Category: Biology

Posted on

Climate Change by R. Suresh Babu

climatic changes
a swarm of bombay locusts
raid the butterfly garden

by R. Suresh Babu

My haiku are centered on my experiences as a teacher where I observe children’s behaviour in the classroom situations, science labs and school campus.

Our school is planning to create a butterfly garden. I had a small discussion in the class on the effects of global warming or climatic changes on butterflies, as butterflies are indicators of climate changes. This sciku was created after the discussion on the topic ‘The effect of climatic changes on the butterfly garden’.

Further reading:

Butterfly Gardening (Wikipedia) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butterfly_gardening

How Climate Change Affects Butterflies by Astrid Caldas https://wisconsinpollinators.com/Articles/ClimateChange_7.aspx

Author bio:

R. Suresh Babu is a graduate teacher of English and a teacher counsellor in a Government Residential School in India. He is an alumnus of the Regional Institute of Education, Mysuru in India. His works have been published in Cattails, Failed Haiku, Wales Haiku Journal, Akitsu, Presence, Under the Basho, Poetry Pea Journal and Podcast, The Asahi Shimbun, World Haiku Series, The Mamba, Kontinuum, Haikuniverse, Cold Moon Journal, Chrysanthemum, tsuri-dōrō and The Mainichi. He is a contributing writer to the anthology, We Will Not Be Silenced of the Indie Blu(e) Publishing. He has done the art works for the Haiku anthology Bull-Headed, edited by Corine Timmer. You can follow him on Twitter @sureshniranam

Read more sciku by R. Suresh Babu: ‘Moonwalk’ and ‘Language’.

Posted on

Ant-y-insulin

Long live queens! But why?
Ovaries might change growth cues
to extend lifespan!

By Dr Nathan Woodling

A queen takes the throne.
Insulin surges, eggs grow.
A switch extends life.

By Dr Andrew Holmes

Reproduction is linked to reduced lifespan in many animals, yet ant queens have a far greater longevity compared to workers in their colony – black garden ant queens can live up to 30 times longer than the 1-year lifespan of their workers. Ant queens have the same genome as their workers, and in some species of ant they aren’t reared differently but switch caste following the death of the current queen.

The Indian jumping ant (Harpegnathos saltator) exhibits this switching behaviour. When a queen dies, workers duel each other, with the winners transitioning into pseudo-queens known as gamergates. These gamergates begin laying fertile eggs and their lifespan is substantially increased – from 7 months to 4 years. Gamergates can even transition back into the worker caste if replaced by another queen, their lifespan reverting back to 7 months.

How is ant lifespan so mutable?

New research by Yan et al. (2022) points to an insulin-suppressing protein as a possible answer.

The researchers compared gene expression during caste switching and found that ants that switch from worker to gamergate produce more insulin. The increased insulin results in a change in the balance of activity between the two main insulin signalling pathways, MAPK (which controls metabolism and egg formation) and AKT (which controls ageing).

On transitioning to a gamergate, the MAPK insulin signalling pathway’s activity increases, inducing ovary development and the production of eggs. But this also results in the production of an insulin-suppressing protein (Imp-L2) which blocks the AKT insulin signalling pathway, increasing longevity.

IMP-L2 essentially acts as a switch between a worker being short-lived and sterile compared to a queen being long-lived and fertile.

Original research:

http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.abm8767

A note about the sciku:

Nathan and Andrew independently wrote their sciku about this research and discovered the coincidence when Nathen posted his poem on Twitter. The two different approaches to writing about the same subject demonstrate why sciku are such a consistently interesting medium for exploring and sharing research.

Author bios:

Dr Nathan Woodling is a lecturer in molecular biosciences at the University of Glasgow. You can follow him on Twitter here: @NathanWoodling.

Dr Andrew Holmes is a former researcher in animal welfare and the founder and editor of The Sciku Project. You can follow him on Twitter here: @AndrewMHolmes.

Posted on

Dance Therapy by Dr Michael J. Leach

beating heart & drums—
she dances through the grey in
a persimmon dress

by Dr Michael J. Leach

This sciku suggests the therapeutic benefits of dancing through the bright orange colour persimmon—a symbol of happiness and good health. The therapeutic benefits of dancing, such as significantly reduced anxiety following dance movement therapy, were recently reported in a meta-analysis of individual studies by Koch et al. (2019).

In early 2022, therapeutic benefits of dancing were also artistically expressed in the music video for Florence + the Machine’s single ‘Free’ (directed by Autumn de Wilde):

This music video provided the visual inspiration for my sciku while the research paper by Koch et al. (2019) provided the underlying science.

Original Research:

Koch SC, Riege RFF, Tisborn K, Biondo J, Martin L, Beelmann A. Effects of dance movement therapy and dance on health-related psychological outcomes. A meta-analysis update. Frontiers in Psychology. 2019; 10: 1806. doi: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01806

Author Bio:

Michael J. Leach (@m_jleach) is an Australian poet and academic at Monash Rural Health. His poetry collections include Chronicity (MPU, 2020) and Natural Philosophies (Recent Work Press, forthcoming).

Check out more sciku by Michael, including ‘The Burden of Bushfire Smoke‘, ‘The Core Correlate of COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance‘, ‘Drug-Induced Hip Fractures‘, ‘The Psychopharmacological Revolution‘, ‘Quality of Life at Seven Years Post-Stroke‘, ‘The Early Impacts of COVID-19 on Australian General Practice‘, A Sciku for Rayner Explainer, and ‘Australian Science Poetry‘ with science communicator Rachel Rayner. Michael also has another Covid-19-related sciku published in Pulse which is well worth checking out: ‘flu shot announcement‘.

Posted on

Optimism

Elixir of life
lies within our own outlook.
Old age will be great!

Meher Baba was on to something with when he came up with his adage “Don’t Worry, Be Happy”. The Indian spiritual master’s famous saying received global recognition in Bobby McFerrin’s chart-topping a cappella hit in 1988 (and later at the turn of the century thanks to ‘Big Mouth Billy Bass’).

Yet new research suggests that Meher Baba was on to something when he coined is famous phrase. Koga et al. (2022) tracked the longevity of more than 150,000 women over the course of 26 years and examined factors influencing morbidity and mortality including ethnicity, lifestyle and psychological outlook.

The researchers found that higher optimism was associated with longer lifespans, overall and across racial and ethnic groups. Whilst optimism is partly heritable, research shows that “optimism is modifiable with accessible methods that target optimism such as writing exercises and cognitive-behavioural strategies”.

