Many of us believe that we are great drinkers and that alcohol does not affect us as much. People who are able to drink without showing any sign of inebriation are known as social drinkers. In short, they are not addicted to alcohol but will not turn down the opportunity to have a good time! While it may seem like it doesn’t affect you, new studies suggest that it is just an illusion, even if you have high tolerance, alcohol affects your cognitive and motor functions more than you think.

The study reveals the below implications and techniques:

• Researchers used a new MRI technique to precisely measure brain electrical activity.
• By comparing brain scans before and after drinking, scientists identified specific areas affected by alcohol and how much brain activity slowed down.
• Participants were chosen to be regular social drinkers without alcohol addiction, ensuring the study focused on the effects of alcohol alone.
• MRI technology provided reliable data on brain activity changes caused by alcohol consumption.

How does the brain react to alcohol?

Think of it as the foundation for your brain's performance. When brain conductivity is high, information flows smoothly, and that helps your brain in rapid processing and response. On the other hand, low conductivity can hinder cognitive function, leading to slower thinking, impaired memory, and difficulties with coordination.

A study conducted at the Neuroscience Research Australia (NeuRA) and UNSW Science unveiled a startling connection between alcohol consumption and brain conductivity.

What is the connection between alcohol consumption and brain activity?

While many people brush off the effects of alcohol as temporary changes in behaviour, the reality is much more complex. Beyond the obvious impacts on coordination and judgment, alcohol significantly alters brain function. Alcohol dramatically slowed down brain activity, especially in areas responsible for decision-making, planning, and physical coordination. This decline was so significant that it resembled the brain changes seen in normal ageing. This means even one drink could temporarily accelerate the ageing process of your brain.

Alcohol and Brain activity: What does the study Imply?

The implications of this research are far-reaching. It provides compelling evidence that alcohol consumption has a direct and measurable impact on brain function. The discovery that alcohol can significantly reduce brain conductivity opens new avenues for understanding the neurocognitive effects of alcohol abuse and dependence. While you may not feel like alcohol is affecting you and you have a high tolerance, it most definitely changes and affects your decision-making abilities and impulse control.

Furthermore, the MRI technique employed in the study could be a valuable tool for assessing the impact of other substances on the brain and for developing interventions to mitigate alcohol-related brain damage.

The Delhi High Court has turned down a Japanese company’s attempt to secure a patent for a cancer detection technique that relies on nematodes, or roundworms, ruling that it falls under diagnostic processes that cannot be patented under Indian law, regardless of how novel or non-invasive it may be.

Hirotsu Bio Science approached the High Court after India’s Controller of Designs and Patents rejected its patent application in August 2023, stating that the invention did not meet the criteria laid out in the Patents Act, 1970. In a detailed 25-page judgment delivered on Saturday, Justice Tejas Karia reaffirmed Section 3(i) of the Act, which clearly bars the patenting of diagnostic methods.

What Is the Nematode-Based Cancer Detection Method?

The nematode-based cancer detection method is a research-stage technique that uses microscopic roundworms, known as nematodes, to detect the presence of cancer. These organisms possess a highly developed sense of smell, allowing them to pick up on specific chemical cues released by cancer cells in bodily samples such as urine, breath, or tissue, as per Science Direct.

Laboratory experiments have shown that certain nematodes tend to move towards samples taken from individuals with cancer while avoiding those from healthy people. The underlying idea is that cancer changes the body’s chemical profile, creating odour patterns that these worms can detect, sometimes even at an early stage.

Scientists have looked at this approach as a potentially affordable and non-invasive screening option. However, it remains a concept under study and has not yet been accepted as a reliable medical test or used in routine clinical care.

Delhi HC Upholds Patent Rejection of Nematode-Based Cancer Detection Method

At the centre of the case was a patent application titled “Cancer detection method using the sense of smell of nematode.” Nematodes, often referred to as roundworms, are among the most widespread life forms on the planet and can be found in environments ranging from soil to living organisms.

The Japanese company aimed to patent a technology based on the biological response of Caenorhabditis elegans, a species of nematode recognised for its advanced olfactory abilities.

The firm explained that its invention relies on the chemotaxis of these worms, meaning their tendency to move towards or away from certain scents, which would serve as a biological signal for the presence of cancer.

According to the company, the nematodes showed avoidance behaviour when exposed to urine from healthy individuals, while being drawn towards urine samples from cancer patients. It claimed the method demonstrated complete accuracy during testing and could detect several cancers, including gastric, colorectal, and pancreatic cancers, even at very early stages.

Is This Process Patentable in India?

The main legal question was whether the method qualified as a non-patentable “diagnostic process” under Section 3(i) of the Patents Act, 1970. This provision excludes from patent protection any process related to medicinal, surgical, curative, preventive, diagnostic, or therapeutic treatment of humans.

Hirotsu Bio Science Inc challenged the rejection by the Controller of Designs and Patents in the High Court, arguing that their invention should be seen as a “detection” method rather than a “diagnostic” one. The company maintained that the process was carried out entirely in a laboratory setting, using samples such as urine or tissue, and did not involve any direct medical procedure or clinical decision-making on the human body.

Health officials have issued a recall for the Live It Up Super Greens supplement powder after 45 people across 21 states were found suffering from salmonella across the US.

The Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued an official recall on January 14 for the Live it Up Original and Wild Berry Super Greens dietary supplement powder flavors.

