Scientists have developed artificial enzymes programmed to target the genetic code of SARS-CoV-2 and destroy the virus, an advance that may lead to a new generation of antiviral drugs for COVID-19 and its variants.  Enzymes are naturally occurring biological catalysts, which enable the chemical transformations required for our bodies to function -- from translating the genetic code into proteins to digesting food. <br /><br /> Although most enzymes are proteins, some of these crucial reactions are catalysed by <keyword id="130094" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="rna" source="Orion">RNA</keyword>, a chemical cousin of DNA, our genetic material, which can fold into enzymes known as ribozymes. <br /><br /> Some classes of ribozyme are able to target specific sequences in other RNA molecules and cut them precisely. <br /><br /> In 2014, Alex <keyword id="59367" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="taylor" source="Orion">Taylor</keyword> and colleagues from the <keyword id="127583" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="university-of-cambridge" source="Orion">University of Cambridge</keyword>, UK, discovered that artificial genetic material known as XNA -- in other words, synthetic chemical alternatives to RNA and DNA not found in nature -- could be used to create the world's first fully-artificial enzymes, named <keyword id="2622718" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="xnazymes" source="Orion">XNAzymes</keyword>. <br /><br /> These artificial enzymes can cut long, complex RNA molecules and are so precise that if the target sequence differs by just a single nucleotide -- the basic structural unit of RNA -- they will recognise not to cut it. <br /><br /> This means they can be programmed to attack mutated RNAs involved in cancer or other diseases, leaving normal RNA molecules well alone, the researchers said. <br /><br /> The study, published in the journal Nature Communications, demonstrated the use of this technology to successfully 'kill' live SARS-CoV-2 virus. <br /><br /> Creating new XNAzymes can be done in far less time than it normally takes to develop antiviral drugs, according to the researchers. <br /><br /> Taylor teamed up with Nicholas <keyword id="4059023" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="matheson" source="Orion">Matheson</keyword> to show that these XNAzymes were active against the live SARS-CoV-2 virus. <br /><br /> "It's really encouraging that for the first time - and this has been a big goal of the field - we actually have them working as enzymes inside cells, and inhibiting replication of the live virus," said Pehuen Pereyra Gerber, who performed the experiments on SARS-CoV-2 in Matheson's lab. <br /><br /> "What we've shown is proof of principle, and it's still early days," added Matheson. <br /><br /> Taylor checked the target viral sequences against databases of human RNAs to ensure they were not present in our own RNA. Because the XNAzymes are highly specific, this should in theory prevent some of the 'off-target' side effects that similar, less accurate molecular therapeutics may cause, such as liver toxicity, the researchers said. <br /><br /> SARS-CoV-2 has the ability to evolve and change its genetic code, leading to new variants against which vaccines are less effective. <br /><br /> To counter this problem, Taylor not only targeted regions of the viral RNA that mutate less frequently but also designed three of the XNAzymes to self-assemble into a 'nanostructure' that cuts different parts of the virus genome. <br /><br /> "We're targeting multiple sequences, so for the virus to evade the therapy it would have to mutate at several sites at once," he said. <br /><br /> "In principle, you could combine lots of these XNAzymes together into a cocktail. But even if a new variant does appear that is capable of getting around this, because we already have the catalytic core, we can rapidly make new enzymes to keep ahead of it," Taylor added. <br /><br /> XNAzymes could potentially be administered as drugs to protect people exposed to COVID-19, to prevent the virus from taking hold, or to treat patients with infection, helping rid the body of the virus, the researchers said. <br /><br /> This sort of approach might be particularly important for patients who, because of a weakened immune system, struggle to clear the virus on their own, they said. <br /><br /> The researchers next plan to create XNAzymes that are even more specific and robust allowing them to remain in the body for longer and work as even more effective catalysts, in smaller doses. <br /><br /><strong>SEE ALSO:<br /><a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/health/news/eating-disorders-can-be-detected-earlier-using-electrolytes-as-diagnostic-tool/articleshow/95573008.cms">Eating disorders can be detected earlier using electrolytes as diagnostic tool</a><br /></strong><strong><a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/environment/news/making-oceans-critical-to-climate-action-teri/articleshow/95573882.cms">Making oceans critical to climate action: TERI</a></strong>

