Scientists use lab-grown "mini eyes" to better comprehend a rare hereditary disease that causes blindness

Can these "mini eyes" raise hopes for children affected by blindness

Organoids

The scientific community's attention is focused squarely on London. Scientists at the University College London Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health (UCL GOS ICH) have developed tiny human eyes, making it simpler to research and comprehend the genesis and progression of blindness in Usher syndrome, a rare genetic illness.

Organoids are 3D "mini eyes" that were produced using stem cells obtained from skin samples provided by children at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children (GOSH).

Light-detecting rod cells are located in the retina, which is responsible for image processing, in a healthy human eye. In this recent discovery, researchers were able to stimulate these rod cells to "arrange themselves" into layers similar to how they would be grouped in the retina, resulting in a "mini eye."

These little eyes are a huge step forward in this discipline. Previous attempts utilizing animal cells had failed to replicate the same type of vision loss observed in Usher syndrome, the most prevalent hereditary cause of deafness and blindness. It is projected that three to ten million individuals would be affected worldwide. Children with Type 1 Usher syndrome are often born deaf, and their vision deteriorates at a considerably slower rate before blindness comes in about maturity.

While cochlear implants can aid with hearing loss, there are presently no therapies for retinitis pigmentosa, which is thought to be the major cause of visual loss in Usher syndrome. While early, this new research gives up promising new avenues for understanding the ailment and developing a successful future therapy that might benefit countless individuals.

Nature's secret for healthy eyes and vision

How are these 'mini-eyes' being used by scientists to improve medical treatments?

Researchers will be able to investigate light-sensing cells from the human eye at an individual level and in greater detail than ever before thanks to these freshly produced micro eyes. This was the first time researchers were able to see the small chemical changes in rod cells immediately before death, due to sophisticated single-cell RNA-sequencing.

Using these miniature eyes, the researchers revealed that Müller cells appear to be involved in the formation of Usher syndrome. Müller cells are normally in charge of the retina's metabolic and structural support. Cells from persons with Usher syndrome were abnormally switched-on genes for stress responses and protein degradation. Reversing such processes may be critical to halting the disease's growth.

Because the micro eyes were created using cells provided by people with and without the genetic "fault" that causes Usher syndrome, researchers were able to compare healthy cells with those that will lead to blindness. A better knowledge of these distinctions might provide crucial insights as to what changes occur in the eye before a child's vision begins to decline. As a result, this research might aid in identifying the optimal targets for early therapy, which is critical to achieving the greatest potential health outcome.

"It's challenging to investigate the inaccessible little nerve cells of the patient's retina since they're so intricately coupled and carefully positioned toward the back of the eye." "We now have the technology to convert the cells into stem cells and then construct lab-grown retina with the same DNA, and hence the same genetic conditions, as our patients," explains first research author Dr. Yeh Chwan Leong in a media release.

The small eyes aren't just for Usher disease research. According to the study's authors, these organoids can assist many researchers in better understanding other hereditary disorders in which rod cells in the eye die, such as variants of retinitis pigmentosa without deafness. Furthermore, the method utilized to create disease models from human skin cells can be applied to a variety of different disorders.

Future studies will produce fresh micro eyeballs from more patient samples and then use them to discover therapies. One day, it may be feasible to modify a person's DNA within certain eye cells to prevent blindness.

"We are very thankful to patients and families who volunteer these samples to research so that we may all learn more about hereditary eye diseases like Usher syndrome," says senior study author Professor Jane Sowden, Professor of Developmental Biology & Genetics at UCL. "Although this is a long way off, we hope these models can one day help us create medicines that will save the sight of children and young people with Usher syndrome."

The research was published in the journal Stem Cell Reports.

How Our Genetic Code Affects Our Musicality

Genes have a significant part in developing musical skills.

What our genes reveal about our musicality

Not everyone has a sense of rhythm, but can being able to clap in sync with a beat reveal anything about a person's general musicality? The Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics explored this subject as part of an international research team. The findings of the research team were recently published in the open-access journal Scientific Reports.

A total of 5,648 research participants donated their DNA, answered music-related questionnaires, and conducted music-related exercises. They were tested on their ability to identify rhythm, melody, and pitch, among other things. The scientists estimated each participant's polygenic score, or PGS, for beat synchronization ability, i.e., rhythm, based on their DNA. As a result, this score acted as an indicator of a person's genetic basis for their sense of rhythm.

