Category: Science

Researchers have diagnosed a Sumatran orangutan with a rare genetic disease.

It’s the first time the disease has been confirmed molecularly in a primate other than a human.

The six-year-old orangutan, named Mila, was born at the Indianapolis Zoo in 2016. Mila had a history of dark urine that turned brown upon standing since birth, but has never shown other symptoms. Researchers from the Indiana University School of Medicine medical and molecular genetics department collected and analyzed DNA, diagnosing Mila with the disease, called alkaptonuria.

The study is published in Molecular Genetics and Metabolism.

“This was an unexpected finding that ended years of questions about this animal,” says Marcus Miller, assistant professor of clinical medical and molecular genetics and principal investigator of the study. “We’re proud of this collaborative effort with the zoo that will hopefully lead to better care and treatment of Mila moving forward.”

Alkaptonuria is a rare, autosomal recessive disorder, a genetic disease caused by deficiency of an enzyme called homogentisate 1,2-dioxygenase. As an infant, the only symptom is urine that turns black upon standing. Symptoms typically progress slowly, but can lead to chronic joint pain and decreased mobility later in life.

There have been several reports of the disease in non-human primates, but never any long-term studies, so it is unclear how the disease will affect Mila over time. However, having this diagnosis means that veterinarians don’t have to worry about other potential issues.

“I think the best part about these results is we can de-escalate some of the other studies that might have been recommended,” says Theodore Wilson, assistant professor of clinical medical and molecular genetics.

“We don’t need to use anesthesia for imaging, obtain a kidney biopsy or have guests or veterinarians worried. Even though her urine does still turn dark after being out in the environment, fortunately, now it doesn’t need to be a problem that is alarming.”

“People with this disease typically don’t develop symptoms until much later in life, usually in their 30s or 40s,” says Melissa Fayette, associate veterinarian for the Indianapolis Zoo. “We will continue to monitor Mila closely and perform regular preventive health exams to detect any secondary pathologies that may arise.”

Source: Indiana University

Venus is about 4.5 billion years old, but looks much younger. A high-energy, rejuvenating boost it received in its earliest years may explain its youthful appearance, researchers report.

For decades, the relatively unblemished surface of Venus has distinguished it from nearby planets and moons, including Earth.

Mars, for instance, and Earth’s moon, bear the craggy scars and craters from the bombardment of bolides—bright meteors that hit the surface as fireballs—over billions of years. Earth’s surface appearance, by contrast, benefits from its system of plate tectonics that “recycles” the surface of the planet on a regular basis.

Venus does not have plate tectonics. Even still, despite being about 4.5 billion years old, it has the outward appearance of a much younger planet; its surface age is only 500 million years.

“We would expect Venus to be heavily cratered, but surprisingly, it is much less cratered than the moon or Mars,” says Jun Korenaga, a professor of earth and planetary sciences at Yale University and coauthor of the new study in Nature Astronomy.

“Many scientists have tried to explain this young surface age of Venus,” Korenaga says. “One popular idea is that Venus used to have plate tectonics, but somehow it stopped about 500 million years ago. This explanation is admittedly ad hoc, so others have tried to come up with models that are physically more sound, with limited success.”

Korenaga, working with lead author Simone Marchi and coauthor Raluca Rufu of the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado, believe they have solved the mystery.

In their study, they consider the idea that Venus systematically experienced more powerful bolide impacts than Earth did, particularly in the early years of the solar system, about 4.5 billion years ago. During that period, Korenaga says, the rate and magnitude of bolide bombardments were quite high because an abundance of leftover planetary building material remaining in space. As time went by, the intensity of bombardments declined.

Earth and Venus formed in the same neighborhood of the solar system as solid materials collided with each other and gradually combined to form the two rocky planets. The slight differences in the planets’ distances from the sun changed their impact histories, particularly the number and outcome of these events.

“One of the mysteries of the inner solar system is that, despite their similar size and bulk density, Earth and Venus operate in strikingly different ways, particularly affecting the processes that move materials through a planet,” Marchi says.

