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BBC News
3 hours ago
- Health
- BBC News
Phage therapy: I found a bacteria-eating virus in my loo
I'm on the hunt for a microbial saviour – a type of virus that can treat infections rather than cause all know the viral bad guys – Covid, flu, norovirus, herpes, chicken pox, measles… the list goes there's a type of virus that's not interested in infiltrating our bodies, instead it preys on known as bacteria eaters, or bacteriophage, or commonly as them could give us new ways of treating infections, including superbugs that are becoming how to catch a killer?I've been promised it's surprisingly easy. The team at the Phage Collection Project sent me some vials to collect samples, along with a pair of gloves. All I need to do is hunt for some dirty water, the dirtier the better, dip the vials in and screw on the lid. I tried a couple of ponds, the juice from a worm-composting bin and then I needed my dirtiest sample. I didn't flush the toilet after a poo and left it for a couple of hours. I pop on a glove and hold my breath as I go in for the final sample. Strict hygiene instructions, including vigorous hand-washing, were followed, at all vials were packaged up for collection and then three days later I headed off to the University of Southampton to see what was inside."They were a bit dirty when I received them," phage scientist Michelle Lin tells me as we don our blue lab-coats and matching gloves to go into the Containment Level 2 microbiology grab my samples from the fridge, which look much clearer now they have been filtered of any… debris. "It's fine, it's needed," Michelle, who had the unpleasant job, reassures me. Filtering is the first step in looking for phage, next they get served dinner – a cocktail of yummy bacteria - to help them grow in comes the really cool bit – finding a useful phage. The scientists have been working with the local hospital to collect bacteria from patients with troublesome grabs a petri dish that's growing bacteria from a patient with a painful, urinary tract infection that keeps coming to my amazement – one of the phage I collected from my toilet was able to kill this infection in the lab."The way to see that the phage has infected bacteria is you get these zones where the bacteria are not growing and that's because they've been killed by the phage," says Michelle. You can see the leopard print pattern in the petri dish where the phage have been making light work of a bacterial infection that modern medicine was struggling to shift."As crazy as it sounds, well done to the toilet sample," says Michelle with great when I was offered the chance to name the phage, well of course it's the Gallagher-phage."Sounds amazing to me," says far this is all good fun in the laboratory, but could my phage ever be given to a patient?"Yes and I hope so," says associate professor Dr Franklin Nobrega as we look at images of my phage captured with an electron microscope. "Your phage, already in just 24 hours, we were able to get in a high concentration and able to be a very good killer, which means this is very promising for patients, so thank you," said Dr remind me of a moon lander – a big capsule on spindly legs – just instead of landing on the surface of the moon they use their legs to select their then hijack the bacteria and transform it into a mass-production factory for more phage, which burst out of their host, killing it in the process. There are pros and cons to phage. They reproduce as they go along so you don't need constant doses like you would with are also very picky eaters. You need a precise match between phage and the strain of bacteria you're trying to treat whereas antibiotics tend to kill everything good and bad. So it is harder to find the right phage, but if you do it comes with fewer side Nobrega tells me infected wounds are a "very good application" for phage because you can apply them directly to the injury, but they can also be inhaled via a nebuliser to treat lung infections or to target urinary tract infections "which is our target currently". Phage - the friendly virus Phage science may sound new and exciting, but it is actually a century old idea stemming from the discoveries of Felix d'Hérelle and Frederick Twort in the therapy was a branch of medicine and the idea was compelling. Even as late as the 1940s there was an active pharmaceutical industry in western countries trying to produce phage-therapy to defeat bacterial it was rapidly eclipsed by the wonder-drug of the 20th century."Antibiotics were working so well that most people said 'why bother'," says Dr Nobrega. Work on phage therapy continued in places like Georgia and there are individual accounts of it working wonders; but there hasn't been the same depth of medical research and clinical trials as there have for just as the initial success of antibiotics suppressed phage research, the failure of antibiotics is reigniting excitement at their than a million people a year are already dying from infections caused by microbes that are resistant to treatment – it's known as the "silent pandemic". By 2050, that figure is projected to reach 10 million a "antibiotic apocalypse" would mean common infections could kill again and undermine modern medicine. The drugs are