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Tag Archives: worms
Man’s swollen testicle filled with ‘dancing worms’
This brings bizarre new meaning to the term “ballroom dancing.”
A 26-year-old man in India revolted the internet after it was revealed that his swollen right testicle was caused by microscopic worms that had infiltrated his scrotum.
Footage of the parasites “dancing” in the man’s private part is currently going viral online.
“On ultrasound examination (shown in a video), moving structures were seen within a dilated lymphatic channel [thin tubes that transport fluid and white blood cells in the scrotum],” doctors wrote in the case study of the incident, which was published in the New England Journal of Medicine‘s latest issue.
The case study reported to the Max Super Specialty Hospital in New Delhi after experiencing “pain and swelling in the scrotum and low-grade fevers” for a month, per the study.
“On examination, there was tenderness and swelling of the right side of the scrotum,” study authors wrote. Subsequent ultrasound scans revealed that the Delhi native had tiny dancers boogying about in his nether region, as seen in the family jewel footage.
Doctors diagnosed him with lymphatic filariasis, commonly known as elephantiasis, “a neglected tropical disease” that occurs when a mosquito bite infects the patient’s system with a species of microscopic roundworm, according to the World Health Organization. These tiny nematodes cause fluid to block off the lymphatic system, paradoxically causing the scrotum and other body parts to balloon up to pachyderm-esque proportions, hence its nickname.
The aforementioned display was known as “filarial dance sign,” caused by the “undulations of live worms that have migrated into lymphatic channels, causing dilation and dysfunction,” per the study.
The patient was lucky the doctors discovered his testicular infiltrators early. Generally acquired in childhood, elephantiasis symptoms manifest later in life, and often result in permanent disabilities.
Thankfully, doctors were able to evict the man’s scrotal squatters with a three-week regimen of an anti-parasitic drug. When the patient returned, the worms had disappeared completely.
In a much more serious elephantiasis case in 2018, doctors in India removed a whopping 30-pound lump from the leg of a man suffering from the affliction.
Scientists develop world’s first test for pancreatic cancer – using tiny WORMS that sniff out tumors
Scientists have developed the world’s first early screening test for pancreatic cancer — which uses worms to sniff out tumors.
According to its makers, the test — rolled out this month in Japan — is 100 per cent accurate at spotting the cancer and can detect it at its earliest stages.
Tokyo-based biotech company Hirotsu Bio Science hopes to bring the test to the US by next year.
Users send a urine sample to a lab in the mail, which is added to a petri dish full of dozens of worms called nematodes, which are about one-millimeter long.
They are known for their strong sense of smell, which in the wild they use to seek out their prey.
That makes the 1-milimetre long animals a potent diagnostic tool, says company founder and chief executive Takaaki Hirotsu, who has been researching them for 28 years.
A urine sample is added to a petri dish with dozens of tiny worms, which have been genetically modified to swim away from traces of pancreatic cancer
The pancreatic cancer survival rate rapidly decreases as time passes from initial diagnosis. The general five-year survival rate in America is 11 per cent, according to Cancer.net
Hirotsu genetically modified the worms so that they will swim away from pancreatic cancer samples.
Studies of the tests showed it was more effective at detecting bladder cancer tumors than other widely used methods of detection, such as blood tests.
Pancreatic cancer is one of the most deadly types because it is hard to catch early due to a lack of symptoms, and by the time it is caught it’s usually too late.
Roughly 50,000 Americans die of pancreatic cancer every year, and just one in 10 people survive five years after a diagnosis.
Because of the way it is sold straight to patients, the test wouldn’t need FDA approval to be made available in the US.
Hirotsu said: ‘What’s very important with early detection of cancer and these kinds of diseases is being able to sense very trace amounts.
‘And when it comes to that, I think that machines don’t stand a chance against the capabilities that living organisms have.’
Hirotsu Bio launched its first N-NOSE test in January 2020, which claimed to tell if users were at a high risk of cancer.
Around a quarter of a million people have taken the test, with five to six per cent receiving high-risk readings.
The pancreas test kits are sold directly to consumers, rather than a healthcare professional referring patients for the test, and cost $505.
Hirotsu focused on pancreatic cancer first because it is hard to diagnose and progresses very quickly.
There is also no single diagnostic test which can determine if a person has pancreatic cancer.
The company plans to roll out similar test for liver, cervical and breast cancer in the next few years.
But some doctors are skeptical of the results and consumer-based approach.
Masahiro Kami, the head of the Medical Governance Research Institute think tank in Tokyo, warned that false positives could greatly outnumber actual cases of pancreatic cancer, making the results ‘not usable’.
