Health

Black Death offers clues into how childhood malnutrition shapes adult health

Daniel William Strain — Wed, 30 Jul 2025 17:33:52 +0000

Black Death offers clues into how childhood malnutrition shapes adult health Daniel William… Wed, 07/30/2025 - 11:33

Daniel Strain

The Black Death arrived on the shores of England in May 1348 and, in less than two years, spread throughout the country, killing an estimated 2 million people. The death toll from the disease, which was caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, got so high that officials in London and other cities opened new cemeteries where hundreds of bodies were interred every day.

According to a new study, those who died around the time of the Black Death may help scientists answer a decidedly modern question: How can malnutrition early in life shape the health of humans far into adulthood?

Illustration in the medieval manuscript Tractatus quartus bu Gilles li Muisit depicting people burying victims of the Black Death. (Credit: Public domain image via Wikimedia Commons)

The answer may be more complicated than scientists once suspected, said Sharon DeWitte, lead author of the study and a professor in the Institute of Behavioral Science and Department of Anthropology at the ��ƷSM��ӰƬ.

In the new research, DeWitte and her colleagues examined chemical clues hidden in the teeth of nearly 275 people buried in English cemeteries before, during and after the Black Death. The team discovered something surprising: People who experienced malnutrition early in their lives may have survived threats to their health, like plague, at greater rates than their peers up until young adulthood, or roughly before the age of 30.

Those survival advantages, however, could have dropped significantly when the same individuals entered their middle and late adult years.

“What this might indicate is that if people experienced a period of starvation early in their childhoods or adolescence but survived, that could have shaped their development in ways that were beneficial in the short term but led to poor outcomes once they got older,” DeWitte said.

She and her colleagues published their findings July 30 in the journal Science Advances.

The research is part of DeWitte’s ongoing effort to understand the past to help humans living today.

“Mortality varied during a catastrophe 700 years ago in ways that might have been preventable,” she said. “My hope is that we can absorb that lesson and think about how human health can vary across different social categories today, and figure out the points of intervention where we can do something to reduce that burden.”

Childhood health

How experiences early in life shape our health long into the future is far from clear cut.

Some studies of modern humans, for example, have linked low birth weights in infants to health problems later in life. Babies born small, a possible sign of nutritional stress, seem to be more prone to illnesses like cardiovascular disease and diabetes in adulthood than the population at large.

The remnants of Thornton Abbey in Lincolnshire, United Kingdom, the site of a cemetery where victims of the Black Death were buried en masse. (Credit: CC photo by David Wright via Wikimedia Commons)

Sharon DeWitte

The Black Death, sometimes known as the second pandemic of plague, might be an ideal laboratory for studying these questions, DeWitte noted. In part, that’s because the death toll around Europe varied drastically—in some parts of England, for example, about 30% of the population died, while mortality rates reached 75% in Florence, Italy.

“It raises questions about why mortality was higher in some populations than others,” she said.

To pursue those questions, DeWitte and her colleagues turned to teeth.

Environment matters

She explained that what humans eat as infants and children leaves a mark in the development of our adult teeth—subtly shifting the types, or “isotopes,” of carbon and nitrogen atoms present in the dentine. In particular, when people experience extreme nutritional stress, their bodies will begin to break down their own fat stores and muscle, which have a different signature of isotopes than food that is eaten.

In the current study, DeWitte’s team examined the isotopes present in the teeth of hundreds of people buried in English cemeteries between 1100 to 1540 AD. They included the East Smithfield Black Death Cemetery, which opened in London in 1348 and where the bodies of hundreds of plague victims were stacked in a mass burial trenches.

DeWitte emphasizes that the team’s results are far from definitive—in many cases, the researchers don’t have any records about the humans they studied, so it’s hard to know for sure how they died or how healthy they were in life.

But the findings carry hints that malnutrition early in life may shape the health of adults in ways that aren’t necessarily good or bad—it all depends on context.

When infants or children don’t have enough to eat, DeWitte said, their bodies may develop in ways that prime them for hardship later in life. They may have altered metabolism, for example, so that they use calories, which may be scarce, more efficiently.

Those changes can be beneficial—that is, until the environment changes and food becomes more plentiful. Some evidence, for example, suggests that in the wake of the Black Death, conditions for survivors in England improved as laborers demanded higher wages.

“People who experienced nutritional stress as children may have had a mismatch with their environments later in life,” DeWitte said. “If there’s now a resource abundance, but their bodies were shaped for an environment of scarcity, they may have poor health outcomes, like packing too many fat stores, which can lead to cardiovascular disease.”

For DeWitte, the study is another example of what humans living today can learn from people who died hundreds of years ago:

“For a very long time, I've been interested in this question of why some people experience good health and others living in the exact same society don’t.”

Co-authors of the new research include Julia Beaumont and Jacqueline Towers at the University of Bradford in the United Kingdom; Brittany Walter of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency; and Emily Brennan at the University of South Carolina.

Experiencing malnutrition in childhood or adolescence may not necessarily harm the health of humans into adulthood—although the relationship is complicated, a new study finds.

