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Scientists at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health developed a method using a DNA biomarker to easily screen pregnant women for harmful prenatal environmental contaminants like air pollution linked to childhood illness and developmental disorders. This approach has the potential to prevent childhood developmental disorders and chronic illness through the early identification of children at risk.
While environmental factors including air pollutants have previously been associated with DNA markers, no studies to date have used DNA markers to flag environmental exposures in children. Study results are published online in the journal
Epigenetics.
There is ample scientific evidence that links prenatal environmental exposures to poor outcomes in children, yet so far there is no early warning system to predict which children are at highest risk of adverse health outcomes. The researchers took a major step toward overcoming this barrier by identifying an accessib
Scientists to develop highly sensitive antibody tests for infection caused by all coronaviruses
Scientists at the Center for Infection and Immunity (CII) at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and SunYat-Sen University in China have set the stage for the development of highly sensitive antibody tests for infection with all known human coronaviruses, including new variants of SARS-CoV-2.
These tests should also allow differentiation of immune responses due to infection and vaccination. The research is published in
Communications Biology, a Nature journal.
The HCoV-Peptide array developed by CII scientists consists of 3 million immune markers on a glass chip, covering proteins of all known human coronaviruses, including the SARS-CoV-2. In collaboration with a team at Sun Yat-Sen University, the CII researchers identified 29 immune signatures specific to SARS-CoV-2.
The CDC issued guidelines this week recommending wearing a surgical mask underneath a cloth mask or knotting the surgical masks to prevent air seeping through the sides. Even when a person is vaccinated, it takes up to two weeks to reach maximum immunity and no shot offers total protection.