Novel artificial enzymes could help 'kill' Covid virus: Study

<ul><li>The 30-share BSE index was trading 1% higher; while the Nifty50 was up 100 points at 10:05 am. </li><li>These were the top losers and gainers in the Nifty pack. </li><li>These are the top stocks that are buzzing in trade today.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/">Check out the latest news and updates on Business Insider.</a> </li></ul>Indian stock market index Sensex gained over 400 points on Friday, led by positive cues from global markets. The key sectoral indices were trading higher after the bank, auto, finance, metal, and pharma gained during the early trade hours.<br /><br />The 30-share BSE index was trading 1% higher; while the Nifty50 was up 100 points at 10:05 am. <br /><br /><strong>These were the top losers and gainers in the Nifty pack:</strong><br /><table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none;"><colgroup></colgroup><col /><col /><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.9907650000000001pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.9907650000000001pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.9907650000000001pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.9907650000000001pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;"><strong>Top Nifty Gainers<br /><br /></strong></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.9907650000000001pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.9907650000000001pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.9907650000000001pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.9907650000000001pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;"><strong>Top Nifty Losers</strong><br /><br /></td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.9907650000000001pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.9907650000000001pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.9907650000000001pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.9907650000000001pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Adani Ports<br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.9907650000000001pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.9907650000000001pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.9907650000000001pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.9907650000000001pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Kotak Mahindra Bank<br /><br /></td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.9907650000000001pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.9907650000000001pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.9907650000000001pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.9907650000000001pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">TCS<br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.9907650000000001pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.9907650000000001pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.9907650000000001pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.9907650000000001pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">HDFC Limited<br /><br /></td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.9907650000000001pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.9907650000000001pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.9907650000000001pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.9907650000000001pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">HCL Tech<br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.9907650000000001pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.9907650000000001pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.9907650000000001pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.9907650000000001pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">-<br /><br /></td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.9907650000000001pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.9907650000000001pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.9907650000000001pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.9907650000000001pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Eicher Motors<br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.9907650000000001pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.9907650000000001pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.9907650000000001pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.9907650000000001pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">-<br /><br /></td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.9907650000000001pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.9907650000000001pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.9907650000000001pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.9907650000000001pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">IndusInd Bank<br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.9907650000000001pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.9907650000000001pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.9907650000000001pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.9907650000000001pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">-<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>*as of September 25, 10:00 am<br /><br /><strong>TCS trades 3% higher </strong><br /><br />The shares of tech giant TCS were trading 3% higher on Friday after the company said that the American women’s clothing retail chain Maurices had hired the company as its digital transformation partner. TCS will help Maurices build its greenfield IT ecosystem with the intent of optimising its 200 existing applications and software components within the next 17 months.<br /><br /><strong>Granules India gained 9% </strong><br /><br />Granules India was trading 9% higher after <a href="https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/kkr-bain-capital-and-blackstone-in-race-for-majority-stake-in-granules-india-5881931.html">news reports</a> indicate that three global private equity players — KKR, Bain Capital and Blackstone— have shown preliminary interest in acquiring a controlling stake Granules India.<br /><br /><strong>Cipla opens 3% higher </strong><br /><br />The shares of pharma giant Cipla surged 3% after the company received USFDA approval for a multiple sclerosis drug. The drug is used for the treatment of relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis, to include clinically isolated syndrome, relapsing-remitting disease, and active secondary progressive disease.<br /><br /><strong>Advanced Enzyme Technologies soar 7% <br /></strong><br />Advanced Enzyme Technologies share price soared 7% after the foreign portfolio investor (FPI) bought nearly 4% stake in the agricultural products company via the open market. This came after Nalanda India Equity Fund on Thursday bought 3.75% stake. <br /><br /><strong>Tata Coffee and Tata Consumer leaps 4% <br /></strong><br />The share price of Tata Coffee and Tata Consumer surged 4% after <a href="https://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/tata-consumer-products-plans-to-bid-for-coffee-day-s-vending-business-120092401736_1.html">media reports</a> surfaced that the consumer arm of Tata Group, Tata Consumer Products, is planning to bid for the vending machine business of Coffee Day Enterprises. The reports claim that the board of Tata Consumer had approved the proposal to explore an acquisition of the operation from Coffee Day. <br /><br /><strong>RIL gains nearly a percent <br /></strong><br />The shares of Mukesh Ambani owned RIL were trading nearly a percent higher on Friday. The company’ telecom arm Jio has partnered AeroMobile to launch mobile services on 22 flights on international routes, with plans starting at ₹499 per day. <br /><br />The partner airlines include Virgin Atlantic, Alitalia, Swiss, Emirates, Etihad Airways, Euro Wings, Lufthansa, Malindo Air and Biman Bangladesh Airlines.<br /><br />Another<a href="https://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/ril-in-talks-to-buy-electronics-chain-in-south-deal-may-hit-rs-3-000-cr-120092401238_1.html"> news report</a> highlights that RIL’s retail arm, Reliance Retail is in race to acquire a south based consumer durables retail chain operator Electronics Mart India. Electronics Mart operates 60 stores in South India with 1,200 employees on its roll.<br /><br /><strong>SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/bharat-bandh-farmer-unions-begin-their-nationwide-strike-delhi-police-on-high-alert/articleshow/78308504.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">Bharat Bandh: Farmer unions begin their nationwide strike — Delhi Police on high alert</a><br /><br /></strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/banks/news/no-fresh-ibc-proceedings-till-december-says-centre/articleshow/78308167.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink"><strong>No fresh IBC proceedings till December, says Centre</strong></a><br />

Top stock movers — RIL, Granules, TCS, Cipla, Advanced Enzyme Tech, Tata Consumer, and more

<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/51106937.cms" /><br /> <keyword id="35210" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="sebi">SEBI</keyword>, the capital markets regulator of India, has sought clarification from four companies regarding their proposed IPOs.<br />
<br /> These companies are <keyword id="1869462" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Advanced-Enzyme-Technologies">Advanced Enzyme Technologies</keyword>, <keyword id="3257310" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="KPR-Agrochem">KPR Agrochem</keyword>, <keyword id="3257311" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="S-P-Apparels-and-Thyrocare-Technologies">S P Apparels and Thyrocare Technologies</keyword>.<br />
<br />
While SEBI has not disclosed the details of the clarifications that it seeks from these companies, it has said that it is awaiting response from their merchant bankers and lead managers. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://techstory.in/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/SEBI-logo.png"><em>Image source</em></a><br />


SEBI wants some tough answers from 4 companies on their IPO plans

<br /><ul><li><strong>India accounts for only 0.25% of the 4,000 highly-cited scientists across the globe, according to <keyword id="4393714" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="clarivate-analytics">Clarivate Analytics</keyword>.<br /></strong></li><li><strong>The number has doubled since 2017 but that’s only because the company added an additional category to include ‘cross field’ researchers.<br /></strong></li><li><strong>India’s neighboring country, <keyword id="1334" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="China">China</keyword>, stands at the third position with nearly 482 scientists.</strong></li></ul>With only 10 Indian scientists featuring in the list of 4,000 highly-cited researchers across the globe, the country lags far behind China in new contributions towards science and innovation,<a href="https://clarivate.com/blog/news/global-highly-cited-researchers-2018-list-reveals-influential-scientific-researchers-and-their-institutions/"> said a recent report by</a> Clarivate Analytics — a company that names people with multiple papers ranking in the top 1% by citations for their field and year.<br /><br />Interestingly, most of the science experts listed do not come from highly ranked institutes in India that are always creating buzz for their scientific innovation. However, a professor from each IIT-Kanpur, IIT Madras, JNU, and NIT-Bhopal are on the global list. <br /><br />Meanwhile, China is among the top three countries with 482 science experts. India couldn’t even make it up to the top 10 countries. <br /><br /><keyword id="23050" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sweden">Sweden</keyword> (53%), Austria (53%), Singapore (47%), Denmark (47%), China (43%) and South Korea (42%) are among the nations that have 40% of their Highly Cited Researchers selected in the cross-field category. <br /><br />India and China used to be on the same page in terms of contribution about 15 years ago but now China accounts for nearly 16% <br /><br />This could be considered a victory for India since the number of scientists on the list has doubled since 2017. But Dinesh Mohan, one of the scientists on the list, says that’s only because the report includes an additional category of ‘cross field’ researchers.<br /><br />The list highlights the need to improve the research ecosystem in India and deal with <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-06048-2">problems </a>like predatory journals. According to experts, Indian academicians lack focus on quality research.<br /><br />Ashok Pandey, a researcher featured on the list, claims that poor representation in science is a matter of national concern and need to be addressed by lawmakers, government and other respective stakeholders.<br /><br />Analysts add that India has a negligible representation in the world’s highly cited researchers primarily because the nature of research is theoretical. <br /><br /><strong>Here are the Indian figures featured on the list - </strong><br /><br /><strong>Alok Mittal </strong><br /><ul><li>Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology </li><li>Specialisation: Environmental Science, Water Treatment and Chemistry. </li></ul><strong>Ashok Pandey </strong><br /><ul><li>Council of Scientific &amp; Industrial Research (CSIR)</li><li>Specialisation: Microbial and Enzyme Technology, Food and Fermentation Technology Industrial Biotechnology </li></ul><strong>Rajeev Varshney </strong><br /><ul><li>International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics</li><li>Specialisation: Applied Genomics, Molecular breeding, Crop Biotechnology. </li></ul><strong>Jyoti Mittal </strong><br /><ul><li>Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology </li><li>Specialisation: Environmental Science, Water Treatment and Surface Chemistry. </li></ul><strong>Dinesh Mohan</strong><br /><ul><li>Jawaharlal Nehru University</li><li>Specialisation: Water and wastewater monitoring, biofuels products. </li></ul><strong><keyword id="3690833" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="avinash-kumar-agarwal">Avinash Kumar Agarwal</keyword> </strong><br /><ul><li>IIT-Kanpur</li><li>Specialisation: bio butanol, biodiesel development, Engine combustion investigation.</li></ul><strong>Rajnish Kumar </strong><br /><ul><li>IIT-Madras</li><li>Specialisation: Carbon dioxide capture, methane and hydrogen storage, and Gas hydrates. </li></ul><strong>Sanjeeb Sahbo</strong><br /><ul><li>Institute of Life Sciences,</li><li>Specialisation: Use of nanotechnology in cancer drug delivery, especially cancer cure</li></ul><strong>CNR Rao: Is <keyword id="100256" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Bharat-Ratna">Bharat Ratna</keyword> </strong><br /><ul><li>Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research</li><li>Specialisation: Structural Chemistry, solid state, and material chemistry</li></ul><strong>Sakthivel Rathinaswamy </strong><br /><ul><li>Bharathiar University</li><li>Specialisation: Applied Mathematics (control theory)</li></ul><strong>See more-</strong> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/latest/culture-of-fear-india-fifth-deadliest-country-for-journalists/articleshow/67178072.cms">Culture of fear — India fifth ‘deadliest’ country for journalists</a><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/miners-trapped-in-meghalaya-for-over-two-weeks/articleshow/67257937.cms">15 miners have been trapped in a rat hole mine for two weeks — Indian government at a loss for solutions</a><br />

