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  • Manchester United unwanted five to miss Stockholm match v Leeds United

    Manchester United unwanted five to miss Stockholm match v Leeds United

    Manchester United’s unwanted quintet will miss Saturday’s pre-season fixture against Leeds United in Stockholm, but new signings Matheus Cunha and Diego Leon have been included in the squad.

    Marcus Rashford, Alejandro Garnacho, Antony, Jadon Sancho and Tyrell Malacia have been told they can train at Carrington on Saturday as the search goes on to find them clubs.

    The Leeds game is likely to see a debut for Cunha following his £62.5m signing from Wolves.

    With the exception of injured trio Joshua Zirkzee, Andre Onana and Lisandro Martinez, all United’s senior players have travelled to Sweden to face Daniel Farke’s newly promoted side.

    Young defender Harry Amass will not be with them as he will go out on loan to further his development this season.

    There are other youngsters involved though in Ruben Amorim’s 29-man travelling party.

    In addition to Leon, striker Chido Obi, defender Tyler Fredricson and midfielder Jack Fletcher, son of former United star and newly appointed under-18 coach Darren, are in the squad after being given new numbers earlier this week.

    Godwill Kukonki, Sekou Kobe, Ethan Williams, Reece Munro and Bendito Mantato have also gone to Sweden.

    United will travel to the United States on Tuesday for a three-match trip.

    Bryan Mbeumo could join them on that tour after United had a £65m bid for the winger accepted by Brentford.

    The Cameroon international could undergo a medical with the club before they fly to the US.

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  • Students Shoot for NASA Space Missions with ‘Mutant’ Seam Design

    Students Shoot for NASA Space Missions with ‘Mutant’ Seam Design

    While many dream of going to space, a team of college students may one day have a design of theirs used in orbit.

    A quartet of undergraduates from Texas Christian University won the 2025 Best Innovation Award in the Technology Collaboration Wearables Workshop and University Challenge at NASA’s Johnson Space Center last month. The competition in Houston was held during NASA’s Spaceflight Human Optimization Conference 

    The students set out to create flexible understated seams that prevented lunar dust from permeating as part of their project “Optimized Suit Environmental Protection Garment Seams.” Two fashion merchandising students Adelaide Lovett and Suzanna Tesfamicheal joined forces with two biochemistry students Daisy Li and Amarige Yusufji. Initial attempts created a seam that was too bulky so Lovett tried folding it differently, which led to the final result. Three types of seams were tested — French, flat-felled and a custom-engineered “mutant” seam — using different fabrics and threads. While a flat-felled seam — like one found on a pair of jeans — can be seen from the outside, the mutant seam was folded inward so that the extra material is encased inside of the garment.  

    TCU fashion merchandising professor Leslie Browning-Samoni, who steered the undergrads through the research and development, said, “The reason that we did that was when the extra material is on the outside, that can collect more dust.”

    Felix Arwen, a softgoods engineering technologist at NASA, mentored the students. Browning-Samoni helped the team to standardize the seam construction, stitch length, needle type and other elements of the process.

    Early prototypes were made with such high-performance fabrics as Kevlar, Teflon and polyurethane-coated textiles that were sewn with either polyester or nylon thread. “In order to understand if the seams repelled or mitigated dust penetration, we needed to test it. The students came up with the way to test it to determine how much dust went through,” Browning-Samoni said.

    Unable to get actual lunar dust, the team bought lunar regolith simulant, a terrestrial material that is synthesized to approximate the chemical, mechanical, mineralogical and other properties of lunar dust. That was then used in a rock tumbler in an hours-long process, Browning-Samoni said. The seams were first sewn into little pouches that were weighed before and after the tumbling to see how much the weight changed, which was an indication of how much dust was permeating the seam. Afterward, the penetration of the materials was examined under Keyence Microscopes, and then photographed to see what had happened at a micro-level, she added,

    Explaining how lunar dust is hazardous, abrasive, and sticky, Browing-Samoni said after space walks, astronauts do not want any particles to get into their spacecrafts to avoid damaging equipment.

    Whether the mutant seam will ever be used by NASA for future space missions remains to be seen. Acknowledging a media request inquiring about the possibility of that, a NASA spokesperson said the appropriate Johnson Space Center contact is unavailable until Monday.