All too often we focus on factors that negatively impact longevity. We should take a leaf out of Meher Baba’s book, be happy and remember the importance of thinking that the glass is half-full.

Intriguingly, whilst this research in the USA suggests the link between optimism and longevity, a study released earlier in 2022 by Okuzono et al. suggests that contrary to the latest research from Western populations, optimism is unrelated to longevity among Japanese older adults.

Original research:

Koga et al. (2022) https://doi.org/10.1111/jgs.17897

Okuzono et al. (2022) https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-022-00511-8

Posted on

Fussy Eaters

When it comes to food,
a devil may indeed care.
Picky scavengers.

Scavengers are opportunists, feeding whenever and on whatever they can. If an animal relies primarily on scavenging (instead of hunting) then food is not guaranteed and so it’s important to feed when they can. As a result, scavengers shouldn’t be picky eaters.

Yet recent research by Lewis et al. (2022) suggests that the Tasmanian devil may buck these expectations. The researchers took whisker samples from devils caught around Tasmania and analysed the stable isotopes present in them to determine what the devils had been eating.

Rather than seeing the generalised diet typical of a scavenger, the researchers found that most Tasmanian devils are actually dietary specialists, preferring to feed on specific foods (for example birds, wallabies or possums). Curiously, heavier devils were more likely to show this specialisation in feeding behaviour, although the reasons for this are as yet unknown.

So why are Tasmanian devils different from all other scavengers?

It may be because there are no larger predators to compete with in Tasmania – their main competition is each other. Medium-sized mammals, such as wallabies and possum, are common victims of road collisions which may mean that there’s an abundance of carcasses of these species for devils to choose from, which combined with reduced competition enables dietary specialisation.

Further reading: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ECE3.8338

Posted on

The Burden of Bushfire Smoke in Contemporary Australia by Dr Michael J. Leach

summer wildfires taint
our air…hospital visits
and deaths exceed norms

by Dr Michael J. Leach

In contemporary Australia, the frequency and intensity of bushfire events have increased alongside the rate of global warming. This disastrous consequence of climate change is illustrated by the 2019-20 Australian bushfire season: the so-called ‘Black Summer’. Over the course of that bushfire season, hundreds of wildfires burned across 24 million hectares of land inhabited by diverse flora, fauna, and humans, primarily in the southeast of Australia. Bushfire events peaked during December 2019 and January 2020.

Bushfire smoke has multiple real-world impacts, including adverse effects on public health. In order to gain a preliminary understanding of the public health burden of bushfire smoke generated by the 2019-20 Australian bushfire season, Arriagada et al. (2020) undertook a quantitative analysis of publicly available air quality, demographic, and health data over the period 1/10/2019-10/2/2020. Population-level exposure to particulate matter below a known critical level of 2.5 micrometres in diameter (i.e. PM2.5) was estimated for the four most bushfire-affected jurisdictions of Australia: New South Wales (NSW), the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), Queensland, and Victoria. PM2.5 concentrations were compared with past average values recorded by air quality stations. The authors also determined, for each jurisdiction, the incidence of several relevant health outcomes: hospital admission for respiratory or cardiovascular issues, asthma-related visits to emergency departments (EDs), and excess deaths. The PM2.5 data and incidence rates were used to calculate a measure of exposure-response risk.

The authors’ analysis revealed that, across the four Australian jurisdictions under investigation, bushfire smoke led to an estimated 2,027 hospital admissions for respiratory issues, 1,305 asthma-related visits to EDs, 1,124 hospital admissions for cardiovascular issues, and 417 excess deaths. For each of these health outcomes, the public health burden was greatest for NSW followed by Victoria, Queensland, and then the ACT. It is important to note, however, that there are levels of uncertainty attached to these estimates: they may be underestimates or overestimates of the true values. The authors highlighted the importance of more detailed epidemiological analyses of the public health burden associated with bushfire smoke in Australia. While such studies would build the evidence base in this area, the preliminary statistics reported here are still substantial in magnitude and suggestive of the need for bushfire prevention and preparedness strategies in contemporary Australia.

The original research article described here is available open access online:

Arriagada NB, Palmer AJ, Bowman DMJS, Morgan GG, Jalaludin BB, Johnston FH. (2020). Unprecedented smoke-related health burden associated with the 2019-20 bushfires in eastern Australia. Medical Journal of Australia. 213(6): 282-283. https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2020/213/6/unprecedented-smoke-related-health-burden-associated-2019-20-bushfires-eastern   

Michael J. Leach (@m_jleach) is an Australian epidemiologist, biostatistician, and poet who works at Monash University. His poetry collections include Chronicity (MPU, 2020) and Natural Philosophies (Recent Work Press, forthcoming).

Check out more sciku by Michael, including ‘The Core Correlate of COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance‘, ‘Drug-Induced Hip Fractures‘, ‘The Psychopharmacological Revolution‘, ‘Quality of Life at Seven Years Post-Stroke‘, ‘The Early Impacts of COVID-19 on Australian General Practice‘, and ‘Australian Science Poetry‘ with science communicator Rachel Rayner. Michael also has another Covid-19-related sciku published in Pulse which is well worth checking out: ‘flu shot announcement‘.

Posted on

Wood Wide Web by Gauri Sirur

Fungal filaments
Humming under forest floor
Trees communicate.

By Gauri Sirur

Trees communicate with each other through an underground network of mycorrhizal fungi. The fungal strands colonize the tree roots, and form a web connecting the roots to each other.

The relationship between the fungi and trees is usually symbiotic. The fungi take a share of the sugars that the trees produce during photosynthesis. In return, the trees receive nutrients such as phosphorous and nitrogen that the fungi synthesize from the soil.

Through the network, trees share food — carbon-rich sugars, nitrogen, and phosphorous — with other trees. They also send out warning messages about predators such as aphids and caterpillars. Or about pathogen attacks. This buys their neighbors time to activate their defenses.

All is not sugar and spice, however. Both trees and fungi try to extract the maximum amount of nutrition from the other while giving the minimum in return.

Trees are more likely to help their kin than an unrelated tree. Or to release toxic substances to harm an unwanted neighbor.

Dr. Suzanne Simard, a scientist at the University of British Columbia, discovered the fungal network in 1997. She dubbed it the “Wood Wide Web.”

Further reading:

‘Wood Wide Web mapped for the first time’ – Science article.

‘Uncovering the hidden language of trees’ – Suzanne Simard interview.

‘Net transfer of carbon between ectomycorrhizal tree species in the field’ – Suzanne Simard’s 1997 research paper first documenting the fungal network.