Only 10 scientists from India featured in the world’s ‘highly-cited’ researchers list compared to 482 from China

<div type="image" title="A marine research expedition in Antarctica." height="3732" width="5598" msid="102209399" hostid="261"></div><ul class="summary-list"><li>The vast majority of the ocean remains unexplored but researchers are racing to change that.</li><li>They believe water-based organisms can advance healthcare and address the climate crisis.</li><li>But balancing science, marine protection, and economic gains is an evolving challenge.</li></ul><p>The ocean is teeming with <a href="https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2023-04-27-oxford-university-joins-largest-ever-ocean-survey-global-effort-save-marine-life" target="_blank" rel="noopener">uncharted life</a> and most of it remains <a href="https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/exploration.html">unexplored</a> — something researchers from academia and private companies are racing to change.</p><p>That's because unique microorganisms that can survive the deep, dark abyss of the ocean to those that live in shallow waters and hot springs could hold answers to some of the world's most pressing challenges in health and climate. </p><p>Biodiscovery taps into plants, animals, and microorganisms to look for traits that can be used for innovation in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, cosmetic, and other industries. A bevy of organizations are focused on scaling up biodiscovery at sea.</p><p>A marine discovery in the 1950s led to the creation of Ara-A, the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/org/science/article/pii/S0265056822000356" target="_blank" rel="noopener">first antiviral drug</a>. Around half of clinically approved drugs, including antibiotics and cancer drugs, are based on discoveries made in nature, but only <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/org/science/article/pii/S0265056822000356" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a small percentage</a> of those come from marine ecosystems.</p><p>Scientists are turning to the ocean in the hope of finding microbes that can help deal with mounting aquaculture waste, eat methane, degrade plastic, and help create biofuels.</p><p>But the industry faces <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/org/science/article/pii/S0265056822000356" target="_blank" rel="noopener">"chronic underfunding, bottlenecks, and untapped potential"</a> while the ocean itself is under assault from pollution, overfishing, a loss of biodiversity, and climate change. </p><p>Balancing the pursuit of science, marine protection, and economic gain is an inherent challenge but some organizations are tackling all three. </p><div type="image" title="Two of the Basecamp Research team taking samples in Azores, Portugal" height="724" width="1086" msid="102209400" hostid="261"></div><h2>Combining biodiscovery with biodiversity mapping</h2><p>The London-based company Basecamp Research conducts marine expeditions led by scientists working to build a knowledge graph of nature's biodiversity. The startup, which has raised $26 million to date, works with companies looking for enzymes for commercial use and with NGOs or countries that want to map biodiversity.</p><p>Basecamp also partners with academic institutions and governments, including on a project known as Heritage Malta, which involves divers heading 100 meters underwater to collect sediment samples from around archaeological wreckage sites. The project's end goal is to understand how the microbes are evolving in response to the wreck sites on the seabed while also looking for enzymes for commercial use.</p><p>Sampling efforts are typically nonintrusive and don't harm the surrounding environment, said Emma Bolton, a marine biologist who has spent time working in Antarctica and is now with Basecamp Research. </p><p>Sampling involves taking a "minuscule amount of sediment" and only needs to be done once, she said. Samples can also be taken by filtering a few liters of water. Discoveries might yield commercial gains but could also be used to build an argument for the protection, conservation, or restoration of the marine area.</p><div type="image" title="Heritage Malta diver taking samples." height="1022" width="1600" msid="102209401" hostid="261"></div><h2>Technology is fueling biodiscovery </h2><p>Once collected, microbial DNA has to be sequenced and analyzed. Scientists sift through databases of digital biological information hoping to make the next big discovery. There is simply too much data to handle, Rob Finn, the coordinator of a European project that catalogs existing marine-microbiome data said. </p><p>"I sit on 3 billion unique proteins that have come from all sorts of different sources," said Finn of the BlueRemediomics initiative. He is also a team lead at the European Bioinformatics Institute. </p><p>One of the aims of the 9.3 million euro, or about $10.4 million, project is to make it easier to screen data for useful characteristics for commercialization, with a focus on new ways to reduce waste, increase the reuse of natural products, and improve aquaculture processes. </p><p>It will connect the dots between single enzymes or genes to look at whole organisms or small communities of organisms for potential uses, Finn said. The explosion of powerful algorithms that can process vast amounts of data has made this kind of work possible.</p><p>Basecamp Research's data science team is also taking advantage of developments in technology. It uses AI modeling to work out the best proteins and enzymes for specific applications, which can lead to bespoke protein designs for its customers. Winning designs can also be used to train AI systems to model other enzymes and sequences in the hope of making further discoveries. </p><div type="image" title="Visualisation of proteins in silico, made by Saif Ur-Rehman, Basecamp Research's data engineering team lead." height="1420" width="2440" msid="102209403" hostid="261"></div><h2>The introduction of the High Seas Treaty</h2><p>A number of companies use public biological data to develop products, but critics argue that traceability is often lacking, leaving the impact of datasets unknown. This raises the issue of biopiracy, where samples have been harvested illegally without fair compensation to the communities and countries that own the land or waters.</p><p>The UN's Nagoya Protocol, adopted in 2010, addressed biopiracy on land by ensuring that commercial profits of genetic resources like DNA are shared with its origin country. The protocol omitted the high seas, which refers to parts of the seas that are not under territorial control of any specific country. </p><p>As interest in the ocean gains momentum, so does the push to protect it and ensure discoveries benefit everyone. <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_23_1382" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The High Seas Treaty</a>, which was finalized earlier this year, will regulate the use of physical and digital genetic data found in the deep sea and states that profit is to be shared equally between nations. </p><p>Basecamp Research's Bolton said any royalties made from its data are shared with location partners, in line with the Nagoya Protocol. For example, it would share profits with a national park that might have enlisted the company's help to conduct a biodiversity survey. </p><p>Meanwhile, a huge part of BlueRemediomics's funding is devoted to finding ways to balance commercialization with <a href="https://blueremediomics.eu/about-work-packages/work-package-5-improving-access-protection-and-sharing-abs-and-ip-of-marine-genetic-resources/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">benefit sharing</a> and to make sure that neither becomes constricted, Finn said. This is particularly important as policy evolves with the ratification of the High Seas Treaty.</p><div type="image" title="A diver during an expedition in Antarctica." height="3800" width="5067" msid="102209404" hostid="261"></div><p>The treaty also puts into action an <a href="https://www.cbd.int/article/cop15-final-text-kunming-montreal-gbf-221222" target="_blank" rel="noopener">agreement</a> to protect 30% of the high seas by 2030. Currently, <a href="https://marine-conservation.org/30x30/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">less than 3%</a> is considered highly protected.</p><p>This coincides with a race to mine the seafloor for critical materials, often touted as necessary to meet electrification goals. Scientists have <a href="https://easac.eu/news/details/deep-sea-mining-press-release" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pushed back</a> on the "misleading" narrative that this kind of exploration is needed for a green transition and have warned that mining the deep sea will have damning consequences for marine ecosystems, </p><p>The conversation has led to increased public awareness of the marine ecosystem's value and a push to understand the ocean, Bolton said. "There is so much more to discover from it." </p>