"We discovered that the PGSrhythm could predict participants' overall musicality because genetic variants that inform beat synchronization ability are related to other aspects of musicality, including not only people's abilities to follow a melody or distinguish rhythm or pitch, but also the amount of time they spend practicing or listening to music in general," says first author Laura Wesseldijk of the MPIEA.

The researchers were able to analyze alternative within-family genetic paths that PGSrhythm may have followed to impact musical ability since the study participants were all pairs of twins who grew up in the same homes. This covered both direct and indirect impacts, as well as confounding factors. They concluded that PGSrhythm most likely had a direct influence on musical ability.

Gene-environment interaction

Furthermore, the researchers discovered a link between PGSrhythm and the degree of musical richness in a study participant's early milieu, indicating a gene-environment interaction. In other words, a person's genetic proclivity for music influences their environmental exposure (e.g., whether or not they attend music lessons).

The outcomes of the study reveal that PGSrhythm may predict not only a person's general musicality, but also, along with the ability to dance, their proclivity to enjoy and engage with music. Thus, the polygenic score may be utilized with confidence in future studies to investigate the genetics underlying individual variations in music talents and to untangle gene-environment interactions.

How Music Brightens Your Day: The Effects of Music on Mood

Music isn’t just a form of entertainment – it’s an integral part of their life.

To many people, music isn’t just a form of entertainment – it’s an integral part of their life, and their mood can be strongly affected by their favorite songs. But does music have actual effects on our mood? And if so, how does it work? The answer to the first question is yes; the effects of music on one’s mood are very real, although they’re not completely understood at this point in time.

Happy music boosts energy levels

Research has shown that listening to happy music can boost energy levels. This is due to the release of endorphins and oxytocin when your brain detects a change in mood. Happy music also provides a healthy distraction from negative thoughts, which can improve your mood. Listening to music you enjoy not only boosts your mood but also helps with productivity. Music stimulates dopamine production, which is linked to increased focus and creativity. Even if you're feeling down or blue, research suggests that even just ten minutes of music may help reduce stress levels and provide relief.

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Classical music reduces anxiety

Some types of music are better for certain moods. If you're feeling sad or anxious, you may want to listen to classical music. Research has shown that it can reduce anxiety and feelings of sadness. Even if you don't like classical music, giving it a try could be worth your while since it's been found to have these benefits.

Songs you haven’t heard in years trigger positive memories

I was recently feeling in a dark mood and I decided to listen to some music. It turns out I haven’t heard the songs in years. But when I played them, they brought up memories from my past. Those memories were positive and that helped me get out of my bad mood. Music is an effective way to find a positive memory you can hold onto when you’re in a bad place mentally.

Music energizes even when you don’t realize it

Music can have a powerful effect on our moods. Music is an essential part of the human experience and something we all engage with in one way or another. Our brains react to music by releasing dopamine, which is a feel-good chemical that makes us happy and energized when we hear it. If you’re feeling down or sad, music can help pick you up again and make you feel better.

People listen to different types of songs for different purposes

If you are feeling down and want to cheer up, try listening to music. Music has been shown to have an effect on mood for the listener. Listeners can use music for different purposes, such as relaxing or energizing themselves. For example, one study showed that sad music can make someone feel more positive if they listen to it while doing something else. In contrast, listening to music before bedtime may result in difficulty sleeping because it is stimulating.

Start earning money by listening to music

Here's some tips from experts on picking the right playlist for different situations

If you're feeling down, you might want to head over to a happy playlist. No matter what mood you're in, the right music can help improve your outlook on the day. To get started, try listening to different types and genres of music and see what fits best for your situation. Afterward, keep an open mind when making a playlist because you never know which song will make the difference between getting out of bed or staying under the covers. Don't be afraid to give new songs or artists a chance because there's always something new that could make all the difference. Lastly, it's important to find music that matches your current mood and personality so that you don't grow tired of it quickly.

4 Healthy Drinks to Reduce Belly Fat, According to Experts

While it is important to lose excess weight, losing belly fat is critical and difficult.

