The frenetic pace of technology in the 21st century is adouble-edged sword.Emerging technologies could increase our prosperity and longevity,and help eradicate disease.However,they also hold the potential for conflict,democratic breakdown and climate crises.This is the“lesson of history”,according to the director of anew Cambridge institute set up to help ensure new technologies are harnessed for the good of humankind.“Previous waves of technology helped us thrive as aspecies,with higher incomes and more people alive than ever before,”says Dr Stephen Cave."But those waves also had huge costs.""The last industrial revolution,for example,fuelled the rise of communism and fascism,colonial expansion and the greenhouse gases that now threaten the biosphere."Today,both the scale and speed of technological change is greater than ever before.Large language models have had among the fastest uptake of any technology in history:100 million active users of ChatGPT within sixty days of launching.Just months after the Covid outbreak,scientists were testing mRNA vaccines that now protect over five billion people.The potential rewards of these technologies are immense,while the worst case scenarios should we fail could be existential.Maximising the benefits while minimising the risks requires insights into history,society,politics,psychology and ethics as well as adeep understanding of the technologies themselves.To meet this interdisciplinary challenge,the University has brought together three established Cambridge research centres under one banner:the new Institute for Technology and Humanity,launched today.By integrating the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence(CFI),the Centre for Human-Inspired AI(CHIA),and the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk(CSER),the new initiative will contain historians and philosophers as well as computer scientists and robotics experts.“The new institute demonstrates that the University of Cambridge is rising to this challenge of ensuring that human technologies do not exceed and overwhelm human capacities and human needs,”said Prof Deborah Prentice,Cambridge‘s Vice-Chancellor.Between the three Cambridge centres,the UK‘s first Masters Degree in the ethics of AI has already been launched,and researchers have advised international organisations on the governance of nuclear bombs and autonomous weapons.Current work includes design toolkits for ethical AI,computer vision systems that could help self-driving cars spot hidden pedestrians,and research on the effect of volcanos on global communications systems.The new Institute will see major research strands on lessons from Covid-19,the misuses of generative AI,and the development of emotion-enhanced AI.There are also plans for scholarship initiatives and further Masters and PhD programmes on the ethics of technology as well as human-centred robotics.Situated in the School of Arts and Humanities,the Institute is closely tied to other flagship programmes,such as the University-wide ai cam initiative,which aims to support the development of AI for science and society.The University has long been at the forefront of technological development,from IVF to the webcam–and also responses to it,from Bertrand Russell’s work on nuclear disarmament to Onora O’Neill’s contributions to bioethics.This push and pull between the engineering of new technology and the ethics behind it is"how the future gets forged",says Cave."We now have all this under one umbrella.” 查看详细>>

A new study has found that people differ in how vulnerable they are to different mutations in emerging variants of SARS-CoV-2.This is because the variant of SARS-CoV-2 aperson was first exposed to determines how well their immune system responds to different parts of the virus,and how protected they are against other variants.It also means that the same COVID-19 vaccine might work differently for different people,depending on which variants of SARS-CoV-2 they have previously been exposed to and where their immune response has focused.The discovery underlies the importance of continuing surveillance programmes to detect the emergence of new variants,and to understand differences in immunity to SARS-CoV-2 across the population.It will also be important for future vaccination strategies,which must consider both the virus variant avaccine contains and how immune responses of the population may differ in their response to it.“It was asurprise how much of adifference we saw in the focus of immune responses of different people to SARS-CoV-2.Their immune responses appear to target different specific regions of the virus,depending on which variant their body had encountered first,”said Dr Samuel Wilks at the University of Cambridge’s Centre for Pathogen Evolution in the Department of Zoology,first author of the report.He added:“Our results mean that if the virus mutates in aspecific region,some people’s immune system will not recognize the virus as well-so it could make them ill,while others may still have good protection against it.”The research,published today in the journal Science,involved alarge-scale collaboration across ten research institutes including the University of Cambridge and produced acomprehensive snapshot of early global population immunity to COVID-19.Researchers collected 207 serum samples-extracted from blood samples-from people who had either been infected naturally with one of the many previously circulating SARS-CoV-2 variants,or who had been vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2 with different numbers of doses of the Moderna vaccine.They then analysed the immunity these people had developed,and found significant differences between immune responses depending on which variant aperson had been infected with first.