Gauri Sirur enjoys writing about nature, family, and anything that intrigues her. You can find her writing at gaurisirur.wordpress.com and gaurisirur.medium.com.

This sciku was originally published by Gauri Sirur on Medium.com here.

Posted on

Mistletoe

festive parasites
regulating virulence
to preserve their hosts

Mistletoe is a parasitic plant often found growing on hardwoods, such as apple trees. Whilst able to photosynthesize itself, the majority of a mistletoe plant’s water and nutrients are taken from its host, putting strain on the host plant.

The burden of parasitism can be particularly hard on the host when environmental conditions are tough, for instance during a drought. Research by Nabity et al. (2021), however, has shown that the desert mistletoe (Phoradendron californicum) is able to adjust the balance between autotrophy (the amount it obtains resources for itself through photosynthesis) and heterotrophy (the amount it takes resources from its host).

During dry periods the researchers found that desert mistletoe plants increased the amount of photosynthesis they performed, limiting the burden they place on their environmentally stressed host, the velvet mesquite (Prosopsis velutina). In this way mistletoe plants increase the chances of their host plants surviving the harsh environmental conditions and, as a result, increase their own chances of survival.

The researchers also demonstrated evidence of competition for xylem resources between mistletoe plants on the same host, some of the first evidence of intraspecific competition in parasites. The mistletoe plants are able to detect other mistletoe plants on the same host and can adjust their virulence accordingly. Possible ways that mistletoe could detect one another include via scent (chemical compounds released through a plant’s pores) or through chemical compounds traveling along the host’s xylem.

The research also suggests that levels of relatedness between mistletoe plants sharing the same host may even affect virulence. More research is needed to clarify this, however, and to investigate whether the plants can actually detect relatedness or whether mistletoe’s method of seed dispersal simply means that plants sharing the same host are likely to have higher levels of relatedness than mistletoe plants on separate hosts.

Further reading: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2021.01.034

Posted on

Public Health by Dr Alex Stockdale

In mid-2021 The Sciku Project teamed up with the Literature and Science Hub at the University of Liverpool to run the ‘Research in Verse Poetry Competition’, open to staff and postgraduate research students across the university to submit poems about their research subject. The competition saw poems addressing all sorts of topics, ranging from gravity to slavery to life in the lab.

Dr Alex Stockdale’s poem ‘Public Health’ was praised by the judges as a notable entry:

Public Health

In a long corridor wailing
Bite
The virus knuckles and grasps
Enters cells
At birth was I living with him
His genome nestling in mine

Now fluid fills the belly
Tumour fills my liver
Hope left this station
Staring out the window
At a blue calm sky on a roaring hot day in Malawi

Too late they said
Too hard
Nothing more to say
I don’t have much time left to live but I want you to know
It could have been prevented

Background

This poem is about my research into liver disease in Blantyre, Malawi. We found that over 70% of liver cancer is caused by hepatitis B. Infection can be prevented by vaccination starting at birth and by antiviral treatment for pregnant women. Currently, vaccination starts at 6 weeks of age and my research is exploring whether this is sufficient to prevent transmission. This poem draws attention to the many people who present with late stage liver cancer in Malawi, for whom median prognosis is only 6 weeks at diagnosis, and for whom hepatitis B infection remains a preventable disease. 

Dr Alexander Stockdale is a clinical researcher at the University of Liverpool with a focus on viral hepatitis and HIV in sub-Saharan Africa.

Posted on

Mammoth document by Dr Janette Greenhalgh

In mid-2021 The Sciku Project teamed up with the Literature and Science Hub at the University of Liverpool to run the ‘Research in Verse Poetry Competition’, open to staff and postgraduate research students across the university to submit poems about their research subject. The competition saw poems addressing all sorts of topics, ranging from gravity to slavery to life in the lab.

Dr Janette Greenhalgh’s fascinating poem using a repeating haiku structure was a notable entry:

Mammoth document

Mammoth document
Brim-full of words, so URGENT!
Fight, flight, cup of tea?

URGENT document
Mammoth in the room, storming
Kettle shrieks volumes

Words, words, words and more
Unwrap, repurpose, rebind
With fight, flight and tea

Mammoth document
Brim-full of our words. Job done!
Outside, sweet birdsong

Background

Our research is mainly commissioned by the NIHR Health Technology Assessment programme on behalf of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). Our core work is to provide a critique of evidence submissions to NICE from pharmaceutical companies for the clinical and cost effectiveness of new drugs. We have multi-disciplinary teams working on each report (clinical effectiveness reviewer, statistician, economic modeller, clinical expert). The timelines are very short – we have 8 weeks from receipt of the evidence to submitting our critique to NICE.

Dr Janette Greenhalgh is a Senior Research Fellow with the Liverpool Reviews and Implementation Group, Department of Health Data Science, Institute of Psychology and Health. You can connect with her on Twitter here: @drjanetteg

Posted on

Yearning by Dr Kate Baker

In mid-2021 The Sciku Project teamed up with the Literature and Science Hub at the University of Liverpool to run the ‘Research in Verse Poetry Competition’, open to staff and postgraduate research students across the university to submit poems about their research subject. The competition saw poems addressing all sorts of topics, ranging from gravity to slavery to life in the lab.

Dr Kate Baker’s nostalgic haiku on the perils of academic career progression was a notable entry:

Yearning

Test tubes and pipettes?
A life spent on email
yearning for the bench

Background

It’s not so much my research as the transition from postdoc to principal investigator that inspired my poem.

Dr Kate Baker is a Senior Lecturer and leader of The Bakery – an applied microbial genomics laboratory at the University of Liverpool. You can connect with her on Twitter here: @ksbakes.

Posted on

Vaccines and Protection by B.R. Shenoy

Vaccines protect us
Trigger an immune response
Prevent infection

by B.R. Shenoy

Mechanism of Action of Vaccines

“A vaccine works by training the immune system to recognize and combat pathogens, either viruses or bacteria. To do this, certain molecules from the pathogen must be introduced into the body to trigger an immune response.

“These molecules are called antigens, and they are present on all viruses and bacteria. By injecting these antigens into the body, the immune system can safely learn to recognize them as hostile invaders, produce antibodies, and remember them for the future. If the bacteria or virus reappears, the immune system will recognize the antigens immediately and attack aggressively well before the pathogen can spread and cause sickness”

— PublicHealth, ‘How Vaccines Work’

B.R. Shenoy is a biochemistry and chemical toxicology, M.S. She is a contributing writer for The Good Men Project. Her work has also appeared in Scary Mommy, Positively Positive, and Idle Inks. She is a content creator on Medium. You can catch up with her on Twitter @Shenoy100.