Hirotsu argued that the accuracy of the test is competitive with other diagnostic tools and is intended as an early checking method so patients can access further testing and treatment without delay.
Hirotsu Bio Science chief technical officer Eric Di Luccio examines nematodes in a petri dish at the company’s lab in Fujisawa, Japan
TV ads using caricatures of the worms and the pancreas are being used in Japan to flog the tests, and will help the company build its brand, Mr Hirotsu said.
If the company can scale up, the test’s hefty price tag may reduce over time, he added.
Asked if he particularly likes worms, Mr Hirotsu said: ‘I feel like I have to give the answer that I love nematodes and I find them cute, but that’s not the case at all.
‘Really, I just think of them as research materials and nothing more.’
Scientists develop world’s first test for pancreatic cancer – using tiny WORMS that sniff out tumors
Scientists have developed the world’s first early screening test for pancreatic cancer — which uses worms to sniff out tumors.
According to its makers, the test — rolled out this month in Japan — is 100 per cent accurate at spotting the cancer and can detect it at its earliest stages.
Tokyo-based biotech company Hirotsu Bio Science hopes to bring the test to the US by next year.
Users send a urine sample to a lab in the mail, which is added to a petri dish full of dozens of worms called nematodes, which are about one-millimeter long.
They are known for their strong sense of smell, which in the wild they use to seek out their prey.
A urine sample is added to a petri dish with dozens of tiny worms, which have been genetically modified to swim away from traces of pancreatic cancer
The pancreatic cancer survival rate rapidly decreases as time passes from initial diagnosis. The general five-year survival rate in America is 11 per cent, according to Cancer.net
That makes the one-milimetre long animals a potent diagnostic tool, says company founder and chief executive Takaaki Hirotsu, who has been researching them for 28 years.
Hirotsu genetically modified the worms so that they will swim away from pancreatic cancer samples.
Studies of the tests showed it was more effective at detecting bladder cancer tumors than other widely used methods of detection, such as blood tests.
Pancreatic cancer is one of the most deadly types because it is hard to catch early due to a lack of symptoms, and by the time it is caught it’s usually too late.
Roughly 50,000 Americans die of pancreatic cancer every year, and just one in 10 people survive five years after a diagnosis.
Because of the way it is sold straight to patients, the test wouldn’t need FDA approval to be made available in the US.
Hirotsu said: ‘What’s very important with early detection of cancer and these kinds of diseases is being able to sense very trace amounts.
‘And when it comes to that, I think that machines don’t stand a chance against the capabilities that living organisms have.’
Hirotsu Bio launched its first N-NOSE test in January 2020, which claimed to tell if users were at a high risk of cancer.
Around a quarter of a million people have taken the test, with five to six per cent receiving high-risk readings.
The pancreas test kits are sold directly to consumers, rather than a healthcare professional referring patients for the test, and cost $505.
Hirotsu focused on pancreatic cancer first because it is hard to diagnose and progresses very quickly.
There is also no single diagnostic test which can determine if a person has pancreatic cancer.
The company plans to roll out similar test for liver, cervical and breast cancer in the next few years.
But some doctors are skeptical of the results and consumer-based approach.
Masahiro Kami, the head of the Medical Governance Research Institute think tank in Tokyo, warned that false positives could greatly outnumber actual cases of pancreatic cancer, making the results ‘not usable’.
Hirotsu argued that the accuracy of the test is competitive with other diagnostic tools and is intended as an early checking method so patients can access further testing and treatment without delay.
Hirotsu Bio Science chief technical officer Eric Di Luccio examines nematodes in a petri dish at the company’s lab in Fujisawa, Japan
TV ads using caricatures of the worms and the pancreas are being used in Japan to flog the tests, and will help the company build its brand, Mr Hirotsu said.
If the company can scale up, the test’s hefty price tag may reduce over time, he added.
Asked if he particularly likes worms, Mr Hirotsu said: ‘I feel like I have to give the answer that I love nematodes and I find them cute, but that’s not the case at all.
‘Really, I just think of them as research materials and nothing more.’
These newly-engineered parasitic worms can kill cancer cells
Back in November of 2021, we brought you news of scientists developing a cancer screening test using genetically engineered roundworms to detect early signs of pancreatic cancer from just a drop of urine.
Now, researchers from Osaka University have discovered that a particular kind of microscopic worm known as nematodes can kill cancer cells, according to a press release by the institution published last month. To achieve this, the worms must be coated with hydrogel-based “sheaths” that can be further engineered to transport functional cargo (cancer-killing substances).
A marine-dwelling worm that seeks out cancer cells
One of these types of nematodes is the Anisakis simplex, a microscopic marine-dwelling creature that is particularly fond of cancer cells.