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Yersinia pestis bacteria seen through fluorescent imagine. (Credit: CDC)

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The Black Death was caused by Yersinia pestis bacteria, seen here through fluorescent imaging, and largely spread through fleas. (Credit: CDC)

In microbial wars, bacteria suit up with a protein linked to Alzheimer’s

Yvaine Ye — Tue, 29 Jul 2025 16:30:39 +0000

In microbial wars, bacteria suit up with a protein linked to Alzheimer’s Yvaine Ye Tue, 07/29/2025 - 10:30

Lisa Marshall

Amyloids are perhaps best known as a key driver of Alzheimer’s disease.

The amorphous proteins, found throughout the human body, stick to nerve cells like plaque, choking off their function and contributing to a host of neurodegenerative diseases.

According to new ��ƷSM��ӰƬ research published this month in the journal Nature, these oft-maligned proteins also serve a critical role for bacteria in our environment, enabling them to fight off other “predatory bacteria.”

“We discovered that bacteria all around us are using amyloids as a molecular suit of armor,” said senior author Aaron Whiteley, assistant professor in the Department of Biochemistry.

By better understanding how bacteria defend themselves against threats, scientists could ultimately develop new tools to kill microbes growing out of control in places like hospitals and food processing facilities, he said. Such research can also offer new insight into how the human immune system works.

“A lot of the cellular machinery that makes up our own immune system actually originated in bacteria a billion-plus years ago,” said Whiteley. “If we can understand how bacteria are using those genes, we can better understand how humans use them too and possibly turn that knowledge into new therapies.”

E. Coli bacteria in green and their molecular suit of armor made of amyloid in purple. (Credit: Aaron Whiteley)

War between bugs

In recent years, the scientific community has grown increasingly interested in how bacteria fight off viruses, or phages. Such research led to the Nobel Prize -winning gene splicer, CRISPR.

Less attention has been paid to how bacteria fight off their own “predatory bacteria.”

For the new study, Whiteley and postdoctoral fellow Hannah Ledvina zeroed in on one particularly ruthless predatory bacterium called Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus. Beter known as “Bdello” (pronounced Dell-O), the microbial cannibal worms its way inside of other bacterial species, leaching out their nutrients until they starve to death— and then swims off to destroy again.

Bdello are everywhere from your shower to your neighborhood creek to your mouth.

“They are generally harmless to humans, but they are deadly to the bacteria that make us sick,” said Whiteley. “Even E. coli has to worry about catching one of these predatory bacteria.”

Conventional wisdom has held that Bdello are, essentially, invincible, with other bacteria fairly powerless to fight them off. (This has made Bdello a favorite candidate for emerging efforts to fight problem bacteria with bacteria.)

But Whiteley wondered: Do some bacteria put up a fight against such predatory bacteria and win?

And if so, how?

Armor made of amyloid

To find out, the research team started by amassing a vast collection of exotic E. coli strains from various sources around the globe, including the guts of a lizard, the urinary tract of a patient in Sweden and scat samples from leopards and kangaroos.

Then they set Bdello loose on these bacteria.

“We were blown away,” said Whiteley. “We found that about one-third of the strains were actually resistant to Bdello.”

In subsequent tests using a high-tech microscope, the team could see just how those resistant strains fought back.

The images showed clearly that the resistant strains completely coated themselves in a type of amyloid protein called curli, which is similar but not identical to the amyloids that cause Alzheimer’s disease.

In follow-up studies using genetic sequencing, the team found that bacteria used curli to fight back against other predatory bacteria, too.

“We contend that the same characteristics that make amyloids a problem for humans — the fact that they are durable and hard to break down—make them an ideal suit of armor for bacteria, which they use to defend against a wide range of threats,” said Whiteley.

Know thy enemy

The study also suggests that bacteria enlist amyloids to develop biofilms—the thin layers of resistant bacteria that persist on hospital instruments, medical implants, industrial machines and other surfaces, breeding infection and corroding parts.

Today, a common way to get rid of a biofilm is to scrape it off.

But Whiteley suspects that Bdello and other strains of predatory bacteria may have developed genetic tools or unique enzymes able to disintegrate that rigid shield and break down biofilm.

“Wherever organisms are fighting, there is biochemical innovation happening,” he said.

He and his colleagues are now working to determine what those shield-busting tools may be, in hopes that they bould be co-opted to develop new ways of fighting antibiotic resistance or amyloid-fueled diseases like Alzheimer’s.

As the bacteria in our environment duel it out, he’ll be watching.

“If we can understand what makes this armor so durable and what some predatory bacteria are doing to circumvent it, it could have all sorts of implications for human health,” he said.

New research shows that bacteria in the environment use amyloids— proteins best known for contributing to neurodegenerative disease— to shield themselves from predators. The findings could inform new weapons against microbial resistance and human disease.

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Escherichia Coli (E. Coli) bacteria under the microscope. (Credit: Adobe Stock)

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Escherichia Coli (E. Coli) bacteria under the microscope. (Credit: Adobe Stock)

What rats can tell us about the opioid crisis

Megan Maneval — Wed, 23 Jul 2025 18:48:47 +0000

What rats can tell us about the opioid crisis Megan Maneval Wed, 07/23/2025 - 12:48

Colorado Arts and Sciences Magazine

In a recent study, ��ƷSM��ӰƬ scientists have estimated the heritability of opioid use disorder—an ongoing global health crisis.