This sciku was originally published on Medium: https://medium.com/illumination/vaccines-and-protection-a-sciku-ca1491e36b13

Posted on

Darwin’s Finches

islands diverging
beaks for seeds and bugs and blood
letters rearranged

Darwin’s finches are a group of 18 species of passerine birds found across the Galápagos Islands (hence their other name of Galápagos finches). The group are a poster child for Darwin’s theory of evolution by means of natural selection. During his voyage on the HMS Beagle he collected specimens from what later turned out to be 12 of the 18 species, although Darwin himself didn’t realise the significance at the time, not realising they were all types of finch (ornithologist John Gould corrected him about the species) and not recording which islands they came from (he was later able to correctly assign them based on the notes of others on the voyage).

As the finches colonised the islands and began to adapt to the varied habitats and food resources available, the different groups diverged from each other, resulting in the separate species we see today. The finches themselves have a huge variety of forms (likely leading to Darwin’s confusion), most notably in their beak shapes and sizes. Their beaks are highly specialised to the food sources available on the different islands, with different species feeding on nuts, seeds, flowers, nectar, leaves, cacti, and invertebrates (including insects, parasites, larvae and spiders).

Perhaps the strangest of all is the Vampire Ground Finch (Geospiza septentrionalis) which feeds on the blood of other birds such as blue-footed boobies and Nazca boobies. It’s theorised that this behaviour evolved from mutualistic behaviours where the finch would clean parasites from the plumage of larger birds. These days their sharp beaks are used to peck their victim’s skin until it starts bleeding and the finches feed on the blood. Their unpleasant behaviours don’t stop there, however, as they steal eggs and roll them into rocks to break the shells, and they’ll also eat guano – excrement from seabirds. Since fresh water is scarce on their home islands (Wolf Island and Darwin Island), they also feed on nectar from Galápagos prickly pear flowers.

Molecular studies of Darwin’s finches suggests that the timing and spatial expression of at least four genes are responsible for the differences in beak structure, alphabetic changes that led to anatomical changes: BMP4 (which encodes Bone morphogenetic protein 4), CaM (which encodes Calmodulin), ALX1 (which encodes ALX homeobox protein 1), and HMGA2 (which regulates the expression of other genes).

A note about the sciku: this sciku has been written using a scale and focussing structure – narrowing in from the vast islands to the beaks to the individual letters of DNA. Have you ever tried writing sciku with a focussing structure? If so, how did you get on? Let us know in the comments below!

Interested instances of evolution in action? Check out this sciku by Prof Matthew J. James on the classic example of evolution, the Peppered Moth: Dark Moths.

Posted on

Urban parakeet by Dr Matt Geary

Urban parakeet
Feeds in small parks and gardens
Missing from forests

By Matt Geary

As with many islands around the world, the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean is home to a number of bird species found only there. Hispaniola is divided between two countries, Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Both countries have experienced severe environmental change since European colonisation, including considerable forest loss and agricultural expansion. Hispaniolan parakeet (Psittacara chloropterus) is hard to find across the Dominican Republic but a considerable population lives in the capital city, Santo Domingo. Our work explores how these vulnerable island endemics use the urban environment.

In 2019, our research team spent three months walking through parts of the city where parakeets are found, counting birds as well as measuring the natural environment around them. They covered 60 1 km2 squares of Santo Domingo, visiting each square three times. As well as looking for parakeets, they recorded sightings of another endemic, Hispaniolan woodpecker, a species which makes cavities in trees where parakeets are potentially able to nest. The team were also on the lookout for parakeet nest sites in trees and buildings.

Hispaniolan parakeet (Psittacara chloropterus). Image credit: Martingloor.

The population in the city is certainly large. We counted around 1500 birds at a communal roost site in the city centre and saw lots of birds on our surveys. We found that parakeet distribution within the city was related to the number of different tree species within the square and saw more parakeet groups where there were more small greenspace patches. This suggests Hispaniolan parakeets are using street level green spaces like small parks and gardens for foraging rather than relying on large areas of vegetation. We only found three locations where parakeets were nesting, all of which were previously know – one palm tree and two communal roosts in buildings.

This species certainly needs some support across the island of Hispaniola and we hope that by improving our knowledge about this population, which may be the largest remaining, we can help to improve the outlook for the species as a whole. Our work continues on this species and other Hispaniolan endemics. @AndreaThomen is putting the miles in with survey work across the island for her PhD research so we hope to have much more to report in the near future.

Further reading: Geary, M., Brailsford, C.J., Hough, L.I., Baker, F., Guerrero, S., Leon, Y.M., Collar, N.J. and Marsden, S.J., 2021. Street-level green spaces support a key urban population of the threatened Hispaniolan parakeet Psittacara chloropterus. Urban Ecosystems, pp.1-8. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11252-021-01119-1

Dr Matt Geary (https://mattgeary.github.io/) is a Conservation Ecologist working in the Conservation Biology Research Group at the University of Chester. Twitter: @MattGeary

Posted on

The Early Impacts of COVID-19 on Australian General Practice by Dr Michael J. Leach

General practice
as COVID strikes—workloads rise
as revenues fall

by Dr Michael J. Leach

The coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic has affected populations and industries in multifarious ways. For more than a year now, global viral spread and associated lockdowns have driven major health and economic crises. While industries such as travel and entertainment have experienced dramatic reductions in both workload and revenue, the situation in the health care industry is more complex.

In a health services research study, Kippen et al. (2020) explored the early impacts of COVID-19 on Australian general practice through a national online survey. This survey was distributed to 4,891 Australian general practice supervisors on 14 April 2020—less than one month after the World Health Organization upgraded the COVID-19 epidemic to a pandemic on 11 March 2020. The cut-off date for survey completion was 13 May 2020. Overall, 572 of the 4,891 general practice supervisors responded, giving a relatively good physician response rate of 12%.

Of the 572 respondents, 61% reported an increased overall workload during the pandemic while 77% reported reduced practice revenue. Increased workloads related to the implementation of new hygiene practices and clinical regimens, heightened community anxiety, and higher volumes of phone calls. Reduced practice revenues, meanwhile, stemmed from additional administrative work, additional clinical work that could not be reimbursed through the government in the usual way, and the need to purchase new resources such as disinfectant and personal protective equipment. Such changes have adversely affected the viability of Australian general practice—a cornerstone of the health care sector, especially during a pandemic.