After running simulations of more systematic bolide impacts, the researchers noticed an intriguing trend: more impacts blasting deeper into Venus led to a superheating of the planet’s core.

“This superheated core could have a long-lasting influence on the volcanic history of Venus,” Korenaga says. “It could keep heating up the mantle for a few billion years, with sufficient volcanic activity to cover up most of the craters and reduce the apparent surface age to only a few hundred million years.”

The researchers note that two upcoming NASA space missions to Venus—VERITAS and DAVINCI—and well as the planned European mission EnVISION, are expected to provide new, high-resolution data on the tectonic and bolide impact history of Venus.

“We will be able to test various predictions from our hypothesis, based on this data,” Korenaga says.

Source: Yale University

Only one in five people aged 65 to 80 have had a cognitive screening test in past year, a new poll shows.

The poll also found that 80% of older adults see the benefit of tests that can give an early warning that a person’s memory and thinking abilities have started to decline. And 60% think that health care providers should offer cognitive screening, in the form of brief memory tests, to all older adults every year.

If a cognitive screening test showed signs of trouble, the vast majority of those polled, 96%, said it would spur them to take action to protect their brain health, and three-quarters of those polled said they would adjust their financial and health care planning.

Even so, 80% of older adults said they haven’t had a cognitive test in the past year to look for early signs of Alzheimer’s disease or other types of dementia, and 59% reported never having had such a screening.

Medicare covers brief tests as part of an annual wellness visit available to everyone enrolled, and more comprehensive tests for those with symptoms of cognitive decline.

Early detection

In addition to cognitive screening, the poll team also asked adults aged 65 to 80 what they knew and thought about blood tests that can help detect Alzheimer’s disease by looking for biomarkers of the brain proteins tau and amyloid.

Only 17% said they were familiar with such blood tests, less than 1% had had one, and 9% said they would like one now. Currently, only doctors who specialize in brain diseases order such tests for people with objective cognitive impairment, but some experts believe they could become useful for screening or early-stage detection of Alzheimer’s disease. Half of those polled said such blood tests should be made available to all adults over 65.

“As many as half of Americans with Alzheimer’s disease or another form of dementia don’t receive a formal diagnosis, even when they have clear symptoms,” says Scott Roberts, the associate director of the poll. “As more diagnostic and treatment options become available, it’s important to understand how older adults view them and how best to support those who undergo testing and receive results.”

Roberts, a geropsychologist, is a professor at the University of Michigan School of Public Health and leads outreach and education efforts at the Michigan Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, which is funded by the National Institutes of Health.

The role of doctors, nurses, and other health care providers in early detection of cognitive problems is key, the poll finds.

“Our findings suggest that more than 80% of older adults look to their health care providers for cognitive screening or blood biomarker testing if they feel it’s appropriate,” says poll director Jeffrey Kullgren, associate professor of internal medicine at Michigan Medicine and physician and researcher at the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System.

“That expectation, coupled with the growing availability of options after diagnosis of cognitive impairment, supports the current recommendation that providers should be assessing patients at higher risk or with signs of cognitive decline.”

Kullgren notes that current guidelines for cognitive screening focus on those with symptoms or added risk factors; this recommendation encompasses the kind of screening that involves giving a person a brief set of standardized tasks to test their memory and thinking skills, such as remembering a short list of common words or drawing a complex figure.

Access to screening

Women were more likely than men to say that they would experience significant distress if a cognitive screening test or blood biomarker test suggested they had early signs of dementia. Overall, about 60% of older adults said they would feel such distress in response to a positive result on either type of testing.

Another disparity seen in the poll data: Only 10% of older adults of Hispanic ethnicity reported having received cognitive screening in the past year, compared with 22% of non-Hispanic white respondents and 21% of non-Hispanic Black respondents.

Chelsea Cox, a doctoral student training with Roberts, is presenting additional findings at the meeting in Amsterdam. An in-depth analysis of the poll results found adults aged 65-80 were more likely to report cognitive screening if they were of older age, had higher levels of education, reported being in poorer physical health, had Medicare Advantage coverage (compared to traditional Medicare), and had more positive views in general about screening.