Healthy body weight

Body mass index (BMI) has long been used to determine healthy body weight. According to research, knowing our BMI is not enough; we also need to know our body composition BCA to determine how much fat versus muscle we carry, as well as our waist-hip ratio, which is now regarded as a critical indicator of health. A W/H ratio of more than 0.9 for men and more than 0.85 for women indicates belly fat. When we gain bellyfat, we increase both subcutaneous and visceral fat. Subcutaneous fat is the overhanging belly that we can grasp onto, whereas visceral fat is deep within and fills the space between our organs in the abdominal cavity. The latter, visceral fat, is the more serious concern.

While losing excess weight is critical, losing belly fat is critical but also difficult. It requires a disciplined routine that includes diet but, more importantly, a targeted exercise program. While there are no shortcuts, some common drinks have been found to have a positive effect and aid in the loss of belly fat. With winter just around the corner and gajar ka halwa, hot sweet tea, and an increase in appetite on the horizon, try replacing these drinks:

Drinks to Help You Lose Belly Fat:

1. Green tea's health benefits have been extensively researched and documented. Its role in overall weight loss has also been extensively researched. Green tea is high in polyphenols and antioxidants. Catechins, particularly EGCGs (epigallocatechin gallate), have a strong positive relationship with fat oxidation in humans, even at rest. Green tea was found to aid in the reduction of visceral fat in one Chinese study. It also fills you up, preventing hunger pangs and contributing to a lower overall calorific intake. A perfect warm cup of health on a cold winter day!

2. Cinnamon Tea: Cinnamon is a spice that has a variety of health benefits. It is extremely effective at controlling blood sugar levels and decreasing insulin resistance (IR). One of the primary causes of increased fat deposition in the abdomen is IR. Cinnamon is useful for relieving stress, which lowers the stress hormone cortisol. High cortisol levels have been shown to promote abdominal fat deposition and a desire for high fat and sugar foods. Cinnamon is also a metabolism booster, has a sweet flavor, and is extremely beneficial to heart health. A well-researched spice that has been used for centuries for its health benefits, a cup of cinnamon tea will not only aid in weight loss but will also boost your immune system. The ideal drink for winter health.

3. Coffee: A recent study published on Research Gate looked at the effect of continuous coffee consumption on body fat, particularly visceral fat. They discovered that a moderate intake of coffee, 3 cups per day, resulted in a significant change in body fat reduction, particularly visceral fat. Coffee's polyphenols, chlorogenic acids, have been shown to reduce belly fat. A number of studies have produced similar findings. Coffee contains caffeine, a natural energy booster, but I emphasize that a moderate amount is sufficient. A good way to start the belly fat loss journey is with 2-3 cups of black coffee without sugar.

4. Honey: A warm, cosy drink to warm you up in the winter. MetS, or metabolic syndrome, is a growing public health concern. Obesity, particularly W/H ratio and visceral obesity, is a major risk factor for this. In animal studies, honey has been shown to reduce body fat percentage and prevent weight gain. Human trials have revealed a similar pattern.

Honey is also known to energize the body, preventing hunger pangs. As an antioxidant, it mitigates the oxidative stress caused by visceral fat cells.

While these amazing warm drinks will add a lot of health and no extra calories to your day, losing belly fat still requires a healthy lifestyle and regular targeted exercise.



A thumb-sized microscope catches images deep within active animals' brains

Researchers have succeeded in shrinking two-photon microscopy into a device that can be put on the heads of mice without inhibiting behavior.

A toy became a tool

Weijian Zong felt invincible for a moment as he peered at a glittering grid of green and blue brain cells under the microscope he had developed. "I believed that if we could get [this microscope] to function, we could accomplish anything," he says. Last March, an impromptu laboratory meeting and celebration were planned for. Zong, an optical engineer at the Kavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience in Trondheim, Norway, dressed up before presenting his recent findings to his colleagues. It was the moment his "toy became a tool," he claims.

In this case, the toy is a thumb-sized two-photon fluorescence microscope. It can illuminate and record living tissue at depths that conventional fluorescence microscopes cannot. The Mini2P, which weighs only 2.4 grams, can be attached to the head of a mouse and measure the activity of hundreds, if not thousands, of neurons while the animal runs, climbs, and leaps from a platform. Zong and his colleagues put the device through its paces in the mouse brain's vision, memory, and navigation centers, probing cells as deep as half a millimetre.

