Starlet sea anemones use specialized mobile nematosomes and the cJun gene to selectively identify and destroy harmful bacteria while preserving beneficial microbes, challenging the belief that targeted immunity is exclusive to vertebrates' adaptive immune systems and pushing back its evolutionary timeline.
Researchers from Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf and Kiel University discovered that the starlet sea anemone, Nematostella vectensis, uses specialized mobile cell structures called nematosomes to selectively identify and destroy harmful bacteria while preserving beneficial ones. This challenges the long-held assumption that targeted immune discrimination requires the complex adaptive immune system of vertebrates, pushing back the evolutionary timeline for such capabilities by hundreds of millions of years.
An international research team, led by Professor Peng Xiaotong and supported by China's Fendouzhe submersible, has discovered a previously unknown, thriving ecosystem in ocean trenches deeper than 9km, challenging prior beliefs about survival in such extreme conditions.
MSKÜ'de yürütülen projede, iki denizanası ve bir anemon türünden elde edilen zehirlerin kolon kanseri hücreleri üzerindeki öldürücü etkisi ve sağlıklı hücrelere minimum zarar verdiği tespit edildi. Bu çalışma, deniz canlılarının zehirlerini kanser tedavisinde kullanma potansiyelini ortaya koyuyor.
A nature diary from the Scottish Highlands describing spring wildlife returns including pied wagtails, swallows, osprey and siskins, alongside concerns about red squirrels facing increased pine marten predation. The piece also covers a new bylaw effective 1 April banning barbecues and campfires in pinewoods, following devastating wildfires including one near Aviemore that destroyed 600 sq metres and last year's Dava Moor fire that engulfed 11,000 hectares.