Taken together, these poll findings suggest a need to explore barriers to, and facilitators of, cognitive testing in diverse groups of older adults. One opportunity is to improve awareness of and access to Medicare annual wellness visits, for which detection of cognitive impairment is a required component.

“Everyone should have access to cognitive testing as they age,” says Sarah Lenz Lock, senior vice president of Policy and Brain Health at AARP and executive director of the Global Council on Brain Health. “The bottom line is that if we want to improve brain health for all, we have to pay attention to the needs of those at greatest risk of poor health and address barriers that stand in the way.”

The findings come soon after Medicare laid out its plan for covering new drugs approved by the US Food and Drug Administration that may slow cognitive decline in people with early Alzheimer’s disease. One of those drugs received approval through the traditional route, which is required by Medicare, earlier this month.

In addition, growing research shows the power of blood pressure control, physical activity, social connection, and other factors in reducing risk for cognitive decline in older adults.

Although these options may not work for everyone, only 17% of older adults said cognitive screening wasn’t worth it until more treatment or prevention options are available. For blood tests, 20% said the same.

The poll report is based on findings from a nationally representative survey conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago for IHPI and administered online and via phone in March 2023 among 1,242 adults aged 65 to 80. The sample was subsequently weighted to reflect the US population.

The findings, from the University of Michigan National Poll on Healthy Aging, are published simultaneously in a new report and a pair of research presentations at the 2023 Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Amsterdam.

The poll is based at the University of Michigan Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation and supported by AARP and Michigan Medicine, the University of Michigan’s academic medical center.

Source: University of Michigan

Dogs can easily experience heatstroke during hot summer months because they don’t have the same capacity to produce sweat like humans do.

But there are things pet owners can do to help their pups keep their cool.

Sweating is a natural and efficient way to decrease body temperature and cool the skin by using excess body heat to convert sweat into vapor. Because dogs are covered in fur and don’t have sweat glands on most of their body, sweat on the skin can’t evaporate into vapor to cool them.

As a result, if dogs are unable to cool down through other means, heat exhaustion can turn into a heatstroke, a condition that requires veterinary intervention and ongoing monitoring.

“Dogs rely heavily on panting and drooling to get rid of excess heat, and heatstrokes occur when these cooling methods become less effective, especially in hot and humid environments or if a pet is left in an area with poor ventilation, such as inside a vehicle,” says Gabriela Rivas, a veterinary resident in emergency and critical care at the Texas A&M School of Veterinary Medicine.

“There are also several factors such as obesity; breed conformation, or a dog’s overall structure and appearance; and underlying diseases, such as seizures, advanced age, cardiovascular disease, and airway disease—that put them at risk of heatstrokes at any time of the year.”

While cats can also experience heat-related issues due to ineffective sweating, they are at less risk because they are not outside as often and typically exert less energy compared to dogs, keeping them cooler. Yet cats who are affected by heat exhaustion and heatstrokes exhibit similar signs as dogs and can be treated the same.

‘Heatstroke is a medical emergency’

Dogs who experience heat exhaustion—a body temperature roughly between 103 and 106 degrees Fahrenheit—may pant heavily, avoid playing or exercising, and lie in the shade outside or on a cool surface inside such as tile or hardwood.

Signs of a heatstroke—a body temperature greater than 106 degrees Fahrenheit—are more extensive, including collapse or weakness; drooling; excessive panting; respiratory distress, meaning fluid fills the lungs instead of oxygen; disorientation; seizures; or a sudden onset of vomiting or diarrhea. These symptoms can worsen if they are not treated by a veterinarian, Rivas says.

“Heatstroke is a medical emergency because as the body temperature rises, different organ systems may become severely injured by the excess in heat. Organ injury can lead to life-threatening complications such as shock, abnormal heart rhythms, clotting disorders, severe dehydration, systemic infection, or seizures. In some instances, a pet can experience multiple organ dysfunction or death.”

