BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM A study published in Nature provides the first experimental evidence that inherited genetics shape not just whether cancer starts, but how it evolves once it does. Researchers led by Duncan Odom at the CRUK Cambridge Institute exposed four genetically distinct strains of mice to identical doses of diethylnitrosamine, a liver carcinogen found in tobacco smoke and some processed foods. All four groups got the same dose at the same age, 15 days old. Nearly 600 tumors were then analyzed to trace how each cancer had developed. Cancers in the different strains took different genetic routes. Most tumors ended up activating the same cancer-promoting biological processes, but they reached that point through different mutations and genetic changes. The genetic variation between strains was relatively modest, comparable to the genetic diversity found in human populations, and yet the differences in tumor evolution were substantial. What it means for treatment Sarah Aitken, an Assistant Professor at Yale School of Medicine who worked on the study at the CRUK Cambridge Institute, said the findings matter for both screening and drug selection. “How people respond to cancer drugs is likely to differ depending on their inherited genetics, and so we may need to tailor our diagnostics and treatments accordingly,” she said. The team also suggests this extends to how patients respond to chemotherapy and radiotherapy. “We’ve been able to show for the first time the extent to which genetic background influences both the mutation processes and the pathways leading to tumor development,” said Odom, who now leads research at the German Cancer Research Centre in Heidelberg. Sam Godfrey, Cancer Research UK’s research information lead, called it a “fascinating hint” that inherited genes “might have a big influence on the way that cancers develop after DNA damage.” The study was in mice. Whether and how the findings translate to humans remain open questions. What they do suggest is that cancer screening built around shared environmental risks may not be accounting for the full picture of who develops cancer, and why. Source study: Nature–Genetic background sets the trajectory of experimental cancer evolution     Did this solution stand out? Share it with a friend or support our mission by becoming an Emissary.The post How inherited genetics shape the way cancer forms and evolves first appeared on The Optimist Daily: Making Solutions the News.

BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Czech researchers at the University of Chemistry and Technology in Prague are building titanium joint implants with a porous internal structure designed to hold medication and release it gradually after surgery. The project is a collaboration with surgeons at Motol University Hospital. The implants use laser powder bed fusion: a thin layer of titanium powder is spread, a laser fuses it into shape, and the process repeats roughly 1,300 times for a knee implant. The full print takes about ten and a half hours. Researcher Jiří Kubásek calls the machine “extremely precise,” capable of recreating the microscopic architecture of actual bone. Why the porous structure matters “Bone tissue isn’t solid. It’s naturally porous, which allows body fluids to circulate through it,” Kubásek said. “The pores are only tens to hundreds of micrometers wide, and this printer allows us to recreate structures of exactly that scale.” Porous implants bond better with surrounding bone because tissue can grow into the gaps. But the pores also work as drug reservoirs. One version in testing uses a carrier of sulfates, phosphates, and silver, with the antibiotic vancomycin mixed in, to ward off post-operative infection. The hard part Professor Dalibor Vojtěch, who leads part of the project, says the main technical problem is finding a carrier material that is safe for the body and breaks down at a controlled rate. The medication has to release gradually, not in one dose. The team hasn’t solved that yet, but they’ve already demonstrated implants for the hip, shoulder, and ankle. Post-operative infection is one of the worst complications of joint replacement. Loading preventive medication directly into the implant, rather than relying on systemic antibiotics, is what the whole project is really about.     Did this solution stand out? Share it with a friend or support our mission by becoming an Emissary.The post 3D-printed bone implants that release drugs as they heal first appeared on The Optimist Daily: Making Solutions the News.

