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Scientists have raised hopes for a cheap and simple test for autism after discovering consistent differences between the microbes found in the guts of autistic people and those without the condition.
The finding suggests that a routine stool sample test could help doctors identify autism early, meaning people would receive their diagnosis, and hopefully support, much faster than with the lengthy procedure used in clinics today.
“Usually it takes three to four years to make a confirmed diagnosis for suspected autism, with most children diagnosed at six years old,” Prof Qi Su at the Chinese University of Hong Kong said. “Our microbiome biomarker panel has a high performance in children under the age of four, which may help facilitate an early diagnosis.”
Rates of autism have soared in recent decades, largely because of greater awareness and a broadening of the criteria used to diagnose the condition. In the UK and many other western countries, about one in 100 people are now thought to be on the autism spectrum.……
www.theguardian.com
The finding suggests that a routine stool sample test could help doctors identify autism early, meaning people would receive their diagnosis, and hopefully support, much faster than with the lengthy procedure used in clinics today.
“Usually it takes three to four years to make a confirmed diagnosis for suspected autism, with most children diagnosed at six years old,” Prof Qi Su at the Chinese University of Hong Kong said. “Our microbiome biomarker panel has a high performance in children under the age of four, which may help facilitate an early diagnosis.”
Rates of autism have soared in recent decades, largely because of greater awareness and a broadening of the criteria used to diagnose the condition. In the UK and many other western countries, about one in 100 people are now thought to be on the autism spectrum.……
Autism could be diagnosed with stool sample, scientists say
Researchers found differences in the gut microbes of autistic people, raising hopes for faster diagnosis
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9000-year-old ‘Stonehenge-like’ structure discovered at the bottom of Lake Michigan
Archaeology professor at Northwestern Michigan University, recently unearthed a prehistoric structure in the bay that has drawn comparisons to England's iconic Stonehenge
www.thebrighterside.news
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Astronomers find surprising ice world in the habitable zone with JWST data
A team of astronomers has identified a temperate exoplanet as a promising super-Earth ice or water world.
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Scientists have been delighted find that a distant, horrifying planet stinks of rotten eggs.
The achievement not only fills in our understanding of the intensely hot world, but could help our search for alien life.
The exoplanet HD 189733 b, a Jupiter-sized gas giant, has trace amounts of hydrogen sulphide, the researchers in the new study found…….
www.independent.co.uk
The achievement not only fills in our understanding of the intensely hot world, but could help our search for alien life.
The exoplanet HD 189733 b, a Jupiter-sized gas giant, has trace amounts of hydrogen sulphide, the researchers in the new study found…….
Scientists delighted to find distant planet stinks of rotten eggs
Exoplanet HD 189733 b, a Jupiter-sized gas giant, may offer scientists clues in our search for alien life
www.independent.co.uk
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Pupil with cancer able to attend school using robot
Howard says having the robot has made a "big impact" and he can attend class from home or hospital.
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New quantum computer smashes 'quantum supremacy' record by a factor of 100 — and it consumes 30,000 times less power
The 56-qubit H2-1 computer has broken the previous record in the 'quantum supremacy' benchmark first set by Google in 2019.
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They’re lucky the wheel turns at all. I would imagine there is all kinds of sand and rubble tumbling around in there.
New HIV Prevention Drug Shows 100% Efficacy in Clinical Trial
A large clinical trial in South Africa and Uganda has shown that a twice-yearly injection of a new pre-exposure prophylaxis drug gives young women total protection from HIV infection.
www.sciencealert.com
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Scientists Can Finally Reveal The Secret of How Pterosaurs Took Flight
The secret to pterosaurs taking flight long before birds and bats dominated the air was wasn't feathers or hollow bones.
www.sciencealert.com
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Scientists make DNA discovery that could help find pancreatic cancer cure
Hope for new treatments after researchers find spread of disease is aided by shutting down of molecules in key genes
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Hot enough to melt metal and blanketed by a toxic, crushing atmosphere, Venus ranks among the most hostile locations in the solar system.
But astronomers have reported the detection of two gases that could point to the presence of life forms lurking in the Venusian clouds.
Findings presented at the national astronomy meeting in Hull on Wednesday bolster evidence for a pungent gas, phosphine, whose presence on Venus has been fiercely disputed.