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New cancer therapy clings to tumors, with inspiration from gecko toes

Lisa Marshall — Mon, 21 Jul 2025 19:59:44 +0000

New cancer therapy clings to tumors, with inspiration from gecko toes Lisa Marshall Mon, 07/21/2025 - 13:59

Lisa Marshall

For millennia, the gecko has offered inspiration to humans.

As far back as the 4th Century B.C., Aristotle marveled at the nimble reptile’s ability to “run up and down a tree in any way, even with the head downwards.”

Its grippy toes, able to latch on to even the slipperiest surface with extraordinary force, have inspired everything from super glues to “Superman” climbing suits to sponges for soaking up environmental toxins.

Now ��ƷSM��ӰƬ scientists have taken a cue from the remarkable reptile to develop a material able to stick to tumors inside the body, pumping out chemotherapy drugs for days.

The technology, developed with doctors at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, is described in the journal Advanced Materials.

“Nature has been at this for millions of years and offers clues for developing better biomaterials,” said senior author Wyatt Shields, Thomas F. Austin assistant professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering at ��ƷSM��ӰƬ.

First-author Jin Gyun Lee, a postdoctoral researcher in the Shields Lab, said early results show great promise.

“We envision that this gecko-inspired technology could ultimately reduce the frequency of clinical treatments, potentially allowing patients to receive fewer but longer-lasting therapies,” Lee said.

Millions of hair-like fibers, called setae, on the bottom of gecko toes enable them to stick to slippery surfaces. Credit: Adobe Stock Photo

The power of sticky toes

How does a gecko manage to effortlessly ascend a glass wall or glide across a slippery ceiling?

The secret lies in the millions of microscopic, hair-like fibers, called setae, that line their toes.

With each step, these hair-like structures — and thousands of even tinier split ends called spatulae — flatten out across a broad surface area, conforming into nooks and crannies.

When molecules on the spatulae and surfaces interact— through a phenomenon known as Van der Waals forces— their feet stick, and stick hard.

Yet just a slight movement can break the bond, enabling them to scurry on.

Scientists have tried for decades to replicate the miracle that is the gecko toe, for use in stronger adhesives, medical and personal care products, and more.

But those tiny hairs have proven complicated and expensive to fabricate and almost impossible to make at scale.

Shields, whose lab develops materials for medical applications, faced an additional challenge: He and Lee sought to invent a material that could linger safely in the body, delivering a sustained dose of medicine, before disintegrating.

They developed a way to turn an already FDA-approved biodegradable polymer, poly lactic-co-glycolic acid (PLGA), into small particles displaying branched hair-like nanostructures similar to those on the gecko’s feet.

They loaded these “soft dendritic particles” with chemotherapy drugs and attached them to cancer cells in a petri dish and bladder tumors in mice.

The study showed that the particles clung tightly to the cancer for days, even in a slippery environment like the surface of a bladder. The animals tolerated them well and the treatment elicited a favorable immune response. And the particles were also cheap and easy to make, said Lee:

“We’ve developed a practical, flexible platform for localized cancer therapy that could be easily scaled and translated.”

The challenge with bladder cancer

The authors stress that more research is necessary, and it could be years before the technology is ready for clinical trials in people.

Ultimately, they say, it could be a game changer for treating localized tumors (those still confined to one spot), with minimal damage to healthy surrounding tissue.

The team started with bladder cancer, which is diagnosed in about 85,000 people and kills 18,000 people annually, because it can be uniquely challenging to treat.

New gecko-inspired 'soft dendritic particles' (SDPs) could be loaded with chemotherapy drugs and stuck to the surface of bladder tumors for sustained, targeted treatment.

“Bladder cancer is common, with most patients presenting with localized disease,” said co-author Thomas Flaig, MD, an oncologist and professor of medicine at CU Anschutz who specializes in bladder cancer. “There is a real need for new and effective therapies to prevent progression to more advanced disease for these patients.”

To treat localized bladder tumors, doctors typically insert a catheter into the bladder and bathe the whole organ in chemotherapy drugs. Because people urinate about six times a day, the medication washes out fast, necessitating frequent repeat treatments that can be painful. Side effects are common, since the drugs hit the healthy tissue, too. Often, the cancer comes back.

The researchers envision a day when a gel containing their gecko-inspired particles could be applied directly to the tumor, selectively delivering a sustained, high concentration of cancer-killing medicine until it breaks down and is excreted.

The technology could also work for other cancers, such as oral, head or neck tumors.

The team of biomedical and materials engineers, medical oncologists and cancer biologists plan to continue their cross-campus collaboration — and look to nature for inspiration.

“These are early days in this work, but this is a really promising start,” said Flaig, also vice chancellor for research for the Anschutz Medical Campus. “Often the scientific projects that bring together those with distinct areas of expertise have the best chance to have the biggest impact.”

