Oxitec aims to curb mosquito populations in the US through genetic modification; specifically, they’re looking to release genetically modified male mosquitoes. These mosquitoes, which are codenamed OX5034 and derived from Aedes aegypti, are modified to produce female larvae that will die before reaching adulthood. This method of population control is the sterile insect technique, and Oxitec had already used these species in 2020 to reduce mosquito populations in Brazil successfully. Read full article here
Oddities
The Curious Case of the Ancient Brain
In 2008, archaeologists examining the University of York discovered something strange: the decapitated head of an Iron Age man and his very shrivelled but very much intact brain. How a centuries-old brain was preserved is still unknown, but research suggests that it could have been because of brain diseases like dementia. The Yorkshire man’s brain’s proteins were bunched up together, much like how dementia causes brain proteins to bunch up into plaques. This bunching up, or aggregation, could continue even after death, turning regions of the brain into hard masses. Read full article here
Merv
September 30, 2022
