Stabilita per la prima volta una chiara connessione tra l’atrofia muscolare spinale, una malattia genetica neuromuscolare che colpisce prevalentemente in età infantile, e la sintesi delle proteine. La scoperta rivela un nuovo processo cellulare implicato nella malattia e potrebbe permettere di sviluppare terapie. Lo studio, messo in copertina dalla rivista scientifica Cell Reports, vede il Trentino protagonista. È, infatti, frutto della collaborazione locale dell’Istituto di biofisica del Cnr e del Cibio dell’Università di Trento e risultato di un Grande Progetto PAT. I dettagli sono stati illustrati oggi in una conferenza stampa nel Palazzo della Provincia autonoma di Trento

Gattonare sembra una delle azioni più semplici. Ma c’è chi ha i muscoli talmente deboli da non poter fare nemmeno questo. Lo sanno bene le famiglie di bambini affetti dalla Sma, l’atrofia muscolare spinale, una malattia genetica che colpisce le cellule nervose del midollo spinale, quelle da cui partono i segnali diretti ai muscoli. Uno studio pubblicato in questi giorni getta una nuova luce su questa malattia. L’articolo stabilisce per la prima volta una chiara connessione fra un processo fondamentale per le cellule, la sintesi delle proteine, e il meccanismo attraverso il quale insorge e progredisce la Sma. Questa scoperta potrebbe permettere di meglio comprendere l’unica terapia esistente e recentissimamente approvata dalla Fda (Food and Drug Administration, ovvero Agenzia per gli Alimenti e i Medicinali, l’ente governativo statunitense che fra l’altro regolamenta l’immissione sul mercato di nuovi farmaci) e di sviluppare terapie alternative o integrative per questa malattia mortale.

 Research leader Gro Bjerga and Antonio García-Moyano. (Photo: Andreas R. Graven)

New and better animal feed products from protein-rich residual raw materials are being developed. The industry, however, lacks custom-made enzymes that break down bones efficiently. Researchers from Uni Research, in cooperation with international colleagues, are searching for solutions in the EU project ProBone. Research leader and biotechnologist Gro Bjerga at Uni Research in Bergen, Norway, is project coordinator of ProBone. Together with research colleagues in Germany, Spain and Romania she now intends to find the right enzymes that can do the job - and lay the foundations for new product development.

Creativity and innovation in the hunt for enzymes

So far there has been a lack of good enzymes that can break down hard materials such as bones. However, in the future thousands of tonnes of residual raw materials, that cannot be fully utilized today, can be processed into different types of animal feed with the help of new enzymes. By using enzymes to break down residual raw materials, they can be transformed into smaller peptides, which in turn can be processed into different products. "We must constantly explore the possibilities and be creative and innovative in the search for the best enzymes", Bjerga says. The search for enzymes takes place at the sea floor. This year Bjerga and her colleagues in Uni Research deposited bovine bones down to a 100 meters depth in the fjords outside Bergen. The researchers’ goal was to attract a small marine worm that digests bones. These worms, which are about 1 centimetre long, can only be caught when they settle on carcasses and bone remnants on the seabed and begin eating them.

Pubblicato uno studio rivoluzionario su Nature Geoscience

Ottenere cibo per 800 milioni di persone in più preservando le attuali modalità di produzione agricola, evitando grandi investimenti in nuove tecnologie e utilizzando circa il 15% di risorse idriche in meno. Un sogno? Sì, ma con delle basi solide che sono state appena pubblicate su Nature Geoscience nello studio “Increased food production and reduced water use through optimized crop distribution” (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-017-0004-5 ) a firma di un team composto da Columbia University, Politecnico di Milano e University of California at Berkeley. Nel prossimo futuro, a causa della crescita della popolazione e del miglioramento delle condizioni di vita, ci sarà bisogno di più cibo, fibre ed energia e, di conseguenza, di risorse naturali come terra e acqua. Le soluzioni ad oggi proposte prevedono l’intensificazione o l’estensificazione dell’agricoltura, con il risultante aumento nell’impiego di irrigazione e fertilizzazione nel primo caso e di terra nel secondo.

Picture: Violencia filio-maternal (Maternal abuse by children). Author: Louise A

Sandra Jiménez Arroyo, researcher at the University of Granada (UGR), explains the necessity of analyzing this kind of violence, which is the fourth most common crime committed by children, taking a gender perspective. Mothers are the main victims of parental abuse by children, so this kind of abuse should be legally considered as violence against women. That is the conclusion of a research paper written by Sandra Jiménez Arroyo as a result of her doctoral thesis, co-directed by UGR professors María José Jiménez Díaz from the Department of Criminal Law and Francisco Javier Garrido Carrillo from the Department of Procedural Law. Moreover, the researcher proposes alternative terms for this phenomenon, such as for example ‘maternal abuse by children’ instead of the accepted ‘parental abuse by children’, which hides the main victim.