“Anisakis simplex has been reported to sense cancer, potentially by detecting cancer “odor,” and to attach to cancerous tissues,” Wildan Mubarok, first author of the study, said in the statement. “This led us to ask whether it could be used to deliver anti-cancer treatments directly to cancer cells within the human body.”
The researchers decided to investigate a system for applying hydrogel sheaths to nematodes in order to create a gel-like layer all over their bodies that would protect them against the cancer-killing substances they would be equipped to carry. The end results were nematodes fitted with a suit about 0.01 mm thick. Even cooler, the whole process only took 20 minutes.
“The results were very clear,” says Shinji Sakai, senior author of the study. “The sheaths did not in any way interfere with the worms’ survival and were flexible enough to maintain the worms’ motility and natural ability to seek out attractive smells and chemical signals.”
Anti-cancer agents delivered directly to cancer cells
Next, the researchers experimented with applying anti-cancer agents to the nematodes. Typically, this may be harmful to the parasitic worms, but in this case, the creatures were protected by their hydrogel armor. The scientists found that the newly-engineered worm could then transport and deliver the anti-cancer agents in order to kill cancer cells in vitro.
“Our findings suggest that nematodes could potentially be used to deliver functional cargo to a range of specific targets in the future,” states Mubarok. “Given the adaptability of the hydrogel sheaths, this worm-based delivery system holds promise not only for delivering anti-cancer drugs to tumor cells in patients, but it also has potential applications in other fields such as delivering beneficial bacteria to plant roots.”
The research is still in its early stages and may encounter several issues during development. There is the fact that many people will not want parasitic worms in their systems. There is also the issue of how to control the creatures once they have been administered to the human body. Still, in terms of cancer treatments, it offers hope of a new and effective solution.
The study was published in the journal Science Direct.
Abstract:
Engineering the surfaces of biological organisms allows the introduction of novel functions and enhances their native functions. However, studies on surface engineering remained limited to unicellular organisms. Herein, nematode surfaces are engineered through in situ hydrogelation mediated by horseradish peroxidase (HRP) anchored to nematode cuticles. With this method, hydrogel sheaths of approximately 10-μm thickness are fabricated from a variety of polysaccharides, proteins, and synthetic polymers. Caenorhabditis elegans and Anisakis simplex coated with a hydrogel sheath showed a negligible decrease in viability, chemotaxis and locomotion. Hydrogel sheaths containing UV-absorbable groups and catalase functioned as shields to protect nematodes from UV and hydrogen peroxide, respectively. The results also showed that hydrogel sheaths containing glucose oxidase have the potential to be used as living drug delivery systems for cancer therapy. The nematode functionalization method developed in this study has the potential to impact a wide range of fields from agriculture to medicine.
Scientists Found Superworms That Love Eating Styrofoam, And It Could Be a Good Thing
Packing material, disposable cutlery, CD cases: Polystyrene is among the most common forms of plastic, but recycling it isn’t easy and the vast majority ends up in landfills or finds its way to the oceans where it threatens marine life.
Scientists at Australia’s University of Queensland have now discovered that superworms – the larvae of Zophobas morio darkling beetles – are eager to dine on the substance, and their gut enzymes could hold the key to higher recycling rates.
Chris Rinke, who led a study that was published in the journal Microbial Genomics on Thursday, told AFP previous reports had shown that tiny waxworms and mealworms (which are also beetle larvae) had a good track record when it came to eating plastic, “so we hypothesized that the much larger superworms can eat even more.”
Superworms grow up to two inches (five centimeters) and are bred as a food source for reptiles and birds, or even for humans in countries such as Thailand and Mexico.
Rinke and his team fed superworms different diets over a three week period, with some given polystyrene foam, commonly known as styrofoam, some bran, and others not fed at all.
“We confirmed that superworms can survive on a sole polystyrene diet, and even gain a small amount of weight – compared to a starvation control group – which suggests that the worms can gain energy from eating polystyrene,” he said.
Polystyrene in the gut of a worm. (University of Queensland)
Although the polystyrene-reared superworms completed their life cycle, becoming pupae and then fully developed adult beetles, tests revealed a loss of microbial diversity in their guts and potential pathogens.
These findings suggested that while the bugs can survive on polystyrene, it is not a nutritious diet and impacts their health.
Next, the team used a technique called metagenomics to analyze the microbial gut community and find which gene-encoded enzymes were involved in degrading the plastic.
Bio-upcycling
One way to put the findings to use would be to provide superworms with food waste or agricultural bioproducts to consume alongside polystyrene.