Dogs experiencing a heatstroke will require immediate intensive care and most likely require active cooling, fluid therapy, anti-nausea medications, and electrolyte supplementation to treat symptoms and possible organ injury. Because of this, Rivas emphasizes how important it is that dog owners recognize when their pet is mildly overheated or on the verge of a heatstroke in order to take appropriate action sooner rather than later.

“When a dog overheats, owners can start cooling methods by moving their pet to a cool and shaded area, wetting them with lukewarm water, and using a fan,” Rivas says. “But if at any point an owner is concerned about heatstroke in their pet, they should seek veterinary care immediately. In the meantime, owners can use their car’s air conditioning while they transport their pet to a veterinary clinic.”

Careful cooling

Owners should also be careful when cooling their dog, as some methods can worsen their symptoms.

“Ice water and water submersion should be avoided, as these methods can lead to extreme drops in body temperature, potentially trapping heat in areas that can damage organs further and make it harder for a dog to dissipate the heat,” Rivas says. “Pets with heatstroke can also lose consciousness, which makes submerging them in water dangerous.”

Since extreme heat can be damaging to both a cat’s or dog’s health, Rivas emphasizes that prevention is key by providing plenty of access to drinking water and shade when outdoors; avoiding walks and strenuous exercise during hot and humid weather; and never leaving a pet unattended in a vehicle.

With several months of hot weather still ahead and temperatures even reaching into the triple digits in some areas, pet owners should ensure their furry friend is safe from potential heat-related illness so that they can be happy and cool for the summer.

Source: Texas A&M University

Dust from the Sahara Desert helps remove methane from the atmosphere, a new study shows.

Methane is a potent greenhouse gas, potentially accounting for up to one-third of global warming, some scientists estimate.

As reported in PNAS, when mineral dust mixes with sea-spray to form Mineral-Dust-Sea Spray Aerosol (MDSA), sunlight activates this MDSA to produce an abundance of chlorine atoms ultimately mitigating methane totals.

The findings may have far-reaching implications for understanding global methane totals and the reasons behind its accelerating increase in the atmosphere.

Coauthor John E. Mak, professor in the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences at Stony Brook University, and colleagues used a combination of global modeling and field and laboratory observations in their work.

Observations of atmospheric carbon monoxide and its stable isotopes (13CO) Mak’s research group made 20 years prior and published in the Journal of Geophysical Research in 2003 were central to the new research.

In that paper, the authors hypothesized the observed seasonal changes in the abundance of 13C in atmospheric carbon monoxide (13CO) were evidence of chlorine atoms reacting with methane; however, the known sources of atmospheric chlorine could not account for the degree of depletion of observed 13CO, until this latest research.

“At the time we did not have the knowledge or skill to pursue that hypothesis, but this international research group has followed up with more recent ideas,” Mak says. “This is an example of how quality observations and measurements can be useful in the future in unanticipated ways.”

In the new study, researchers conclude that MDSA is the dominant source of atmospheric chlorine over the North Atlantic.

By using a global 3D chemistry-climate model, the research team found that when increased chlorine from the MDSA mechanism was incorporated into the model, the results matched the Barbados data and explained the carbon monoxide depletion.

“We demonstrate a mechanism in which a mix of Sahara dust and sea spray aerosol activated by sunlight produces large amounts of active chlorine,” the authors write.

“This mechanism resolves a number of unexplained observations and significantly revises our understanding of atmospheric chlorine, reducing uncertainties in the source budget,” they continue.

“If the MDSA effect observed in the North Atlantic is extrapolated globally, and if its efficiency is similar in other parts of the world—two areas that aren’t yet well understood and require further research—global atmospheric chlorine concentrations might be roughly 40% higher than previously estimated, the study finds.”

“Factoring this into global methane modeling could potentially shift our understanding of the relative proportions of methane emissions sources,” the authors conclude.

Source: Stony Brook University

A new study identifies factors that hinder diabetes self-management among Haitian migrants working in sugar cane fields in the Dominican Republic.

The findings have implications for impoverished people struggling to self-manage their diabetes worldwide.