    NASA is teaming up with Axiom Space to provide next-generation spacesuits for the agency’s expanded mission portfolio including its Moon Surface Mission. For 50-plus years, NASA astronauts have performed spacewalks outside of the International Space Station for maintenance and upgrading purposes, while wearing the Extravehicular Mobility Unit spacesuit. That design was created for the Space Shuttle Program in the 1980s — long past its intended design shelf life. With more advanced spacewalking and more complex exploration goals on tap, the new suits are meant to act as “personal spaceships” for the astronauts, according to NASA’s site. Implementing cutting-edge technologies such as ones that improve the wearer’s mobility and enhance life support systems are part of the aim.

    Blue Origin’s crew wore Monse-designed space suits.

    For the Blue Origin space flight that Lauren Sanchez was part of in April, she partnered with Monse’s Laura Kim and Fernando Garcia to create custom suits. For that 11-minute excursion, Jeff Bezos’ now wife was joined by pop star Katy Perry, CBS’ Gayle King, film producer Kerianne Flynn and scientists Amanda Nguyen and Aisha Bowe.

    Other designers and brands have used spacesuits in more novel ways. In 1969, Pierre Cardin was so intrigued by space travel that he visited NASA headquarters and tried on an Apollo 11 spacesuit. Decades later, during John Galliano’s Dior years, he donned a space suit for the end of the house’s fall 2006 show. And even the snowboard brand Burton used space suits for design inspiration for U.S. Olympians’ uniforms on the mountain.

    John Galliano wears a spacesuit at the end of Dior’s fall 2006.

    Reuters /Landov

    Open to incorporating other applications of the mutant seam in other ways, the team is open to exploring how it might help to prevent other chemicals and particles from penetrating PPE apparel or gear. Using such seams for added protection for workers, who spray fields with pesticides, is being explored, Browning-Samoni said. “We don’t want to just use it for one area. We want to see where else it could be applicable.”

    She and a TCU colleague Charles Freeman, who also worked with the students on the project, are members of NC170: Personal Protective Technologies for Current and Emerging Occupational and Environmental Hazards, a research group comprised of 16 colleges and universities that aims to assess and improve PPE and protective clothing. Browning-Samoni said, “Based on the mitigation aspect of the seam it could have great potential in this realm.”

    Seam

    The “mutant” seam is designed to be internal to avoid harmful materials from permeating.

    Photo by SEan Giggy/Courtesy WFAA

    In order to win the innovation award, the TCU team had to deliver a formal pitch to NASA judges and present their work during an interactive session with conference attendees. Their exhibit featured a scientific poster, seam samples, a slideshow and microscope imagery of the dust-impacted materials. Their excursion wrapped up with a tour of NASA’s Johnson Space Center, including its Space Vehicle Mock-up Facility, where space flight crews train. They also stopped by their mentor Arwen’s lab to check out some real-time innovations that are being developed in astronautics. Like the students, Arwen had participated in the challenge years ago, when he was an undergraduate. 

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  • Tourists’ Selfies and Sugar Threaten Elephants

    Tourists’ Selfies and Sugar Threaten Elephants

    A study led by a scientist at the University of California San Diego offers new warnings on the dangers of human interactions with wildlife.

    Assistant Professor Shermin de Silva of the School of Biological Sciences studies endangered Asian elephants and has reported on their shrinking habitats, a downturn that has resulted in territorial conflicts between people and elephants.

    Along with her study coauthors, de Silva now provides fresh evidence in the journal Ecological Solutions and Evidence on the serious consequences of humans supplying food to wild animals. The report indicates that such provisioning can lead wildlife to become habituated to people, causing the animals to become bolder and more prone to causing problems. Even for those who live in areas without native elephant populations, the new study provides cautionary information about interactions with any wildlife species living among us.

    Wild elephants are a prime attraction in Asia, with Sri Lanka and India featuring some of the world’s last abundant populations of Asian elephants.

    In Sri Lanka, de Silva studied 18 years of elephant-tourist interactions at Udawalawe National Park. She found that the elephants congregating near tourists at the park’s southern boundary have developed “begging” behavior and have become habituated to sugary foods, sometimes breaking through fences to continue being fed. As a result of elephants being drawn to the fence, several people have been killed or injured, and at least three elephants have been killed, while others have ingested plastic food bags and other contaminants. Such close human-wildlife encounters, including tourists feeding animals from sightseeing vehicles, also increases the risk of disease transmission to animals.

    In India’s Sigur region, study coauthors Priya Davidar and Jean-Philippe Puyravaud of the Sigur Nature Trust observed feeding interactions with 11 male Asian elephants, four of which died from suspected human causes. One elephant was successfully rehabilitated and returned to natural foraging behavior.