The tiny lizards can climb glass and cling to ceilings thanks to their sticky toes. Now those toes have inspired a new material that could deliver targeted chemotherapy with minimal side effects.

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The nimble gecko, able to cling to glass and other slippery surfaces, has inspired scientists for centuries.

Common sugar substitute shown to impair brain cells, boost stroke risk

Lisa Marshall — Mon, 14 Jul 2025 16:45:17 +0000

Common sugar substitute shown to impair brain cells, boost stroke risk Lisa Marshall Mon, 07/14/2025 - 10:45

Lisa Marshall

From low-carb ice cream to keto protein bars to “sugar-free” soda, the decades-old sweetener erythritol is everywhere.

But new ��ƷSM��ӰƬ research shows the popular sugar substitute and specialty food additive comes with serious downsides, impacting brain cells in numerous ways that can boost risk of stroke.

The study was published in the Journal of Applied Physiology.

“Our study adds to the evidence suggesting that non-nutritive sweeteners that have generally been purported to be safe, may not come without negative health consequences,” said senior author Christopher DeSouza, professor of integrative physiology and director of the Integrative Vascular Biology Lab.

First approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2001, erythritol is a sugar alcohol, often produced by fermenting corn, and found in hundreds of products made by various brands. It has almost no calories, is about 80% as sweet as table sugar, and has negligible impact on insulin levels, making it a favorite for people trying to lose weight, keep their blood sugar in check or avoid carbohydrates.

But recent research has begun to shed light on its risks.

One recent Cleveland Clinc study involving 4,000 people in the U.S. and Europe found that men and women with higher circulating levels of erythritol were significantly more likely to have a heart attack or stroke within the next three years.

DeSouza and first author Auburn Berry, a graduate student in his lab, set out to understand what might be driving that increased risk.

To test impacts of erythritol on cells, researchers in the lab treated human cells that line blood vessels in the brain for three hours with about the same amount of erythritol contained in a typical sugar-free beverage.

They observed that the treated cells were altered in numerous ways:

They expressed significantly less nitric oxide, a molecule that relaxes and widens blood vessels, and more endothelin-1, a protein that constricts blood vessels. Meanwhile, when challenged with a clot-forming compound called thrombin, cellular production of the natural clot-busting compound t-PA was “markedly blunted.” The erythritol-treated cells also produced more reactive oxygen species (ROS), a.k.a. “free radicals,” metabolic byproducts which can age and damage cells and inflame tissue.

Previous research has shown that as little as 30g of erythritol—about as much as you’d find in a pint of sugar-free ice cream—can also cause platelets, a component of blood, to clump together, potentially forming clots.

“Big picture, if your vessels are more constricted and your ability to break down blood clots is lowered, your risk of stroke goes up,” said Berry. “Our research demonstrates not only that, but how erythritol has the potential to increase stroke risk.”

DeSouza notes that their study used only a serving-size worth of the sugar substitute. For those who consume multiple servings per day, the impact, presumably, could be worse.

The authors caution that their study was a laboratory study, conducted on cells, and larger studies in people are now needed.

That said, De Souza encourages consumers to read labels, looking for erythritol or “sugar alcohol” on the label.

“Given the epidemiological study that inspired our work, and now our cellular findings, we believe it would be prudent for people to monitor their consumption of non-nutrient-sweeteners such as this one,” he said.

New research shows that the popular sweetener erythritol, often recommended for people with obesity and diabetes, comes with health risks of its own.

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Can weed labels be trusted? Study shows it depends on what you're buying

Lisa Marshall — Thu, 03 Jul 2025 14:24:08 +0000

Can weed labels be trusted? Study shows it depends on what you're buying Lisa Marshall Thu, 07/03/2025 - 08:24

Lisa Marshall

Nearly half of cannabis flower products are inaccurately labeled when it comes to potency, with most showing they contain more THC than they really do. Meanwhile, labels on cannabis concentrates like oils and waxes tend to be accurate, with 96% shown to match what’s inside.

That’s the takeaway from a sweeping new analysis of products sold at dispensaries across Colorado—the first state to legalize recreational marijuana.

The study, published this month in the journal Scientific Reports, is the first comprehensive label audit of legal market cannabis to date, providing insight into just how strong cannabis has become, what the burgeoning industry is getting right in terms of testing and labeling and where it can improve.

“Cannabis use has complex and wide-ranging effects, and we are working hard to better understand them,” said senior author Cinnamon Bidwell, associate professor of psychology and neuroscience and co-director of the Center for Health and Neuroscience, Genes and Environment (CU Change). “While that research plays out, we should, at the very least, be providing accurate information about the amount of THC in these products.”

The study was funded by the Institute of Cannabis Research, the state’s official cannabis research institute, and conducted in collaboration with MedPharm Research, LLC, a cannabis manufacturer and cultivator that holds state and federal licenses to conduct cannabis research.

“We want to instill and foster trust in products, and the only way to do that is to continually evaluate and correct any issues that might be discovered,” said Duncan Mackie, director of pharmacology at MedPharm and a co-author on the paper.