Rosalia Molina, a nurse who has taken previous medical missionary trips to the Dominican Republic to help impoverished individuals self-manage their diabetes, led the study as part of her doctoral studies at the University of Missouri Sinclair School of Nursing. She interviewed health care workers in the Dominican Republic about their challenges providing care to Haitian migrants working in “bateyes,” which are impoverished shanty-town camps on remote sugar cane fields.

“These workers have very little resources, as the bateyes often have no running water, electricity, or plumbing, and many of the individuals with diabetes have not been diagnosed or don’t know what to do to effectively self-manage their diabetes,” Molina says. “By first better understanding the compounding barriers that are limiting access to health care for these struggling individuals, we can develop more targeted interventions to help them survive as long as possible.”

While rice may be the primary source of food for these remote migrant workers, rice is a high-carb food, which may interfere with optimal blood sugar levels for those with diabetes. Through the interviews, Molina learned the impoverished migrants often see no other choice but to eat the high-carb food to avoid starvation.

Insulin is a common drug given to help individuals with diabetes regulate the amount of glucose in their blood. However, it requires proper refrigeration in order to be most effective, and the remote bateyes unfortunately have no refrigeration options available.

Through the interviews, Molina learned many of the migrants were more likely to trust their Haitian village priests who preach about Vodou, a traditional Afro-Haitian religion, rather than licensed medical professionals who may be unaware of the Haitians’ religious and cultural beliefs.

“For example, a common diabetes symptom is foot wounds, but the individuals may tell us they believe the foot wound was caused by witchcraft, so it speaks to the low health literacy rates as a potential barrier to self-management of diabetes,” Molina says.

Roads leading into the bateyes are often unpaved, and after heavy rainfall, the roads become so muddy that the remote bateyes become inaccessible for vehicles carrying health care professionals.

Molina adds that many of the migrant workers come to the Dominican Republic on a seasonal basis without the required work permits. Therefore, being undocumented leads many of these migrant workers with diabetes to avoid seeking medical help at hospitals to avoid the possibility of deportation.

While these challenges compound with each other to hinder access to health care for impoverished individuals, Molina says the findings can help inform possible solutions, such as planting community gardens in these remote areas to offer the workers alternative food sources, as well as working with Haitian village priests to incorporate health care education into their lectures.

“What is interesting is I am also active here in Missouri helping the Hispanic community—many of whom immigrated from Mexico and South America—with their diabetes self-management, and the challenges they face are often very similar to the challenges faced by the Haitians in the Dominican Republic,” says Molina, who immigrated to the United States from Mexico in 1995.

“It is important for the public to realize that diabetes is a very expensive and difficult disease for people to manage on their own, especially if they live in poverty, and I am passionate about trying to help.”

The study appears in the journal The Science of Diabetes Self-Management and Care. Funding came from The Research Foundation – Kansas City.

Source: University of Missouri

SpaceX has told investors that it expects to roughly double its revenues in 2023 to upwards of $8 billion (from $4 billion in 2022) as reported earlier in July by The Information.

If SpaceX succeeds in achieving this revenue forecast, Euroconsult estimates that upwards of 40% of these revenues, or $3.2 billion, could be attributable to the broadband connectivity services of Starlink, which are now available across nearly 60 countries and key maritime/ocean areas globally.

Diving deeper into the numbers, roughly 75% of Starlink’s projected 2023 revenues would likely be derived from the mix of service subscriptions across its residential, business and mobility segments, with the 25% balance being driven by hardware sales associated with gross subscriber additions.

In terms of active subscribers, Starlink’s base is expected to double from and estimated 1.1 million in January 2023 to ~2.2 million by the end of 2023, driven by a mix of factors including aggressive hardware price discounts, new distribution channels and a continued expansion of available capacity supply and the number of active countries. As an example of hardware price promotions, Starlink is actively offering its standard-grade user terminals for as low as $150 for residential subscribers in rural Canada.

Overall, the residential (consumer) segment is estimated to dominate Starlink’s subscriber mix, accounting for >85% of active subscriptions, including “roam” (formerly called “RV”) portability plans. The pace of subscriber additions, reported by SpaceX at as high as 3,500 new subscribers per day in the spring 2023 timeframe, is expected to moderate over the course of the year due to higher levels of addressable market penetration and continued capacity constraints in high demand areas such as the U.S.

