Kyoto, Japan -- As close relatives of humans, chimpanzees had sometimes been used in biomedical experiments. They were instrumental in the identification of the hepatitis C virus: the then mysterious pathogen was artificially injected into chimpanzees for study, leading to its eventual identification in 1989. Since then, treatments for humans have advanced and hepatitis C can now be nearly cured with medication. However, the same treatment has not been extended to the chimpanzees.

In 2022, a team of researchers from Kyoto University found that chimpanzees infected with hepatitis C had experienced negative health effects and shorter lifespans. This time, in a collaboration with Kumamoto University, the team was determined to eliminate this virus in chimpanzees residing at Kumamoto Sanctuary, a research facility of Kyoto University’s Wildlife Research Center. The sanctuary is home to several chimpanzees who were once used in medical experiments by multiple organizations in Japan, and is a place where they can spend the rest of their lives being cared for.

"Prioritizing chimpanzee health and welfare is the number one reason for conducting this study," says first author Satoshi Hirata. "We felt that it is our responsibility to do whatever we can to improve their condition."

As cities grow, artificial water bodies are slowly replacing natural ones. Among the most numerous but least studied are the garden ponds, which can be found by the millions in private gardens. A new study from researchers at the HUN-REN Centre for Ecological Research provides the first systematic look at zooplankton communities living in these garden ponds and finds that even the smallest of them contribute to urban freshwater biodiversity, adding to what the larger public urban ponds already provide.

Zooplankton (rotifers, cladocerans, and copepods that drift in the water column) are “ecological workhorses” and play a key link in the aquatic food web. Zooplankton transfer energy from primary producers to fish and invertebrate predators, and their grazing can regulate algal blooms. Yet while public urban ponds have drawn growing scientific attention, the life inside privately managed garden ponds has remained poorly studied.

To close that gap, the team sampled 90 ponds in and around Budapest, including 38 private garden ponds and 52 public urban ponds during spring 2022, through the MyPond citizen science project. They identified and documented every zooplankton species present, compared the density and species richness between the two pond types, and tested how communities responded to urban cover and fish presence.

Rutgers University oceanographers Joe Gradone and Corday Selden are preparing to step into the most consequential assignment of their careers so far.

On Aug. 7, they will board the research vessel Falkor (too) in Bridgetown, Barbados. Two days later, the ship will leave port, carrying Gradone and Selden into the Atlantic Ocean as co-chief scientists leading an international team of 19 scientists on a 25-day research expedition.

Colorado State University researcher Jessica Metcalf is studying foul-smelling substances to figure out what attracts the New World screwworm to its favorite meal – open wounds – so she can develop better lures for trapping this serious threat to the livestock industry.

An Iowa State University-led research team identified two essential components — a pervasive protein and a crucial cellular signaling pathway — needed to make some types of blood cells, a discovery that could lead to a new treatment for leukemia.

Snoozing underwater with their massive, buoyant heads pointing upwards, sperm whales have a rather unique way of sleeping. Normally, this would cause them to float to the surface, where the turbulent waves and frequent ships wouldn’t allow for a restful slumber. The researchers publish their discovery in Journal of Experimental Biology, that sperm whales blow bubbles in their sleep, letting out some air to keep themselves from to shooting upwards while having a nice nap.

Deep-diving insect larvae are challenging a long-held idea about why there are no insects in the ocean, thanks to sturdy air sacs.