Diet's effect on stomach acid acidity

For many years people believed that stomach acidity evolved in order to break down more complex food sources. A new study done at North Carolina State University flips the tables on our understanding of this evolutionary relationship. Researchers analyzed the diets of many species and concluded that the animals that had the highest stomach acidity were scavengers. Scavengers tend to eat dead or decaying matter and are at the highest risk of infection or disease from the food they consume. The stomachs high acidity helps to screen out microbes who could be harmful to the animals gut. The thing I found most interesting was that humans, while considered omnivores, have a very strong stomach acidity that is in a normal range for a scavenger to have. Researchers concluded that this could be due to different medicines and treatments that humans undergo. New research is being done to determine the effects that these medicines have on our micro biome and how they alter our health for better or worse.


Below is a vulture, a classic example of a scavenger.

Cystoplasmic incompatibility is key to ending malaria

By changing mosquitos sex lives, researchers might be able to prevent the spread of malaria. Malaria is a highly prevalent disease which causes many deaths in developing countries worldwide. Mosquitos are the primary vector for this disease. Researchers have identified a bacteria called wolbachia which ensures that infected male mosquitos cant reproduce with uninfected females (this is called cystoplasmic incompatibility). This could essentially lead to the eradication of malaria because its primary vector would be unable to transmit its disease to humans. Malaria is a huge taker of human lives in places such as Africa which carry a huge mosquito population. Eradicating malaria would, in my opinion, be the single greatest public health initiative of all time.

 

Extinction more than just an emotional issue

Human activity is widely attributed to the harming and eventual extinction of many species of animals. Countless acres of land have been destroyed and made unusable to those animals that once called that territory home. With each new loss we are reminded just how important these species are and the immediate impact that losing them has on the ecosystem from which they came. As humans we are very "speciest" and only consider animals we know and love , such as pandas and lions, to be of utmost importance. In reality every animal, including insects, plays a critical role in its ecosystem and needs to be thought of as equally important to preserve.  While all of this seems grim, there appears to be new hope on the horizon to reverse the progression of extinction. The author, Sacha Vignieri, uses the term "refaunation" to describe the new efforts to help breed species in captivity and repopulate areas in need. While this is a good start, I believe that a much bigger effort is required help preserve the diversity we have on Earth and prevent a mass extinction. The author mentions needing a multinational effort to combat the loss of diversity. I would go one step further and say that we need a global effort to help preserve our planets biodiversity and prevent widespread extinction.