While Starlink has yet to publicly disclose the number of subscribers for its higher revenue per user “business” plans, the segment could account for 10% to 15% of active subscribers given indicative take-up for civil government projects and corporate networks.

While more modest in terms of revenue contribution, Starlink has made impressive progress in maritime markets since introducing services in 2022. As of mid-2023, it is estimated that more than 4,000 vessels, many with multiple user terminals, had committed to Starlink with the majority set to activate service by the end of the year. Progress in the aero segment has been more limited, with expectations that <150 commercial and business aircraft will be active by year-end.

Supporting scale and service requirements through new distribution channels

To support the scale of its growth ambitions, Starlink has departed from its initial strategy of selling directly to customers through its online e-commerce platform to include new distribution channels such as big-box retailers and a variety of value-added service providers for customers with more “enterprise-grade” installation, support and network management needs.

As of mid-2023, Starlink has secured distribution deals with more than 15 “bricks & mortar” and e-commerce chains, spanning a physical retail footprint of no fewer than 4,000 electronics and home improvement stores across the U.S., Europe, Australia and New Zealand. Due in part to the regional nature of legacy satellite broadband services, no incumbent player has come close to securing this scale of distribution in terms of 3^rd-party retail channel partners.

Starlink has also secured distribution partnerships with nearly all of the world’s largest maritime VSAT service providers, including Speedcast, Marlink, KVH, Anuvu, Navarino, Tototheo, Tampnet, Castor Marine and others. These players help address common criticisms of Starlink’s services in premium-tier markets such as the lack of bandwidth or up-time guarantees, packet losses and sub-par service support by offering optional ancillary value-added services such as access to dedicated customer service, installation, network management/integration with channel bonding of other connectivity paths (ex. SD-WAN). Often boasting a broad presence across regions and key ports, maritime reseller partner service providers are also leveraged for logistical distribution and on-going support across a global footprint.

Growing the pie vs. cannibalization of legacy demand

While Starlink has certainly taken subscribers away from incumbent satellite service providers in residential and mobility segments, it is important to note that its growth has contributed to as significant net expansion of active terminals in both segments as opposed to pure cannibalization of pre-existing market demand.  In maritime markets for example, most vessels owners who have adopted Starlink, appear to have added it to their mix of connectivity solutions, retaining pre-existing VSAT and/or L-band services (at least for the time-being). Similarly, Starlink’s number of active residential subscribers is significantly higher than aggregate attrition observed across the customer bases of leading satellite consumer broadband providers such as Viasat, Hughes, NBN and others.

Looking forward beyond 2023

Based on the aforementioned 2023 revenue estimates, Starlink could reach an annual revenue run-rate of up to $4 billion by early 2024, however the pace of growth observed to date in 2023 will be challenging to sustain. Notably, residential subscriber growth will almost certainly slow in the absence of service price reductions and/or a meaningful increase in the pace of launches of its higher capacity Gen2 satellites, which is only expected to occur alongside the transition to operational flights for Starship. As such, hardware revenues may observe a declining path if gross additions slow or fall from 2023 levels.

For maritime and aero segments, an acceleration or continuation of growth observed in 2023 can be expected for 2024 as committed fleet backlogs continue to gradually convert to active installations. Lastly, revenues from Starlink’s planned direct-to-device segment remain an “up-side” wildcard in terms of both magnitude and timing, but could lead to a resurgence of growth depending on the quality of end-user applications supported and the number of additional deals signed with mobile network operators to help enhance their coverage footprints.

Brent Prokosh is a Senior Affiliate Consultant at Euroconsult, based out of its Montreal office.

Related

Record-breaking temperatures are an incomplete benchmark for understanding the effects of scorching heat, argues Ladd Keith.

In many ways Phoenix, Arizona has become exhibit A for extreme heat, especially in the Southwest. The city set a record on July 18, reaching 19 consecutive days with high temperatures above 110 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the National Weather Service. The count continued to rise—Phoenix has now entered its third week of temperatures above 110.