also used to make organ transplants, open surgery and chemotherapy possible."The predictions around antibiotic resistance are very frightening, but the reality is we're seeing it now and it's only going to get worse," says Prof Paul Elkington, the director of the institute for medical innovation at the University of Southampton. He is also a doctor with a speciality in lung medicine and is already at the point where - after a year of treatment and turning to ever more toxic and less effective antibiotics - "in the end you have to have a conversation [and say] 'we can't treat this infection, we're really sorry'".He says we can't rely solely on antibiotics in the future and phage are a potential he warns the steps needed to get from the laboratory and into patients are "uncharted".Things are changing. Phage therapy is available in the UK on compassionate grounds when other treatments have failed. And the drugs regulator – The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency – has published its first official rules to support the development of phage therapy."If one looks 15-20 years into the future, with the emerging methodologies, it's going to be possible for them to be much more widely available and for doctors to prescribe phage instead of antibiotics for some infections," says Prof you want to see if you can find a friendly virus too then The Phage Collection Project are launching their new sampling kits at the Summer Science Exhibition taking place this week at the Royal Society and through their website."Antimicrobial resistance is something that could affect all of us," says Esme Brinsden from the Phage Collection Project, "when the public get involved they may just find the next phage that can help treat and save a patient's life".Photography by the BBC's Emma Lynch
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Science
- Yahoo
'Pulsing, like a heartbeat': Rhythmic mantle plume rising beneath Ethiopia is creating a new ocean
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Rhythmic pulses of molten rock are rising beneath eastern Africa, according to a new study. The pulsing plume of hot mantle beneath Ethiopia, driven by plate tectonics, is slowly pulling the region apart and forming a new ocean near the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, researchers reported June 25 in the journal Nature Geoscience. "We have found that the evolution of deep mantle upwellings is intimately tied to the motion of the plates above," Derek Keir, an Earth scientist at the University of Southampton and the University of Florence, said in a statement. "This has profound implications for how we interpret surface volcanism, earthquake activity, and the process of continental breakup." The mantle plume lies under Ethiopia's Afar region, at the intersection of three tectonic plates. All of the rifts between these plates are different ages, and they are changing at different rates; some are in the process of forming new oceans, while others are pulling apart the crust beneath Africa. But the structure and motion of the plume, as well as the forces driving these movements, aren't well understood. To investigate the structure of the crust and the mantle plume beneath it, the scientists studied the chemical compositions of more than 130 samples of volcanic rocks from the Afar region. These samples provided information about the depth and composition of melted rock beneath the surface. The team also used computer models to determine how the region might respond to different kinds of mantle plumes and compared those responses to existing geological data. A single mantle plume lies beneath all three rifts, the researchers found, but its chemical composition is not uniform. Further, the molten rock surges upward rhythmically, leaving behind distinct chemical signatures. "The chemical striping suggests the plume is pulsing, like a heartbeat," Tom Gernon, an Earth scientist at the University of Southampton, said in the statement. "These pulses appear to behave differently depending on the thickness of the plate, and how fast it's pulling apart. In faster-spreading rifts like the Red Sea, the pulses travel more efficiently and regularly like a pulse through a narrow artery." RELATED STORIES —Study reveals 'flawed argument' in debate over when plate tectonics began —There's a 'ghost' plume lurking beneath the Middle East — and it might explain how India wound up where it is today —Africa is being torn apart by a 'superplume' of hot rock from deep within Earth, study suggests Varying spacing between the stripes in different rifts suggests that the mantle plume responds differently depending on the tectonic plates above. In places where the lithosphere — the crust and upper mantle — is thicker, the mantle flow is impeded, and the striping is more condensed. Under a thinner lithosphere, the stripes are more spread out. The findings could help scientists understand volcanic activity at the surface. "The work shows that deep mantle upwellings can flow beneath the base of tectonic plates and help to focus volcanic activity to where the tectonic plate is thinnest," Keir said in the statement. Future work in the Afar region could involve investigating the rate of mantle flow beneath the various plates, Keir added.
