N.C. – Identifying an older patient who is at risk for post-operative cognitive dysfunction might be done in the blink of an eye – literally.
Researchers at Duke Health found that a simple EEG measurement detects a signal of cognitive vulnerability when patients are asked to close, then open their eyes. Conducted prior to surgery, the non-invasive readout of brain waves helps predict which patients are at risk of post-operative confusion and attention problems.
“Roughly half of seemingly normal older adults experience problems with thinking, memory or attention after surgery,” said Leah Acker, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor in ...
Archaeologists unearth one of earliest known frame saddles
2023-12-12
In April 2015, looters sacked an ancient cave burial at a site called Urd Ulaan Uneet high within the Altai Mountains of western Mongolia. When police apprehended the criminals, they uncovered, among other artifacts, an elegantly carved saddle made from several pieces of birch wood.
Now, in a new study, researchers from Mongolia collaborating with University of Colorado Boulder archaeologist William Taylor have described the find. The team’s radiocarbon dating pins the artifact to roughly the 4th Century ...
Spinning up control: Propeller shape helps direct nanoparticles, researchers say
2023-12-12
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Self-propelled nanoparticles could potentially advance drug delivery and lab-on-a-chip systems — but they are prone to go rogue with random, directionless movements. Now, an international team of researchers has developed an approach to rein in the synthetic particles.
Led by Igor Aronson, the Dorothy Foehr Huck and J. Lloyd Huck Chair Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Chemistry and Mathematics at Penn State, the team redesigned the nanoparticles into a propeller shape to better control their movements and increase their functionality. ...
Karandeep Singh, MD, named inaugural Chief Health AI Officer at UC San Diego Health
2023-12-12
Karandeep Singh, MD, has been recruited as the Joan and Irwin Jacobs Endowed Chair in Digital Health Innovation at University of California School of Medicine and named as the inaugural chief health artificial intelligence (AI) officer at UC San Diego Health, a newly developed position for the region’s only academic medical center.
This new role will be effective December 29, 2023.
In this position, Singh will focus on implementing change that advances safety and health outcomes in acute and ambulatory settings. His contributions will be pivotal in bringing innovation to ...
Genetic safeguard protects some considered high risk for kidney disease
2023-12-12
NEW YORK, NY--Many Black Americans who are thought to have a high risk of developing kidney disease possess a protective genetic variant that nullifies the extra risk, a new study from Columbia researchers has found.
The study found that high-risk people who carry this variant have a risk of developing kidney disease much closer to that of the general population.
The findings will have an immediate impact on clinical practice, says study leader Simone Sanna-Cherchi, MD, associate professor of medicine at Columbia’s Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons.
“Physicians ...
Liquid biopsy predicts immunotherapy response and toxicity in patients with advanced lung cancer
2023-12-12
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Using a “liquid biopsy” to study genetic material from tumors shed into the bloodstream together with immune cells could help clinicians predict which patients with advanced lung cancers are responding to immunotherapies and which patients may develop immune-related side effects several months later, according to research directed by investigators at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, the Bloomberg~Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy and Allegheny Health Network Cancer Institute in Pittsburgh.
By monitoring changes in circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) among 30 patients treated with immunotherapies for metastatic non-small cell lung cancers, ...
Heavy metals in our food are most dangerous for kids
2023-12-12
WASHINGTON, DC, 2023, December 12, 2023 – The problem of foodborne metal contamination has taken on new urgency, thanks in part to a 2021 US Congressional Report detailing high levels of metals found in infant food pulled off grocery shelves. (More recently, high levels of lead were discovered in children’s fruit puree pouches.) Now, two new studies provide information on the correlation between exposure to heavy metals in food and the risk of cancers and other serious health risks. The findings will be presented ...