Stronger cannabis, problematic labels

Under federal law, university scientists are not allowed to purchase or handle legal market cannabis for research, so collaborating with industry is critical, said first author Gregory Giordano, professional research assistant in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience.

For the study, a secret shopper from MedPharm traveled the state to obtain 277 products from 52 dispensaries across 19 counties.

A sampling of cannabis products purchased at Colorado dispensaries, including: three kinds of loose flower (a, b, c); a pre-rolled joint (d); shatter (e); Moroccan Hash (f); sugar (g); distillate concentrate (h).

The sampling included 178 flower products (loose flower and pre-rolled joints) and 99 smokable concentrates—everything from vials of distilled liquids to balls of Moroccan hash and gobs of waxy “sugar.” No edibles were included in this phase of the study.

The shopper shared label photos with Bidwell’s team. Then the samples, marked only with a number, were tested by MedPharm chemists who hadn’t seen the labels.

Data analysis showed that flower products contained on average about 21% THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol—the main psychoactive ingredient in cannabis. Concentrates contained 71% THC on average, with some containing as much as 84%.

In the 1980s, the typical THC content in marijuana was around 8%.

“THC content has increased significantly, and we know that greater THC exposure is likely associated with greater risks, including risk of cannabis use disorder and some mental health issues,” notes Bidwell.

Products were considered “accurately labeled” if they contained within 15% of the THC amount shown on the label—the same threshold the state uses. About 44% percent of flower products failed to meet that standard, with 54 of those products inflating their THC content on the label and 23 containing more THC than the label indicated.

Either is concerning, the researchers say.

For those using cannabis medically, adequate dosing can be critical. For those using cannabis recreationally, taking more than expected can be dangerous.

Some discrepancies were large — one flower product was labeled as having 24% THC but had only 16%. But on average, the difference between labeled and observed THC was about 2%.

Only four concentrate products were labeled inaccurately.

“When it comes to concentrates, I would say Colorado gets a good grade for labeling accuracy, but there are some real issues with flower,” said Bidwell.

Previous research in other states has shown that third-party testing labs often inflate THC potency, possibly to gain the business of marketers wanting to attract consumers seeking stronger products.

However, there are other potential explanations for the discrepancy: Concentrates are often made from homogenous oils that are easier to analyze, whereas plants are inherently heterogenous and harder to test.

Small changes in testing protocols could reduce mislabeling, the researchers said.

Beyond THC and CBD

The study also looked at several other cannabinoids (active compounds found in the Cannabis sativa plant), including cannabidiol (CBD), cannabigerol (CBG), and cannabigerolic acid (CBGA). Colorado law requires that companies put CBD levels on the label, a standard that 80% to 85% of products met.

But only 16% of products featured any information at all about other lesser-known cannabinoids.

Notably, CBG and CBGA, which have been associated with anti-inflammatory and anti-anxiety properties, was more abundant than CBD in products across categories.

“Focusing on THC on the label can actually do a disservice for consumers, because it creates an environment in which people buy based solely on THC content,” said Bidwell. “Our data suggests that multiple other cannabinoids should also be reported on there.”

What’s next? With support from the Institute of Cannabis Research, Bidwell and Mackie plan to look at, among other things, labels for cannabis edibles.

As more states legalize the plant for medicinal and recreational uses, they hope their research can inform how states regulate it.

“We all want the same thing,” said Mackie, “a strong, successful industry that regulators can feel good about, businesses can thrive in, and customers can trust.”

A sweeping new analysis of cannabis products shows that while high-potency concentrates like oils and waxes tend to be labeled accurately, flower products often overstate their THC content. The study also found that cannabis potency has increased exponentially.

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Loose flower cannabis in jars at a retail store. Credit: Adobe Stock

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Loose flower cannabis in jars at a retail store. A new study shows that when it comes to potency, labels are often inaccurate. Credit: Adobe Stock Photos

Faith Kipyegon could become the first woman to run a sub-4-minute mile this week. Here’s how, and why it matters

Lisa Marshall — Wed, 25 Jun 2025 05:50:07 +0000

Faith Kipyegon could become the first woman to run a sub-4-minute mile this week. Here’s how, and why it matters Lisa Marshall Tue, 06/24/2025 - 23:50

Lisa Marshall

Clad in featherlight spikes, a custom 3D-printed sports bra and an aerodynamic speed suit, Kenyan Olympian Faith Kipyegon will step onto a Paris track this week and try to become the first woman to run a sub-4-minute mile.

The attempt comes four months after ��ƷSM��ӰƬ researchers published a paper suggesting she could do it, particularly if Kipyegon used strategically timed and placed pacers to block the wind coming at her.

They ended their paper with the words: “Hopefully Ms. Kipyegon can test our prediction on the track.”

This Thursday, they’ll be watching intently.

“I've been making hypotheses since about 1984, and none of them have been anywhere near this publicly tested,” said study author Rodger Kram, an associate professor emeritus in the Department of Integrative Physiology and an expert in running physiology and biomechanics. “It's a little bit scary, but it's also super exciting.”