Scientists are racing to explore more of the ocean hoping to discover medical breakthroughs and address the climate crisis

New Delhi, May 18 () Ayurvedic herb Ashwagandha can be an effective therapeutic and preventive drug against the COVID-19 infection, a collaborative research by IIT-Delhi and Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) has found.<p>The natural compounds from Ashwagandha and Propolis have the potential to be an effective novel coronavirus preventive drug, according to the research team.</p><p>"The researchers targeted the main SARS-CoV-2's enzyme for splitting proteins, known as the main protease (Mpro), that plays a key role in mediating viral replication. This is an attractive drug target for this virus, and as humans don't naturally have this enzyme, compounds that target Mpro are likely to have low toxicity," said D Sundar, head of the Delhi Indian Institute of Technology's Biotechnology department.</p><p>"The findings may not only connect to save time and cost required for screening for anti-COVID-19 drugs, but may also offer some preventive and therapeutic value for the management of fatal COVID-19 pandemic, and hence, warrant prioritized validation in the laboratory and clinical tests," he said.</p><p> The drug's development may take some time, and in the current scenario, these natural resources -- Ashwagandha and Propolis -- can offer some preventive or even therapeutic value, according to Sundar. </p><p> He said that "although these are easily available and affordable, one has to be cautious about the content of bioactive ingredients. CAPE, while is a major component of propolis, its amount and stability are critical factors that could be managed by generating its complex with cyclodextrins". </p><p>"Withanone, on the other hand, varies with geography, parts and size of the Ashwagandha plant. So, in order to acquire or appreciate particular effects, we must use the right and quality-controlled resource and extracts," Sundar said.</p><p>The government has also initiated a study on whether Ashwagandha can be an alternative to anti-malarial drug Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) as a potential COVID-19 preventive.</p><p>The study is being carried out by a group of scientists and researchers from the Ministry of AYUSH, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, University Grants Commission (UGC) and Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). </p><p> "While new line of drug and vaccine development have been initiated worldwide, in the current scenario of high infected numbers, severity of the disease and high morbidity, repurposing of the existing drugs are heavily explored by recruiting integrative genomics and bioinformatics research tools," Sundar said.</p><p> "While well-trusted reputation of Ashwagandha as an immunity enhancer forms a basis of the recent initiative of the Indian government in forming an Interdisciplinary Task Force to launch its clinical research studies related to SARS-CoV-2 and the COVID-19 disease, the current research report of this team provide hints on its direct anti-viral activities," he said.</p><p> The novel coronavirus has claimed over three lakh lives with over 48 lakh people infected across the globe. In India, 3,029 people have died due to the disease and 91,169 have been infected. GJS</p> GJS ANBANB

Ashwagandha can be effective COVID-19 preventive drug, finds research by IIT Delhi and Japan's AIST

The CEO of Moderna on the moment he first realized the company could make a COVID-19 vaccine