State of the Art

The instrument produces much sharper images and can capture similar numbers of cells, if not more, than head-mounted, one-photon miniscopes, which are the current state-of-the-art for in vivo imaging in freely moving animals, thanks to a custom-made lens that can follow the same cells continuously for up to one hour, or multiple times over weeks. The Mini2P offers "almost as good" resolution as a massive bench-top two-photon system, according to Fritjof Helmchen, a physicist-turned-neuroscientist at the University of Zurich in Switzerland. It's also open source, with parts lists and instructional videos on GitHub. In December, each of the 16 researchers will pay roughly €5,500 (US$5,370); The Kavli Institute in Trondheim sponsored a three-day workshop for participants to create their own two-photon miniscopes.

This opens the door to a more difficult scientific inquiry 

The Mini2P, for which Zong received this year's Tycho Jaeger Prize from the Physical Society of Norway and the Irma Salo Jger and Tycho Jgers Foundation, "opens the door to lines of scientific inquiry that were difficult, if not impossible, to initiate," according to Denise Cai, a neuroscientist at Mount Sinai's Icahn School of Medicine. And it's a development that's been in the works for years.

Fluorescence microscopy works on a simple principle: as molecules absorb energy, they get electronically excited, and when they relax, they emit light. Most microscopes are built in such a way that a single photon of light energy is enough to cause this reaction. However, in thick tissues, light is absorbed and scattered as it passes through the cellular layers. Two-photon microscopes avoid this difficulty by employing multiple, longer-wavelength photons that can penetrate deeper into tissue (two photons are required because a single longer-wavelength photon lacks the energy to activate the molecule).

Two-photon systems, on the other hand, are large and require specialized light sources and lenses. For more than two decades, researchers have sought to develop a technology that is light and compact enough to be used in freely behaving animals.

Helmchen was a forerunner. Helmchen and his colleagues developed the first portable two-photon microscope while working as a postdoctoral researcher at Bell Labs Innovations, a research and development organization in Murray Hill, New Jersey.

They published their proof-of-principle technology in 2001: an ultrafast pulsed laser coupled by a 2-meter flexible cable to a 25-gram microscope that could be put on the skull of a rat2.

The design was the first to show that a portable two-photon miniscope could record calcium signals (a visual indicator of brain activity) from individual neurons' branched projections, known as dendrites — but only in anaesthetized, head-restrained rats.

The procedure was also quite time-consuming. The researchers had to manually inject calcium-sensitive dyes into cells one at a time, then wait for the cell to light up before mounting the microscope onto the rat's head and locating the cell before attempting to capture a video. Helmchen says the scientists only imaged seven neurons over several months, recording a single cell in each trial.

A head-mounted two-photon microscope capable of imaging calcium signals in freely moving animals would require another eight years. In 2009, German researchers developed a 5.5-g portable system capable of tracking up to 20 neurons at once. They photographed neurons in rats' visual cortices that were loaded with calcium markers while the animals ran over a semicircular track3. However, Helmchen claims that the idea did not acquire traction due to the system's complexity.

Success with one photon

Zong was a second-year engineering undergraduate at Peking University in Beijing at the time. But what he truly desired — his "ultimate dream," he claims — was to "understand nature." He started his doctoral studies with biomedical engineer Heping Cheng in 2012. Cheng's lab at Peking University creates fluorescence microscopy techniques for biological study.

Single-photon miniscopes were becoming popular at the time. These gadgets, which are lightweight and sturdy enough for highly active mice, can photograph hundreds of cells at once, allowing researchers to decode entire brain circuits rather than just a few cells. They can also detect GCaMP6, an ultra-sensitive calcium sensor created following the release of the first two-photon prototypes. Single-photon miniscopes have "proven incredibly successful" in tracking behaviors such as spatial memory, song vocalization, and sleep, according to Helmchen.

According to chief commercial officer Martin Verhoef, Inscopix, a biotechnology business based in Mountain View, California, has sold over 1,500 one-photon miniscopes to more than 650 labs, with "far over 220 publications" citing work using the technology since 2011. The devices range in price from $50,000 to $150,000, depending on the setup.