The “Breaking4” event, hosted by Nike, resembles the 2017 Breaking2 Project, in which Nike set out to create the perfect conditions for Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge to break the two-hour marathon barrier. (He missed it but nailed it in a similar event in 2019).

Reportedly, Nike first started planning Breaking4 some 18 months ago.

Like Breaking2, Breaking4 has been informed by ��ƷSM��ӰƬ research.

“Our study found that if everything went right, under a couple of different drafting scenarios, Faith Kipyegon could break the 4-minute barrier,” said co-author Shalaya Kipp, an Olympic middle-distance runner who earned her master’s degree in Kram’s lab. “It’s extremely exciting that we are now talking about, and studying, the limits of female human performance, too.”

The Mount Everest of running

When Roger Bannister ran the first sub-4-minute-mile on May 6, 1954, it made international news and inspired a new generation of male runners.

“It was the running equivalent to summiting Mount Everest for the first time,” said Kram. “Before that, it was considered beyond the limits of human physiology.”

But progress in women’s running was slower to come.

When Diane Leather became the first woman to run a sub-5-minute-mile just 23 days after Bannister’s race, it received little attention.

From 1928 to 1960, women were prohibited from running anything longer than 200 meters in the Olympics, due to unfounded concerns that it could harm their reproductive health. And women weren’t permitted to run the Boston Marathon until 1972.

We’ve come a long way, the researchers say, with women now outnumbering men in U.S. running races as a whole. But women still participate less in middle- and long-distance running than men do globally.

“The 4-minute-mile was an elusive barrier for humankind, and now if we actually had a woman do it, it would give a whole new generation of track athletes something to go after,” said Kipp.

The power of drafting

Not all are convinced Kipyegon will succeed.

Some have publicly expressed their doubts that the 31-year-old mother can carve 7.64 seconds off her already lightning-fast mile record set in Monaco in 2023.

“She’s not going to break four and it’s not going to be particularly close,” wrote one skeptic.

But Kram contends that while others focus on how much energy she must expend, his team’s research emphasizes how much energy she can save by drafting—or using other runners to push the air molecules out of the way, reducing resistance.

First author Edson Soares da Silva, who traveled from the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil to work in Kram’s lab, notes that migratory birds often fly in formation, using drafting for energy-efficient locomotion. Humans can learn something from them.

“Anyone from top elite to lower-level runners can benefit from drafting,” he said. “But, the faster the speed, the more air resistance a runner faces, and the more drafting matters.”

In the case of Kipyegon running a 4-minute-mile pace alone, just pushing against the air eats up 13% of her energy, according to the team’s calculations.

The study forecasts that if she used just two female pacers, which switch out at the half-mile point, Kipyegon could reduce that drag by about 76%, enabling her to run a 3:59:37.

A promotional video from Nike suggests that a pack of both male and female elite runners will pace Kipyegon Thursday, with some of the male runners sticking with her the entire mile—which could reduce air resistance even more, Kram said. (He notes that Bannister also used pacers for his historic run).

“On Thursday, she will have better than 70% drafting and all of these other contributing factors like the shoes and the clothing,” he said. “I think there is a really good chance that she will break four minutes.”

Watching history in the making

He’ll spend Thursday on Zoom with Kipp and co-author Wouter Hoogkamer, watching the attempt together.

Meanwhile, da Silva, now a doctoral student in France, will be in the stadium in Paris cheering her on.

“Since I live just three hours away, I feel like I am in the right place at the right time to witness the testing of our hypothesis and to see history in the making,” he said.

What if she doesn’t make it?

“As we have seen over the years in running and in other fields, one sure-fire way to motivate a woman to do something is for people to tell her she cannot do it,” said Kram. “It’s only a matter of time.”

The Breaking2 Event will be streamed live on Prime Video and Nike’s YouTube channel beginning at 1:15 PM ET Thursday, subject to weather conditions.

��ƷSM��ӰƬ research suggests its possible for the Kenyan Olympian to shave about 8 seconds off her time with the help of pacers.

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Faith Kipyegon during the 2017 World Championships in Athletics in London. (Credit: Erik van Leeuwen/Wikimedia)

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Faith Kipyegon during the 2017 World Championships in Athletics in London. (Credit: Erik van Leeuwen/Wikimedia)

��ƷSM��ӰƬ scientist receives $1.25M award for cancer research

Megan Maneval — Mon, 23 Jun 2025 15:29:34 +0000

��ƷSM��ӰƬ scientist receives $1.25M award for cancer research Megan Maneval Mon, 06/23/2025 - 09:29

Colorado Arts and Sciences Magazine

Edward Chuong is one of five researchers nationwide awarded funding to pursue "daring, paradigm-shifting research" on cancer immunotherapy treatment.

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What does a baby's babbling tell you about future intelligence? More than you think

Lisa Marshall — Mon, 16 Jun 2025 22:48:56 +0000

What does a baby's babbling tell you about future intelligence? More than you think Lisa Marshall Mon, 06/16/2025 - 16:48

Lisa Marshall

Watching a baby babble, play and interact with others can provide useful insight into what their cognitive ability might be like decades later, according to new ��ƷSM��ӰƬ research published in the journal PNAS.