    “Many people, especially foreign tourists, think Asian elephants are tame and docile, like domestic pets,” said de Silva, a faculty member in the Department of Ecology, Behavior and Evolution and founder of the non-profit conservation organization Trunks & Leaves. “They don’t realize these are formidable wild animals and try to get too close in order to take photographs or selfies, which can end badly for both parties.”

    Of the 800 to 1,200 elephants estimated living in Udawalawe National Park, the study found that 66 male elephants, or nine to 15% of the local male population of Asian elephants, were observed begging for food. Some elephants, including a popular male named Rambo, became local celebrities as they solicited food from tourists over several years.

    “Food-conditioned animals can become dangerous, resulting in the injury and death of wildlife, people or both,” the researchers note in their paper. “These negative impacts counteract potential benefits.”

    Since wild elephant feeding cannot be adequately regulated as an ongoing activity, the authors of the study recommend that feeding bans should be strictly enforced.

    The researchers recognize that tourists are for the most part acting with good intentions, like people in many areas around the world who feed or leave food for wild animals in their regions. They can act from a motivation that they are helping friends in nature and take gratification from such interactions. “But this encourages wild animals to seek food from people, attracting them to areas that can put themselves or people at risk,” said de Silva. “It can be a conduit for disease transfer between species. Such feeding can also cause animals to lose their ability to forage for themselves if the behavior becomes prevalent, especially with young animals.”

    Such interactions, de Silva says, can change animals’ movement patterns and possibly force them to lose knowledge of natural food sources if they become too dependent on handouts.

    With rare exceptions, people should avoid feeding wild animals, de Silva urges, and encourages people to engage in responsible tourism.

    /Public Release. This material from the originating organization/author(s) might be of the point-in-time nature, and edited for clarity, style and length. Mirage.News does not take institutional positions or sides, and all views, positions, and conclusions expressed herein are solely those of the author(s).View in full here.

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  • Surface protonation amplifies carbon nitride nanosheet-induced phospholipid extraction

    Surface protonation amplifies carbon nitride nanosheet-induced phospholipid extraction

    Hemolysis toxicity of g-C3N4 and p-C3N4.

    GA, UNITED STATES, July 18, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ — This study systematically investigates the cytotoxicity evolution of protonated carbon nitride toward red blood cells and elucidates its underlying mechanisms, revealing that surface protonation amplifies carbon nitride nanosheet-induced phospholipid extraction and enhances cytotoxicity.

    Graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4), an engineered carbon nanomaterial with tunable electronic structure, chemical stability, and biocompatibility, has promising applications in photocatalytic therapy, targeted drug delivery, and pollutant degradation. However, its transformations in biological and environmental systems (e.g., chemical protonation) can alter surface chemistry, charge distribution, and nanoscale topology, thereby affecting its biological interactions and toxicity.

    In a study published in the KeAi journal Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology, a group of researchers from the Guangdong University of Technology, China, investigated the cytotoxicity evolution of protonated carbon nitride (p-C3N4) toward red blood cells and elucidated its underlying mechanisms.

    “Hemolysis assays showed that p-C3N4 exhibits enhanced phospholipid membrane-rupturing capabilities compared to pristine g-C3N4, with no significant lipid peroxidation detected,” shares lead and co-corresponding author Yiping Feng. “Surface characterization revealed that protonation reduces the net negative charge of carbon nitride, increasing its affinity with phospholipid membranes.”

    Through molecular docking simulations, the researchers observed that interactions between p-C3N4 and phospholipid molecules were governed by electrostatic and hydrophobic forces, as well as hydrogen bonding with oxygen-containing functional groups.

    “Molecular dynamics simulations further revealed that larger oxygen-bearing macropores on p-C3N4 allow for tight and specific binding with phospholipid headgroups, facilitating efficient lipid extraction and intensifying membrane disruption,” adds Feng.

    The team’s findings provide critical insights into the cytotoxic changes that carbon nitride materials may undergo during transformations. They also highlight opportunities to mitigate associated risks or use surface protonation for enhanced functionality in carbon nitride-based technologies.

    References
    DOI
    10.1016/j.enceco.2025.05.025

    Original Source URL
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enceco.2025.05.025

    Funding information
    This study was supported by the Basic Science Center Project of the Natural Science Foundation of China (52388101), the Program for Guangdong Introducing Innovative and Entrepreneurial Teams (2019ZT08L213), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21707019), the Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province (2021A1515010019), and the Research Fund Program of Guangdong Provincial Engineering Research Center of Intelligent Low-Carbon Pollution Prevention and Digital Technology/SCNU (NAN’AN) Green and Low-Carbon Innovation Center (2024K04).