A single-photon miniscope from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is an open-source alternative that comes with documentation, software, and assembly lessons on GitHub. If the pieces are purchased in bulk, the cost is roughly $500, or $1,200 as a do-it-yourself kit. UCLA miniscopes are available for around $2,000 through companies like LabMaker in Berlin and the Open Ephys Production Site in Lisbon.

According to neurologist Peyman Golshani, whose lab at UCLA helped build the UCLA miniscope (now in its fourth generation), some 500 labs around the world have utilized it since it was first built and shared around a decade ago. It has been used by researchers to study neurons that encode memories over time, for example.

Despite their capabilities, one-photon miniscopes can often only picture a few hundred micrometres deep, and the resulting fluorescence is out of focus and can blur images. That's not usually a problem in brain locations like the hippocampus, where only tiny subsets of cells fire, making the cells sparse enough to recognize in foggy images, says Edvard Moser, co-director of the Kavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience with May-Britt Moser.

However, the resolution causes an issue in the Moser lab. Grid cells are specialized neurons that hold information about location, distance, and direction. The Mosers shared the 2014 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discovering these cells. According to May-Britt Moser, single-photon microscopy is "insufficient" for imaging grid cells. "You must have a two-photon resolution." The method necessitates the use of lasers that generate ultrafast (on the order of one millionth of a millisecond), high-power light pulses and can cost up to $200,000. "That price tag is prohibitively expensive for many research organizations," Cai says. Because two-photon systems are substantially more sophisticated than one-photon setups, creating and operating the Mini2P takes significant technical expertise.

 

However, development of the Mini2P continues in Trondheim. "We are just getting started," Zong explains after three iterations. "When a technology is publicized, it is already outdated."

Plants on the moon, its survival will be tested by seeds sent to the moon in 2025

The moon is a dead rock, yet despite the fact that no living creature has ever been discovered on its harsh surface, some types of Earth life may be able to survive.

Scientists hope to cultivate plants on the moon

Scientists from the Australian National University (ANU) hope to cultivate plants on the moon by 2025 in conjunction with the start-up Lunaria One. The Australian Lunar Experiment Promoting Horticulture (ALEPH-1) payload will be launched on SpaceIL's Beresheet 2 lander, a project Israel announced immediately after the failure of its maiden moon mission in 2020. A similar experiment was conducted by China on its Chang'e 4 lander, which successfully grew cotton seedlings.

Nothing
has ever grown on the moon

Nothing has ever been cultivated on the moon directly before. Despite being enclosed in a secure container, the ALEPH-1 plants and seeds will encounter several hurdles. Water will be unbelievably valuable on the moon, gravity will be less, day and night will span seven Earth days, and there will be no atmosphere to shelter the surface from deadly solar radiation.

"Space is an ideal trial ground for how to propagate plants in the harshest of circumstances," said Caitlyn Byrt, an ANU plant biologist and research advisor for Lunaria One.

Sending the most feasible candidates

Before the launch, ANU and Lunaria One researchers will collaborate to ensure that they are sending out the most feasible candidates. Some potential species, such as the Australian grass Tripogon loliformis, are known as "resurrection plants." These plants are the botanical equivalent of the resilient microscopic "water bear," or tardigrade: they can spring back to life and flourish after lengthy periods of hibernation and dryness. Simply add water.

What could be the benefits of growing plants on the moon?

Plants that can survive on the moon might be more than simply a food source. They may also provide breathing air to astronauts, and some of them might be utilized to produce drugs that could someday be synthesized on-site rather than relying on supplies from Earth.

ALEPH-1 can also educate us how to deal with climate change on Earth by discovering edible plant species that can withstand harsh circumstances and rapidly recover from adversity like as drought.

"If you can develop a system for growing plants on the moon, you can develop a system for growing food in some of the most difficult settings on the planet," Byrt said in a statement.

Byrt and her colleagues expect that at least some seeds will germinate within 72 hours after Beresheet 2 touching down and ALEPH-1 hydrating them. During that period, the payload will send photographs back to Earth on a regular basis, which the project hopes to share.

This mission will surely set another milestone in space exploration that could be beneficial to humankind.