Research summaries: earthquakes, space eating, and gender equality

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Brief report on herbicides disturbing freshwater biodiversity

As Health Canada extends the deadline for public consultation on higher concentrations of herbicides in certain foods, research from McGill University shows that reporting herbicides, at concentrations typically measured in agricultural runoff, can have dramatic effects on natural bacterial communities. “Bacteria are the basis of the food chain in freshwater ecosystems,” the researchers say. “How the effects of the Roundup cascade across freshwater ecosystems to affect their long-term health deserves further study.”

“Resistance, resilience, and functional redundancy of freshwater bacterioplankton communities facing a gradient of agricultural stresses in a Mediterranean world experience” has been published in Molecular Ecology.

Mapping the genome of lake trout to ensure their survival

An international team of researchers from the United States and Canada, including researchers from McGill University, has been able to create a reference genome for lake trout to support US state and federal agencies in their reproduction and conservation efforts. Trout, once the top predatory fish across the Great Lakes, came to near extinction between the 1940s and 1960s due to pollution, overfishing, and predation by invasive eels. Once demonstrating astonishing levels of diversity in terms of size, appearance, and adaptability to diverse environments, the only surviving lake trout populations can be found in Lake Superior and Lake Huron. The research team said the genomes of salmon, a family that includes lake trout, are more difficult to assemble than those of many other animals. “Between 80-100 million years ago, the ancestors of all salmonid species to which lake trout belong went through a complete genome duplication event. As a result, salmonid genomes are difficult to assemble due to their highly repetitive nature and abundance of repeat genomic regions of similar sequences,” he explains. Ioannis Ragusis, chief of genomics at the McGill Genome Center, where the sequences were taken.

“Chromosome-fixed genome assembly of lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush)” has been published in Molecular Ecology Resources.

Why do species live where they live?

With climate change, what factors will decide where species can live and thrive? Scientists try to answer this question by studying what governs where species live today. Harsh and cold environmental conditions play a role, especially towards the poles as in Canada. But researchers Anna Hargreaves, assistant professor in the Department of Biology and Alexandra Beckett, show that interactions with other species — such as competition and predation — are also major driving factors in determining where a species can live, especially in warmer conditions toward the equator.

“Biological interactions are often more significant at warm versus cold range edges for species” is published in Ecology Letters.

Rhythms of music and healthy impulses

When you listen to or play music, you may notice that you are moving your body in time with the music. You can also sync to music in ways you’re not familiar with, like your heartbeat. Scientists from McGill, led by Caroline Palmer, Canadian Research Chair in the Cognitive Neuroscience of Performance, investigated how musicians’ heart rhythms change when they perform familiar and unfamiliar piano melodies at different times of the day. Contrary to some expectations, they found that the musicians’ heart rhythms were more predictable and strict when they performed unfamiliar melodies, and when they performed in the early morning. These findings suggest that musicians’ heart rhythms may be affected by the time of day as well as by how fresh a performance is or how difficult it is to perform. Ultimately, this research can tell us how best to apply music in therapeutic settings as interventions that target abnormal cardiovascular patterns.

“Physiological and Behavioral Factors in the Rhythm of Musicians’ Performance” has been published in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience.

Stress affects our motivation to do difficult tasks

Stress increases people’s tendency to avoid demanding cognitive tasks, without necessarily changing their ability to perform those tasks according to new research from McGill University. “People hate ordering,” says Ross Otto, assistant professor in the psychology department. “We found that stress increases this aversion.” Study participants had to choose between repeating one task over and over again, or the more cognitively demanding process of frequently switching from one type to another. They then compared the choices made by individuals with acute stress to those made by a control group. “The interesting thing is that the effects of stress were not shown in performance,” Otto explains. “So, it’s not that the study participants did worse on the more or less demanding tasks — their performance was no different; it’s only when you give them a choice of whether they want to do one or the other that stress increases their unwillingness to invest the effort.”

“Acute psychosocial stress increases cognitive avoidance of effort” was published in the Journal of Psychology.