The original research article described here is available open access online:
Kippen R, O’Sullivan B, Hickson H, Leach M, Wallace G. (2020). A national survey of COVID-19 challenges, responses and effects in Australian general practice. Australian Journal of General Practice. 49(11): 745-751. https://www1.racgp.org.au/ajgp/2020/november/national-survey-of-covid-19-challenges

Michael J. Leach (@m_jleach) is an Australian epidemiologist, biostatistician, and poet based at the Monash University School of Rural Health. His debut poetry collection is Chronicity (Melbourne Poets Union, 2020).

Check out more sciku by Michael, including ‘The Core Correlate of COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance‘, ‘Drug-Induced Hip Fractures‘, ‘The Psychopharmacological Revolution‘, ‘Quality of Life at Seven Years Post-Stroke‘, ‘The Burden of Bushfire Smoke‘, and ‘Australian Science Poetry‘ with science communicator Rachel Rayner. Michael also has another Covid-19-related sciku published in Pulse which is well worth checking out: ‘flu shot announcement‘.

Posted on

Owls of the Eastern Ice by Jonathan Slaght – Book Review

a fish owl
on an icy river bank
grabs more than fish

by Jon Hare.

Jonathan Slaght’s book “Owls of the Eastern Ice” is part natural history and part adventure story. The natural history focuses on Blakiston’s fish owl, the largest living species of owl. The adventure focuses on Dr. Slaght’s research on the Blakiston’s fish owl in the Primorye territory of Russia – a rugged region in the Far East bordering the Sea of Japan, North Korea, and China. The region is home to Amur tigers, Asiatic bears, masu salmon, and Blakiston’s fish owls. The region is also home to villages, logging companies, and loners – all living off of the land.

Dr. Slaght’s task is to understand the owl and then develop a conservation plan that the logging companies and local communities can support. This is a well written narrative that is as much a story of the human condition as it is a description of the work necessary to better understand and conserve the fish owl.

Slaght, J.C. 2020. Owls of the Eastern ice: A quest to find and save the world’s largest owl. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 368 pp. ISBN: 9781250798718

Dr. Jon Hare is a scientist who works in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. His research background is fisheries oceanography and climate change impacts on marine fisheries. Check out Jon’s previous sciku ‘Varves’, ‘Cobwebs to Foodwebs’, ‘Signs of Spring’ and ‘Glacier Mice‘.

Posted on

The Core Correlate of COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance by Dr Michael J. Leach

vaccine acceptance
correlates with a belief
in the greater good

by Dr Michael J. Leach

During 2020 and 2021, acceptance of coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) vaccines has been among the most topical areas of health science research. As COVID-19 vaccine availability continues to rise worldwide in a global effort to combat the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, more and more people are faced with the question of whether or not to get vaccinated. Even when an approved COVID-19 vaccine is readily available to a particular subgroup of the global population, a high level of vaccine uptake cannot be guaranteed. For one reason or another, individuals within the population may be hesitant to roll up their sleeves to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

In a UK population-based study, Freeman et al. (2021) investigated factors related to vaccine hesitancy through an online survey completed by 5,114 adults over September-October 2020. The research team measured vaccine hesitancy within the study population using a specially developed tool—the Oxford COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy scale. While 71.7% of surveyed adults expressed willingness to accept the COVID-19 vaccine, 16.6% were very unsure about vaccination and 11.7% showed strong vaccine hesitancy.

Among the various beliefs, views, attitudes, and past experiences considered by the researchers in their analysis, the factor most strongly correlated with vaccine hesitancy was whether or not individuals believed in the collective importance of COVID-19 vaccination. An individual’s belief in the collective importance of COVID-19 vaccination is defined as the recognition that getting vaccinated protects the community and saves lives. This belief is consistent with the critically important field of public health and with the idea of doing something—in this case, getting vaccinated—for ‘the greater good’.

Based on the results of their study, Freeman et al. suggest that public health messages highlighting the societal benefits of vaccination could be broadcast in an effort to increase belief in the collective importance of COVID-19 vaccination and, thus, improve vaccine acceptance and uptake.

The original research article described here is available open access online:
Freeman D et al. (2021). COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in the UK: the Oxford coronavirus explanations, attitudes, and narratives survey (Oceans) II. Psychological Medicine 1–15. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7804077/pdf/S0033291720005188a.pdf

Michael J. Leach (@m_jleach) is an Australian epidemiologist, biostatistician, and poet based at the Monash University School of Rural Health. His debut poetry collection is Chronicity (Melbourne Poets Union, 2020).

Check out more sciku by Michael, including ‘Drug-Induced Hip Fractures‘, ‘The Psychopharmacological Revolution‘, ‘Quality of Life at Seven Years Post-Stroke‘, ‘The Early Impacts of COVID-19 on Australian General Practice‘, ‘The Burden of Bushfire Smoke‘, and ‘Australian Science Poetry‘ with science communicator Rachel Rayner. Michael also has another Covid-19-related sciku published in Pulse which is well worth checking out: ‘flu shot announcement‘.

Posted on

Indirect Inequality

Covid cares not for
the racial disparity
of heart disease

It was well-known before the pandemic that different racial/ethnic populations in the United States had different burdens of cardiovascular disease, with Black populations the worst affected.

The Covid-19 pandemic, however, has found ways of making bad things even worse, with deaths from heart disease and cerebrovascular disease rising across the whole of the USA. Yet new research by Wadhra et al. (2021) suggests that these increases aren’t evenly distributed across all racial/ethnic populations. Black, Asian and Hispanic populations have experienced a much larger relative increase in deaths (~19%) than the non-Hispanic White population (~2%).

A number of factors could be combining to result in this disproportionate impact of the pandemic on different racial/ethnic groups, including “reduced access to healthcare services, increased health system strain, and hospital avoidance due to fear of contracting the virus in high-burden areas. In addition, inequities in the social determinants of health that are associated with cardiovascular risk, such as poverty and stress, have likely worsened for these groups.”

Whilst depressingly unsurprising, these results make it clear that the United States urgently needs public health and policy strategies to “monitor and mitigate the short- and long-term adverse effects of the pandemic on the cardiovascular health of diverse populations.”

Original research: https://doi.org/10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.121.054378

Posted on

Xenopus Enrichment

Smooth frogs and fake plants
embracing in the water.
Happiness is here.

The African Clawed Frog, Xenopus laevis, is a common laboratory model species of amphibian, used in research primarily for their embryos and eggs. Yet despite their popularity little attention has been given to the housing and husbandry – what is the best way to keep the African Clawed Frog?