“These results give us adeep understanding of how we might optimise the design of COVID-19 booster vaccines in the future,”said Professor Derek Smith,Director of the University of Cambridge’s Centre for Pathogen Evolution in the Department of Zoology,senior author of the report.He added:“We want to know the key virus variants to use in vaccines to best protect people in the future.”The research used atechnique called‘antigenic cartography’to compare the similarity of different variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.This measures how well human antibodies,formed in response to infection with one virus,respond to infection with avariant of that virus.It shows whether the virus has changed enough to escape the human immune response and cause disease.The resulting‘antigenic map’shows the relationship between awide selection of SARS-CoV-2 variants that have previously circulated.Omicron variants are noticeably different from the others–which helps to explain why many people still succumbed to infection with Omicron despite vaccination or previous infection with adifferent variant.Immunity to COVID-19 can be acquired by having been infected with SARS-CoV-2 or by vaccination.Vaccines provide immunity without the risk from the disease or its complications.They work by activating the immune system so it will recognise and respond rapidly to exposure to SARS-CoV-2 and prevent it causing illness.But,like other viruses,the SARS-CoV-2 virus keeps mutating to try and escape human immunity.During the first year of the pandemic,the main SARS-CoV-2 virus in circulation was the B.1 variant.Since then,multiple variants emerged that escaped pre-existing immunity,causing reinfections in people who had already had COVID.“The study was an opportunity to really see-from the first exposure to SARS-CoV-2 onwards-what the basis of people’s immunity is,and how this differs across the population,”said Wilks.This research was funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and National Institutes of Health.Reference Wilks,S.H.et al:‘Mapping SARS-CoV-2 antigenic relationships and serological responses.’Science,October 2023.DOI:10.1126/science.adj0070 查看详细>>

The same was also true for increases in the amount of sedentary time,such as watching TV or reading.The researchers say this highlights the need to encourage older adults to remain active.Physical activity–particularly when it is moderate-intensity and raises your heart rate–is known to reduce the risk of anumber of diseases,including heart disease,stroke,diabetes and cancer.The NHS recommends that adults do at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity activity aweek.Older adults are also recommended to break up prolonged periods of being sedentary with light activity when physically possible,or at least with standing,as this has distinct health benefits for older people.A team led by researchers at the University of Cambridge examined activity levels among 1,433 participants aged 60 and above using accelerometers.The participants had been recruited to the EPIC(European Prospective Investigation into Cancer)-Norfolk study.Alongside this,the team also looked at health-related quality of life,a measure of health and wellbeing that includes pain,ability to care for yourself and anxiety/mood.Participants were given ascore between 0(worst quality of life)and 1(best)based on their responses to aquestionnaire.Lower quality of life scores are linked with an increased risk of hospitalisation,worse outcomes following hospitalisation,and early death.Participants were followed up an average of just under six years later to look at changes in their behaviour and quality of life.The results of the study are published in Health and Quality of Life Outcomes.On average,six years after their first assessment,both men and women were doing around 24 minutes less moderate-to-vigorous physical activity per day.At the same time,the total sedentary time increased by an average of around 33 minutes aday for men and around 38 minutes aday for women.Those individuals who did more moderate-to-vigorous physical activity and spent less time sedentary at their first assessment had ahigher quality of life later on.An hour aday spent more active was associated with a0.02 higher quality of life score.For every minute aday less of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity measured six years after the first assessment,quality of life scores dropped by 0.03.This means that an individual