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The human phenotype project

A new study tracking over 28,000 participants published in Nature Medicine embarking on a Human Phenotype Project (HPP) aims to identify health problems before they show up in the body.

The HPP takes a deep dive in the genes, metabolism, gut microbiome and daily lifestyle habits and hopes to change how we think about health.

Over 13,000 volunteers have already completed their initial check-up, and wearable gadgets like sleep trackers and glucose monitors are producing volumes of data. The goal is to understand how individuals migrate from healthy to ill and how to stop it from happening.

Initial results indicate significant difference in health markers depending on factors like age and ethnicity, implying that the typical “normal ranges” doctors use might be too one-size-fits-all.

Early results show the AI-powered models are better than the usual tools at predicting those who might be at risk for things like diabetes and have picked up on gut bacteria linked to breast cancer and inflammatory bowel disease.

The end game is that every human could have a digital twin to simulate health progression and test how medical treatments and lifestyle changes could affect us beforehand.

This is a 25-year plan, and with international growth on the horizon, the Human Phenotype Project could change the way medicine is practiced forever.

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Sweat versus cancer

Research tells us that exercise is a great way to “>boost immunity. With this in mind, a small study published in the Journal of Sport and Health Science found some promising results in a group of people with esophageal cancer who exercised during chemotherapy.

Half of the participants were given a mix of cardiovascular and strength-training exercises to complete over the course of 16 weeks. The other half of the group received regular, standard care without exercise programs.

The patients who maintained the exercise program proved to have more cancer-fighting immune cells (CD8+T cells and natural killer cells) in their tumors.

They also had more tertiary lymphoid structures. Normally, the immune system works out of larger centers like the lymph nodes, but these “hubs” are like command centers that set themselves up when and where danger, like a growing tumor, is detected. These are important because they set up more localized attacks.

Though the tumors didn’t shrink in size and survival rates did not alter, results are promising. The scientists say further research is required to see whether such an immune activation will lead to enhanced longer-term outcomes.

In the interim, staying active during chemotherapy might assist your body in rallying its internal troops.

More like this: Cancer can run but it can no longer hide

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Quantum tag-team breaks
sound barrier

A team at the Niels Bohr Institute in Denmark has created a hybrid quantum system, breaking through old limits in the “acoustic” range — the same frequency range as sound waves.

This means sensors can now pick up super-small signals in the acoustic range.

By pairing special entangled laser beams with a cloud of atoms acting like a “negative-mass” gadget, they were able to omit some of the random noise that usually blurs measurements.

The paper, published in Nature, says that breaking through the quantum noise may help scientists to build better gravitational-wave detectors that listen for tiny ripples in space-time caused by events like black hole collisions, ultimately changing how we listen to the universe.

The setup is simpler and smaller than previous systems, making it possible for development of applications in other high-precision tools.

More like this: Simulators and weird world of quantum chaos

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Wear a coat

Scientists at West Virginia University have made major strides with high-tech batteries known as protonic ceramic electrochemical cells (PCECs) that are responsible for cleaning and storing clean energy.

Typically, when exposed to hot, humid steam, PCECs break down quickly, making them impractical for industrially relevant use in grid-scale energy storage.

The researchers, however, have built a protective coating that addresses this issue.

The coating, a sponge-like ceramic structure covered with an ultra-thin layer of PBNO — a steam-tolerant material — protects the sensitive parts from steam damage while allowing the cell to continue functioning.

This means the cells can operate dependably for more than 5,000 hours at 600 degrees Celsius in steamy conditions, which is a record for this technology.

The paper published in Nature Energy states that the cells can also handle sudden temperature changes and work more efficiently.
This means potentially making long-lasting, efficient energy storage possible, helping solar and wind power supply energy around the clock.

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Germ-killer making you itchy?

The umpteen soaps and toothpaste products on the supermarket shelves that boast germ-fighting chemicals might be doing more harm than good — especially for your kids.

The antibacterial chemical, triclosan, used in household products to inhibit growth of a variety of bacterial and fungal species, has been banned in various products around the globe for good reasons: It has been linked to serious health conditions like endocrine system damage and breast cancer, and could potentially pose significant risk for antimicrobial resistance.

A new study of 347 children aged 1-12, published in Environmental Health Perspectives, reveals that those with higher triclosan levels are also 23 percent more likely to have eczema and 12 percent more likely to struggle with allergies such as hay fever.

Researchers believe that triclosan could wreak havoc on the immune system by disrupting healthy bacteria that train our bodies not to overreact to harmless things like pollen.

This is in line with the hypothesis that suggests too much sanitizing may make kids more allergy prone.

Although in 2020 triclosan was banned from soaps and hand sanitizers, it still finds a way into other products like toothpaste and cutting boards.

If your child struggles with allergies or eczema it is advisable to check labels and be wary of those that include triclosan.

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