Times
3 days ago
- Science
- Times
How a plume of magma threatens to one day rip east Africa apart
Africa is being torn apart by a pulsing plume of magma rising from deep within the Earth that is set to slice off the continent's east coast to form a new ocean, researchers have found. A new ocean basin will gradually form in a low-lying region of Ethiopia and, in several million years' time, scientists believe this will develop into a vast crack running from northern Ethiopia down to the middle of Mozambique. This could result in a 3,200-mile stretch of the east African coast, extending several hundred miles inland, splitting from the rest of the continent as the tectonic plate stretches, thins and eventually ruptures 'almost like soft plasticine'. This would leave a narrow ocean between continental Africa and a vast new island made up of present-day Somalia and large parts of what are now Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and Mozambique. The Afar region of Ethiopia is a rare area where three tectonic rifts converge: the Main Ethiopian, Red Sea and Gulf of Aden rifts. Geologists had suspected that a 'hot upwelling' of molten mantle, often known as a plume, was rising up from between 620 and 1,700 miles deep, shooting upwards and melting the continental crust, weakening and thinning it. Researchers from the University of Southampton collected more than 130 samples of volcanic rock from the Afar region and Main Ethiopian Rift. They used modelling to understand the structure of the crust and mantle in the area. They found that beneath the Afar region there was an asymmetrical plume coming up out of the mantle, with patterns that differed in each of the three rifts. 'We found that the mantle beneath Afar is not uniform or stationary — it pulses, and these pulses carry distinct chemical signatures,' said Dr Emma Watts, lead author of the study who is now at Swansea University. 'These ascending pulses of partially molten mantle are channelled by the rifting plates above.' The results suggest the plume is 'pulsing like a heartbeat', said Tom Gernon, a professor of Earth science at Southampton. 'These pulses appear to behave differently depending on the thickness of the plate, and how fast it's pulling apart. In faster-spreading rifts like the Red Sea, the pulses travel more efficiently and regularly like a pulse through a narrow artery.' When a hot plume of magma rises from deep within the Earth it flows beneath the base of the tectonic plates and helps to 'focus volcanic activity to where the tectonic plate is thinnest'. 'This has profound implications for how we interpret surface volcanism, earthquake activity and the process of continental break up,' said Dr Derek Keir, a co-author of the study, which is published in the journal Nature Geoscience. Gernon said that part of the Afar region was about 120 metres below sea level and had been flooded by the sea several times in the past, including 80,000 years ago, as shown by salt deposits in the area. 'The formation of a fully developed ocean and mid-ocean ridge — that is, a plate tectonic feature where new ocean crust is created — in this region is likely to take several million years,' he said.
BBC News
18-06-2025
- Science
- BBC News
AI to help tell donkeys apart at Isle of Wight sanctuary
Visitors to a donkey sanctuary will be able to identify their favourite adopted animal using artificial intelligence (AI) and their phone camera, researchers of Southampton scientists developing the mobile app - being used at the Isle of Wight Donkey Sanctuary - said they hoped it could also help identify health issues in the app uses a library of hundreds of photographs of the donkeys from every angle, utilising machine-learning and AI to distinguish them from one still has a way to go, with the app having a coin-flip accuracy of only 50% at the moment. But project lead Dr Xiaohao Cai said he was confident it would be much improved and ready for the public to use by the end of the year."At the moment we're trying to bridge the gap between the experimental accuracy and the real-world accuracy," said Dr Cai. The idea emerged after it was noticed name collars worn by the donkeys were becoming hazardous and uncomfortable, said Gordon Pattison, volunteer and trustee of the sanctuary in Ventnor. "There had been some accidents and near misses, so we got rid of all the collars in 2023," said Mr Pattison. "They're not of any use to the animal, but they're incredibly useful to the public - some of whom will come and want to see a particular animal."The sanctuary raises funds by allowing visitors to adopt a donkey - something Mr Pattison said thousands of people had signed up to do. The app is called Ask ELVIS (Equine Long-range Visual Identification System), named after one of the sanctuary's donkeys who died in 2024 and was described by staff as an "iconic character". "When the app starts up, you see Elvis the donkey, and the idea is you're asking a donkey, 'who's that donkey over there?'" said Mr Pattison. The app will then show the donkey's name and a link to webpage where visitors can learn more about that animal. And asked if donkeys respond to their name, Mr Pattison said they do. He said in future the sanctuary hoped to work with scientists from the university to see if AI could also help monitor for health issues in the animals - but that project has not got off the ground yet. "At the moment we will pick it up (the health issue), but we might not pick it up immediately," he said. "[The donkeys] don't give out much, they're very stoic - so we have to look for subtle clues," he added. "The message is that AI isn't just for big state enterprises."If you've got an idea, it can help you out - you just need to approach the problem from a different point of view." You can follow BBC Hampshire & Isle of Wight on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