<p><strong><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/57436caa910584cc008c4ab0-1464/ap_1203270630.jpg" alt="brain" data-mce-source="AP/Alastair Grant" /><p class="source"><span>AP/Alastair Grant</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></strong></p><p>An experimental treatment - developed by tiny biotech Voyager Therapeutics - to help people with Parkinson's disease respond better to their medication appears to be working.</p><p>Parkinson's disease is characterized by motor symptoms such as shaking in the hands and legs, as well as stiffness and impaired balance.</p><p>A drug taken to treat these symptoms, called levodopa, starts to lose its effectiveness over time. It's because an enzyme called aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase (AADC for short), starts to die off. Without this enzyme, it's harder for the brain to convert that levodopa into dopamine, a key neurotransmitter that people with Parkinson's have a hard time making.</p><p>That's what Voyager is trying to address, by using gene therapy to essentially create more of that enzyme in the brain. In very early stage results - a phase 1b trial based on 10 patients who received the therapy - the company showed that patients who got the higher dose of their therapy got a better response to their medication. <br /><br />"We're bypassing those dying cells, putting the enzyme in and allowing patients to take their levodopa,"Bernard Ravina, Voyager's vice president of clinical development told Business Insider. <br /><br />Phase 1 trials <a href="http://www.fda.gov/ForPatients/Approvals/Drugs/ucm405622.htm">tend to be smaller than later-stage trials</a>, and data from a third group of patients is still on its way. The results from that group are expected to come out by the middle of next year.</p><h2><strong>How it works</strong></h2><p>The treatment is "one and done," surgery, Voyager CEO Steve Paul told Business Insider in August. And this isn't the first time researchers have tried this approach. A <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2839805/">study done in 2009</a> wasn't successful, because not enough cells in the brain were getting the new DNA, <a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/s/602193/manufacturing-dopamine-in-the-brain-with-gene-therapy/">MIT Technology Review reports</a>.  </p><p>However, Voyager is hoping that by using MRI technology, the surgeon can release the gene therapy into the putamen, the area of the brain that starts to have a hard time producing dopamine in patients with Parkinson's, and the surgeon can know it's getting enough brain cells covered. The gene therapy goes in and helps the putamen produce new AADC enzymes, essentially creating a reservoir that can now be used to convert levodopa to dopamine.</p><p>Once that injection happens, the hope is that the person who's developed resistance over time because their enzymes have been dying can have an easier time getting that medication to work. </p><p>So far, in the 10 patients who were tested, the therapy helped people with advanced Parkinson's disease - who have lived with it for a number of years - respond better to levodopa. This was particularly true in the group that had received a higher dose of the therapy. That group, of five patients, was able to decrease the amount of levodopa that they were taking by 34% six months after getting the surgery.</p><p>The therapy led to more AADC enzymes in the putamen at six months. In the second group, that activity was up by 56% compared to the level of activity the patients came in with.</p><p>Since this was a phase 1 study, it was looking at how safe the procedure was under increasing amount of doses. With the exception of one patient who got a blood clot in the lungs that doctors were able to treat, Voyager didn't report any major side effects. </p><h2>What's ahead</h2><p>It is still early days for this treatment. Next, Voyager will have to show that this works in a randomized controlled study - meaning some of the participants won't actually get the gene therapy - to show that the therapy works better than placebo. <span>Ravina said he expects that to get underway by the end of 2017.</span></p><p>Voyager's Parkinson's program is is the farthest along, but Voyager's working in other neurological conditions including Huntington's disease and a genetic form of ALS. </p>      <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/dermatologist-best-way-wash-your-face-2016-11">The 3 worst things you do when you wash your face - according to a dermatologist</a></h3>        <div>            <div>    <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e"></script>    <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="pjNjFhMzE6jkiAo_sqqP9a2bfetBkmE0" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>    <script>    if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; }     RunFunctions.push(function()    {         var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', 'pjNjFhMzE6jkiAo_sqqP9a2bfetBkmE0',{ autoplay: 'false' });     });    </script>    <noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript></div>        </div>        <script>(function() { function createPlayer() { OO.ready(function() { RunFunctions.forEach(function(ooyalaFunction) { ooyalaFunction(); }); RunFunctions = [];}); } createPlayer(); }()); </script>    </div>

An experimental treatment to help Parkinson's patients respond to medication better appears to be working