“This could be a way to improve the health of the worms and to deal with the large amount of food waste in Western countries,” said Rinke.
But while breeding more worms for this purpose is possible, he envisages another route: creating recycling plants that mimic what the larvae do, which is to first shred the plastic in their mouths then digest it through bacterial enzymes.
“Ultimately, we want to take the superworms out of the equation,” he said, and he now plans more research aimed at finding the most efficient enzymes, then enhancing them further through enzyme engineering.
The breakdown products from that reaction could then be fed to other microbes to create high-value compounds, such as bioplastics, in what he hopes would become an economically viable “upcycling” approach.
© Agence France-Presse
PS1 Game Worms World Party Appears to Have Online Multiplayer on PS5, PS4
Update #2: It’s been pointed out that the Worms World Party product description has been copied exactly from the Steam version of Worms World Party Remastered, suggesting online multiplayer may not actually be on the cards at all.
Update #1: If you’re curious what Worms World Party looks like on PS5 and PS4, then here are a bunch of screenshots scraped from the PS Store. Unsurprisingly, given the game’s graphical style, it doesn’t benefit massively from the enhanced hardware. Still, it looks pretty sharp in our opinion.
Original Story: Worms World Party is one of several PS1 releases that will be enjoying a renaissance as one of All PS Plus Games included with the PS Plus Premium tier. And with the service set to launch in Asia in a matter of days, more details are beginning to emerge about the conversion. As reported earlier, there’ll be a number of graphical filters available for the retro titles, including a classic CRT look, but in the case of Team 17’s party game it also appears there’ll be online multiplayer.
Here’s what the PS Store description says: “Access the fantastic ‘Wormpot’ which gives you over 1,000 different game styles. All modes are available offline, online, or a mixture of both!” Now it’s unclear whether Sony is potentially referring to a feature like Share Play here, but it seems to be suggesting that full online multiplayer functionality has been added, which is impressive. This kind of support could breathe infinite new life into a number of retro titles.
We’re obviously still waiting for more information, and will shoot off an email to Sony and Team 17 to try and get clarification, but the description here is pretty clear: online multiplayer appears to be in.
Tiny WORMS could be used to sniff out lung cancer, study suggests
Tiny WORMS could be used to sniff out lung cancer cells in urine and saliva samples like dogs, study suggests
- Researchers conducted lab experiments with the roundworm C.elegans
- They found it wriggles its way towards cancer cells by following an odour trail
- A ‘worm-on-a-chip’ device could offer doctors a non-invasive way to detect and diagnose lung cancer at an earlier stage
With their incredible sense of smell, dogs are often used to sniff out various forms of cancer in human breath, blood, and urine.
Now, a new study suggests that tiny worms could also be used in the same way to sniff out lung cancer.
Researchers from Myongji University in Korea conducted lab experiments with the roundworm C.elegans, and found it wriggles its way towards cancer cells by following an odour trail.
Based on the findings, the researchers suggest that a ‘worm-on-a-chip’ device could offer doctors a non-invasive way to detect and diagnose lung cancer at an earlier stage.
Researchers suggest that a ‘worm-on-a-chip’ device could offer doctors a non-invasive way to detect and diagnose lung cancer at an earlier stage
Currently, lung cancer is diagnosed through imaging or biopsies.
However, these methods often mean that tumours aren’t detected at their earliest stages.
While previous research has shown that dogs can be trained to sniff out human cancer, unfortunately canines aren’t practical to keep in laboratories.
In their new study, the researchers set out to understand whether nematodes – tiny worms measuring just 0.04 inches long – could be used to detect cancer like dogs.
‘Lung cancer cells produce a different set of odour molecules than normal cells,’ said Dr Shin Sik Choi, who led the study.
‘It’s well known that the soil-dwelling nematode, C. elegans, is attracted or repelled by certain odours, so we came up with an idea that the roundworm could be used to detect lung cancer.’
The team developed a polydimethylsiloxane elastomere chip that had a well at each end connected by channels to a central chamber.
Once placed on an agar plate, the researchers added a drop containing lung cancer cells at one end, and a drop containing normal lung cells at the other end.
Worms were then placed in the central chamber and left to crawl in either direction.
In their new study, the researchers set out to understand whether nematodes – tiny worms measuring just 0.04 inches long – could be used to detect cancer like dogs
After an hour, the researchers found that more worms had crawled towards the drop containing lung cancer cells than towards the normal cells.
In a follow-up study, the researchers were able to pinpoint the specific odour molecules that the worms are attracted to in lung cancer cells, including a floral-scented compound called 2-ethyl-1-hexanol.