    Lucy Wang
    BioDesign Research
    email us here

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  • Chinas Dairy Industry Becomes Tested For Advanced Agriculture, Food Science

    Chinas Dairy Industry Becomes Tested For Advanced Agriculture, Food Science

    BEIJING, (APP – UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News – 18th Jul, 2025) In a cavernous, unmanned factory on the grasslands of Inner Mongolia, the world’s fastest milk packaging machine seals 4.4 boxes of milk in literally “the blink of an eye”. Operating around the clock, this single machine produces 40,000 boxes daily – enough to supply nearly one million people. Welcome to the new face of Chinese dairy, where robots milk cows, artificial intelligence predicts breeding outcomes, and probiotic yogurt is engineered at the molecular level.

    After decades of playing catch-up, China’s dairy sector is now undergoing a quiet overhaul. From genetically selected super-cows to precision-formulated yogurt, the country’s once-overlooked dairy industry has become an unlikely testbed for advanced agriculture and food science. The results are surprising: Chinese dairy is no longer simply growing – it is, in some aspects, setting the pace, CEN reported on Friday.

    Breeding Smarter Cows: From Genomics to AI

    At the heart of this push is a quiet revolution in livestock genetics. Chinese dairy companies are moving into the premium realm of molecular biology. AI-driven genomic selection, gene editing, and embryo optimization are being used to cultivate cows that produce more milk, live longer, resist disease, and require fewer resources.

    At Saikexing, China’s largest base for sexed frozen semen, the proprietary “No.1 Breeding Chip” selects embryos based on five core traits – yield, fertility, longevity, health, and low-carbon output. Compared with global counterparts, this approach improves breeding efficiency threefold while cutting production costs by 70%. AI now helps optimize egg-sperm pairing to maximize genetic potential, producing high-performance embryos with striking precision.

    This is no small feat: in April 2024, bulls bred by Saikexing dominated the U.S. Holstein Association’s TPI (Total Performance Index) rankings, taking 8 of the top 10 spots and 57 of the top 100 – an unprecedented breakthrough for Chinese genetics.

    As a result, China’s average milk yield per cow has surged from 5,500 kg in 2012 to nearly 10,000 kg in 2024. Top-performing herds now exceed 12,000 kg. This leap has occurred without significant growth in herd size. Instead, smarter breeding, data-rich feeding systems, and real-time health monitoring have done the heavy lifting.

    In China’s most advanced “digital pastures,” each cow wears an RFID ear tag that records everything from heart rate to feed intake. Sensors monitor movement, respiration, and milk output, while smart algorithms detect anomalies and adjust conditions accordingly. Feed optimization has also advanced, with protein-rich alfalfa reducing input while boosting yield.

    Fully unmanned systems at companies like Yili, a world’s top 10 dairy company, now feature robotic milkers, automated feeders, and environmental sensors that regulate barn temperature, humidity, and lighting.

    Milk is harvested and processed with minimal human touch, all while tracking every cow’s lifetime productivity and health.

    In 2000, a Chinese dairy cow produced just 31.6% of what its American counterpart did. Today, average yields in China’s large-scale farms match or in some cases even surpass U.S. levels. Though total dairy cow numbers have remained stable at around 10 million since 2012, total milk output has jumped by 32%, reaching 40.79 million tonnes in 2024. Newly-developed enzyme preparations and probiotics for feed reduce methane emissions from dairy cows by over 20% by increasing feed conversion rate.

    Re-engineering the Dairy Product

    Once the milk is in the tank, another layer of innovation begins.

    At the National Dairy Technology Innovation Center, some “world’s firsts” can be found: One globally patented coating technique encapsulates probiotics, protecting them from stomach acid and ensuring delivery to the gut. Lab tests show bacterial survival rates up to 10 million times higher than conventional methods. Another breakthrough – an intelligent assessment system for infant formula – digitally evaluates 31 nutrients in human breast milk, improving formula design for digestion and health. China has also developed the world’s first milk naturally enriched with active phospholipid-based DHA, offering 25 times the bioavailability of synthetic additives. Lactoferrin, a key immune protein, is now separated and reintroduced in sterile conditions, producing the first room-temperature organic milk with active lactoferrin.

    Using exclusive K56 probiotic strains, scientists have created seven new bioactive peptides that help regulate blood sugar and blood pressure. Functional dairy, once a niche, is becoming a mainstream frontier.