For many of us, there are at least small pockets of magic hidden in the memories of our childhood homes. Perhaps it was a rocking chair next to a large bay window. Maybe it was an old record player in a dusty garage. But when asked this question on social media, so many people mentioned how trees played a lead character in their memories, it was hard to ignore. On Facebook, Upworthy asked the simple question:“What’s one item from your childhood home that you love the most?” Again, there were many beautiful answers, in fact over 1200 of them. People mentioned claw tubs for bubble baths, warm fireplaces, and antique pianos. But those trees! They really do seem to provide safe spaces of their own. Lost in a daydream What was extra special about these replies was that sometimes the trees were remembered just for being big, beautiful additions to their yards. And other times, the trees served as portals to imaginary spaces, where children could dream of being pirates or simply get lost in a daydream. Sometimes these portals were literal tree forts, where one could find a tiny corner in space to read their favorite books. One Facebooker revealed that it was the tulip tree in their yard that stands out in their memory. “The Tulip tree in the back yard, with a branch that was just right for climbing up and reading.” This comment alone spawned many others, who shared their favorite tree nooks. One shares, “There was a tree in our yard that I always called ‘my tree.’ I spent many hours climbing up it and hanging upside down on the branches when I was 5 to 10 years old. I’m almost 85 now but still see it in my mind.” Tulip trees are types of magnolias Another shares that, after investigating, they realized the tulip tree is a type of magnolia, and they were pleased they had one currently. “I had to look up what a tulip tree is and realized it is the magnolia tree I have in my backyard. I love that tree.” View this post on Instagram Climbing the tree meant a better view of the neighborhood and all it had to offer. “I miss the large mimosa tree beside the house that I used to climb up into to watch the hummingbirds feed from the blossoms,” this Facebooker shared. “Heaven!” Many other trees got mentions too. One commenter shares, “The weeping willow I climbed as a child.” This Californian had all kinds of trees to admire. “The trees in our yard: apricot, plum, cherry, dwarf peach, dwarf nectarines, lemon, peach, olive, and grapefruit. 3 cheers for California!” Tree forts And one must never forget the tree forts. This person shared quite a specific memory. “The epic forts and tree houses the neighborhood kids built, including an amazing underground bunker and me being accidentally pushed off a tree house platform by feuding brothers. Landed hard from 20 feet up and only received an abrasion on my hip!” View this post on Instagram In a separate prompt, also posted on Facebook by Upworthy, it is asked, “What’s a childhood memory that still gives you the exact same feeling when you think about it?” Once again, many commenters joined the chat, and once more, so many of them came back to trees. One writes their favorite memory was, “Swinging out of my tree fort on a rope into our pool.” ‘Pure joy of summer’ Of course, there were other answers unrelated to trees. This Facebook commenter created quite the picture. “Being barefoot in the cool grass on a hot summer day in Kansas. I’m 8 years old, eating fat slices of salted watermelon with my bare hands, the sticky juice dribbling down my chin. The pure joy of summer and all its possibilities.” View this post on Instagram A clear common theme seemed evident. The favorites, among childhood items or memories, were ones that helped create a sense of safety and of hope. Trees are truly lovely that way. The post People shared what they loved about their childhood home. An overwhelming number said trees. appeared first on Upworthy.

In August 1973, a mother in New Jersey sent her two daughters, Laurie and Allison, to the beach at Ocean City with something to do. She was always looking for ways to get them out of the house, and that day the assignment was to write a message, put it in a bottle, and throw it in the ocean. Laurie was nine. Allison was sixteen. Speaking to CBC’s As It Happens more than five decades later, Allison recalled that Laurie came up with the story, and it was not a simple one. “This bottle was set adrift August 20th, 1973 on Second Street Beach, Ocean City, as my captors were transporting me to an island offshore in the Atlantic,” the note read. “Please notify my family that a band of ruthless sponge fishermen are forcing me to dive for them in shark-infested waters! Please return this note to my home. You may have saved my life.” A five-decade journey Allison did the writing because Laurie was nine and not a strong speller. Laurie signed it and added the family’s full home address in Bernardsville. Then they threw it in. In June of this year, John Kauterman was cleaning wetlands in Cape May County. He and a friend started a nonprofit called The Tidelands Initiative to clear trash out of the South Jersey marshes, and he pulls bottles out of them regularly. This one was old glass, and he could see the first line through it. “I was like, wow, the bottle’s old,” he told CBC. “I peeked into it and I could see the first line that said, ‘This was set adrift on August 20th, 1973.’ And I was like, oh my gosh, yeah, we got a good one here.” View this post on Instagram Making the connection He correctly assumed the contents were a kid’s joke, and posted photos to a local Ocean City Facebook page. People pointed out there aren’t many sponge divers in the northeastern United States. Within twelve hours, others had tracked down Allison Spencer, now living in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Laurie died of cancer in 2017. She was 52. Allison recognized her own teenage handwriting immediately, carrying her sister’s words. “My sister, who was a very creative and quirky person, had a really great sense of humor,” she said. “She immediately latched onto this idea, and she came up with the crazy story.” View this post on Instagram “I told you so.” The bottle spent 53 years somewhere before turning up in a marsh, and it came back nine years after the girl who dreamed up its contents had died. Allison thinks Laurie would have been unbearable about it. “She was really confident at the time we wrote it that it was going to be found, so I think she would say, ‘I told you so.'” One more thing turned up in the sorting out: Kauterman and Laurie share a birthday. Talk about serendipity. Allison is putting the note in a shadow box as a keepsake. The post A 9-year-old’s message in a bottle took 53 years to come back. Her sister was the one who got it. appeared first on Upworthy.