who spent 15 minutes aday less engaged in such activity would have seen their score drop by 0.45.Increases in sedentary behaviours were also associated with poorer quality of life–a drop in the score of 0.012 for everyone minute aday increase in total sedentary time six years after the first measurement.This means that an individual who spent 15 minutes aday more sitting down would have seen their score drop by 0.18.To put the results into aclinical context,a 0.1 point improvement in quality of life scores has previously been associated with a6.9%reduction in early death and a4.2%reduction in risk of hospitalisation.Dr Dharani Yerrakalva from the Department of Public Health and Primary Care at the University of Cambridge said:“Keeping yourself active and limiting–and where you can,breaking up–the amount of time you spend sitting down is really important whatever stage of life you’re at.This seems to be particularly important in later life,when it can lead to potentially significant improvements to your quality of life and your physical and mental wellbeing.”Because the team measured physical activity and sedentary behaviour at different points of time,they say they can be reasonably confident that they have shown acausal link–that is,that quality of life improves because people remain more physically active,for example.Dr Yerrakalva added:“There are several ways in which improvements in our physical behaviours might help maintain abetter quality of life.For example,more physical activity reduces pain in common conditions such as osteoarthritis,and we know that being more physically active improves muscle strength which allows older adults to continue to care for themselves.Similarly,depression and anxiety are linked to quality of life,and can be improved by being more active and less sedentary.” 查看详细>>

The Euclid space telescope will map the“dark Universe”by observing billions of galaxies out to 10 billion light-years,across more than athird of the sky,to gather data on how its structure has formed over its cosmic history.Led by the European Space Agency(ESA)and aconsortium of 2,000 scientists,including from the University of Cambridge,Euclid will spend six years venturing through space with two scientific instruments:a UK-built visible imager(VIS)that will become one of the largest cameras ever sent into space,and anear infrared spectrometer and photometer,developed in France.The mission is supported by funding from the UK Space Agency.“Watching the launch of Euclid,I feel inspired by the years of hard work from thousands of people that go into space science missions,and the fundamental importance of discovery–how we set out to understand and explore the Universe,”said Chief Executive of the UK Space Agency,Dr Paul Bate.“The UK Space Agency’s investment in Euclid has supported world-class science on this journey,from the development of the ground segment to the build of the crucial visible imager instrument,which will help humanity begin to uncover the mysteries of dark matter and dark energy.”Euclid took off on board aSpaceX spacecraft from Cape Canaveral in Florida at 4.11pm(BST)on 1July.Cambridge’s Institute of Astronomy team has been involved in Euclid since 2010,supporting development of the astrometric calibration pipeline for the optical image data from Euclid,ensuring that the positions of the billions of sources to be imaged by Euclid can be determined to exquisite accuracy.“Dark energy and dark matter fundamentally govern the formation and evolution of our Universe,”said Dr Nicholas Walton from the Institute of Astronomy.“The Euclid mission will finally uncover the mysteries of how these‘dark’forces have shaped the cosmos that we see today,from life here on Earth,to our Sun,our Milky Way,our nearby galaxy neighbours,and the wider Universe beyond.”The Science and Technology Facilities Council(STFC)also contributed to design and development work on Euclid instrumentation and provided funding to UK astronomy teams who will analyse the data returned from the mission about the physics responsible for the observed accelerated expansion of the Universe.“This is afantastic example of close collaboration between scientists,engineers,technicians,and astronomers across Europe working together to tackle some of the biggest questions in science,”said Mark Thomson,Executive Chair at STFC.UK Space Agency funding for the Euclid mission is divided between teams at University College London,The Open University,University of Cambridge,University of Edinburgh,University of Oxford,University of Portsmouth and Durham University.The wider Euclid Consortium includes experts from 300 organisations across 13 European countries,the US,Canada and Japan. 查看详细>>

