First-Ever Parasitic Animal Capable of Surviving Without

Depending on Oxygen to Survive

Scientists discover the first-ever animal that is entirely free from oxygen dependency. A remote
relative to Jellyfish that thrives without utilizing mitochondria was found living as a parasite that
can be observed in some Pacific salmon.
Before we continue, let’s have a recap on the origin of life we learn in Biology. We all know that
life started when some cells develop the ability to metabolize oxygen, which we identified as
respiration. Let’s go back to 1.45 billion years ago when an ancient prokaryote that use to have
a nucleoid started to change and later become an Anaerobic bacterium that only knows how to
process food through fermentation. In this timeline, cells still don’t know how to metabolize
oxygen until the first creation of the Mitochondria when a bacterium capable of aerobic
respiration fused with the prokaryote.
They evolved together and tada, we humans are now capable of respiration since most of our
cells (except the red blood cells) has vast numbers of mitochondria. Mitochondria disintegrate
oxygen to create an adenosine triphosphate molecule that multi-cell organisms use to control
cell processes.
We know that individual organisms are adapted in conditions of low oxygen or hypoxic. Some
single-celled species have formed mitochondrial organelles for anaerobic metabolism; however,
some scientific research has been undertaken regarding the possibility of strictly anaerobic
multicellular organisms.
This is when a research team headed by Dayana Yahalomi of University Tel Aviv in Israel takes a
second look at a salmon parasite called Henneguya salminicola. A parasitic cnidarian –
belonging to the same species as Jellyfish, corals, and anemones – is capable of not having a
mitochondrial genome making its mitochondria useless.
In a closely associated cnidar fish parasite, Myxobolus squamalis, the same sequencing, and
microscopic methods were used as controls and showed a mitochondrial genome clearly. Like
other Myxozoas, it hops between two hosts in its life cycle — fish, especially salmon, and
annelid worms. In addition to habitat, the parasite may also rely on its hosts for nutrition
instead of its mitochondria. The unnecessary and complicated shedding of DNA through
development could have helped the parasite save energy and give H. A leg up salmincola on its
Myxozoan relatives, which were packed with mitochondria.
These findings indicate that this is a multicellular body that does not require oxygen to survive.
The exact reason it survives is still a mystery. Adenosine triphosphate could be leaching from its
host, although this has not yet been determined. This discovery does not only change our view
of the way of life here on Earth but also deepens our understanding of the implication for the
search of alien lifeforms.
 Cells Found in Covid-19 Patients May Help Fight Viruses
in The Future
In this current pandemic, researchers are continuously finding the cure of the COVID-19 that
kills thousands of lives. Scientists recently found specific immune cells that target the
coronavirus in the blood of the people that had recovered from its infection.
Coronavirus-infected individuals are a carrier of immune cells known as T cells, but their
importance in the fight against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that generates COVID-19, has not been
identified. Now two studies reveal T-cells that are targeting the virus, and that can help recover
infected humans. These cellular defenses are most likely found by some people never infected
with SARS-CoV-2 because they had been exposed or infected to other coronaviruses.
But what is a T cell? Well they were often called by the name "killer T cells" "helper T cells" but
trust me they are both T cells but with a different function but let's tackle that part later. T cells,
in general, are white blood cells that are essential to the immune system and fundamental to
adaptive immunity, which regulates the immune response of the body to particular pathogens.
T-cells are like troops looking for the hidden invaders that we call viruses and kill them.
A team in La Jolla Institute of Immunology in California experimented wherein they collected
immune cells from 20 recovered COVID-19 patients. The latter had mild cases and exposed
them to coronavirus proteins.
Remember the "killer T cells" and the "helper T cells"? Well, this is the part I was talking about.
The researchers found T cells with different functions. All participants carried "helper T cells"
recognizing a spike protein of the coronavirus that helps pathogen enter human cells. This
recognition is what stimulates the development of antibodies that allow us to combat anything
foreign to the body, such as viruses. Nearly all patients, on the other hand, developed "killer T
cells" to attack and then destroy other virus-infected cells.
Researchers warn, nevertheless, that their results do not show that patients recovered in the
future be immune from the virus.
It is tempting to think that cells will help people never subjected to the current coronavirus.
But, to be sure, experts need to test some T-cells for SARS-CoV-2 infections both before and
after.
But still, it is amazing how our body constantly evolves when introduced to another
environment. Recently identified T-cells prove successful in developing long-term protective
immunity. Researchers could also contribute to the development in the future of better
vaccines.

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 Epigenome Editing Can Repair Genetic Syndrome of
Intellectual and Developmental Disability in Mice
Scientists used a new method of genetic manipulation called epigenome editing in mice to
repair brain abnormalities arising from a gene mutation. The editing of epigenomes is a way to
modify the expression or read of genes without changing the underlying DNA code.
The Nature Communications analyzes on protein C11orf46 was conducted by a team from
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD. Scientists at Johns Hopkins University reversed a gene
mutation that led to WAGR syndrome. But first, what is WAGR syndrome?
In humans, mutations in the DNA region containing C11orf46 may lead to WAGR syndrome, a
genetic disorder that can cause intellectual disability and conflict with other body systems.
WAGR syndrome is also referred to as deletion syndrome for chromosome 11p13 because its
mutations involve removals of DNA in a specific section of chromosome 11. In this area, the
geneC11orf46 lies.
The researchers found that the C11orf46 gene is a central regulator in brain growth.
Specifically, the sensor proteins stimulate and deactivate, facilitating the production of long
fibers from newly developed neurons, which transmit electrical signals through a packet
separating the two hemispheres of the brain. If this clustered structure, called the corpus
callosum, is not shaped correctly, it may lead to problems like intellectual incapacity, autism, or
other brain disorders.
Sounds cool, isn't it? Well, have you ever heard of gene silencing? Do you often see it on sci-fi
movies where a group of scientists performs silencing in lab mice? Johns Hopkins Medicine
researchers make that a reality. The researchers silenced the coding gene in the mice to test
the influence of the absentC11orf46 protein.
However, they reduced their expression using an epigenome editing tool rather than removing
the gene directly. The researchers were able to modify a portion of the gene's regulatory region
for Semaphorin using an updated CRISPR genome editing method. In editing, the epigenome
C11orf46 allowed the brains of those mice to bind and shut down the gene, which then
restored the bundling of neuron fibers seen in the healthy brains.
SOURCES:
1st article:
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/jellyfish-cousin-may-survive-without-working-mitochondria

https://www.sciencealert.com/this-is-the-first-known-animal-that-doesn-t-need-oxygen-to-survive

2nd article:
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/coronavirus-covid-19-t-cells-patients-immune-system

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/05/t-cells-found-covid-19-patients-bode-well-long-term-
immunity

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/coronavirus/article242776131.html

https://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=11300

3rd article:
https://www.news-medical.net/news/20191213/Precision-epigenome-editing-can-repair-genetic-
syndrome-of-intellectual-disability.aspx

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/327296#Epigenome-editing-restored-axon-bundling