<p class="financial-disclaimer"><i>When you buy through our links, we may earn money from our affiliate partners. <a href="https://www.insider-inc.com/commerce-on-insider-inc/">Learn more.</a></i></p><p><a href="https://go.redirectingat.com/?id=35871X943606&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sephora.com%2Fproduct%2Fbeautyblender-bounce-airbrush-concealer-P4553255325" target="_blank" rel="nofollow nofollow noopener sponsored sponsored nofollow sponsored"></a></p><ul class="summary-list"><li><strong>Beautyblender, known for its iconic pink <keyword id="29496" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Makeup">makeup</keyword> sponge, has officially launched a <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com/?id=35871X943606&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sephora.com%2Fproduct%2Fbeautyblender-bounce-airbrush-concealer-P4553255325" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored nofollow sponsored">$26 liquid concealer</a>.</strong></li><li><strong>I sent my dermatologist a tube to test, and she was super impressed with the ingredient list, which includes skin-plumping hyaluronic acid and peptides. </strong></li><li><strong>I sent another tube to a top makeup artist, and she was swayed by the whipped texture and how easily it covered up blemishes and dark spots.</strong></li></ul><iframe src="https://produktor.businessinsider.com/productCardService?id=5e875430d5873a3277718bb7&amp;type=small&amp;live=true" width="100%" height="150%" frameborder="0" style="position:absolute; top:0; left: 0"></iframe><p>My friend Lauren works for <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-beautyblender-became-revolutionary-makeup-product-rea-ann-silva-2019-7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Beautyblender</a>, the company that created the <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com/?id=35871X943606&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sephora.com%2Fproduct%2Fbeautyblender-P2289138913" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow sponsored nofollow sponsored nofollow sponsored">iconic egg-shaped makeup sponge</a>, and she rang me up recently to say she wanted me to test their <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com/?id=35871X943606&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sephora.com%2Fproduct%2Fbeautyblender-bounce-airbrush-concealer-P4553255325" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored nofollow sponsored nofollow sponsored">new concealer</a>. Lauren has sent me a lot of products over the years, but this time she was really excited. </p><p>"You have to try this under your eyes," she said, certain about its ability to brighten up the area and help me look more awake.</p><p>So I checked out the new <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com/?id=35871X943606&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sephora.com%2Fproduct%2Fbeautyblender-bounce-airbrush-concealer-P4553255325" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored nofollow sponsored nofollow sponsored">Bounce Airbrush Liquid Whip Concealer ($26 at Sephora)</a>, and have to admit, I was immediately impressed by how good it felt to use. I usually use stick concealers, but they can be drying and hard to blend. This one, especially if you're using a damp Beautyblender sponge, melts into the skin nicely, and the whipped texture is like putting a light meringue on your blemishes and spots. </p><h2>The buildable-coverage concealer includes hydrating, skin-nourishing ingredients</h2><p>Also impressive are the skin-loving ingredients in the formula, including peptides, polymers, and hyaluronic acid. Curious, I asked my dermatologist, Dr. Alexis Young, an Assistant Clinical Professor of Dermatology in the Department of Dermatology at Columbia University Medical Center, if there were any benefits to having these ingredients in a concealer. </p><p>"Peptides and polymers in topical products can stimulate the production of skin-plumping collagen," confirmed Dr. Young. "Yet, it's incredibly difficult for peptides to penetrate the top layer of skin before being broken down by the skin's enzymes or being blocked by the tight spaces between the skin's cells. Luckily, this concealer contains tetrapeptide, a technologically advanced peptide that allows for deeper penetration of active ingredients — like the moisturizing hyaluronic acid found in this product."</p><h2>What the concealer is like to use</h2><p><a href="https://go.redirectingat.com/?id=35871X943606&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sephora.com%2Fproduct%2Fbeautyblender-bounce-airbrush-concealer-P4553255325" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored nofollow sponsored"><div type="image" title="BeautyBlenderConcealer2" height="900" width="1200" msid="76324390" hostid="261"></div></a></p><p>Having passed the ingredient test (and having enjoyed using the concealer myself), I asked a top makeup artist, who normally has up to five different concealers in her kit, to give it a try and share her thoughts. She even took some photos for me.</p><p>"<a href="https://go.redirectingat.com/?id=35871X943606&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sephora.com%2Fproduct%2Fbeautyblender-bounce-airbrush-concealer-P4553255325" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored nofollow sponsored nofollow sponsored">This concealer</a> is especially impressive for brightening the undereye area," says Kelli Bartlett, the Artistic Director at Glamsquad, who primed her skin with a hydrating eye cream before applying the concealer (she used <a href="https://www.anrdoezrs.net/links/6415797/type/dlg/https://www.dermstore.com/product_AGE+Eye+Complex_20344.htm" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored nofollow sponsored">SkinCeuticals A.G.E. Eye Complex</a>), and then lightly dotted the concealer in a "U" shape under her eyes before blending with a sponge. "The concealer dries down naturally, which means it doesn't need to be set with powder," she notes.</p><p>Not surprisingly, the brand suggests you use their <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com/?id=35871X943606&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sephora.com%2Fproduct%2Fbeautyblender-P2289138913" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow sponsored nofollow sponsored nofollow sponsored">Beautyblender sponge</a> to blend the concealer. "Although a brush or your finger will do, the sponge is the perfect tool to blend and distribute the concealer," Bartlett notes. "When used correctly (wet) the sponge will absorb less makeup, distribute the product more evenly, and leave the skin with an airbrushed finish."</p><p>With <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com/?id=35871X943606&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sephora.com%2Fproduct%2Fbeautyblender-bounce-airbrush-concealer-P4553255325" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored nofollow sponsored nofollow sponsored">40 shades to choose from</a>, Bartlett suggests picking a formula one shade lighter than your natural skin tone for concealing blemishes, dark spots and circles. </p><p><a href="https://go.redirectingat.com/?id=35871X943606&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sephora.com%2Fproduct%2Fbeautyblender-bounce-airbrush-concealer-P4553255325" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored nofollow sponsored nofollow sponsored">The concealer</a> can also be used to highlight and contour: "To highlight, choose a color two to three shades lighter than your skin tone and swipe the wand from the inner eye to outer temple before blending, using any leftover on the sponge to cover any redness around the nose area," she notes. "To contour, choose a concealer two shades deeper than your natural skin tone and place it in the hollows of the cheeks, on the temples, and along the jawline and blend." </p><p><a href="https://go.redirectingat.com/?id=35871X943606&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sephora.com%2Fproduct%2Fbeautyblender-bounce-airbrush-concealer-P4553255325" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored nofollow sponsored nofollow sponsored"><div type="image" title="BeautyBlenderConcealer3" height="900" width="1200" msid="76324394" hostid="261"></div></a></p><p>What also makes <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com/?id=35871X943606&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sephora.com%2Fproduct%2Fbeautyblender-bounce-airbrush-concealer-P4553255325" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored nofollow sponsored nofollow sponsored">this concealer</a> unique is the doe-foot applicator, which emulates the shape of a <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com/?id=35871X943606&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sephora.com%2Fproduct%2Fbeautyblender-P2289138913" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored nofollow sponsored">Beautyblender sponge</a>. "It's two-sided so there's no need for double-dipping — the flat side gives you full coverage in one swipe, while the rounded side allows for a more precise, controlled application, especially when highlighting or contouring," says Rea Ann Silva, Founder &amp; CEO of Beautyblender.</p><p>Silva chalks up the lightweight consistency to the fact that the fluid is whipped using a high-speed aerating process. "With air built into the formula, we were able to create a full coverage, easy-to-build product," says Silva. "It also contains HD pigments that act as light diffusers, brightening and illuminating the skin for a flawless-looking finish." </p><h2>Cons to consider:</h2><p><a href="https://go.redirectingat.com/?id=35871X943606&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sephora.com%2Fproduct%2Fbeautyblender-bounce-airbrush-concealer-P4553255325" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored nofollow sponsored nofollow sponsored">The concealer</a> is free of harmful parabens and phthalates but devoid, too, of sunscreen. Yet that doesn't seem to concern Dr. Young. "Because you don't spread concealer all over your face, it wouldn't be a substitute for a sunscreen, anyway. Just be sure to apply a broad-spectrum SPF to your skin before dotting on your concealer."</p><p>The other downside, though not a dealbreaker, is that the applicator deposits a lot of product at once. If you're only covering a small area, like a blemish, you'll get more than you need — I find myself wiping away excess sometimes.</p><h2>The bottom line:</h2><p>This affordable dermatologist- and makeup artist-approved concealer does a great job at covering blemishes and brightening the area under my eyes, all while providing nourishing skin benefits. The formula is creamy and blends well, especially when using a makeup sponge.</p><p>I don't require a lot of <keyword id="6354629" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="beauty">beauty</keyword> maintenance, but this concealer has officially joined mascara and lip gloss as part of my daily beauty routine.</p><iframe src="https://produktor.businessinsider.com/productCardService?id=5e875430d5873a3277718bb7&amp;type=button&amp;live=true" width="100%" height="150%" frameborder="0" style="position:absolute; top:0; left: 0"></iframe>

Beautyblender, the brand behind that iconic pink makeup sponge, now makes a $26 concealer — I asked a makeup artist and a dermatologist to test it out

