Researchers show that introduced tardigrade proteins can slow metabolism in human cells
Mar 2024, phys.org
This work examines the mechanisms used by tardigrades to enter and exit from suspended animation when faced by environmental stress, and provides additional evidence that tardigrade proteins eventually could be used to make life-saving treatments available to people where refrigeration is not possible—and enhance storage of cell-based therapies, such as stem cells."Amazingly, when we introduce these proteins into human cells, they gel and slow down metabolism, just like in tardigrades"The whole process is reversible. "When the stress is relieved, the tardigrade gels dissolve, and the human cells return to their normal metabolism"
via University of Wyoming Department of Molecular Biology, University of Bristol, Washington University in St. Louis, University of California-Merced, University of Bologna, University of Amsterdam: S. Sanchez‐Martinez et al, Labile assembly of a tardigrade protein induces biostasis, Protein Science (2024). DOI: 10.1002/pro.4941
Image credit: AI Art - Portrait of a Tardigrade with the Tardigrademobile by Karol Bak, James Jean, Tom Bagshaw - 2022
By growing animal cells in rice grains, scientists dish up hybrid food
Feb 2024, phys.org
"hybrid meat rice"Rice grains are porous and have organized structures, providing a solid scaffold to house animal-derived cells in the nooks and crannies. Certain molecules found in rice can also nourish and promote the growth of these cells, making rice an ideal platform.The team first coated rice with fish gelatin, a safe and edible ingredient that helps cells latch onto the rice better. Cow muscle and fat stem cells were then seeded into the rice and left to culture in the petri dish for nine to 11 days. The harvested final product is a cell-cultured beef rice with main ingredients that meet food safety requirements and have a low risk of triggering food allergies.
via Yonsei University in Korea: Rice grains integrated with animal cells: A Shortcut to a Sustainable Food System, Matter (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.matt.2024.01.015.
Montana man used animal tissue and testicles to breed 'giant' sheep for sale to hunting preserves
Mar 2024, AP News
Court documents describe a yearslong conspiracy, beginning in 2013, in which Schubarth and at least five other people sought to create “giant sheep hybrids” by cross-breeding different species. Their goal was to garner high prices from hunting preserves where people shoot captive trophy game animals for a fee.Using biological tissue obtained from a hunter who killed a wild sheep in Kyrgyzstan belonging to the world’s largest species of the animals — Marco Polo argali sheep — Schubarth procured cloned embryos of the animal from a lab, according to court documents.The embryos were later implanted in a ewe, resulting in a pure Marco Polo argali sheep that Schubert named “Montana Mountain King,” the documents show. Semen from Montana Mountain King was used to artificially impregnate other ewes to create a larger and more valuable species of sheep, including one offspring that he reached an agreement to sell to two people in Texas for $10,000, according to the documents.In 2019, Schubarth paid $400 to a hunting guide for testicles from a trophy-sized Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep killed in Montana. Schubarth extracted semen from bighorn sheep testicles and used it to breed large bighorn sheep and sheep crossbred with the argali species, the documents show.
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