The Discovery Research Platforms(DRPs)will be home to transformative research environments that empower researchers to overcome specific barriers holding back progress in their fields of research.They aim to accelerate research for the benefit of the wider global research community,with researchers and teams developing new tools,knowledge and capabilities to help unlock new findings about life,health and wellbeing.Michael Dunn,Director of Discovery Research at Wellcome,said:“Discovery research is essential to advancing our ability to understand and improve health.But in addition to researchers’bold and imaginative ideas,we know that new tools,methods and capabilities are also needed to unlock new avenues of research that can disrupt and transform the research landscape globally.”The two Cambridge DRPs,which will receive£9million each over seven years,are:The Discovery Research Platform for Tissue Scale Biology–which seeks to move stem cell biology to the tissue and organ scale of research,creating anew network of local and international researchers to enable strategies that capitalise on new in vitro models to develop better treatments for human patients.Professor Bertie Gottgens,Director of the Wellcome-MRC Cambridge Stem Cell Institute,said:"I am delighted that Wellcome will support our ambition to build anew Discovery Research Platform to provide international leadership for Tissue Scale Biology.“Our vision for this platform resulted from extensive discussions across the wider Cambridge Stem Cell community and the formation of ahighly interdisciplinary team connecting the Cambridge Stem Cell Institute with the West Cambridge Engineering/Technology community.It also incorporates exciting new training partnerships with Anglia Ruskin University and the Cambridge Academy for Science and Technology,to help us fill critical skills shortages and widen participation across Cambridge."The Discovery Research Platform for Integrating Metabolic and Endocrine Science–which aims to address practical barriers preventing data integration across metabolic and endocrine science,investigate how hormones control metabolic processes and how these can go wrong in disorders such as obesity,diabetes and cachexia,and create tools to facilitate global access to this data.The Platform will encompass research on molecules,cells and model organisms but will have amajor focus on discovery science in human participants,patients and populations.The funding will sustain key technological platforms and the highly-trained staff needed to support these.It will also underpin partnerships with research centres across the UK as well as in Germany and Denmark,all of which will provide new opportunities for training.The Platform will have amajor focus on the broad dissemination of integrated data and the creation of tools to facilitate access by the global community.The award will also accelerate the team’s drive to make transformational changes to research culture with new initiatives in widening access and open science reinforced by anew programme of research into the culture of biomedical science,in collaboration with the Cambridge Judge Business School.Professor Sir Stephen O’Rahilly,Co-Director at the Wellcome-MRC Institute of Metabolic Science and Director of the MRC Metabolic Diseases Unit,said:“Wellcome’s support of our scientists’research in metabolism and endocrinology,and of the technological platforms that underpin it,has been critically important to the discoveries we have made and the translation of that research into improvements in health.This new award will allow us to build on those achievements and deliver more ground-breaking science in amanner that emphasises openness,diversity and aspirit of collaboration.” 查看详细>>

The report–the 2022 Lancet Neurology Commission–has been produced by world-leading experts,including co-lead author Professor David Menon from the Division of Anaesthesia at the University of Cambridge.The Commission documents traumatic brain injury(TBI)as aglobal public-health problem,which afflicts 55 million people worldwide,costs over US$400 billion(£350 billion)per year,and is aleading cause of injury-related death and disability.TBI is not only an acute condition but also achronic disease with long-term consequences,including an increased risk of late-onset neurodegeneration,such as Parkinson’s disease and dementia.Road traffic incidents and falls are the main causes,but while in low-and middle-income countries,road traffic accidents account for almost three times the number of TBIs as falls,in high-income countries falls cause twice the number of TBIs compared to road traffic accidents.These data have clear consequences for prevention.Over 90%of TBIs are categorized as‘mild’,but over half of such patients do not fully recover by six months after injury.Improving outcome in these patients would be ahuge public health benefit.A multidimensional approach to outcome assessment is advocated,including afocus on mental health and post-traumatic stress disorder.Outcome after TBI is poorer in females compared with males,but reasons for this are not clear.Professor Menon said:“Traumatic brain injury remains amajor global health problem,with substantial impact on patients,families and society.Over the last decade,large international collaborations have provided important information to improve understanding and care of TBI.However,significant problems remain,especially in low and middle income countries.Continued collaborative efforts are needed to continue to improve patient outcomes