But Phoenix is far from the only city dealing with the effects of this year’s extreme heat, says Keith, an assistant professor of planning and sustainable built environments in the University of Arizona College of Planning, Architecture and Landscape Architecture.

He warns against emphasizing Phoenix as “the sole place that heat is impacting” and points to the globe’s four “heat domes,” or weather systems that trap heat for extended periods, currently scorching areas in North America, Europe, and Asia.

“A lot of things we’re seeing with the heat wave in the Southwest are being mirrored in places across the world, and we’re seeing a lot of similar temperature records being broken and impacts outside the United States,” says Keith, who is also a faculty research associate at the Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy.

Keith is the lead University of Arizona researcher on a project funded by the US Department of Energy to study the impact of climate change on Arizona’s urban areas. The project, called the Southwest Urban Corridor Integrated Field Laboratory, also includes researchers from Arizona State University and Northern Arizona University. He also contributed to a new guide for journalists on how to cover heat waves and climate change.

Here, Keith explains what makes this year’s heat wave different, how government agencies have begun prioritizing heat mitigation and management efforts, and why record-breaking temperatures alone are an incomplete benchmark for understanding extreme heat:

Researchers have discovered exceptionally potent antibodies that can neutralize virtually all known variants of the COVID-19 virus—including Omicron, a new study shows.

The antibodies, can also neutralize other dangerous animal coronaviruses that could potentially cause future outbreaks.

As reported in Science Advances, the researchers isolated antibodies from the blood of a recovered SARS patient who was thereafter vaccinated against COVID-19. This unique combination of prior coronavirus infection and vaccination generated an extremely broad and powerful antibody response capable of stopping nearly all related coronaviruses tested.

“We sought to address the lack of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies for treatment and prophylaxis of high-risk COVID-19 patients, as all previously approved monoclonal antibodies have lost efficacy against newly emerged SARS-CoV-2 variants,” says senior author Wang Linfa, a world-renowned bat virus expert with the Duke-NUS’ Emerging Infectious Diseases (EID) Programme.

“This work provides encouraging evidence that pan-coronavirus vaccines are possible if they can ‘educate’ the human immune system in the right way.”

The study describes how the researchers obtained six antibodies that could neutralize multiple coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2, its variants Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, and Omicron, the original SARS virus, and multiple other animal coronaviruses transmitted from bats and pangolins.

“Three antibodies stood out as exceptionally broad and potent, capable of neutralizing all tested SARS-related viruses at very low concentrations,” says first author Chia Wan Ni, a former postdoctoral fellow in Wang’s lab who now works with Singapore start-up CoV Biotechnology.

The most powerful antibody, named E7, neutralized both SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 sarbecoviruses, animal sarbecoviruses, and newly emerged SARS-CoV-2 variants, such as Omicron XBB.1.16.

It was shown to neutralize via a unique mechanism of binding that bridges two parts of the coronavirus’ spike protein that it uses to invade cells. This appears to lock the spike in an inactive conformation and block the shape-shifting process the virus requires to infect cells and cause illness.

“The neutralizing potency and breadth of the E7 antibody exceeded any other SARS-related coronavirus antibodies we’ve come across,” Chia says. “It maintained activity against even the newest Omicron subvariants, while most other antibodies lose effectiveness.”

The findings help unmask the weak spots of coronaviruses and provide templates for designing vaccines and drugs that work against COVID-19 variants and future coronavirus threats.

“This work demonstrates that induction of broad sarbecovirus-neutralizing antibodies is possible—it just needs the right immunogenic sequence and method of delivery,” Wang says. “This provides hope that the design of a universal coronavirus vaccine is achievable.”

With its high potential to neutralize sarbecoviruses that emerge in the future, the E7 antibody may become a strong asset in helping to prevent the next pandemic caused by sarbecoviruses. The researchers plan to further assess the antibody’s potential as a prophylactic and therapeutic agent against existing and future coronaviruses.

Additional coauthors are from the University of Melbourne in Australia, the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in the US, and the National University of Singapore.

Source: Duke-NUS