News by Subject Biology

New research published today indicates that BAT's modern oral (MO) products in the form of tobacco-free nicotine pouches have a toxicant profile that is comparable to nicotine replacement therapies (NRTs) and much lower than traditional oral snus, a category of products that, when used as the sole nicotine product is already established as a reduced risk product compared with cigarettes.

Glyphosate is an herbicide commonly used in forestry operations throughout British Columbia, Canada. Researchers investigated how the chemical may affect the reproductive health of prickly wild rose, a perennial plant found beneath the forest canopy. The new study, by the open access publisher Frontiers, found that pollen viability decreased by an average of 66 percent compared to untreated plants a year after the herbicide was initially applied, with traces of glyphosate persisting for at least two years.

The University of Ottawa has been awarded four new Canada Research Chairs (CRC) that will strengthen its expertise in artificial intelligence, health and law, plus the renewal of two CRCs that will conduct leading-edge research in quantum communications and photonics.

Just two weeks of citalopram exposure caused changes in crayfish behavior, with the potential to disrupt stream ecosystem processes like nutrient cycling, oxygen levels, and algal growth.

Researchers analyzed the epigenetics--molecular factors and processes that determine whether genes are turned on or off--of a group of Poecilia mexicana fish that live in springs naturally high in hydrogen sulfide, which is normally toxic to most organisms. Even after raising samples of fish in freshwater, researchers found that grandchildren of sulfidic-adapted fish had more epigenetic marks in common with their wild, toxic-water-living grandparents than Poecilia mexicana that had always lived in freshwater.