The affected products with expiration dates from August 2026 and January 2028 have been affected by this recall and include:

• Live it Up Super Greens, NET WT 8.5 oz (240g) with UPC 860013190804.
• Live it Up Super Greens, 30 – 0.28oz (8g) sticks, NET WT. 8.47 oz (240g) with UPC 850077468063
• Live it Up Super Greens, Wild Berry, NET WT 8.5OZ (240g), with UPC 860013190811
• Live it Up Super Greens, Wild Berry, 30 – 0.32oz (9g) Sticks, NET WT. 9.52oz (270g), with UPC 850077468070

Authorities has advised consumers to not eat, sell or serve the affected Live it Up-brand products and to contact the company for returns.

Additionally, officials are asking people to wash items and surfaces that may have touched the recalled super greens supplement powders using hot soapy water or a dishwasher.

Of the 45 illnesses, 12 resulted in hospitalizations, according to the FDA. No deaths linked to the recall have been reported.

What Is Salmonella?

Apart from this, other symptoms include:

• Fever
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Chills
• Headache
• Blood in the stool

Most people develop symptoms within 8 to 72 hours after exposure while most healthy people recover within a few days to a week without specific treatment. However, in some cases, diarrhea can cause severe dehydration and requires prompt medical attention.

While anyone can contract salmonella, children younger than five, elderly and people with weakened immune systems are more likely to develop severe infections.

Is Salmonella Life-Threatening?

Life-threatening complications may develop if the infection spreads beyond the intestines to other organs. The risk of getting salmonella infection is higher with travel to countries without clean drinking water and proper sewage disposal.

While most people do not require medical attention for salmonella infection, those at high risk may need a health care provider if the infection lasts more than a few days, is associated with high fever or bloody stools and appears to be causing dehydration, with signs such as such as urinating less than usual, dark-colored urine as well as having a dry mouth and tongue.

Scientists have identified promising new treatment pathways that could slow or stop the growth of bowel and liver cancers. A research team at the Cancer Research UK Scotland Institute in Glasgow set out to answer a long-standing question in cancer science: why do certain cancer-causing genes lead to tumours only in specific organs, such as the bowel or liver, and not throughout the body?

Scientists Explore Why Some Genes Trigger Cancer Only in Certain Organs

The study forms part of the Cancer Grand Challenges programme, a global initiative led by Cancer Research UK and the US National Cancer Institute. Researchers focused on bowel and liver cancers to understand how genetic faults interact with the body’s internal growth systems in organ-specific ways.

How The WNT Pathway Helps Bowel And Liver Tumours Grow

The team examined genetic errors that allow cancer cells to hijack a key signalling system known as the WNT pathway. This pathway normally helps regulate how cells grow and divide. However, when disrupted by mutations, it can send the wrong signals, encouraging cells in the intestine and liver to multiply uncontrollably and form tumours.

Cancer cells exploit this faulty communication network to support their own survival and growth, making the WNT pathway a major driver in these cancers.

NPM1 Protein Emerges As A Key Cancer Driver

In findings published in Nature Genetics, researchers discovered that a protein called nucleophosmin, or NPM1, was present at unusually high levels in bowel cancer and some liver cancers. This increase was directly linked to genetic faults in the WNT pathway.

NPM1 plays an important role in managing cell growth and protein production. In cancer cells, excess NPM1 appears to support tumour development by helping malignant cells function and multiply more efficiently.

Blocking NPM1 Could Lead to Safer Cancer Treatments

By blocking or reducing NPM1, scientists believe it may be possible to disrupt cancer growth without causing significant harm to healthy tissue. Professor Owen Sansom, director of the Cancer Research UK Scotland Institute and the University of Glasgow, who led the study, explained that NPM1 is not essential for normal adult tissue health.

He said that removing NPM1 causes cancer cells to struggle with protein production, which then allows a tumour-suppressing mechanism to switch on and halt cancer growth. This makes NPM1 an attractive target for new treatments, particularly for bowel and liver cancers that are difficult to treat with existing options.

As per Express UK, Professor Sansom noted that bowel and liver cancers are affecting increasing numbers of people, while treatment choices remain limited for some patients. Identifying a new and potentially safer way to tackle these cancers could make a meaningful difference for those who do not respond well to current therapies.

Scotland has some of the highest rates of bowel and liver cancer in the UK. Around 4,200 people are diagnosed with bowel cancer in Scotland each year, and it remains the country’s second leading cause of cancer-related deaths, claiming approximately 1,700 lives annually. Liver cancer is responsible for around 670 deaths each year in Scotland.

Early-Onset Bowel Cancer Is Increasing Among Younger Adults

Adding to the concern, recent research by the American Cancer Society, published in The Lancet Oncology, found that bowel cancer rates among adults aged 25 to 49 are rising in 27 of the 50 countries studied. The increase has been particularly steep among young women in Scotland and England, outpacing rates seen in men of the same age group.

The study is part of the SpecifiCancer initiative, launched in 2019 by Cancer Research UK and the Mark Foundation for Cancer Research. The programme aims to understand why certain cancer-causing genes trigger disease only in specific tissues.

By identifying these patterns, researchers hope to develop treatments that are better tailored to individual patients and to the organs affected, rather than relying on one-size-fits-all approaches.

Could This Discovery Apply to Other Cancer Types Too?

While the current research focused on bowel and liver cancers, scientists believe the findings could have wider implications. Similar genetic mechanisms may be at play in other cancers, opening the door to further targeted research.

The next step will be to explore medicines that can block or reduce NPM1 production. Current treatments can slow tumour growth, but a drug that directly targets NPM1 could offer a more precise and effective option.

Dr David Scott, director of Cancer Grand Challenges, said discoveries like this highlight the importance of studying cancer at its most basic level. By understanding how cancer begins and sustains itself, researchers can design treatments that intervene earlier and more effectively, ultimately improving outcomes for people living with the disease.