Americans are having fewer kids than in previous generations, with the average number of children people ages 20 to 39 plan to have dropping from 2.3 in 2012 to 1.8 in 2023. Some of the main reasons people are having fewer children is that they’re expensive, and parents are having them later in life. Both factors make it harder to grow their families. Even though people are having fewer children, in 2023, 44% of U.S. adults said that having two kids is best, and 45% said three or more is ideal. Interestingly, an overwhelming number of people didn’t think that being a one-and-done family is the best option for having children. Many feel that only children are lonely and can become entitled because they don’t have to share their parents’ attention and resources with siblings. A child reading a book to his parents. Credit: Canva Debunking only child stereotypes These stereotypes aren’t new. Early psychological research from 1896 said that children without siblings are “jealous, selfish, egotistical, dependent, aggressive, domineering, or quarrelsome” due to the attention they receive. However, modern research says that isn’t the case. In fact, a study in Personality and Individual Differences from 2020 found that there was no difference in arrogance, entitlement, or narcissistic tendencies between only children and those with siblings. For those who think that growing up without siblings is harmful to a child’s development, psychologists actually say that there is a big benefit: it makes them more comfortable talking to adults. Dr. Allen Masry told Newsweek that only children “tend to interact more with adults,” which makes them more comfortable in their company from an earlier age. Psychologist Rachel Loftin agreed, saying confidence around adults “may sometimes be mistaken for ‘growing up faster,’ but they do not necessarily reflect accelerated emotional development.” Many only children agree that they got used to talking to adults at a young age Three months ago, a TikToker named PumpkinToadlet68 expanded on the idea that only children grow up being more comfortable around adults because they are like a “third-wheel” in the parents’ marriage. “Because a lot of people who have one child, they fall into this category of like, they want the experience of having a child, but they don’t want their entire lives to be about children,” the TikToker said. @pumpkintoadlet68 People have this misconception that being an only child means your parents are 100% focused on you but the reality usually is that they only had one child being they dont want to be focused on children at all. You as the child are their sidequest; not the main quest. Which is different from many sibling houses where the parents wanted to be focused on children enough to have multiple kids and invest in creating a whole childrens world for those kids. #onlychildproblems #onlychild #siblings #childfree #familydynamics ♬ original sound – pumpkintoadlet68 – pumpkintoadlet68 PumpkinTaodlet68’s post is just the thoughts of one person, but many only children agreed with him in the comments: “I always explain being an only child by saying ‘There’s no kids table.’ You learn to behave properly from a young age, manners, speak intelligently and without fear to adults. It was a great experience for me; I got to go on business trips and have fun with my parents and lots of really fun things! But not a like Disney vacations,” one wrote. A family playing a game together. Credit: Canva “For me, it was like living with two roommates who tolerated each other and had a child. Then when I got older, I got updated to the third roommate,” said another. “When I’d go to my friend’s house (who had 6 siblings), I was shocked they were constantly running and jumping around the house! Like, why are you running?? I realize now that I was raised to be a mini adult, I completely relate to this video!” another shared. The narrative has shifted The myth that only children are lonely and entitled is unfair to one-and-done kids and their parents. There’s no telling how many couples have decided not to have kids because they thought that it wasn’t right to have only one. It’s great that psychologists are speaking out about the benefits that come with being an only child so that people can make the best decisions possible for their families.  The post Psychologists say only children aren’t ‘lonely’ and they have a skill other kids don’t appeared first on Upworthy.