CBS News
10-06-2025
- Science
- CBS News
Emperor penguin population decline may be "worse than the worst-case projections," scientists warn
Emperor penguin populations in Antartica may be declining faster than the most pessimistic predictions, scientists said after analyzing satellite images of a key part of the continent. The images, spanning from 2009 to 2024, suggest a decline of 22% in the Antarctic Peninsula, Weddell Sea and Bellingshausen Sea, according to researchers from the British Antarctic Survey and University of Southampton, who published their study in Nature on Tuesday. The 16 emperor penguin colonies in that part of Antartica represent a third of the global population. The estimated decline compares to an earlier estimate of a 9.5% reduction across Antarctica as a whole between 2009 and 2018. The researchers now have to see if their assessment in that region of Antartica is true for the rest of the continent. "There's quite a bit of uncertainty in this type of work and what we've seen in this new count isn't necessarily symbolic of the rest of the continent," Dr. Peter Fretwell, the lead author of the study, said in a statement. "But if it is — that's worrying because the decline is worse than the worst-case projections we have for emperors this century." While further analysis is needed, Fretwell told Agence France-Presse the colonies studied were considered representative. Researchers know that climate change is driving the losses, but the speed of the declines is a particular cause for alarm. Warming is thinning and destabilizing the ice under the penguins' feet in their breeding grounds. Emperor penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri) pair on sea ice, Larsen B Ice Shelf, Weddell Sea, Antarctica. Sergio Pitamitz/VW Pics/Universal Images Group via Getty Images In recent years some colonies have lost all their chicks because the ice has given way beneath them, plunging hatchlings into the sea before they were old enough to cope with the freezing ocean. Fretwell said the new research suggests penguin numbers have been declining since the monitoring began in 2009. That is even before global warming was having a major impact on the sea ice, which forms over open water adjacent to land in the region. But he said the culprit is still likely to be climate change, with warming driving other challenges for the penguins, such as higher rainfall or increasing encroachment from predators. "Emperor penguins are probably the most clear-cut example of where climate change is really showing its effect," Fretwell said. "There's no fishing. There's no habitat destruction. There's no pollution which is causing their populations to decline. It's just the temperatures in the ice on which they breed and live, and that's really climate change." Emperor penguins number about a quarter of a million breeding pairs, all in Antarctica, according to a 2020 study. A baby emperor penguin emerges from an egg kept warm in winter by a male, while the female in a breeding pair embarks on a two-month fishing expedition. When she returns to the colony, she feeds the hatchling by regurgitating and then both parents take turns to forage. To survive on their own, chicks must develop waterproof feathers, a process that typically starts in mid-December. The new research uses high resolution satellite imagery during the months of October and November, before the region is plunged into winter darkness. Fretwell said future research could use other types of satellite monitoring, like radar or thermal imaging, to capture populations in the darker months, as well as expand to the other colonies. He said there is hope that the penguins may go further south to colder regions in the future but added that it is not clear "how long they're going to last out there". Computer models have projected that the species will be near extinction by the end of the century if humans do not slash their planet-heating emissions. The latest study suggests the picture could be even worse. "We may have to rethink those models now with this new data," said Fretwell. But he stressed there was still time to reduce the threat to the penguins. "We've got this really depressing picture of climate change and falling populations even faster than we thought but it's not too late," he said. "We're probably going to lose a lot of emperor penguins along the way, but if people do change, and if we do reduce or turn around our climate emissions, then then we will save the emperor penguin."
