Category Archives: News & Archives

Potentially lethal parasite rat lungworm found throughout Florida

University of Florida researchers have found rat lungworm, a parasitic nematode that can cause meningitis in humans and animals, in five Florida counties. Rats and snails in Alachua, Leon, St. Johns, Orange and Hillsborough counties tested positive for the parasite, according to a study in PLoS ONE by researchers in the UF College of Veterinary Medicine and…

In saliva, clues to a ‘ghost’ species of ancient human

In saliva, scientists have found hints that a "ghost" species of archaic humans may have contributed genetic material to ancestors of people living in Sub-Saharan Africa today. The research adds to a growing body of evidence suggesting that sexual rendezvous between different archaic human species may not have been unusual. Past studies have concluded that…

Is Southwest Florida water quality better this summer?

Back in 2016, Southwest Florida had issues with clean water due to heavy rainfall in our area, which caused overflowing discharges from Lake Okeechobee. The water appeared murky and brown which affected people coming to the beach. "It was stained. You couldn't really see anything. We take people up in the air and even they…

St. Lucie River algae-free for Fourth of July

Story Video: Click here Following last year's toxic algae on the Treasure Coast, residents are pleased with the improvements this summer. During the Fourth of July holiday in 2016, toxic blue green algae coated parts of the St. Lucie River. Because of that, boaters and swimmers avoided the water, and business owners who rely on water…

A new microscope uses light to ‘cut’ through tissue samples and find cancer

The ultimate goal of a lumpectomy is to remove all the cancerous tissue from a person's breast while saving as much of the healthy tissue as possible. But that's even harder than it sounds. Without the ability to look at tissue under a microscope, it's currently impossible to tell whether the area surrounding a tumor contains cancerous cells or…

DNA solves ancient animal riddle that Darwin couldn’t

After the last of its kind died out about 12,000 years ago, a strange animal that stumped Charles Darwin is finally being added to the tree of life, according to a new study in the journal Nature Communications. Macrauchenia patachonica lived during the last ice age. It resembled a bulky camel without a hump, with…

Toxic Algae May Be Linked to Fatal Liver Disease in Some Areas, Study Says

Residents who live near large blue-green algae blooms are at a higher risk to develop fatal nonalcoholic liver diseases than those who don't, according to a study from Ohio State University. Cyanobacteria blooms, such as the one last summer in Martin, Lee, Palm Beach and St. Lucie counties that prompted a state of emergency, contain the toxins microcystin, nodularin…

The riskiest vaccine? The one that is not given

Last week, public health authorities in Minnesota asked more than 200 people to quarantine themselves after 12 cases of measles were diagnosed in less than 2 weeks—all of them in unvaccinated children younger than 6 years. Across the ocean, an unvaccinated 17-year-old Portuguese girl died of measles after the virus invaded her lungs, in the…

Amino acids in diet could be key to starving cancer

Cutting out certain amino acids -- the building blocks of proteins -- from the diet of mice slows tumor growth and prolongs survival, according to new research published in Nature. Researchers at the Cancer Research UK Beatson Institute and the University of Glasgow found that removing two non-essential amino acids -- serine and glycine --…

Giant viruses found in Austrian sewage fuel debate over potential fourth domain of life

Tourists visiting the town of Klosterneuburg in eastern Austria often head for the 12th century monastery or the nearby memorial to author Franz Kafka. Virologists and evolutionary biologists, however, may one day pay homage to the town's sewage treatment plant, which has yielded a genome that appears to be from the most cell-like viruses yet.…