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The 2023 first place image showcases a debilitating and prevalent complication of diabetes MELVILLE, N.Y., Oct. 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Nikon Instruments Inc. today unveiled the winners of the 49th annual Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition. This year's first place prize was awarded to Hassanain Qambari, assisted by Jayden Dickson of the Lions Eye Institute, for his vivid image of a rodent optic nerve head showing astrocytes (yellow), contractile proteins (red), and retinal vasculature (green). The colorful image provides an important contribution to the study and reversal of diabetic retinopathy, which affects one in five persons with diabetes worldwide.1 Continue Reading Nikon Small World (PRNewsfoto/Nikon Instruments Inc.) Rodent optic nerve head showing astrocytes (yellow), contractile proteins (red) and retinal vasculature (green) Diabetic retinopathy occurs when high blood sugar damages the blood vessels in the tissue at the back of the eye, known as the retina. The damaged blood vessels can swell and leak, which can cause blurry vision or total loss of eyesight. Since 2021, Qambari has devoted his time and research to the early detection and reversal of the disease. "Current diagnostic criteria and treatment regimens for diabetic retinopathy are limited to the late-stage appearance of the disease, with irreversible damage to retinal microvasculature and function," said Qambari. "The visual system is a complex and highly specialized organ, with even relatively minor perturbations to the retinal circulation able to cause devastating vision loss. I entered the competition as a way to showcase the complexity of retinal microcirculation." Qambari faced some challenges when capturing his image such as locating fine vessels near 110 microns in diameter and establishing a protocol for labeling different cell types. "Over the past 20 years, our research group has refined the technique of isolated ocular perfusion labeling for fine vessels in the eye," said Qambari. "While the ophthalmic artery in the rodent model presented a technically demanding challenge, we were able to overcome it with persistence and patience." The final result educates the public about the universal condition affecting millions and the vital research necessary to further advance care. "The Nikon Small World competition is great, as it showcases amazing work across many disciplines from around the world," said Qambari. "All the images presented in the competition represent the beauty and artistic side of science which may otherwise get overlooked. Such a competition not only celebrates the participant's hard work and passion but may also draw and inspire young scientists to pursue a career in STEM. It certainly inspired me." Like Qambari, Eric Flem, Senior Manager, CRM and Communications at Nikon Instruments, is passionate about sharing exemplary scientific work and artistic techniques. "The past 49 years of this competition have borne witness to many innovative and pioneering advancements in scientific imaging technology," said Flem. "I am consistently awed by how these advancements make it possible to create art out of science for the public to enjoy." Second place was awarded to Ole Bielfeldt for his image of a matchstick igniting by the friction surface of the box. The image was taken within one eight-thousands of a second and utilized imaging stacking. Third place was awarded to Malgorzata Lisowska for her image of breast cancer cells. In addition to the top three winners, Nikon Small World recognized 83 photos out of thousands of entries from scientists and artists across the globe. The 2023 judging panel included: Ed Cara, Science and Health Reporter at Gizmodo James Cutmore, Picture Editor at BBC Science Focus Magazine Dr. Gary Laevsky, Director of the Confocal Imaging Facility at Princeton University Dr. Igor Siwanowicz, Research Scientist at Howard Hughes Medical Institute Dr. Clare Waterman, Cell Biologist and Member of the National Academy of Sciences For additional information, please visit , or follow the conversation on Facebook, Twitter @NikonSmallWorld and Instagram @NikonInstruments. NIKON SMALL WORLD WINNERS 1st Place Hassanain Qambari & Jayden Dickson The Lions Eye Institute Department of Physiology & Pharmacology Perth, Western Australia, Australia Rodent optic nerve head showing astrocytes (yellow), contractile proteins (red) and retinal vasculature (green) Confocal, Fluorescence, Image Stacking 20X (Objective Lens Magnification) 2nd Place Ole Bielfeldt Macrofying Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany Matchstick igniting by the friction surface of the box. Brightfield, Image Stacking 2.5X (Objective Lens Magnification) 3rd Place Malgorzata Lisowska Independent Value Based Healthcare Consultant Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland Breast cancer cells Brightfield, Image Stacking 40X (Objective Lens Magnification) 4th Place John-Oliver Dum Medienbunker Produktion Bendorf, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany Venomous fangs of a small tarantula Image Stacking 10X (Objective Lens Magnification) 5th Place Dr. David Maitland Feltwell, Norfolk, United Kingdom Auto-fluorescing defensive hairs covering the leaf surface of Eleagnus angustifolia exposed to UV light Fluorescence, Image