Skip to main content

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 variety of

Earth Receiving Strange and Mysterious Radio Signals Again After Some Time


Astronomers have detected another radio signal coming from distant space, the second of its kind, raising further questions about their origins. 

This signal is coming from a galaxy located about 3 billion light years away from us.

The detection of a new fast radio burst (FRB), named FRB-20190520B, raises some important questions about the origin and source of these signals.

The researchers have published their findings in a new paper in the science website 'Nature'. 

The paper notes that the source of FRB 20190520B is "co-located with a compact, persistent radio source and associated with a highly conspicuous-star-formation dwarf host galaxy".

This signal is believed to be close to another unknown object, which is emitting a weak radio signal. This type of combination has been observed only in one other FRB.

FRBs are rapid but brief flashes of radio frequency emission and typically last milliseconds. 

They are known to send repeat radio waves at times. Similar radio signals have been detected some time ago as well.

However, scientists have yet to fully understand this phenomenon, and they were first discovered in 2007. 

According to Space.com, the discovery of the FRB is attributed to graduate student David Narkevic and his supervisor, Duncan Lorimer.

The paper notes that FRB 20190520B was detected using five hundred meters Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope in Guizhou, China in May 2019.

Scientists followed this up with monthly observations and detected about 75 bursts between April 2020 and September 2020.

Researchers localized FRB 20190520B using the US National Science Foundation's (NSF) Carl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA), a radio astronomy observatory located in central New Mexico.

The researchers also observed that the object continuously emitted weak radio waves between bursts.

Caltech's Casey Law said in a statement, "These features make it look like the first FRB, whose status was determined by the VLA in 2016. 

The object is called FRB 121102 and the properties are the same as FRB20190520B. 

"Now we really need to explain this double mystery and why FRBs and persistent radio sources are sometimes found together," Law told CNN.com. 

The earlier FRB is also constantly close to the radio source.

Researchers have also proven that FRB 190520 may be a "newborn baby," according to the news release. 

That means it is "still surrounded by the dense material ejected by the supernova explosion that left the neutron star behind."

The theory is that once the material is depleted, the signs of bursting will also subside. 

But the researchers caution that some questions still need to be answered. 

“The FRB sector is growing very fast right now and new discoveries are coming out every month.

However, larger questions still remain, and this object is giving us challenging clues about those questions," said WVU's Sarah Burke-Spolar, another co-author, in a statement.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Eye Masks Can Really Help Improve Your Overall Quality of Sleep

Sufficient and deep sleep is essential for our health and wellness. Insufficient sleep creates many kind of physical and mental problems for our healthy life. Recently, a new research has revealed that sleeping with blindfolds increases brain function . Blindfold prevents dim lights coming from the window to falling on eyes. This does not disturb our sleep and we are able to sleep deeply. Getting enough and deep sleep at night increases our brain's ability to receive informations and communication skills. In a study published in Sleep Journal , Eye masks increases our memory and alertness. Research author Vivana Greco, from Cardiff University's School of Psychology , said the team of researchers used two types of experiments to understand how eye masks help us. The team of researchers monitored both the groups for a week. The research concluded that the cognitive level of the group using the eye mask was higher than that of the group that did not use the eye mask. T

Insulin Deficiency From Insulin Gene Mutation Leads to Smaller Pancreas

A new thing has come to light about the case of insulin deficient diabetes type-1 patients. Researchers found that the pancreas of such patients is smaller than the pancreas of a healthy person.   Beta cells responsible for producing insulin make up a very small portion of the pancreas. Therefore, it was not expected to reduce the size of pancreas due to their degradation in type-1 diabetes. Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center studied to a family living in Alabama and found that insulin deficiency, not autoimmune diabetes, is the primary cause of pancreatic shortening in type 1 diabetes. Four out of eight members of this family were suffering from monogenetic diabetes. It is caused by a rare mutation in the insulin gene.   This leads to insulin deficiency without autoimmunity. MRI of pancreas found that it was smaller in size and abnormal in shape in diabetic patients. This was similar to what was observed in individuals with type 1 diabetes.  The research

Keep Curious! It Enhances Memory by 30% And is Also Improves Our Learning Abilities

Curiosity should always be there in life, it is very helpful for increase our ability to learn. Continuity of curiosity drives away stress and enhances our memory and creativity. Not only this, the mind is also engaged in job and performance. How important is curiosity in life and what are its benefits? A lot of research has been done to find the answer of this question. The purpose of these studies is to spread greater awareness about the benefits of being curious. Curiosity offers a better psychological solution to stress. A research conducted at the University of California revealed that curiosity increases our memory unexpectedly. This increases the ability to remember different types of facts by up to 30% and more. Curiosity boosts our memory when we try to learn something new and complex. We find our work more attractive and we are able to perform better. We will remember the facts for a long time, the facts about which we will work eagerly. Another research reveale