Chemical cocktail of sea turtles. Free Technical Library News

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sea turtle chemical cocktail

01.07.2017

Australian researchers from the University of Queensland found in the blood of green turtles living on the Great Barrier Reef, a real "cocktail" of drugs and household chemicals.

The biologists examined the turtles, which showed signs of inflammation and liver dysfunction. It turned out that in the bloodstream of animals there are impurities of drugs for heart disease and hyperuricemia, as well as cosmetic and industrial chemicals.

The researchers studied the condition of the turtles living along the coast of Queensland, as well as the inhabitants of the outlying islands north of the reef. The study was carried out within the framework of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Australia.

According to Amy Heffernan from the University of Queensland, people constantly "leave" a chemical trail behind them, but it is still unclear what effect it has on the environment.

WWF Australia experts suggest that the obtained data on the state of turtles can become a tool for biological monitoring. With it, they want to find out what chemicals get into the waters and how they affect marine life.

In 2015, researchers found that the chemical oxybenzone used in sunscreen is causing massive damage to coral reefs around the world. According to the study, it causes deformation of young corals.

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In a pilot demonstration, the scientists connected 21 and 57 nanometer gold nanorods (almost the same size as a virus) and coated them with the F protein. The researchers then tested the ability of the gold nanorods to deliver the F protein to specific immune cells known as dendritic cells. Dendritic cells usually "collect" information about the virus (in this case, the F-protein) and pass it on to the immune system - so that our body, more precisely T-cells, can fight off the invader. Experience has shown that gold nanoparticles coated with F-protein are the most effective as a vaccine. When nanoparticles are delivered to dendritic cells, the protective cells of our body multiply much more actively, compared with those parts of the experiment when only gold nanoparticles or only F-protein were added to dendritic cells.

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Researchers say it's critical to finally get an effective vaccine against respiratory syncytial virus, which causes most pneumonia in young children. At the same time, the developers of the new vaccination method do not rule out that gold nanoparticles can be used to make vaccines against other viruses. Nanoparticles are a kind of platform on which any viruses or large microorganisms, such as bacteria and fungi, can be planted. But that's in the future. In the near future, scientists intend to start testing a vaccine against RSV-virus in vivo. If the testing is successful, then you can forget about the drugs and not be afraid of complications.

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