COVID-19 vaccines are more cost-effective and accessible

New possibilities may exist to produce vaccines that are more efficient, globally accessible, and ready for a pandemic thanks to the work of a McGill-led research team headed by Amin A. Kamen, professor in the Department of Bioengineering. The Vero cell line is one of the most effective viral vaccine manufacturing platforms for infectious diseases such as MERS-CoV, SARS-CoV and most recently SARS-CoV-2. Over the course of the pandemic, it has emerged as an important discovery and screening tool to support the isolation and replication of SARS-CoV-2, the production of a viral vaccine and the identification of potential drug targets. However, the productivity of Vero cells was limited by the lack of a reference genome. With a restricted understanding of virus-host interactions, the complete characterization of the Vero cell line has remained incomplete to date. The researchers believe it may be possible to accelerate production of new vaccines against emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases, through advanced de novo sequencing and further decoding of previously published genetic data that highlights the mechanisms at play during virus intracellular growth.

“The de novo haplotype-resolved assembly of the genome of a Vero cell line” has been published in npj vaccines.

Science has discovered a new type of earthquake

A research team from Canada and Germany has discovered a new type of injection-triggered earthquake. Unlike traditional earthquakes of the same size, they are slower and last longer. These seismic events are caused by hydraulic fracturing, a method used in western Canada to extract oil and gas. The team of researchers — including Yajing Liu, assistant professor in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences — recorded seismic data for nearly 350 earthquakes and found that about ten percent of the seismic events showed unique features that suggest they rupture more slowly. , similar to what is observed mainly in volcanic regions. Their presence supports a scientific theory about the origins of injection-induced earthquakes that has not been sufficiently proven by measurements to date.

“Fluid-injection-induced earthquakes featuring hybrid-frequency waveforms showing transition from seismic to seismic slip” is published in Nature Communications.

Detecting bleaching chemistry

Chlorine bleach has been in use for nearly 250 years since it was first discovered by Claude-Louis Berthollet in the 1780s. But until now, no one has ever described the structure of the active chemical component of liquid bleach – known to chemists as sodium hypochlorite. Research by McGill has now clarified the structure of sodium hypochlorite, a very simple and extremely unstable compound (which makes it difficult to isolate). This compound is also a member of the broader family of hypohalites, simple but highly reactive compounds of fundamental importance in chemistry, which have a dedicated place in every general or inorganic chemistry textbook. The last paper, the first of its kind to provide a structural characterization of hypochlorite and its hypobromite salt (also a well-known pool disinfectant), fills in a notable gap in their structural chemistry.

“200 years later: the bleaching structure and characterization of hypohalite ions by single-crystal X-ray diffraction were published” in Angewandte Chimie.

Space Eating Technology: Microalgae Lateral Cockroaches

Deep space travel may soon be within reach, but what will astronauts eat on missions lasting years, keeping them off Earth? Two student-led teams from McGill University have been shortlisted for the Deep Space Food Challenge, a joint initiative of NASA, the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and Impact Canada.

Among the projects, there is a technology that is the first of its kind to breed and harvest cockroaches suitable for human consumption. Starting with just a few hundred eggs, the team expects that the cricket’s breeding, gathering and turning system will rapidly support the growth of tens of thousands of crickets each month. The technology produces a fine powder that is safely stored within the system itself. When combined with water to form a paste, cricket powder is a versatile ingredient that is packed with protein.

The second project, InSpira Photobioreactor, is a highly automated system for growing, harvesting and packaging spirulina syrup products. This type of blue-green algae has a nutritional packet and is most commonly available as a supplement in health food stores. The proposed technology is a unique cartridge-based photobioreactor, along with a harvesting and dewatering unit and an in-house treatment to convert the culture into edible forms.

Teams will soon build prototypes of proposed solutions for deep space food production.

Read more from “Deep Space Dine” by Research and Innovation (R+I) at McGill University.

Can cell phones help advance gender equality in politics?

Do people using cell phones have more positive views of gender equality in politics? A team of international researchers, including Luca Maria Bisando, assistant professor in the Department of Sociology, set out to investigate the issue in 36 African countries. They found that regular use of cell phones was associated with more positive attitudes toward women’s participation in politics. However, this was observed only among women and not men. The findings reinforce the idea that technology adoption by women—through improved connectivity, expanded access to information, and an expanding individual’s physical and remote network—may be a promising lever to advance gender equality and community well-being, addressing some of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The researchers also point out an important but often overlooked issue: Policies to change gender attitudes often target women, but changing men’s attitudes may be more difficult than changing women’s attitudes, requiring different approaches.

“Cell phones and attitudes toward women’s participation in politics: Evidence from Africa” has been published in Sociology of Development.

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