‘We don’t know why C. elegans are attracted to lung cancer tissues or 2-ethyl-1-hexanol, but we guess that the odors are similar to the scents from their favorite foods,’ explained Nari Jang, co-author of the study.
Based on initial tests, the researchers estimate that the worm-on-a-chip device in its current iteration is about 70 per cent effective at detecting cancer cells.
They now hope to improve on these results by using worms that have previously been exposed to cancer cells and have developed a ‘memory’ of specific odour molecules.
‘We will collaborate with medical doctors to find out whether our methods can detect lung cancer in patients at an early stage,’ Dr Choi added.
Once perfected, the researchers are hoping to extend their testing on urine, saliva and even breath from cancer patients.
The researchers presented their results last week at the spring meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS).
Surprise! Complex Decision Making Found in Predatory Worms With Just 302 Neurons
As scientists continue to discover more about the brain and how it works, it can help to know just how much brain matter is required to perform certain functions – and to be able to make complex decisions, it turns out just 302 neurons may be required.
That’s based on a new study looking at the predatory worm Pristionchus pacificus. To snack on its prey or to defend its food source, the worm relies on biting; this gave researchers an opportunity to analyze its decision-making.
Instead of looking at actual neurons and cell connections for signs of decision making, the team looked at the behavior of P. pacificus instead – specifically, how it chose to use its biting capabilities when confronted with different types of threat.
“Our study shows you can use a simple system such as the worm to study something complex, like goal-directed decision-making,” says neurobiologist Sreekanth Chalasani from the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in California.
“We also demonstrated that behavior can tell us a lot about how the brain works.”
In experiments, Chalasani and his colleagues observed P. pacificus taking two different strategies – biting to devour and biting to deter – with the Caenorhabditis elegans worm, both its prey and competitor.
With larval C. elegans that are easy to overpower, P. pacificus chose to bite to kill. With the adults, P. pacificus worms tended to bite to force C. elegans away from food sources. That’s evidence of a switch in strategy and a deliberate choice.
By observing where P. pacificus worms laid their eggs, and how their behavior changed when a bacterial food source was nearby, the scientists determined that bites on adult C. elegans were intended to drive them away – in other words, they weren’t simply failed attempts to kill these competitors.
While we’re used to such decision making from vertebrates, it hasn’t previously been clear that worms had the brainpower to proverbially weigh up the pros, cons, and consequences of particular actions in this way.
“Scientists have always assumed that worms were simple – when P. pacificus bites we thought that was always for a singular predatory purpose,” says neuroscientist Kathleen Quach from the Salk Institute for Biological Studies.
“Actually, P. pacificus is versatile and can use the same action, biting C. elegans, to achieve different long-term goals. I was surprised to find that P. pacificus could leverage what seemed like failed predation into successful and goal-directed territoriality.”
Having 302 neurons at your disposal isn’t many, really – human beings have somewhere in the region of 86 billion of them. But it seems the fundamentals of decision-making are quite simple to code, biologically speaking.
One of the fields that this new research could help with is in the development of artificial intelligence: figuring out how to teach computer software to make independent decisions with as little programming and neural networking as possible.
Future research is planned to look at how much of this decision-making is hardwired into the brains of P. pacificus, and how much is flexible. Again, that will have implications when it comes to understanding how we make our own choices.
“Even simple systems like worms have different strategies, and they can choose between those strategies, deciding which one works well for them in a given situation,” says Chalasani.
“That provides a framework for understanding how these decisions are made in more complex systems, such as humans.”
The research has been published in Current Biology.
Team17 Confirms An End To Its ‘MetaWorms’ NFT Project
Team17, the hugely successful UK-based publisher and developer, has been facing a storm of bad publicity since revealing plans for a ‘MetaWorms’ NFT project. Many details were yet to be revealed, but the negative reaction was swift from some fans of the company and indeed employees; tellingly, major development partners had started to speak out and say they wouldn’t work with the company in future.
The reaction has been so strong that Team17 has now shut the project down, less than 48 hours after its reveal. The following message was shared on social media.
Though the initial announcement – which wasn’t widely distributed in the manner of normal game reveals and updates from the company – attempted to emphasize that the promotion would be environmentally conscious and that some proceeds would go to charity, the public response was nevertheless unsurprising. NFTs and the related issues around cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology are extremely controversial at present, and in the gaming space any company moving into NFTs has faced resistance.
We’re likely to continue to see more companies explore NFTs; Ubisoft is remaining active and Square Enix has stated a resolve to explore options, while SEGA appears to have backtracked on its initial interest.
In this instance pressure from the public, staff and a number of business partners appears to have succeeded in reversing Team17’s course.
Further Reading: