Weekly Science Digest: Sickle Cell, Sleep & Stars

Researchers at John Hopkins University have used a patients’ stem cells to correct the genetic defect that causes sickle cell disease, a disorder that occurs mainly in African Americas. The disease is caused by a single DNA change in the gene for adult hemoglobin and can lead to clogged blood vessels, fatigue, pain, infections, organ damage and premature death. Although years away from becoming a treatment used on regular patients, the research team successfully coaxed the corrected stem cells into becoming immature red blood cells which then developed into a normal version of the gene, providing new hope for effective therapies for sickle cell and a variety of other blood diseases.

Better sleep may be helpful in reducing the risk of Alzheimer’s disease, a new study published in Archives of Neurology suggests. The research shows that the normal highs and lows of amyloid beta, a byproduct of brain activity, begin to flatten out in older adults when deep sleep is often shorter and prone to disruption. In Alzheimer’s patients the ebb and flow is almost eradicated and amyloid beta levels are close to constant. More research is to go into the hypothesis that sleep might be linked to this effect, though scientists are already hopeful that they have a strong case.     

Astrophysicists from the University of Leeds have identified one of our galaxy’s largest and rarest stars. IRAS 17163-3907 is what is known as a yellow hypergiant, one of only three such stars in the Milky Way. Half a million times brighter than our Sun, and possessing a volume one billion times larger, the hypergiant will allow for a detailed look into stellar evolution and insights into the way in which massive stars can influence the shape of a galaxy.

Fermilab’s Tevatron collider, the world’s first high-energy superconducting accelerator, has smashed together high-energy protons and anti-protons for the last time. For 25 years the Tevatron was the highest energy collider in the world and laid the groundwork the work now being carried out at the LHC. Particle physics experiments aim to discover the phenomena predicted by a particular theory - with more than 1000 papers associated with its name, the Tevatron was able to achieve this to a degree as yet unmatched by any other facility.

A NASA-led study, involving scientists from 19 different institutions, has documented an unprecedented depletion of the Earth’s ozone layer above the Arctic. The depletion, which occurred over the course of last winter and spring, was caused by an unusually long period of extremely low temperatures in the stratosphere, with some altitudes seeing cold periods lasting 30 days longer than any previously studied. Although smaller than its Antarctic counterpart, the Arctic ozone hole is more mobile, therefore posing a greater threat to the planet’s densely populated northern regions.

The Alma telescope, found in Chile’s Atacama desert, recently began its quest to view the formation of the Universe’s first stars. This week’s video takes a look at the world’s most powerful radio telescope.

The 'Weekly Science Digest' is a compilation of science news from around the world. News suggestions are always welcome: mark.howardbanks (at) researchgate.net