    Behind the scenes, safety has become another pillar of competitiveness. The National Center operates one of the world’s most comprehensive dairy safety databases, integrating global contamination trends, AI risk modeling, and real-time traceability. If a problem arises, it can be traced down to a specific machine part in a specific factory and flagged industry-wide within moments.

    Until recently, Chinese dairy was widely considered second-tier. In 2000, per-cow yields lagged behind the U.S. by nearly 70%. Today, China ranks among the top four dairy producers globally. Over 78% of its cows are now raised in large-scale farms of 100 head or more. Yili, the world’s second-largest holder of dairy-related patents, now processes nearly 10 million tonnes of raw milk annually. Despite this scale, it has maintained average microbial counts far below 10,000 CFU/mL for two consecutive years – surpassing even EU benchmarks.

    Others should take note. The next dairy revolution may not come from Switzerland or Wisconsin – but from the grasslands of Inner Mongolia.

    APP/asg


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  • $199 Lifetime Subscription, 50% Off Sale

    $199 Lifetime Subscription, 50% Off Sale

    If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission.

    Want to learn a new language for your next big trip or just to improve your skillset? You’re in luck. One of the best online language sites is Rosetta Stone, and right now, the site is offering a limited-time deal that gets you unlimited access to Rosetta Stone‘s language-learning program for 45% off.

    While a monthly subscription to Rosetta Stone starts at $15.99 and up, this deal gets you unlimited access to Rosetta Stone forever, for a one-time payment of only $219. That’s nearly a half-price offer from the original price of $399, and the best Rosetta Stone deal we’ve seen.

    Prefer less of a commitment? The new Rosetta Stone promo also drops the price of their single-language, 12-month access plan, to just $131 (regularly $239+), and comes in time for the busy summer travel season. Meanwhile, a 3-month plan is down to $44.85 for all three months (regularly $60).

    All Rosetta Stone’s plans offer bite-sized lessons available online and offline; it’s a fully immersive environment for long-lasting learning, with leading speech recognition technology to perfect your accent. The unlimited lifetime subscription boasts the best value, with access to the program’s full roster of 25 languages (and counting) forever. But if you only have one language in mind for mastering, you’ll want to go for the more affordable single language lifetime access, which is currently down to $219.

    Rosetta Stone

    The most popular languages on the platform include Spanish, German, French, Italian, English and Japanese but their roster also includes courses for more unique languages like Turkish, Arabic, Chinese, Greek, Hebrew and Hindi.

    While there are free language-learnings apps like Duolingo and less expensive options like Mondly, Rosetta Stone stands out because of its patented technology such as “TruAccent” speech-recognition which assesses pronunciation and even allows you to adjust how strictly it grades for those looking to master their fluency or native speaking.

    Reviewers have also noted how much faster Rosetta Stone’s 20-class courses progress compared to free language-learning services. While apps like Duolingo are known for hammering in vocabulary through simple flashcard-type quizzes, Rosetta Stone progresses to verbs and conjugation through more complex learning models.

    Get lifetime access to Rosetta Stone for a one-time fee of $219 now. Sign up for Rosetta Stone’s limited-time offer here before the deal expires.

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  • Three-person DNA IVF stops inherited disease—eight healthy babies born in UK first

    Three-person DNA IVF stops inherited disease—eight healthy babies born in UK first

    The UK’s pioneering licensed IVF technique to reduce the risk of mitochondrial diseases carried out in Newcastle has seen eight babies born, published research shows.

    All eight babies show no signs of having mitochondrial DNA disease. The babies, four girls and four boys, including one set of identical twins, were born to seven women at high risk of transmitting serious disease caused by mutations in mitochondrial DNA. The findings, reported on July 16 by the Newcastle team who pioneered mitochondrial donation using fertilized human eggs, indicate that the new treatment, known as pronuclear transfer, is effective in reducing the risk of otherwise incurable mitochondrial DNA diseases. 

    Published in two papers in The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), the findings describe the reproductive and clinical outcomes of pronuclear transfer treatments performed to date. All babies were healthy at birth, meeting their developmental milestones, and the mother’s disease-causing mitochondrial DNA mutations were either undetectable or present at levels that are very unlikely to cause disease.

    The technique was pioneered in human eggs by a team based at Newcastle University, UK and the Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in work funded by Wellcome and NHS England.

    The mother of a baby girl born following mitochondrial donation said: “As parents, all we ever wanted was to give our child a healthy start in life. Mitochondrial donation IVF made that possible. After years of uncertainty this treatment gave us hope—and then it gave us our baby. We look at them now, full of life and possibility, and we’re overwhelmed with gratitude. Science gave us a chance.” 

