Ant species clones workers; a primordial black hole candidate; an anti-tumor carotenoid

This week: Researchers reported that evolutionary mutations are genome-driven, not random. Quantum physicists observed the magnetic nucleus of an atom switching back and forth in real time. And a new catalyst could simplify plastics recycling.

Plus: Biologists found an ant that clones the workers of other species for its own colonies; the carotenoid zeaxanthin exhibits a significant anti-tumor effect in mice; and astronomers have identified a primordial black hole candidate that could upend ideas of galaxy formation.

Weird ants use replicant labor

Some ant species are incapable of producing worker ants through reproductive means. These species usually mate with other species in order to produce workers for their colonies. But an international research collaborative now reports the discovery of an ant species, the Iberian harvester ant (Messor ibericus), that cultivates clones of another ant species to function as worker ants.

While conducting genomic analyses of five Messor species across Europe, they found that M. ibericus colonies consisted of first-generation hybrid workers with M. ibericus maternal ancestry and M. structor paternal ancestry. But these hybrids were found in regions with no M. structor colonies—in fact, they found first-generation hybrid workers on the island of Sicily, 1,000 kilometers away from the closest known M. structor colonies.

What was happening? The team isolated M. ibericus colonies in a lab and observed egg laying, reproduction and development; even in these controlled conditions, the hybrids still developed. To their surprise, they found that the M. ibericus queens were cloning M. structor males using stored sperm.

Anti-tumor vegetable pigment

Carotenoids are the pigments in plants, algae and photosynthetic bacteria that produce bright colors in plants, vegetables and fruits. They’re notably fat soluble, meaning that cooking them increases their uptake when eaten. Many carotenoids, notably beta-carotene, are expressed in epidermal skin cells, conferring a healthy appearance. Researchers at the University of Chicago Medical Center have now published study results reporting that zeaxanthin, a carotenoid best known for eye health, may act as an immune-boosting compound by strengthening the cancer-fighting activity of immune cells.

Specifically, it directly enhances the activity of CD8⁺ T cells, immune responders that kill tumor cells. Zeaxanthin stabilizes and strengthens the formation of a complex on CD8⁺ T cells, which triggers intracellular signaling that boosts T cell activation and cytokine production in a vicious cycle to attack tumors. In mice, dietary supplementation slowed tumor growth, but when combined with immune checkpoint inhibitors, zeaxanthin significantly enhanced anti-tumor effects compared to immunotherapy alone.

Astronomers identify primordial black hole candidate

In what could be the first confirmation of theorized primordial black holes, those that formed when the universe was young and unimaginably dense, scientists discovered a supermassive black hole that may have developed in the first few microseconds after the Big Bang.

From its earliest images, the James Webb Space Telescope has been revealing objects astronomers call “little red dots,” believed to be the earliest galaxies, hosting young, growing black holes. Researchers led by astrophysicist Ignas Juodžbalis of the University of Cambridge in the U.K. directly measured the mass of one little red dot, finding that the glow from a red dot called QSO1 is a black hole with the mass of 50 million suns.

Interestingly, the galaxy surrounding the object is much smaller than scientists expect to find housing such a massive black hole. This suggests that the black hole may have formed before attracting the matter that became the surrounding galaxy, a reversal of the usual process thought to underlie galactic development. The researchers write, “This demonstrates the possibility of black-hole primacy, i.e., black holes forming and growing earlier and/or much faster than their host galaxy.”

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