and reduce the societal impact of TBI.”The Commission identified substantial disparities in care,including lower treatment intensity for patients injured by low-energy mechanisms,deficiencies in access to rehabilitation and insufficient follow-up in patients with‘mild’TBI.In low-and middle-income countries,both pre-hospital and post-acute care are largely deficient.The Commission presents substantial advances in diagnostics and treatment approaches.Blood-based biomarkers perform as well–or perhaps even better–than clinical decision rules for selecting patients with mild TBI for CT scanning,and can thus help reduce unnecessary radiation risks.They also have prognostic value for outcome.Genomic analyses suggests that 26%of outcome variance in TBI might be heritable,emphasizing the relevance of host response,which is modifiable.Advanced monitoring of the brain in patients with severe injuries in the intensive care setting provides better insight into derangements of brain function and metabolism,providing abasis for individualizing management to the needs of apatient.These advances have,however,not yet led to improved outcome.Mortality in patients with moderate to severe injuries appears to have decreased,but agreater number of survivors may have substantial disability.Emeritus Professor Andrew Maas from the Antwerp University Hospital and University of Antwerp,Belgium,said:“Improving care pathways and removing current disparities in care for patients with TBI will require close collaboration between policymakers,clinicians and researchers,with input from patients and patient representatives.”Professor Geoffrey Manley from the University of California,San Francisco and Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center,USA,said:“This Commission represents true team science,involving over 300 authors and contributors from around the globe working closely with the team at Lancet Neurology.Much of the data reported come from large-scale collaborative studies,illustrating the strength of longer-term observational research.There can be no doubt that multidisciplinary international collaboration is the way forward”.Reference Lancet Neurology Commission.Lancet Neurology;30 Sept 2022;DOI:10.1016/S1474-4422(22)00309-X Adapted from apress release from SMC Media. 查看详细>>

In astudy published in Genetics in Medicine,researchers analysed genetic data collected on over 200,000 UK men aged 40-70 from UK Biobank,a biomedical database and research resource containing anonymised genetic,lifestyle and health information from half amillion UK participants.They found 356 men who carried either an extra Xchromosome or an extra Ychromosome.Sex chromosomes determine our biological sex.Men typically have one Xand one Ychromosome,while women have two Xs.However,some men also have an extra Xor Ychromosome–XXY or XYY.Without agenetic test,it may not be immediately obvious.Men with extra Xchromosomes are sometimes identified during investigations of delayed puberty and infertility;however,most are unaware that they have this condition.Men with an extra Ychromosome tend to be taller as boys and adults,but otherwise they have no distinctive physical features.In today’s study,the researchers identified 213 men with an extra Xchromosome and 143 men with an extra Ychromosome.As the participants in UK Biobank tend to be‘healthier’than the general population,this suggests that around one in 500 men may carry an extra Xor Ychromosome.Only asmall minority of these men had adiagnosis of sex chromosome abnormality on their medical records or by self-report:fewer than one in four(23%)men with XXY and only one of the 143 XYY men(0.7%)had aknown diagnosis.By linking genetic data to routine health records,the team found that men with XXY have much higher chances of reproductive problems,including athree-fold higher risk of delayed puberty and afour-fold higher risk of being childless.These men also had significantly lower blood concentrations of testosterone,the natural male hormone.Men with XYY appeared to have anormal reproductive function.Men with either XXY or XYY had higher risks of several other health conditions.They were three times more likely to have type 2diabetes,six times more likely to develop venous thrombosis,three times as likely to experience pulmonary embolism,and four times more likely to suffer from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD).The researchers say that it isn’t clear why an extra chromosome should increase the risk or why the risks were so similar irrespective of which sex chromosome was duplicated.Yajie Zhao,a PhD student at the Medical Research Council(MRC)Epidemiology Unit at the University of Cambridge,the study’s first author,said:“Even though asignificant number of men carry an extra sex chromosome,very few of them are likely to be aware of this.This extra chromosome means that they have substantially higher risks of anumber of common metabolic,vascular,and respiratory diseases–diseases that may be preventable.”Professor Ken Ong,also from the MRC Epidemiology Unit at Cambridge and joint senior author,added:“Genetic testing can detect chromosomal abnormalities fairly easily,so it might be helpful if XXY and XYY were more widely tested for in men who present to their doctor with arelevant health concern.