A separate team revealed the tentative detection of ammonia, which on Earth is primarily produced by biological activity and industrial processes, and whose presence on Venus scientists said could not readily be explained by known atmospheric or geological phenomena.
The so-called biosignature gases are not a smoking gun for extraterrestrial life. But the observation will intensify interest in Venus and raise the possibility of life having emerged and even flourished in the planet’s more temperate past and lingered on to today in pockets of the atmosphere.
“It could be that if Venus went through a warm, wet phase in the past then as runaway global warming took effect [life] would have evolved to survive in the only niche left to it – the clouds,” said Dr Dave Clements, a reader in astrophysics at Imperial College London, told the meeting.…….
www.theguardian.com
But astronomers have reported the detection of two gases that could point to the presence of life forms lurking in the Venusian clouds.
Findings presented at the national astronomy meeting in Hull on Wednesday bolster evidence for a pungent gas, phosphine, whose presence on Venus has been fiercely disputed.
A separate team revealed the tentative detection of ammonia, which on Earth is primarily produced by biological activity and industrial processes, and whose presence on Venus scientists said could not readily be explained by known atmospheric or geological phenomena.
The so-called biosignature gases are not a smoking gun for extraterrestrial life. But the observation will intensify interest in Venus and raise the possibility of life having emerged and even flourished in the planet’s more temperate past and lingered on to today in pockets of the atmosphere.
“It could be that if Venus went through a warm, wet phase in the past then as runaway global warming took effect [life] would have evolved to survive in the only niche left to it – the clouds,” said Dr Dave Clements, a reader in astrophysics at Imperial College London, told the meeting.…….
Signs of two gases in clouds of Venus could indicate life, scientists say
Separate teams find evidence of phosphine and ammonia, potential biomarkers on planet whose surface reaches 450C
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Curiosity Cracked Open a Rock on Mars And Found a Huge Surprise
A rock on Mars has just spilled a surprising yellow treasure after Curiosity accidentally cracked through its unremarkable exterior.
www.sciencealert.com
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A mountain rescue dog whose duties ended after her eyesight failed has helped scientists create a test that could eradicate the genetic eye condition in her breed for good.
Shola the English shepherd has an inherited eye disease called progressive retinal atrophy (PRA) that causes the light-sensitive cells at the back of the eye to deteriorate, eventually leading to blindness.
PRA affects more than 100 dog breeds, can be caused by a number of different genetic variants and has no treatment. For some types, symptoms do not appear until the dog is several years old, by which point they may have passed their genes on to puppies.
Katherine Stanbury, the first author of the research from the University of Cambridge, said Shola was four years old when she began struggling with her vision in dim light.
“She was sent to a veterinary ophthalmologist and they confirmed that she had PRA,” said Stanbury. “And then it turned out her brother also had PRA.”
Stanbury and colleagues have not only identified the genetic variant responsible for the condition in English shepherds but developed a £48 DNA test to reveal whether dogs have none, one or two copies of the variant.
While Stanbury said variants that cause PRA were typically breed-specific, the team will now screen any dog affected by an inherited eye disease for the new variant.
“If it does pop up in another breed, we can monitor that,” she said.…….
www.theguardian.com
Shola the English shepherd has an inherited eye disease called progressive retinal atrophy (PRA) that causes the light-sensitive cells at the back of the eye to deteriorate, eventually leading to blindness.
PRA affects more than 100 dog breeds, can be caused by a number of different genetic variants and has no treatment. For some types, symptoms do not appear until the dog is several years old, by which point they may have passed their genes on to puppies.
Katherine Stanbury, the first author of the research from the University of Cambridge, said Shola was four years old when she began struggling with her vision in dim light.
“She was sent to a veterinary ophthalmologist and they confirmed that she had PRA,” said Stanbury. “And then it turned out her brother also had PRA.”
Stanbury and colleagues have not only identified the genetic variant responsible for the condition in English shepherds but developed a £48 DNA test to reveal whether dogs have none, one or two copies of the variant.
While Stanbury said variants that cause PRA were typically breed-specific, the team will now screen any dog affected by an inherited eye disease for the new variant.
“If it does pop up in another breed, we can monitor that,” she said.…….
Genetic test could eradicate a type of inherited blindness in dogs
Research inspired by a rescue dog may allow breeders to avoid using canines with progressive retinal atrophy
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