    The mother of a baby boy added: “We are now proud parents to a healthy baby—a true mitochondrial replacement success. This breakthrough has lifted the heavy cloud of fear that once loomed over us.

    “Thanks to this incredible advancement and the support we received, our little family is complete. The emotional burden of mitochondrial disease has been lifted, and in its place is hope, joy, and deep gratitude.” 

    The NHS Mitochondrial Reproductive Care Pathway offers mitochondrial donation, through a research study, in addition to other reproductive options for women with mitochondrial disease.

    Professor Sir Doug Turnbull, Newcastle University part of the Newcastle team said: “Mitochondrial disease can have a devastating impact on families. Today’s news offers fresh hope to many more women at risk of passing on this condition who now have the chance to have children growing up without this terrible disease. Within the framework of the NHS in a well-regulated environment, we are able to offer mitochondrial donation as part of a research study to affected women in the UK.“

    Mitochondrial DNA disease

    Every year, around one in 5,000 children is born with mitochondrial DNA mutations that can cause devastating disease. Mitochondria produce the energy required for life and contain a small piece of DNA that only encodes some of the instructions required for energy production.  Harmful mutations in mitochondrial DNA can result in reduced availability of energy, particularly affecting tissues that have high energy demands – for example heart, muscle and brain. Mitochondrial DNA is maternally inherited, and these diseases are therefore passed from mother to child. Although males can be affected, they do not pass on the disease. Despite years of research there is still no cure for people with mitochondrial DNA disease.

    In the absence of a cure for mitochondrial DNA diseases, attention has focused on IVF-based technologies to reduce the risk of disease by limiting transmission of disease-causing mitochondrial DNA mutations from mother to child. The new IVF-based mitochondrial donation technology, pronuclear transfer, which was legalized in the UK in 2015, is designed to reduce the risk of mitochondrial DNA disease in children born to women who carry high levels of disease-causing mitochondrial DNA mutations. 

    The Newcastle team now include pronuclear transfer as part of a research study along with a range of reproductive options offered to women at risk of transmitting mitochondrial disease to their children.

    Pronuclear transfer

    The technique, known as pronuclear transfer is performed after the egg is fertilized. It involves transplanting the nuclear genome (which contains all the genes essential for our individual characteristics, for example, hair color and height) from an egg carrying a mitochondrial DNA mutation to an egg donated by an unaffected woman that has had its nuclear genome removed. The resulting embryo inherits its parents’ nuclear DNA, but the mitochondrial DNA is inherited predominantly from the donated egg.

    The reproductive outcomes paper

    The UK-based Newcastle team who developed and optimized pronuclear transfer for use in fertilized human eggs now report on outcomes of pronuclear-transfer treatment to reduce the risk of mitochondrial DNA disease.

    Levels of disease-causing mitochondrial DNA detected in babies born after pronuclear transfer treatment ranged from undetectable to 16% in neonatal blood. The presence of mitochondrial DNA mutations in babies born after pronuclear transfer treatment results from carryover of maternal mitochondria surrounding the nuclear DNA at the time of transplantation. Carryover of maternal mitochondrial DNA is a known limitation of mitochondrial donation technologies.

    The team is seeking to better understand and address this issue as part of an underpinning research program.

    Professor Mary Herbert, lead author of the reproductive outcomes paper who carried out the research at Newcastle University said: “The findings give grounds for optimism. However, research to better understand the limitations of mitochondrial donation technologies, will be essential to further improve treatment outcomes.

    “Mitochondrial donation technologies are currently regarded as risk reduction treatments owing to carryover of maternal mitochondrial DNA during the mitochondrial donation procedure. Our ongoing research seeks to bridge the gap between risk reduction and prevention of mitochondrial DNA disease by addressing this problem.” 

    Pronuclear-transfer treatment is offered as part of an integrated program that includes preimplantation genetic testing (PGT) for reducing the risk of mitochondrial DNA disease. In accordance with HFEA regulations, pronuclear transfer is offered only to those women who are unlikely to benefit from PGT treatment.

    At the time of reporting the integrated program of PGT and pronuclear transfer, clinical pregnancies were confirmed in 8 of 22 (36%) patients who underwent pronuclear transfer and 16 of 39 (41%) of patients who underwent PGT. Pronuclear transfer has resulted in eight births and one further pregnancy. PGT has resulted in 18 births. In the children from pronuclear transfer, levels of disease-causing mitochondrial DNA mutations were either undetectable or well below the levels at which disease symptoms are observed. 

