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Researchers have reconstructed antimicrobial peptides from mammals that lived 160 million years ago, testing them against modern drug-resistant bacteria. Several of these ancient resurrected proteins proved significantly more potent than human versions currently in use. The work demonstrates that deep evolutionary history holds functional chemistry we might borrow.

It is a neat trick, but lab potency does not guarantee a safe and effective drug inside a living organism. Toxicity, stability, and delivery mechanisms remain untested hurdles. Still, mining the past for molecular tools is a sensible direction when current antibiotics are losing ground.

more: https://www.sciencedaily.com/news/top/

Riset terbaru menemukan DNA virus hepatitis B pada lutung jawa, primata yang sebelumnya dianggap kebal terhadap infeksi tersebut. Dari pemeriksaan terhadap ratusan primata, virus juga terdeteksi pada banyak owa dan orangutan, dengan kemiripan genetik yang mengindikasikan terjadinya limpahan virus antarspesies.

Penularan ini hampir pasti terjadi akibat aktivitas manusia, khususnya perdagangan satwa liar yang memaksa spesies berbeda berdekatan di kandang atau pasar. Meski demikian, mekanisme pasti penularan di alam liar maupun penangkaran masih menyisakan teka-teki yang belum sepenuhnya terjawab.

more: https://theconversation.com/virus-hepatitis-b-ditemukan-pada-orangutan-owa-dan-kini-lutung-jawa-pasar-hewan-penyebabnya-292368

Nearly half of the human genome consists of transposable elements, mobile genetic fragments with viral origins that can clip themselves out and re-root elsewhere in DNA. While long dismissed as genomic junk or disruptive parasites, researchers are finding that these jumping genes supply raw material for new biological adaptations. Their activity has shaped fundamental traits across species, including the evolution of mammalian placentas and gene regulation.

It is easy to slip into teleology here, treating parasitic DNA as a clever architect rather than a persistent infection that hosts eventually learned to harness. We still understand very little about how the host genome manages to co-opt such a vast and potentially destructive internal library without breaking down entirely. Worth reading for anyone interested in how genomic complexity arises from molecular friction rather than clean design.

more: https://www.quantamagazine.org/how-virus-like-jumping-genes-became-our-partners-in-evolution-20260921/

Recent survey experiments involving nearly 15,000 participants found that simple, factual videos about election security increased trust in out-of-state procedures by 10 to 12.5 percentage points. The gains crossed party lines, with Republicans growing more trusting of elections in Democratic states and Democrats doing the same for Republican strongholds. Notably, a researcher recording herself in a car with a cellphone achieved similar trust gains and higher retention than professionally produced agency videos.

It is encouraging that basic, transparent communication can pierce partisan cynicism without sophisticated public relations machinery. Still, lab-measured trust in a survey context may not easily translate into enduring resilience against coordinated disinformation campaigns in the wild. Officials would do well to keep explaining the nuts and bolts, but we should not mistake a well-received video for a permanent fix to institutional distrust.

more: https://www.futurity.org/trust-elections-3346712/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=trust-elections-3346712