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Researchers Identify New Genes Linked With Schizophrenia Risk in First-of-Its-Kind Study

Researchers have made an important discovery about the causes of schizophrenia, a disease related to dementia or fragmented mentality.   Researchers have identified two genes associated with the disease as well as a third gene that carries the risk of schizophrenia and autism. Scientists involved in this research believes, this discovery can go a long way in finding a cure for these kind of diseases. Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine found that these harmful genes are almost the same in every ethnic or racial group. The findings of this research were published in Nature Genetics . According to an estimate, about one percent of people worldwide suffering from schizophrenia. The scientists identified two risky genes, SRRM2 and AKAP11, based on a comparative analysis of gene sequencing from individuals with schizophrenia and healthy individuals. It compared a dataset of 35,828 patients with schizophrenia to 107,877 healthy or control groups and included a v...
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Researchers Find Microplastics In Human Blood For The First Time

A team of researchers has shown for the first time that plastic particles from plastic items used in our daily lives such as plastic bags, toys, bottles, disposable cutlery have reached measurable levels in human blood.

This research was published in the scientific journal 'Environmental International'. It has been told that the plastic items used by us not only adversely affect the environment but are also being absorbed by our blood flow system.

In the blood samples, the most commonly found polymers were polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and styrene. In addition, polymethyl methacrylate has also been found. Polypropylene has also been found in the analysis but its quantity was not measurable.

PET is commonly found in water, soda, milk, household cleaning products, plastic bags, toys, etc. Polymers of styrene are found in disposable cutlery, plastic models, CD-DVDs, etc.

Heather Leslie, an environmental specialist at Vrije University in Amsterdam, says: 'We have proved that plastic particles are also present in the blood that flows through our body.

The research team has developed an analytical method to prove the presence of micro and nanoplastic particles in human blood.

The presence of plastic building components and polymers was examined in the blood of 22 participants included in the study. The presence of plastic components in the blood was found in 3/4 of the blood samples. In this research, it was revealed that as the infiltration of plastic manufactured items in daily life is increasing, our body also absorbs it and this amount has reached measurable levels.

The average amount of plastic particles in the blood samples of 22 participants in the study was found to be 1.6 micrograms per milliliter (ug/mL). In general, this quantity can be thought of as the equivalent of one teaspoon of plastic particles in 1000 liters of water. Detectable plastic particles were found in 1/4 of the blood samples.

Analyst chemist Marja Lamori of the university said, 'This is the first data set of its kind and more analysis is needed to find out how plastic particles are entering our bodies and how much they affect our body doing harm'.

The research team is now working to find out how easy it is for these plastic particles to enter our bloodstream and reach our tissues and brain. This research has warned us of the new dangers of the negative effects of using plastic products.
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