Recently, however, things have begun to change as more attention is being given to the welfare of ‘lower’ vertebrates and invertebrates. Indeed, in 2016 we published research demonstrating that a darker tank background resulted in lower levels of corticosterone (a stress hormone), lower instances of stereotypical behaviour and less change in body mass (Holmes et al, 2016). The results suggest that darker backgrounds are better for African Clawed frog welfare in captivity (check out the sciku ‘Clawed frogs indicate‘ for more information about the study and the likely reasons behind the preference).

Now in 2021 new research has been published by Ramos and Ortiz-Díez that examines X. laevis preferences for types of physical enrichment within their tanks. The researchers provided tanks of frogs with artificial plants and opaque PVC tunnels and checked on the frogs three times a day for 6 weeks to see where in the tanks they were spending their time – with the plants, tunnels or in the open areas of the tanks. The results indicate that the frogs preferred the plants 40% more than the tunnels, although both were preferred over the areas of open space in the tank.

As research into the welfare of amphibians gains momentum it’s good to see more work focussing on this common laboratory animal and how it’s kept in captivity. Particularly warming is that in the experimental methods the researchers specifically state that tanks with dark sides and bases were used to reduce visual stress, referencing our earlier work.

Original research: https://doi.org/10.1177%2F00236772211011290

A note about the sciku: The phrase ‘smooth frogs’ that starts the poem is a reference to the meaning of the name laevis – smooth (the word Xenopus means ‘strange foot’).

Interested in African clawed frogs? Check out these other Xenopus sciku: ‘Clawed frogs indicate‘, ‘Have frog, will travel‘, ‘Fungal culprit‘ and ‘Reservoir or predator‘.

Posted on

Saba, the morning breeze by Dr Jolene Ramsey

We know you were small
Preying on Proteus too
Surprise, DNA!

by Dr Jolene Ramsey

Bacteriophages, or phages, are the viruses that infect bacteria. They come in different shapes and sizes, but are often icosahedral (spherical) and tailed. A tailed phage is structured like a filled lollipop, where the candy represents the phage head, the filling represents the nucleic acid genome, and the stick is like the tail. The overwhelming majority of phages scientists and students have discovered up to this point are tailed with a DNA genome, largely due to bias in our sampling methods. Recent investigations suggest many phages with RNA genomes remain to be isolated, and they were hypothesized to be small and round, similar to the ones that are already known. We want to find them.

In a very focused hunt, we looked for small RNA phages against the human opportunistic pathogen Proteus using a filtration selection method. After a few rounds of selection, there was a prime candidate that was definitely small, but it didn’t pass the other tests that define RNA phages. It was a puzzle. For clues, we looked at the phage shape in the electron microscope. To our astonishment the phage had a tail and a very small head! We immediately verified that it had a DNA genome as well. Though the search was a failure, we put phage Saba in the arsenal for use in other projects. To fully survey the diverse kinds of phage in the environment we will need to develop and refine targeted and general protocols for phage isolation. This will give us the most accurate picture of the phage universe.

Original research: https://doi.org/10.1128/MRA.01094-19

Jolene Ramsey studies bacterial viruses (phage) as a Center for Phage Technology postdoctoral researcher. She tries to understand how phages orchestrate their escape plan at the molecular level. You can catch up with her on Twitter: @jrrmicro

Enjoyed Jolene’s sciku? Check out her excellent sciku ‘Privateer, the phage’, ‘TF gets in on the bud’, ‘Click click go!’ and ‘The Phriendly Phage‘.

Posted on

The Phriendly Phage by Dr Jolene Ramsey

Phage are phriends, not phood
Not Phriendly to host, but nice
Plaques phor lab hunters

By Jolene Ramsey

Vibrio natriegens is an environmental microbe that naturally resides in marine habitats, including brackish waters and salty marshes. If you Google this bacterial species, all the top hits will tout its ‘fast’ growth. Unusual among bacteria, but common with other vibrios, V. natriegens has a  >5 Megabase genome split across two chromosomes. It also has a high count of total ribosomes, the cellular machines that make protein. As a non-pathogenic environmental organism, researchers are exploring its use in various biotechnology applications, including as a protein production system. This is one reason some are hoping V. natriegens will become the next lab workhorse in molecular and industrial microbiology that could even rival E. coli.

With an interest in improving the resources available to use in this field of research, we decided to look for bacteriophages that target V. natriegens. Bacteriophages, or phage, are the viruses that infect bacteria. Because phage rely so heavily on their host cell to copy themselves, they turn out to be extremely useful tools for probing how the cell works. As a kind of natural predator, phages can be found everywhere the host lives. The phage this Sciku is about, named Phriendly, was found in a sample collected by a college student brand-new to research on a trip to the beach.

The phage hunt process involves layering spots of environmental samples on top of growing bacteria, then looking for clear spots where the bacteria did not grow (or died due to infection) called plaques. A few of the beach samples yielded these plaques. One was a hazy, weak plaque that was difficult to propagate. We nicknamed it ‘problem phage’. In contrast, another had large, clear plaques that appeared quickly and consistently. We dubbed it the ‘friendly phage’. Following our cute tradition, we replace all ‘f’ sounds with the ‘ph’ used in the word phage to come up with the name Phriendly. Along with others, Phriendly is in a collection of phages we hope can be tools to better harvest the great potential its host microbe has for advancing biotechnology.

Original research: https://doi.org/10.1128/MRA.01096-19

Jolene Ramsey studies bacterial viruses (phage) as a Center for Phage Technology postdoctoral researcher. She tries to understand how phages orchestrate their escape plan at the molecular level. You can catch up with her on Twitter: @jrrmicro

Enjoyed Jolene’s sciku? Check out her excellent sciku ‘Privateer, the phage’, ‘TF gets in on the bud’, ‘Click click go!’ and ‘Saba, the morning breeze’.

Posted on

The Masterplan by Dr Lisa Holmes

Zoo science prevails

Conservation cannot wait

“Prevent extinction”

By Lisa Holmes

Celebrating its 90th year, Chester Zoo is one of the world’s leading zoo’s, housing more than 500 species and dedicated to their mission of “Preventing extinction”.

This week marks the release of their new 10 year Conservation Masterplan; a bold vision with the aim to tackle the global extinction crisis using six key targets:

  • Preserve options for future conservation for an additional 150 species through conservation breeding and propagation.
  • Halt or reverse the decline of 200 highly threatened populations of plants and animal species in the wild.
  • Improve landscapes for wildlife totalling 250,000 hectares.
  • Train 5,000 conservationists to deliver positive change for wildlife.
  • Empower 10 million people to live more sustainably.
  • Influence change in five major policy areas for wildlife.