The study of more than 1,000 twins found that tests as early as 7 months of age can help predict performance on cognitive measures at age 30. It also found that an infant’s environment plays a more significant role in shaping life-long cognition than scientists realized. It could even influence risk of dementia later in life, the authors said.

“Our findings highlight the enduring consequences of the very early childhood environment on cognitive ability and suggest that early life is a critical developmental period that we should be paying attention to,” said lead author Daniel Gustavson, assistant research professor at the Institute for Behavioral Genetics (IBG).

What twins can teach us

Similar to “IQ,” general cognitive ability (GCA), a.k.a. "g factor," is a single, composite measure of a person’s capacity to learn, reason, understand and problem-solve.

Prior research has shown that much of our GCA is established by childhood: Give an 8-year-old a battery of tests to assess their general intelligence and their score will look remarkably similar at age 30. Measures of IQ at age 20 are highly correlated with those at age 62, and such scores don't change much between age 11 and 90.

But few scientists have looked back further to see what — if anything—signals in infancy can tell us about cognition in adulthood and old age.

Daniel Gustavson

Gustavson and senior author Chandra Reynolds, a professor of psychology and neuroscience, looked at data from 1,098 participants in the Colorado Longitudinal Twin Study. IBG launched the study in 1985, enrolling baby twins from Colorado’s Front Range to assess the role that genes vs. environment play in various aspects of development.

Researchers have since collected reams of data, via periodic laboratory samples, home visits, surveys, interviews and behavioral tests.

“We have co-authors on this paper who have been involved since the start and watched these twins grow up,” said Gustavson.

As early as 7 months old, researchers assessed seven measures of cognition, including vocalization, ability to stay on task, and “novelty preference” — whether the infants preferred to play with new toys over ones they were familiar with.

Age-appropriate cognitive assessments have been done at five points, so far.

The team found that looking at cognitive tests in infancy could predict about 13% of the variance in scores at age 30. Two measures —novelty preference and task orientation—were the strongest predictors. This early life “signal” is not huge, the authors note.

“We certainly do not want to imply that cognition is somehow fixed by seven months old,” Gustavson said. “But the idea that a very simple test in infancy can help predict the results of a very complicated cognitive test taken 30 years later is exciting.”

Nature, nurture or both?

To explore what role genetics vs. environment plays, the study compared GCA score differences between identical twins, who share 100% of their genes, and fraternal twins, who only share half of their genes. In general, if there is greater similarity among identical twins than fraternal twins, this suggests that genes play a strong role in that trait.

They also analyzed the twins’ DNA collected via blood or saliva.

As expected, genes played a big role in influencing general cognitive ability, with genetic influences measured by age 7 accounting for about half of the variation in scores at age 30.

But environment also had a significant and lasting impact.

“One of the most exciting findings was that 10% of the variability in adult cognitive ability was explained by environmental influences before year one or two,” said Gustavson.

The older the children got, the more influence genes had and the less environment had.

“This suggests that even the pre-preschool environment matters,” Gustavson said.

Chandra Reynolds

Reynolds, who studies age-related diseases including Alzheimer’s and dementia, says the findings could have implications not only for how youth do in school or how adults perform at work but also how prone they may be to age-related cognitive decline.

“Cognitive aging is a life-long process, not just something that begins in mid-life,” she said. “It could be that certain interventions, like strong educational foundations in early life could help maximize what people are capable of and help them keep that cognitive gas in the tank for as long as possible.”

A polygenic score for intelligence

The study also confirms that “polygenic scores” can be a useful tool.

Polygenic scores are single numbers that aggregate a person’s genetic variants to estimate predisposition to a trait, like intelligence.

“There are thousands of genes that influence intelligence, so you are never going to find an ‘intelligence gene’, but we have found many with tiny effects that when put together can have an impact,” Gustavson said.

For the study, the researchers used genetic data from nearly 1 million individuals gathered via large datasets like 23 and Me to give each of the adult twins a polygenic score based on their own DNA, for cognitive ability.

Remarkably, the twins’ scores closely matched what would be expected based on their tests when they were babies.

“Studies like ours show us that both family-based and genomic-based datasets are valuable in answering questions about how genetic and environmental influences change across the lifespan,” said Gustavson.

A new study of 1,000 twins followed since infancy shows that measurements of general cognitive ability at 7 months of age can help predict what it will be 30 years later. The findings suggest that early life environment matters more than previously realized.

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New ��ƷSM��ӰƬ research suggests that tests given as early as 7 months of age can offer a window into what our general cognitive ability may be at age 30 - and beyond.

AI ghosts are coming: Is that comforting or creepy?

Lisa Marshall — Tue, 20 May 2025 18:50:52 +0000

AI ghosts are coming: Is that comforting or creepy? Lisa Marshall Tue, 05/20/2025 - 12:50

Lisa Marshall

In 2019, a grieving mother named Jang Ji-Sun donned a virtual reality headset and was instantly transported to a grassy field where she spent 10 minutes playing with an AI version of her daughter, Na Yeon, who had died three years earlier of a rare blood disease.