“We’d need more research to assess whether there is additional value in wider screening for unusual chromosomes in the general population,but this could potentially lead to early interventions to help them avoid the related diseases.”Professor Anna Murray,at the University of Exeter,said:“Our study is important because it starts from the genetics and tells us about the potential health impacts of having an extra sex chromosome in an older population,without being biased by only testing men with certain features as has often been done in the past.”Previous studies have found that around one in 1,000 females have an additional Xchromosome,which can result in delayed language development and accelerated growth until puberty,as well as lower IQ levels compared to their peers.The research was funded by the Medical Research Council.Reference Zhao,Y.et al.Detection and characterisation of male sex chromosome abnormalities in the UK Biobank study.Genetics in Medicine;9 Jun 2022;DOI:10.1016/j.gim.2022.05.011 查看详细>>

A study published today in the Journal of Clinical Oncology has provided the strongest evidence to date of these links and helped researchers estimate more accurately the associated risk.Since these genes were discovered in the mid 90s,numerous studies have explored possible links between BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations and other cancers.However,these studies had small sample sizes,resulting in imprecise estimates of cancer risk.Being able tA study published today in the Journal of Clinical Oncology has provided the strongest evidence to date of these links and helped researchers estimate more accurately the associated risk.Since these genes were discovered in the mid 90s,numerous studies have explored possible links between BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations and other cancers.However,these studies had small sample sizes,resulting in imprecise estimates of cancer risk.Being able to estimate the risks accurately is important for informing cancer prevention and screening strategies and providing genetic counselling to those at greatest risk.BRCA mutations are uncommon,affecting around 1in 300-400 people in the population.o estimate the risks accurately is important forinforming cancer prevention and screening strategies and providing genetic counselling to those at greatest risk.To further investigate these risk estimates,a team led by researchers at the University of Cambridge,funded by Cancer Research UK,analysed data from almost 3,200 families with one or more members with the BRCA1 mutation and almost 2,200 families with members carrying the BRCA2 mutation.The families had all been recruited to the Consortium of Investigators of Modi?ers of BRCA1/2.The researchers examined the associations with 22 primary cancers.Reference Li,S et al.Cancer Risks Associated With BRCA1 and BRCA2 Pathogenic Variants.Journal of Clinical Oncology;25 Jan 2022;DOI:10.1200/JCO.21.02112 查看详细>>

These interactions-seen for many drugs including those used to treat depression,diabetes,and asthma-could help researchers to better understand how drug effectiveness and side-effects differ between individuals.The study is published today in the journal Nature.It is known that bacteria can chemically modify some drugs,a process known as biotransformation.This study,led by researchers from the Medical Research Council(MRC)Toxicology Unit at the University of Cambridge and the European Molecular Biology Laboratory(EMBL)in Germany,is the first to show that certain species of gut bacteria accumulate human drugs,altering the types of bacteria in the gut and their activity.This could change the effectiveness of the drug both directly,as the accumulation could reduce the availability of the drug to the body,and indirectly,as altered bacterial function and composition could be linked to side-effects.The human gut naturally contains communities of hundreds of different species of bacteria,which are important in health and disease,called the gut microbiome.The composition of bacterial species varies significantly between people and has previously been shown to be associated with awide range of conditions including obesity,immune response,and mental health.In this study,the researchers grew 25 common gut bacteria and studied how they interacted with 15 drugs that are taken orally.The drugs were chosen to represent arange of different types of common drugs,including antidepressant medications,which are known to affect individuals dissimilarly and cause side effects such as gut problems and weight gain.The researchers tested how each of the 15 drugs interacted with the selected bacterial strains–a total of 375 bacteria-drug tests.They found 70 interactions between the bacteria and the drugs studied,of which 29 had not been previously reported.While earlier research has shown bacteria can chemically modify drugs,when the scientists studied these interactions further they found that for 17 of the 29 new interactions the drug accumulated within the bacteria without being modified.Dr Kiran Patil at the University of Cambridge’s MRC Toxicology Unit,who co-led the study,said:“It was surprising that the majority of the new interactions we saw between bacteria and drugs were the drugs accumulating in the bacteria.Until now,biotransformation was thought to be the main way that bacteria affect the availability of drugs to the body.”