Chester Zoo has an integrated approach to conservation using the skills and expertise of their staff, conservation partners, students, academics and supporters.

Dr Lisa Holmes is the Lead Conservation Scientist for Behaviour and Welfare at the zoo. She works closely with the animal curators and teams to provide an evidence-base for management decisions. With her team of staff and students, she conducts research to monitor the wellbeing of all species and is developing tailored welfare assessments for use within the zoo. She is also Vice-Chair of the Animal Welfare Working Group for the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA).

Check out Lisa’s previous sciku ‘A Zoo Without Bars’.

You can read Chester Zoo’s Conservation Masterplan by clicking on the image below:

Posted on

Rigs to Reefs

Oh puffing pig fish –
torn between disturbance and
piscine temptations.

Noise pollution from oil and gas drilling platforms can have huge negative impacts upon marine life. However, such rigs can also act as artificial reefs, providing shelter and a hard substrate for predators and prey alike. Moreover trawling isn’t permitted close to rigs, meaning that the seabeds around them are mostly untouched.

Harbour porpoises, Phocoena phocoena, have previously been shown to change their behaviour or avoid areas as a result of unnatural noise levels. Yet a recent study by Tubbert Clausen et al. (2021) has revealed that the temptations of high prey availability can overcome such affects. The team use 21 acoustic loggers, placed on the seabed for up to 2 years to monitor noise levels and harbour porpoise activity.

They found that despite the high noise levels from the largest rig in the Danish North Sea, the porpoises were still found close to the rig, emitting echolocation noises that indicate they were hunting for fish. The platform’s artificial reef effect appeared to increase fish numbers which drew the porpoises closer.

The findings suggest that as platforms come to the end of their lifespans, they could be partially left in place to continue acting as artificial reefs – the rigs-to-reefs concept.

The first line of the sciku refers to two names for the harbour porpoise:

– The ‘pig fish’ from the Medieval Latin porcopiscus, a compound of porcus (pig) and piscus (fish).

– The ‘puffing pig’ which comes from the noise the porpoises makes when surfacing to breathe.

Original research: https://doi.org/10.1002/2688-8319.12055

Posted on

Click click go! by Dr Jolene Ramsey

Galaxy applied
Eyes scan Apollo data
To annotate phage

By Jolene Ramsey

Studying the genetic makeup of an organism helps us understand how they tick. Scientists often make precise notes about the position and function of important features within a genome, called annotation, akin to marking and reviewing the restaurants on a city map. Viruses tend to have smaller genomes, but they are packed with information. We annotate the genomes of bacteriophages, the viruses that infect and kill bacteria, to reveal their genetic secrets. While there are automated annotation programs, manual review by human eyeballs is necessary to ensure high quality outcomes. With the number of interesting new phage genomes rising daily, the need for user-friendly tools to analyze their genomes has grown as well.

Using our curated toolbox in an open-source, online bioinformatic portal called Galaxy (https://cpt.tamu.edu/galaxy-pub), features common to bacterial and phage genomes can be spotted and cataloged by novices and experts. There are many feature types, each one detected by a different tool. Instead of manually passing the genome through each tool, we are able to speed up and standardize the process using automatic pipelines that run a prescribed list of analyses. We can visualize the results in context using another linked platform called Apollo, and also compare to known genomes. The coupled Center for Phage Technology Galaxy and Apollo suite have allowed us to annotate >130 bacteriophage genomes, and train many students and researchers along the way.

Original research: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1008214

Jolene Ramsey studies bacterial viruses (phage) as a Center for Phage Technology postdoctoral researcher. She tries to understand how phages orchestrate their escape plan at the molecular level. You can catch up with her on Twitter: @jrrmicro

Enjoyed Jolene’s sciku? Check out her excellent sciku ‘Privateer, the phage’, ‘TF gets in on the bud’, ‘The Phriendly Phage’ and ‘Saba, the morning breeze’.

Posted on

Mapping Seagrass Loss

Quantifying our
marine meadows – past, present.
A threadbare carpet.

Everyone knows their own science interests, the areas of research that they find thought-provoking. Sometimes I think that there are also subjects that we don’t realise we find fascinating. I never knew I was interested in seagrasses but this is the third sciku I’ve published about them, the second that I’ve written myself. It’s curious that I wouldn’t have known this about myself before today when this research paper caught my eye.

Seagrasses are hugely important ecosystems. In the sciku ‘Forgotten value’ I wrote about how seagrass meadows provide a nursery habitat for over a fifth of the world’s largest 25 fisheries. And as Dr Phil Colarusso showed with his sciku ‘Blue Carbon’, seagrass meadows collect and sequester large amounts of carbon, removing it from the global carbon cycle. As a result seagrass meadows are referred to as blue carbon habitats, along with salt marshes and mangroves.

Today’s sciku is based on a study by Green et al (2021), which examines the historical loss of seagrasses from the waters around the United Kingdom. By scrutinising multiple accounts from as early as 1831 and using data collected from 1900 onwards the researchers were able to estimate the UK’s seagrass losses. It makes for sobering reading:

“At least 44% of United Kingdom’s seagrasses have been lost since 1936, 39% since the 1980’s. However, losses over longer time spans may be as high as 92%.”

The research shows that the UK currently has only 8,493 hectares of seagrass meadows remaining. That’s approximated 0.9 Mt (million tonnes) of carbon, equivalent to around £22 million in the current carbon market. Whilst that may seem a lot, it’s worth considering that historic seagrass meadows could have stored 11.5 Mt of carbon, supporting around 400 million fish.

These losses are catastrophic but the information from this study can be used to inform future monitoring and restoration efforts. What’s more, by quantifying the benefits we gain from seagrass meadows as well as what we’ve lost from their disappearance, the findings also provide an impetus for improved conservation efforts, beyond ‘softer’ arguments such improving biodiversity.

Original research: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2021.629962  

Posted on

Privateer, the phage by Dr. Jolene Ramsey

What’s in the EM?
A crayon? A tailocin?
No, that’s Privateer!

By Jolene Ramsey

Proteus mirabilis is an opportunistic human pathogen, causing a large proportion of urinary tract infections. These infections are particularly severe in the elderly, and their treatment is recalcitrant to many antibiotics. There is great interest in using the natural predators of Proteus, their viruses (bacteriophages), to mitigate this issue. However, not many Proteus bacteriophage have been identified or characterized yet.