    The clinical outcomes paper

    The Newcastle team describe the pathway developed to provide the best possible care for women with pathogenic mitochondrial DNA mutations. It describes in detail how the mothers of the first children born with the technique were monitored and supported in pregnancy, and their babies closely followed from birth.

    Some of the mothers already had symptoms of mitochondrial disease including vision loss and heart problems. Others had family members with the disease and remain at risk of developing symptoms and passing it on.

    All eight babies, including a set of identical twins, were healthy at birth and are described as developing normally – five have had no medical problems since. In the paper, the team note that three babies overcame some early health issues that they believe they are not able to attribute directly to mitochondrial donation.

    The Newcastle team offers advice and treatment to women with harmful mitochondrial DNA mutations in the UK. They are carefully monitored during pregnancy and after mitochondrial donation, six of seven progressed without incident. One woman developed a rare complication of pregnancy with a high level of fats detected in her blood (hyperlipidaemia) which responded well to a reduced fat diet. 

    All eight babies, including the set of twins, were born by normal vaginal delivery or elective caesarean section. All babies had normal weight for gestational age. The level of disease-causing mitochondrial DNA mutation was measured in blood and urine cells and was undetectable in five babies. Three babies had low levels of disease-causing mitochondrial DNA mutations – 5 and 9%, 12 and 13%, 16 and 20% in blood and urine respectively.  These levels are well below the 80% level required for clinical disease for these mutations. The researchers note that at follow-up at 18 months, the level of the disease-causing mutation in the child with 5 and 9% was undetectable in blood and urine.

    All children are enrolled in an 18-month developmental study and at the date of reporting all the babies were meeting their relevant developmental milestones.

    One child developed some brief startles (involving neck flexion and eye blinking) at age 7 months, which resolved without treatment after 3 months. Another, a breast-fed baby, developed high blood fats (hyperlipidaemia) which had also affected the mother during pregnancy, and was successfully treated through a low-fat diet. This child was also diagnosed with an abnormal heart rhythm (cardiac arrhythmia) which is being successfully treated with a reducing amount of anti-arrhythmic medication. (Although the children born following PGT are not routinely followed-up, the team note that a cardiac anomaly was detected in one child.)  A third child had a urinary tract infection that responded quickly to antibiotic treatment.

    The authors say that the children’s health conditions are not thought to be related to the maternal mitochondrial DNA mutations as the low levels detected in these babies would not be expected to cause disease symptoms. Symptoms for these mutations are only seen with levels above 80%. Any effect of the pronuclear transfer procedure itself would be expected to have a more uniform clinical manifestation, that is, to affect children in the same way. However, follow-up studies will be of paramount importance in detecting any patterns in childhood conditions.

    The team emphasize that follow-up studies are essential for detecting any patterns in childhood conditions and say they will continue to offer assessments up to the age of 5 years.

    Professor Bobby McFarland, Director of the NHS Highly Specialised Service for Rare Mitochondrial Disorders (Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust) and Professor of Paediatric Mitochondrial Medicine at Newcastle University is first author of one of the papers. He said: “While longer term follow-up of children born following mitochondrial donation is of paramount importance, these early results are very encouraging. Seeing the joy and relief these children have brought to their parents is such a privilege.

    “We believe the follow-up process we have put in place is thorough, since it allows us to detect and review even minor health conditions in children born after pronuclear transfer such as a urinary tract infection.” 

    The Lily Foundation, a charity dedicated to fighting mitochondrial disease has supported the Newcastle work. “We’re absolutely delighted with the results of these published papers,” said Liz Curtis, Lily founder and CEO. “We fought long and hard for this change so that families could have choices. After years of waiting, we now know that eight babies have been born using this technique, all showing no signs of mito. For many affected families, it’s the first real hope of breaking the cycle of this inherited condition.”

    FACT FILE

    Law – In a first worldwide and following extensive public debate and scientific and ethical review, UK legalization was press/articles/archive/2015/10/worldfirstledbynewcastleuniversity/”>approved in 2015 to enable the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) to allow mitochondrial donation treatments for women at high risk of transmitting serious mitochondrial DNA disease to their children. Following this, the law has now changed in Australia.

    Licence – Licences are regulated and granted by the HFEA. Newcastle Fertility Centre part of Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust was granted the press/articles/archive/2017/03/mitochondrialicence/”>first license to perform clinical mitochondrial donation by pronuclear transfer in 2017.  A clinical pathway was established with mitochondrial clinicians as part of NHS England’s Highly Specialised Service.