“These will likely be very personal differences between individuals,depending on the composition of their gut microbiota.We saw differences even between different strains of the same species of bacteria.”Examples of drugs that accumulated in bacteria include antidepressant duloxetine and anti-diabetic rosiglitazone.For some drugs,such as montelukast(an asthma drug)and roflumilast(for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease),both changes happened in different bacteria-they were accumulated by some species of bacteria and modified by others.The researchers also found the bioaccumulation of drugs alters the metabolism of the accumulating bacteria.For example,the antidepressant drug duloxetine bound to several metabolic enzymes within the bacteria and altered their secreted metabolites.The researchers grew asmall community of several bacterial species together and found the antidepressant duloxetine dramatically altered the balance of bacterial species.The drug altered the molecules produced by the drug-accumulating bacteria,which other bacteria feed on,so the consuming bacteria grew much more and unbalanced the community composition.The researchers tested the effects further using C.elegans,a nematode worm commonly used to study gut bacteria.They studied duloxetine,which had been shown to accumulate in certain bacteria but not others.In worms grown with the species of bacteria that had been shown to accumulate the drug,the behavior of the worms was altered after being exposed to duloxetine,compared with worms that were grown with bacteria that did not accumulate duloxetine. 查看详细>>

Researchers have made atiny camera,held together with‘molecular glue’that allows them to observe chemical reactions in real time.The device,made by ateam from the University of Cambridge,combines tiny semiconductor nanocrystals called quantum dots and gold nanoparticles using molecular glue called cucurbituril(CB).When added to water with the molecule to be studied,the components self-assemble in seconds into astable,powerful tool that allows the real-time monitoring of chemical reactions.The camera harvests light within the semiconductors,inducing electron transfer processes like those that occur in photosynthesis,which can be monitored using incorporated gold nanoparticle sensors and spectroscopic techniques.They were able to use the camera to observe chemical species which had been previously theorised but not directly observed.The platform could be used to study awide range of molecules for avariety of potential applications,such as the improvement of photocatalysis and photovoltaics for renewable energy.The results are reported in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.Nature controls the assemblies of complex structures at the molecular scale through self-limiting processes.However,mimicking these processes in the lab is usually time-consuming,expensive and reliant on complex procedures.“In order to develop new materials with superior properties,we often combine different chemical species together to come up with ahybrid material that has the properties we want,”said Professor Oren Scherman from Cambridge’s Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry,who led the research.“But making these hybrid nanostructures is difficult,and you often end up with uncontrolled growth or materials that are unstable.”The new method that Scherman and his colleagues from Cambridge’s Cavendish Laboratory and University College London developed uses cucurbituril–a molecular glue which interacts strongly with both semiconductor quantum dots and gold nanoparticles.The researchers used small semiconductor nanocrystals to control the assembly of larger nanoparticles through aprocess they coined interfacial self-limiting aggregation.The process leads to permeable and stable hybrid materials that interact with light.The camera was used to observe photocatalysis and track light-induced electron transfer.“We were surprised how powerful this new tool is,considering how straightforward it is to assemble,”said first author Dr Kamil Soko?owski,also from the Department of Chemistry.To make their nano camera,the team added the individual components,along with the molecule they wanted to observe,to water at room temperature.Previously,when gold nanoparticles were mixed with the molecular glue in the absence of quantum dots,the components underwent unlimited aggregation and fell out of solution.However,with the strategy developed by the researchers,quantum dots mediate the assembly of these nanostructures so that the semiconductor-metal hybrids control and limit their own size and shape.In addition,these structures stay stable for weeks. 查看详细>>