In our recent study (Corban & Ramsey, 2021), we describe a new phage called Privateer that infects and kills Proteus mirabilis. We first saw this phage in the electron microscope (EM) and noticed its unusual elongated head shape. Privateer has some interesting genes that seem to be common only among the closest related phages. Studies like these are the foundation for future applications combating multi-drug resistant bacterial problems.

Original research: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.10645  

Jolene Ramsey studies bacterial viruses (phage) as a Center for Phage Technology postdoctoral researcher. She focuses on their explosive escape from the host cell after a successful infection. You can catch up with her on Twitter: @jrrmicro

Enjoyed Jolene’s sciku? Check out her other sciku ‘Click click go!’, ‘TF gets in on the bud’, ‘The Phriendly Phage’ and ‘Saba, the morning breeze’.

Posted on

Sawfish Decline

Shout from the rostrum:
‘Poor Carpenters in the soup!’
Such dentistry snared.

Tracking declining animal populations can be tricky enough on land, but in the ocean it’s an even harder proposition. Yet without knowledge of marine animal populations, conservation efforts can’t be directed effectively. One way to solve this issue is to examine drivers of site occupancy – what causes some populations to thrive or decline in an area. Understanding these drivers can allow researchers to predict population declines and gain insight into the probability of local population extinctions.

Sawfish are a family of rays with distinctive long, flat snouts which have horizontal teeth running along the length to resemble saws. Known as rostrums (an alternative definition to the more common meaning of a raised platform for speaking or performing from) they are packed with electroreceptors that allow them to detect prey, whilst the teeth are thought to be used in a swiping motion to incapacitate fish.

Sadly, three of the five sawfish species are Critically Endangered and the other two are Endangered. Since sawfish aren’t commonly sighted keeping track of their populations is hard and there’s little systematic monitoring. To address this Yan et al. (2021) combined data from occurrence surveys with indices of ecological carrying capacity, fishing pressure and management capacity to predict local population extinctions and identify regions where conservation efforts might be most effective.

Overfishing of sawfish is a particular threat: their fins are prized for shark fin soup (whilst sawfish are known as Carpenter sharks, they aren’t actually sharks), their teeth are used as spurs for cockfighting, their rostrum are frequently sold as novelties or trophies, and parts of them are used in traditional medicines in countries including China, Mexico, Brazil, India, Kenya and Iran.

Accidental overfishing is an issue too: their iconic rostrum and teeth are easily tangled in fishing nets and lines. What’s more, untangling sawfish from nets can be difficult and dangerous so some fishermen will kill them before bringing them aboard.

By understanding issues like overfishing and habitat loss Yan et al. were able to show that sawfish are likely to be extinct off the coasts of 55 of the 90 countries where they previously existed. Their findings also suggest that if eight nations prioritise sawfish conservation (Cube, Tanzania, Colombia, Madagascar, Panama, Brazil, Mexico and Sri Lanka), then up to 71.5% of the sawfish family’s historical global distribution would be protected.

Original research: https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abb6026

Posted on

Hedgerow Snuffling by Roy McGhie

Hedgerow snuffling and
intensive farming practices.
A prickly issue.

By Roy McGhie

Hedgehog numbers are declining. Although hedgehogs are often thought of as a countryside animal, recent studies have shown that they are now most likely to be found in urban habitats in the UK.

A recent paper by Yarnell and Pettett (2020) has reviewed the difficulties they face in the rural environment (namely lack of food availability, habitat connectivity and shelter) and highlighted some of the agri-environment options from which they could benefit. However, there is a lack of empirical evidence around the precise benefits such options (like establishment of field margins and boosting hedgerow cover) would bring. More studies are urgently required before hedgehogs and other insectivores are driven out of the countryside entirely.

Original research: https://doi.org/10.3390/ani10091566

Roy McGhie works for Natural England as an Uplands Advisor. You can connect with him on LinkedIn here. If you enjoyed his sciku, check out his previous poems Ghost Ponds, A Heady Mixture and Fluttering by at Dusk.

Posted on

Wildfire’s Secrets

Hidden harm of smoke.
Microbial long-haul flights.
Lurking, infecting.

Wildfires cause huge amounts of long-term harm, including human, other animal and plant deaths, habitat loss, property and infrastructure destruction, the loss of carbon reservoirs and increased chances of flooding and landslides. Small airborne particles in smoke can be inhaled and cause fatal problems within the respiratory system, whilst the high levels of carbon monoxide produced can result in long-term brain damage, heart problems and even suffocation.

Yet researchers are revealing a new potential health threat as a result of wildfires – some microbes and fungi known to cause human infections are able to survive in the smoke plumes. Wildfires disturb soils causing these microbes to become airborne. Within the smoke the microbes ‘travel’ on particulate matter which is likely to protect them from ultraviolet radiation.

Kobziar & Thompson (2020) argue that the ability of microbes to survive in smoke plumes means that wildfires could play a role in geographical patterns of infection and that more research is needed to understand this threat. Particulate matter from wildfire smoke has been found to travel inter-continental distances. Those living close to wildfires, and even more so those firefighters working on the front lines are likely to be most at risk to such microbes – the US Centre for Disease Control has already stated that firefighting is an at-risk profession for coccidioidomycosis, a fungal infection also known as Valley fever.

The researchers argue that too little is currently known about microbe survival and spread in wildfire smoke. Essential questions remain, the answers to which will only be more important as the likelihood of wildfires increases as a result of climate change.

Original research: Kobziar & Thompson, 2020, Science, ‘Wildfire smoke, a potential infectious agent’ https://science.sciencemag.org/cgi/doi/10.1126/science.abe8116

Posted on

Diving for Science by Dr. Phil Colarusso

Collecting data
Breathing air underwater
They pay me for this!

By Phil Colarusso

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) uses scuba diving as one of many tools to study and monitor aquatic systems.  EPA currently supports 65 divers spread throughout the United States. 

Divers are involved in a wide range of scientific pursuits, including studying, monitoring and restoring valuable aquatic habitats (coral reefs, seagrass meadows, shellfish beds), tracking invasive species, collecting sediment and water samples for chemical analysis and a wide range of other duties. 

Photo credit: Phil Colarusso

EPA divers go through a rigorous training program and are required to maintain high levels of diving proficiency and safety protocols.  For more information on EPA’s scientific diving program go to: https://www.epa.gov/diving

Dr. Phil Colarusso is a marine biologist with US EPA Region I.  He has been working on eelgrass restoration, conservation and research for 31 years.  He and his team just recently had a paper on carbon sequestration rates in eelgrass in New England accepted for publication.

Enjoyed Phil’s sciku? Check out his previous sciku Blue Carbon and Invasive Species.