    Mitochondrial disease refers to a group of genetic conditions that disrupt how our mitochondria – the energy producers in our cells – function.

    Pre-implantation genetic testing (PGT) is a procedure that helps couples avoid passing on genetic conditions to their children. This extra step tests embryos for genetic conditions.

    Pronuclear transfer (PNT) involves transferring the nuclear DNA of a fertilized egg into a fertilized donor egg to prevent the transmission of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) disease.

    Funding

    The team acknowledge that the Mitochondrial Reproductive Care Pathway is supported by the NHS at The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (NUTH). Support was provided by Wellcome. Infrastructural support was provided by Newcastle University, a National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre award to NUTH. The NHS Highly Specialised Services for Rare Mitochondrial Disorders is supported by NHS England and a career development award was made to Dr Hyslop from Health Education England and the NIHR.

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  • are hospital surgery wait times improving near you?

    are hospital surgery wait times improving near you?

    Every NHS hospital in England has been told to improve patient waiting times for planned treatment as the government has made hitting the 18-week target one of its key priorities for this parliament.

    By March 2026, the government wants to see at least 65% of patients waiting no longer than 18 weeks.

    To get there, every NHS trust has to either get to 60% or improve on its November 2024 figures by five percentage points – whichever is greater.

    That is just a stepping stone towards the ultimate goal of achieving 92% by July 2029.

    Use your postcode to find out whether waiting lists are getting better near you.

    BBC Verify’s analysis included NHS trusts in England that had at least 5,000 people waiting for elective treatment in November 2024.

    Targets in other nations are different and the interim targets for next March set by the UK government do not apply.

    While Scotland aims for 90% of patients to be treated within 18 weeks of referral, in Wales the target is for 95% of patients to wait less than 26 weeks.

    In Northern Ireland, 55% of patients should wait no longer than 13 weeks for day case or inpatient treatment.

    Interactive tool produced by Alli Shultes, Rebecca French, Daniel Wainwright, Nick Triggle, Ollie Lux Rigby, Chris Kay, Adam Allen, Avi Holden and Rebecca Wedge-Roberts


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  • BBC Sport scores millions of viewers as Lionesses triumph in nail-biting penalty shootout

    BBC Sport scores millions of viewers as Lionesses triumph in nail-biting penalty shootout

    England’s jaw dropping quarter-final clash against Sweden saw millions flock to BBC Sport on Thursday night, with a peak TV audience of 7.4 million and 8.3 million views of the live text page.

    The quarter-final match generated nearly 3 million online streams across BBC iPlayer, the BBC Sport website, and the app – with a quarter of those coming from 16–35-year-olds, highlighting strong engagement from younger audiences. On the night, the BBC Sport website’s live text page attracted 8.3 million views. So far, total online requests for Women’s Euro 2025 content have reached 8.1 million across BBC Sport’s digital platforms – a clear sign of the growing audience appetite for the tournament.

    England’s comeback received the biggest TV audience of the competition so far – with a peak audience share of 65% – and means the reigning champions will face Italy in the next round.

    The gripping quarter-final also drew a significant number of 16–35-year-olds to the post-match analysis with Gabby Logan and the team, with nearly half a million streams on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website by 11pm on Thursday night. Following the match, the Women’s Euros became the 4th most-watched programme among under-35s on iPlayer across all genres.

    Alex Kay-Jelski, Director of BBC Sport, said: “I was biting my nails on the sofa with the rest of the fans. What a win for the Lionesses! We can’t wait for Tuesday. We’ll be bringing fans closer to the action with full commentary and analysis on BBC Radio 5 Live, the BBC Sport website, and the BBC Sport app.”

    BBC Sport is broadcasting one of the semi-finals along with the final on Sunday 27 July. Every knockout game is available to listen to live on BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds.

    RM4

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  • Tecno’s Tri Fold Phone Concept Closes Inwards to Protect the Screen – ProPakistani

    1. Tecno’s Tri Fold Phone Concept Closes Inwards to Protect the Screen  ProPakistani
    2. Tecno’s Phantom Ultimate G Fold tri-foldable concept folds inwards to protect the display – GSMArena.com news  GSMArena.com
    3. TECNO PHANTOM Ultimate G Fold: World’s Thinnest Tri-Fold Smartphone at 3.49mm  Yanko Design
    4. This ‘G’ Tri-Fold Phone Bends in Ways That Make Me Uncomfortable  Gizmodo
    5. Tecno reveals Phantom Ultimate Fold G — a bold challenger to Samsung’s foldables  Tom’s Guide

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