Chocolate; The Miracle Medicine

Did you know that dark chocolate is actually really good for you? I didn't either, but recent studies have shown that stomach microbes turn cocoa into a natural drug that reduces blood pressure. Victoria Woollaston writes about the process in which dark chocolate reduces the blood pressure. Previous studies have already been told that daily consumption of dark chocolate reduces blood pressure and is good for the heart. But more recent studies have found how it reduces blood pressure and the process behind it. Microbes in the gut, such as Bifidobacterium and lactic acid bacteria, feast on chocolate. These bacteria grow and ferment the chocolate, producing compounds that are anti-inflammatory. This naturally forming anti-inflammatory enters the bloodstream and helps protect the heart and arteries from damage. Tests on three types of cocoa powder, the raw ingredient used to make chocolate, in an artificial digestive tract consisting of a series of modified test tubes has concluded that the components are readily processed by the friendly bacteria in the colon. Dark chocolate contains a higher cocoa content, increasing this process. The studies done have found that the small polymers that are produced exhibit anti-inflammatory activity. When the compounds are absorbed by the body, they lessen the inflammation of cardiovascular tissue, reducing the long-term risk of stroke. Combining dark chocolate with fruits such as pomegranates or acai may also boost its benefits. This article is very clear and it explains really well how the process goes when dark chocolate enters your body and the microbes help digest it and make a drug to help protect the heart and arteries.

Cocoa in its natural form

Methane-producing Microbe Blooms In Permafrost Thaw

In northern Sweden and some parts of the world, parts of permafrost are thawing because of the climate warming up. Because of this, new microbes are being discovered and are adding to the list of microbe species. One such microbe, found in the mires of northernmost Sweden, flourishes and produces large amounts of greenhouse gases. Several billion years ago, before cyanobacteria, archaea flourished in warm, shallow oceans and letting out methane into the atmosphere. Today, most of the archaea's descendants hide in places where oxygen cannot reach them, where they also still produce methane. The methanogen archaea in permafrost have led still lives in the frozen soil. The small amounts of methane they produced have stayed below in the ice or have been consumed by methane-eating neighbors. But because of the recent heating-up of the arctic regions, these methanogens now have access to carbon dioxide and hydrogen which they convert into methane. This methane now contributes further global warming. Rhiannon Mondav, PhD student of limnology at Uppsala Universtiy, is part of the international research group which decided to look for methanogens in the Stordalen mire. She discovered a previously unknown methanogen, and with the help of the research group, mapped its genome and named it Methanoflorens stordalenmirensis. This newly discovered methanogen exists in such abundance that it made up 90 percent of the archaea in the Stordalen mire. Now that the new species has been described, it has been found to exist also in other peatlands and mires, contributing in a significant way to global methane production and thereby global warming. From the sound of the researchers in the rest of the article and the writer, it sounds like the discovery of this microbe now just goes to prove that the Earth is going to start warming up a lot faster and their is much worry. Nothing in this article is unclear and the writer explains it in great detail.

The wet areas show where the mire has thawed out completely. Here methanogens thrive.

Biggest-ever Virus Revived from Stone Age Permafrost

A virus of unprecedented size has been discovered just a couple of days ago in Russian permafrost 30,000 years old and has just been reactivated. Dubbed a pithovirus, the virus infects amoebas but does not appear to harm human or mouse cells. Even so, now that this virus has been revived from permafrost, who knows what other viruses might be awakened? There's a good chance that there could be pathogenic viruses in the ice too, which could cause unknown diseases and cause strange symptoms. Jean-Michel Claverie, co-leader of the team that discovered the big virus, says that "thirty percent of the world's oil reserves are thought to be hidden under the permafrost, along with gold and other key minerals, so exploration is bound to increase." This means that researchers need to take careful precautions when prospecting. If people start becoming sick with strange symptoms, it will be wise to quarantine and clear them before sending them back. The pithovirus itself is very different than any known virus. At 1.5 micrometers long and 0.5 micrometers wide, it is 30 percent bigger than the previous largest virus, the pandoravirus. In order to draw out the virus, the researchers baited it with amoebas, which are known to be the primary target for big viruses. The team is now hunting for other viruses in the permafrost, but just as the writer describes it, there is a fear that reawakening these viruses may lead to unnatural pandemics and may also increase global warning by digesting organic matter and releasing greenhouse gases such as methane and carbon dioxide. Claverie says that his team is also planning to hunt for large viruses in much older permafrost samples, from as early as 3 million years ago, to see if any can be revived. From this article, it is clear that the writer is scared if any new viruses hidden in the permafrost were to be awakened. They could cause unknown diseases to which there may not be a cure for or worse, no way to treat the symptoms. But Claverie and his team guarantee that they will be very careful when digging in the ice and they are positive that the pithovirus is not harmful to humans at all.

Pithovirus, viewed by electron microscopy.