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table full"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5425c0d2ecad04795bd306d1-969-727/chy.jpg" border="0" alt="broadcomfinalist"><p class="source"><span>Chythanya Murali</span></p><p class="caption">Chythanya Murali with her science fair poster.</p></img></div><p></p></div></div>This 13-year-old is trying to save the world one ecosystem at a time.</p>
<p>Chythanya Murali, an eighth grader from Arkansas, has created a safe, effective, non-conventional method to clean oil spills, by harnessing the cleaning properties of bacteria - specifically the enzymes they use to break down oil particles. These enzymes disassemble oil molecules, making way for the bacteria to convert it into harmless compounds.</p>
<p>Advances in oil clean up are dearly needed. Right now, the mixtures of oil-cleaning enzymes that we use can be more harmful than helpful to the environment. In 2012, a study found a chilling discovery about the oil-cleaning agents dispersed in the Gulf of Mexico after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill of 2010. When combined with the oil itself, the resulting mixture was <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/dispersant-toxic-when-mixed-with-oil-2012-12">52 times more toxic</a> to small animals like plankton than oil alone.</p>
<p>In fact, it was this very same spill that motivated Murali to make a difference. "My inspiration for this project began [from] the immense damage caused by the BP oil spill in early 2010."<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table full"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5429980beab8eaeb0684fb66-1200-924/deepwater_horizon_oil_spill_-_may_24,_2010.jpg" border="0" alt="Deepwater_Horizon_oil_spill_ _May_24,_2010"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Deepwater_Horizon_oil_spill_-_May_24,_2010.jpg">NASA/GSFC, MODIS Rapid Response</a></span></p><p class="caption">Sunlight illuminated the lingering oil slick off the Mississippi Delta on May 24, 2010.</p></img></div><p></p></div></div>To improve oil-cleaning methods, Murali designed a <keyword id="41551" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="science">science</keyword> fair project that explored the different mixtures of oil-eating enzymes and oil-breaking-down bacterias, to see how they effect the marine environment.</p>
<p>"The combination of bio-additive enzymes and oil-degrading bacteria as a novel combination for short and long-term cleaning, and its effect on ecosystems was not explored before," Murali told Business Insider.</p>
<p>So it only seemed natural to Murali to combine the two and see what happened. She discovered that in a small-scale aquarium, the combination of her chosen oil-cleaning agents could help remove oil while preserving the health of the overall ecosystem, something that some of the oil-cleaning agents we use today cannot achieve.</p>
<p>Murali hopes her new approach can be further developed and one day, help clean up oil spills. Earlier this month, her science fair oil-breakdown project won her a position as a Broadcom Math, Applied Science, Technology, and Engineering Rising Stars (MASTERS) finalist. She is one of 30 Broadcom MASTERS finalists in the country.</p>
<p>Murali has yet to apply her mixture on a large scale to test its commercial potential, so she might run into trouble scaling up the project.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table full"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/542998a66bb3f7e17536fafd-1200-800/oil_clean_up_at_impact_site_(5015342704).jpg" border="0" alt="Oil_clean_up_at_impact_site_(5015342704)"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Oil_clean_up_at_impact_site_%285015342704%29.jpg">U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Southeast Region</a></span></p><p class="caption">Oil spill response actions near drill site May 27, 2010.</p></img></div><p></p></div></div>"I did not have the funding to conduct this on a larger scale, so it would need more time and support... to see if it works in in vivo conditions," she said. "Afterwards, this novel combination of biological agents can be used to clean oil spills in real world scenarios."</p>
<p>If she won this year's Broadcom MASTERS grand prize of $25,000, that would certainly help bring her closer to that goal.</p>

A 13-Year-Old Has Invented A Completely New Approach To Cleaning Up Oil Spills

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5739fdea910584cc008c330f-1306-980/life-hill.jpg" alt="Goat Life hill" data-mce-source="Tim Bowditch" /><p class="source"><span>Tim Bowditch</span></p></div><p></p></div></div>Last year, Thomas Thwaites decided to take a break from being a human and escape all his worries by <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/thomas-thwaites-goat-man-2016-5">transforming himself into a goat</a>.</p><p>As he chronicles in detail in his book, "GoatMan: How I Took a Holiday from Being Human" (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/GoatMan-Took-Holiday-Being-Human/dp/1616894059">out May 17</a>), the process wasn't easy and required a lot of body-hacking <keyword id="41551" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="science">science</keyword>. Along the way, he consulted everyone from neurologists, to animal muscle specialists.</p><p>Here's how he managed to pull it off. </p><h2>Altering the mind</h2><p>First, he had to understand the mind of goats. So he met with a goat behavioral expert, who told him what goes on in a goat's brain. Unfortunately for Thwaites, who wanted to become worry-free, goats do tend to get anxious, he learned. He also learned about the goat's social behavior, as well as how clever they can be (one goat faked a limp to get out of an activity).</p><p class="slide-title">After that, he went about figuring out if he could turn off certain aspects that make him human. Thwaites met with a neuroscientist at the University College London to try and hack a system for temporarily shutting those parts off, particularly the Broca's area, which is related to speech. To Thwaites' dismay, the technology to turn off a person's ability to understand language isn't there yet.</p><h2 class="slide-title">Going from two to four-legged</h2><p class="slide-title"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5727681e52bcd029008c02ea-2000-1400/life-hand.jpg" alt="Life Hand goat" data-mce-source="Photo courtesy Tim Bowditch" /><p class="source"><span>Photo courtesy Tim Bowditch</span></p><p class="caption">Being four-legged puts a lot of pressure on your arms.</p></div><p></p></div></div>So, Thwaites decided to focus on the physical aspects of becoming a goat. He experimented with some prototypes, but after a while of going it alone, he turned to the Royal Veterinary College's Structure and Motion Laboratory to get the expertise of a professor who studies animal motion. That way, they'd be able to look at goats' muscles to get a sense of how to best transform from human to animal. </p><p class="slide-title">At the same time, Thwaites also needed prosthetics to give him goat-like limbs, which he had built by a prosthetics clinic at the University of Salford. Transitioning from two to four legs puts a lot of pressure on the front limbs that can be pretty painful, so the team tried to do everything they could to make the goat legs as pain-free as possible, while also protecting Thwaites neck and back from getting damaged along the way.</p><h2 class="slide-title">Digesting grass</h2><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/573a0ddb52bcd063018c33c0-2000-1500/life-grass.jpg" alt="Life grass goat" data-mce-source="Photo courtesy Tim Bowditch" /><p class="source"><span>Photo courtesy Tim Bowditch</span></p><p class="caption">A nice dinner of pressure-cooked grass.</p></div><p></p></div></div>Beyond a goat-like anatomy, Thwaites also had to learn how to eat like a goat. Goats, like other plant eaters, have an organ called a rumen that is filled with microorganisms that help them break down grass into edible sugars. </p><p>Thwaites considered swallowing a microbial mixture that would mimic the rumen and help him digest the grass, but he was told that would be unsafe; who knew what kind of bugs live in a goat's rumen that could potentially be harmful to a human's gut? Thwaites also considered using a chemical enzyme that would break down the grass, though that also presented some safety problems.</p><p>In the end, he built himself a pouch to collect the grass he grazed on during the day. Then at night he used a pressure cooker to cook the grass and break it down into a kind of "grass-stewy soup."</p><p class="slide-title">As much as technological advancements aided Thwaites' adventure, the shortcomings along the way were fairly disappointing. Thwaites told Business Insider that he'd eventually like to work on building a "kind of artificial rumen," but that'll likely take some time.</p><p class="slide-title">The next major transformation he'd like to make? Changing his eyesight to be more like a goat. For his first attempt, he avoided it because the only options involved using virtual reality technology, as opposed to just popping on a pair of goggles that would shift his eyesight more to the sides of his head. </p><p class="slide-title">"<span style="font-weight: 400;">I just think I'd like to continue iterating this thing to get to the dream to actually gallop," he said.</span></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/sugar-effects-human-body-2016-5">Here's what happens to your body when you stop eating sugar</a></h3>        <div>            <div>    <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e"></script>    <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="5oMGljMzE6lf0JBPB-pyxq10IYKalQNS" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>    <script>    if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; }     RunFunctions.push(function()    {         var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', '5oMGljMzE6lf0JBPB-pyxq10IYKalQNS',{ autoplay: 'false' });     });    </script>    <noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript></div>        </div>        <script>(function() { function createPlayer() { OO.ready(function() { RunFunctions.forEach(function(ooyalaFunction) { ooyalaFunction(); }); RunFunctions = [];}); } createPlayer(); }()); </script>    </div>