Ebola, malaria, tuberculosis: These are the three best known poverty-related diseases affecting millions of people. They are predominantly encountered in poor countries due to the inadequate medical care there. Another reason is that the development of the corresponding drugs in industrialized countries is far from being economically attractive. New, non-profit types of cooperation for drug development, open innovation processes, and the expansion of clinical centers and regulatory bodies in the regions affected can strengthen research and product development. These options are the result of a study made by the Office of Technology Assessment with the German Bundestag (TAB) operated by Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT).

Replication cycle of HIV/SIV. The virus replicates in the body's own CD4+ T helper cells. In doing so, it introduces its own genetic information into the DNA of the host cell. Next, new viral RNA is synthesized followed by production of viral proteins. Those will then mature into infectious HIV/SIV. Figure: Luzie J. Almenräder

According to the WHO, there are currently more than 36 million people infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and a further 2.4 million become infected every year. Despite all the medical treatment success against the virus, an efficacious vaccine is of utmost importance.  Infection researchers from the German Primate Center (DPZ) - Leibniz Institute for Primate Research have in cooperation with international colleagues tested a new vaccination strategy against the HIV-related simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) in rhesus monkeys. For this, the researchers used a vaccine that consisted of two components. The monkeys were immunized subcutaneously, orally and intramuscularly with a time delay and in alternating order. The scientists were able to show that the type of booster vaccine, orally and intramuscularly, as well as the order of the vaccine components, influenced the activation of the immune system. These represent vital factors in the long-term prevention of a SIV infection. Since SIV and HIV mainly replicate in the body’s own activated CD4+ T helper cells that are critical for the immune defense, it is crucial that their level remains relatively low even after vaccination. In order to achieve sustained protective immunity against AIDS, a vaccination strategy inducing a balanced immune response without an increase of CD4+ T helper cells must be developed (Journal of Virology).

In occasione della settimana mondiale sull’uso consapevole degli antibiotici, educazione, conoscenza e aderenza al tema per per sensibilizzare tutta la popolazione sulle resistenze dei batteri quale nuova emergenza sanitaria

“Il rischio è che i risultati di ricerche di molti anni svaniscano in pochi mesi” rileva Marco Tinelli, Direzione Nazionale della SIMIT – Società Italiana di Malattie Infettive e Tropicali. “Per affrontare il problema è assolutamente indispensabile fare rete”. Gli specialisti, con l'ISS e il Ministero Salute sono già al lavoro per favorire queste sinergie.

Dal 13 al 19 Novembre è in corso la Settimana Mondiale dell'antimicrobico-resistenza: un’iniziativa per sensibilizzare la popolazione su un problema medico-scientifico che sta coinvolgendo sempre più la popolazione, in Italia e non solo. Ogni anno, infatti, nel mondo circa 700mila decessi sono causati dall’antibiotico-resistenza; l’uso smodato di antibiotici infatti ha vanificato i loro effetti e reso i batteri più resistenti, con trend in continua crescita e costi sempre più elevati. Serve un uso prudente degli antibiotici, che restano uno degli strumenti principali a nostra disposizione per combattere gravi infezioni. Le loro capacità di guarigione hanno sicuramente garantito un miglioramento dell’aspettativa di vita, ma le ampie fasce di popolazione che vivono per lungo tempo con un sistema immunitario non ottimale vedono aumentato il rischio infettivo . 

In mid-September, a large treasure was unearthed during a dig at the Abbey of Cluny, in the French department of Saône-et-Loire: 2,200 silver deniers and oboles, 21 Islamic gold dinars, a signet ring,¹ and other objects made of gold. Never before has such a large cache of silver deniers been discovered. Nor have gold coins from Arab lands, silver deniers, and a signet ring ever been found hoarded together within a single, enclosed complex. Anne Baud, an academic at the Université Lumière Lyon 2, and Anne Flammin, a CNRS engineer—both from the Laboratoire Archéologie et Archéométrie (CNRS / Université Lumière Lyon 2 / Claude Bernard Lyon 1 University)—led the archaeological investigation, in collaboration with a team of 9 students from the Université Lumière Lyon 2 and researchers from the Maison de l’Orient et de la Méditerranée Jean Pouilloux (CNRS / Université Lumière Lyon 2). The excavation campaign, authorized by the Bourgogne–Franche-Comté Regional Department of Cultural Affairs (DRAC), began in mid-September and ended in late October. It is part of a vast research program focused on the Abbey of Cluny. Students in the Master of Archaeology and Archaeological Science program at the Université Lumière Lyon 2 have been participating in archaeological digs at the Abbey of Cluny since 2015. This experience in the field complements their academic training and gives them an insight into professional archaeology.