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2022/03/11
Delta-omicron hybrid variant identified for the first time
This tube of lunar soil has been sealed since 1972. NASA is finally about to open it. | Delta-omicron hybrid variant identified for the first time | Ukraine should destroy 'high-threat' pathogens, WHO says
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NASA scientists are about to find out whether lunar soil ages like fine wine.
This month, researchers with the space agency are finally opening a container of lunar soil collected by Apollo 17 astronauts 50 years ago. The vacuum-sealed container, collected in December 1972, contains rocks and soil from a landslide deposit on the moon's Taurus-Littrow Valley – and, if scientists are lucky, may also hold some trace samples of lunar gas as well, the agency said in a statement.
Scientists have confirmed the existence of a new COVID-19 variant that combines mutations from both omicron and delta variants for the first time, and there are reported cases in both Europe and the U.S.
The new hybrid variant, unofficially dubbed "deltacron," was confirmed through genome sequencing performed by scientists at IHU Méditerranée Infection in Marseille, France, and has been detected in several regions of France, according to a paper posted to the preprint database medRxiv on Tuesday (March 8). Cases have also been found in Denmark and The Netherlands, according to the international database GISAID. Separately, two cases have been identified in the U.S. by the California-based genetics research company Helix, according to Reuters. In addition, about 30 cases have been identified in the U.K., according to The Guardian.
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommended that Ukrainian public health labs that handle infectious agents destroy any "high-threat pathogens" to prevent potential spills during the ongoing Russian invasion, the agency told Reuters on Thursday (March 10).
The WHO previously worked with Ukrainian public health labs to establish security protocols aimed at preventing the "accidental or deliberate" release of such pathogens, the agency told Reuters in an email. "As part of this work, the WHO has strongly recommended to the Ministry of Health in Ukraine and other responsible bodies to destroy high-threat pathogens to prevent any potential spills," the email read.
The agency also advised all affected parties "to reach out for technical assistance as needed," regarding the safe and secure disposal of any pathogens.
The medical symbol of serpents wrapped around a staff is a familiar one in the field, decorating pharmaceutical packaging and hospitals alike. Snake bites are generally bad news so the animal might seem ill-fitting as the symbol of the medical profession, but the ancient emblem actually has quite a story behind it.
There are actually two versions of the symbol. The winged version is known as a caduceus and the stick is actually a staff that was carried by the Olympian god Hermes. In Greek mythology, Hermes was a messenger between the gods and humans (which explains the wings) and a guide to the underworld (which explains the staff). Hermes was also the patron of travellers, which makes his connection to medicine appropriate because doctors of the olden days had to travel great distances by foot in order to visit their patients.
A baby in North Carolina has received a first-of-its-kind heart transplant that may prevent his body from rejecting the organ without the need for lifelong drugs to suppress the immune system.
The child, Easton Sinnamon, is the first person to receive a heart transplant along with implantation of thymus tissue from the same donor, according to a statement from Duke University, where the procedure was performed. Because the thymus plays an important role in immune system function — in particular, teaching the body to recognize its own cells and tissues versus foreign invaders — it's possible that this combination transplant could allow the child's body to accept the new heart as part of itself instead of treating it as a foreign organ.
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