Here's the science behind the man who turned himself into a goat

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/546f6e4a69bedd0009b100c5-1024-683/mom with baby.jpg" border="0" alt="Mom with Baby"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/xrustypicturesx/4740706953/in/photolist-8dVn1M-6ocuQ2-8jiwFy-4M617J-93cyer-eom2N-buAJsS-ffMAq7-8jiwGC-NS2WJ-4DAKPh-7iBXPt-9gPrSp-9qnqUZ-coFCo-5B6kch-bPHpac-6PydY8-fCKvXW-84waKs-fkms6m-C6nNj-fCKvvj-75Vjba-4cRxGw-4cMy3t-nXowTh-bxTQUm-9GuDai-7iFX2Q-aHf7Sa-pUbm6-2Sodp1-6XjgiL-596w5H-dwfS3d-6x4jzW-5ZG7bm-aWpjAt-DrNxJ-nbnqKV-o9bf2d-iMQBih-nzGejN-nS46cb-6tpdwK-p85U6f-7HeL2s-jp8WES-RmDWY">Flickr / Rolf Venema</a></span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div>Women in the US are having children later in life than ever before.</p><p>The average age of a mother giving birth to her first child was 26 in 2013 - a record high, according to <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr64/nvsr64_01.pdf">Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data</a>, that includes plenty of women over 35 and even some over 40.</p><p><a href="https://www.centerforhumanreprod.com/about/staff/norbert_gleicher_md/">Dr. Norbert Gleicher</a>, founder, medical director, and chief scientist of the Center for Human Reproduction fertility clinic in New York City, thinks this is a <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4105876/">trend</a> that is only going to continue. He predicts that advances in the field of reproductive technology will enable older and older women to give birth to their own biological children. </p><p>"We will reach a threshold where age no longer matters and women will be able to conceive probably pretty much independent of their age," Gleicher told Business Insider. </p><p>It will take serious research to get to that threshold, but Gleicher identified three "revolutionary steps" that scientists are already working on to get us there: </p><h2>1. Generating mature eggs in a lab</h2><p><span>A woman's age-related decline in fertility has been linked to a gradual decrease in the number and quality of cells that can mature into eggs in the ovaries (known as </span><a href="https://www.asrm.org/topics/detail.aspx?id=1626"><span>ovarian reserve</span></a><span>), notes a </span><a href="http://www.acog.org/Resources-And-Publications/Committee-Opinions/Committee-on-Gynecologic-Practice/Female-Age-Related-Fertility-Decline"><span>report</span></a><span> from the ASRM and American College of Obsetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG). Those cells that can become eggs are surrounded with other cells that take care of them and help them grow. The whole complex is called a follicle, and women are born with about a million of them. </span></p><p>Only a tiny fraction of follicles actually mature into eggs that could be fertilized, however. The majority are lost through a process called <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9074768">atresia</a>. </p><p>But it could be possible, Gleicher suggested, to take a little bit of the ovary tissue with immature follicles and coax them to mature into eggs in the lab. Scientists have <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3929501/">already done this in mice</a>, and the eggs have yielded live babies after in vitro fertilization and implantation in mothers. <a href="http://oncofertility.northwestern.edu/research/human-follicle-maturation-in-vitro">Research is ongoing</a> to get this to work in humans. </p><p><span>If scientists can manage this, doctors could save thousands of a woman's eggs for future use, many more than egg freezing can - and without the hormone treatment.</span></p><h2>2. Growing sperm and egg cells from regular cells</h2><p>Another way to get more eggs than a woman's body makes available naturally is to make them from normal body cells, called somatic cells. This can be done by first converting somatic cells into stem cells that can become many different types of cells in the body (known as induced pluripotent stem cells), then into egg cells.</p><p>Animal sperm and egg cells made this way have <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25609401">resulted in viable offspring</a>, and scientists have succeeded in making human sperm from induced pluripotent stem cells. There are still significant questions about the safety and efficacy of this process, but Gleicher thinks making human eggs and sperm from somatic cells is an achievable goal in the next 10 years. </p><h2>3. Editing human embryos</h2><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/55098d136bb3f72044b3c3fa-1200-1200/crystal_structure_of_cas9_in_complex_with_guide_rna_and_target_dna.jpg" border="0" alt="cas9 dna rna editing"><p class="source"><span>Nishimasu et al, 2014</span></p><p class="caption">The genome-editing enzyme known as CAS9 at work on a strand of DNA.</p></img></div><p></p></div></div>A key problem for older women trying to conceive is that their older eggs and the fertilized embryos that result are more likely to have genetic abnormalities that will prevent them from growing into healthy babies. </p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Right now that means older women have </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"></span><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/in-vitro-fertilization-ivf-success-rates-2015-5">slimmer chances</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> of having a baby through in vitro fertilization than young women do, and the babies older mothers do have are <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3784117/">more likely to have certain genetic problems</a>.</span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">But with recent news that scientists in China have <a href="http://www.nature.com/news/chinese-scientists-genetically-modify-human-embryos-1.17378">edited the genes of human embryos</a> - albeit with <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/chinese-scientists-genetic-modification-human-embryo-crispr-2015-4">many ethical questions and technical glitches</a> - Gleicher said it could be possible to fix genetic abnormalities in the embryos of older women. Those embryos would then be more likely to survive, and a major obstacle for older women trying to get pregnant would be treatable.  </span></p><h2><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">'Society better get ready'</span></h2><p>Gleicher stresses that medicine is "evolutionary," meaning progress happens slowly. <span>Predicting the timeline for the future of medical advances is always tricky, </span>but he predicted these technical issues for older women trying to conceive will be resolved in the next 10 years. It could take another 10 years after that for the technological advances to be adapted into treatments women can actually benefit from, he said.</p><p><span>If we get to the point Gleicher anticipates when age isn't the limitation on women's fertility it's always been,</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> he and colleagues wrote in a </span><a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4105876/">recent paper</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">, "medicine and society better get ready for this revolution."</span></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/vaccinations-kids-school-anti-vaxxers-2015-2">Why we should ban non-vaccinated kids from schools</a></h3>        <div>            <div>    <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e"></script>    <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="k4OGtvcjq8opexFd2b9tXycCZXevrQqn" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>    <script>    if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; }     RunFunctions.push(function()    {         var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', 'k4OGtvcjq8opexFd2b9tXycCZXevrQqn',{ autoplay: 'false' });     });    </script>    <noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript></div>        </div>        <script>(function() { function createPlayer() { OO.ready(function() { RunFunctions.forEach(function(ooyalaFunction) { ooyalaFunction(); }); RunFunctions = [];}); } createPlayer(); }()); </script>    </div>

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