The tearful reunion, viewed more than 36 million times on YouTube, offered a striking sneak peek at how technology might someday transform the way we interact with the dead.

Thanks to the advent of generative AI technologies like ChatGPT, and the emergence of AI “agents” created to act independently on behalf of their creators, that someday is here, according to new ��ƷSM��ӰƬ research. And the possibilities are even wilder than many imagined.

“We anticipate that within our lifetimes it may become common practice for people to create custom AI agents to interact with loved ones and the broader world after their death,” writes Jed Brubaker, professor of Information Science, in a new paper titled “Generative Ghosts: Anticipating Benefits and Risks of AI Afterlives.”

Information Science Professor Jed Brubaker

Brubaker has spent much of his career at the intersection of death and technology. His research inspired Facebook’s Legacy Contact, the feature which enables platform users to assign someone to manage their account after they die. In November, he launched the nation’s first Digital Legacy Clinic, which helps people get their digital affairs in order.

For his latest paper, co-authored with Google DeepMind researcher Meredith Ringel Morris, he set out to inventory what’s been done and what’s coming in the nascent “AI afterlives” space. Meanwhile, in his lab on campus, Brubaker and his students have begun beta testing their own "AI ghosts" and conducting experiments to test how people feel about them.

“Today, you might interact with a Facebook memorial page for grandpa after he dies,” he says. “But what would it feel like to actually sit down with grandpa by the fire and have a conversation with him?”

That day may not be far off.

From text-based grief bots to resurrected celebrities

As Brubaker notes, tech-savvy futurists have been dabbling with AI afterlives for years.

After Velvet Underground frontman Lou Reed died in 2013, his partner Laurie Anderson worked with machine learning experts to create a text-based chatbot (trained with Reed’s writings, songs and interviews) that she could converse with. She still uses it frequently.

“I am totally, 100% addicted to this,” Anderson recently told The Guardian.

In 2023, surviving members of The Beatles used AI to release a new song “Now and Then” featuring the deceased John Lennon’s voice singing along with his bandmates.

Just last month, the family of a man shot dead in a road rage incident used AI to create a life-like avatar of him. During an emotional video played in the courtroom, the avatar forgave his killer.

Meanwhile, numerous startups now help the living create posthumous digital versions of themselves: After a lengthy 3D video and interview session, Re;memory will create a “highly realistic AI avatar” to leave behind for family members. HereAfter, an AI app, invites people to record audio stories that the “virtual you” can share after your death.

To some, this all sounds exceedingly creepy.

An AI Chris Pelke addresses his killer in court. Credit: YouTube

But Brubaker points out that photographs were once believed to steal a person’s soul, and online memorials—widely viewed as creepy a decade ago—are now everywhere.

“After time, what’s creepy often becomes commonplace,” he says.

The rise of generative ghosts

Brubaker is most intrigued about what’s coming next: He and his co-author term them “generative ghosts.”

Powered by large language models that can generate and understand human language, and other features that enable them to remember, plan and exhibit other complex human behaviors, they can do far more than regurgitate old stories fed to them by the once-living.

For instance, they could have a conversation with their kids about current events which occurred after their death, write a new song or poem (that their family could potentially earn royalties from), or even help their kids manage their estate.

Right now, most generative ghosts are rudimentary and text based. But ultimately, we could get very close to that candid chat with grandpa by the fire, Brubaker says.

“You could go interact with this super high-fidelity, interactive memorial and, instead of them just reading you some pre-scripted words, you could have an authentic conversation.”

Promise and peril

Brubaker also imagines a day when generative ghosts could be used therapeutically for someone struggling with prolonged grief over a lost loved one.

This was, in fact, the impetus for Jang Ji-Sung’s heart-wrenching reunion with her deceased daughter. (After three years of battling mental health issues, she worked with a South Korean TV network to create a 3D version of Nayeon she could bid a final farewell to.)

Jang Ji-Sung embraces an AI simulation of her daughter.

Generative ghosts could also be used in historical exhibits.

“The last generation of Holocaust survivors will not be with us for much longer, so museums are trying to think of rich, interactive ways to keep their stories alive,” says Brubaker.

Along with such promise, of course, comes peril.

How long should someone interact with an AI ghost before it becomes unhealthy? What role should they play, or not, in the courtroom? What happens when they are created accidentally (e.g., someone creates an AI “agent” to perform other tasks for them and then unexpectedly dies)? How can I be sure no one will make a ghost out of me, against my will?

And when and how should a generative ghost die?

Brubaker doesn’t have the answers. But he hopes his research will get tech companies and policymakers thinking.

“What’s possible and what will actually happen are two different things as we move forward in this AI world,” he says. “When it comes to AI afterlives, we hope to see things move forward in the most ethical, thoughtful and sensitive way possible.”

Within our lifetimes, it could be common for people to interact with life-like digital avatars of the dead. New research explores their promise and peril.

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South Korean mother Jang Ji-Sun interacts with an AI simulation of her late daughter, Na Yeon. Credit: MBC Media/YouTube

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South Korean mother Jang Ji-Sun embraces an AI simulation of her late daughter, Na Yeon. Credit: MBC Media/YouTube

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