Stacking 10X (Objective Lens Magnification) 6th Place Timothy Boomer WildMacro.com Vacaville, California, USA Slime mold (Comatricha nigra) showing capillitial fibers through its translucent peridium Image Stacking 10X (Objective Lens Magnification) 7th Place Dr. Grigorii Timin & Dr. Michel Milinkovitch University of Geneva Department of Genetics and Evolution Geneva, Switzerland Mouse embryo Light Sheet 4X (Objective Lens Magnification) 8th Place Stefan Eberhard University of Georgia Athens, Georgia, USA Caffeine crystals Polarized Light 25X (Objective Lens Magnification) 9th Place Vaibhav Deshmukh Baylor College of Medicine Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics Houston, Texas, USA Cytoskeleton of a dividing myoblast; tubulin (cyan), F-actin (orange) and nucleus (magenta) Fluorescence, Structured Illumination Microscopy (SIM) 63X (Objective Lens Magnification) 10th Place Melinda Beccari & Dr. Don W. Cleveland UC San Diego Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine La Jolla, California, USA Motor neurons grown in microfluidic device for separation of cell bodies (top) and axons (bottom). Green - microtubules; Red - growth cones (actin). Confocal, Fluorescence 20X (Objective Lens Magnification) 11th Place Dr. Diego García Universidad Complutense de Madrid Real Sociedad Española de Física Madrid, Spain Crystallized sugar syrup Polarized Light 25X (Objective Lens Magnification) 12th Place Sherif Abdallah Ahmed Faculty of Science, Tanta University Department of Zoology Tanta, Egypt, Arab Republic "Cuckoo wasp" standing on a flower Image Stacking 4X (Objective Lens Magnification) 13th Place Satu Paavonsalo & Dr. Sinem Karaman University of Helsinki Individualized Drug Therapy Research Program, Faculty of Medicine Helsinki, Finland Blood and lymphatic vasculatures in the ear skin of an adult mouse Confocal 10X (Objective Lens Magnification) 14th Place John-Oliver Dum Medienbunker Produktion Bendorf, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany Sunflower pollen on an acupuncture needle Image Stacking 40X (Objective Lens Magnification) 15th Place Dr. Pichaya Lertvilai UC San Diego Scripps Institution of Oceanography La Jolla, California, USA Fluorescent image of an Acropora sp. showing individual polyps with symbiotic zooxanthellae Darkfield, Fluorescence, Image Stacking 5X (Objective Lens Magnification) 16th Place Dr. Diego García Universidad Complutense de Madrid Real Sociedad Española de Física Madrid, Spain Carbon nanotubes Stereomicroscopy 30X (Objective Lens Magnification) 17th Place Yuan Ji World Expo Museum Shanghai, China Chinese moon moth (Actias ningpoana) wing scales Image Stacking 20X (Objective Lens Magnification) 18th Place Scott Peterson New Hope, Minnesota, USA A cryptocrystalline micrometeorite resting on a #80 testing sieve. Image Stacking 20X (Objective Lens Magnification) 19th Place Marek Miś Marek Miś Photography Suwalki, Podlaskie, Poland Stomata in peace lily (Spathiphyllum sp.) leaf epidermis Polarized Light 40X (Objective Lens Magnification) 20th Place Daniel Castranova & Dr. Brant Weinstein National Institutes of Health (NIH), Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Bethesda, Maryland, USA Adult transgenic zebrafish head showing blood vessels (blue), lymphatic vessels (yellow), and the skin and scales (magenta) Confocal 4X (Objective Lens Magnification) HM Dr. Arthur Chien & Dr. Ann Na Cho Macquarie University Microscopy Facility Macquarie University, New South Wales, Australia Organ-on-chip system enabling the synaptic conjugation between 3D human embryonic stem cells Confocal 10X (Objective Lens Magnification) HM Dr. Amy Engevik Medical University of South Carolina Department of Regenerative Medicine & Cell Biology Charleston, South Carolina, USA Neonatal mouse intestinal tissue cells Fluorescence 20X (Objective Lens Magnification) HM Dr. Nathan P. Myhrvold Modernist Cuisine Bellevue, Washington, USA Trichinella cyst in pork muscle (Trichinella is a parasitic worm known to cause trichinosis) Brightfield, Image Stacking 10X (Objective Lens Magnification) HM Ángel Navarro Gómez Madrid, Spain Carpenter bee (Xylocopa violacea) head and antenna Image Stacking 20X (Objective Lens Magnification) HM Dr. Andrew M. Posselt University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Division of Transplant Surgery Mill Valley, California, USA Underside of cellar spider (Pholcus phalangioides) Image Stacking 10X (Objective Lens Magnification) HM Dr. Grigorii Timin & Dr. Michel Milinkovitch University of Geneva Department of Genetics and Evolution Geneva, Switzerland Dermal collagen in embryonic snake scales Confocal 63X (Objective Lens Magnification) HM Dr. Bas van Bommel Freie Universität Berlin Department of Biochemistry Berlin, Germany Rat astrocytes Confocal 40X (Objective Lens Magnification) HM Travis Wagner Rochester Institute of Technology Department of Mechanical Engineering Rochester, New York, USA Sphagnum moss with two air bubbles on the sample Fluorescence, Image Stacking 20X (Objective Lens Magnification) IoD Dr. Florian Alonso University of Bordeaux BioTis-INSERM U1026 Pessac, Gironde, France Formation of blood vessels (angiogenesis) in the retina from a Lifeact-EGFP newborn mouse Confocal 63X (Objective Lens Magnification) IoD Raghuram Annadana Raghuram Annadana Photography Bangalore, Karnataka, India Developing stamen and stigma inside a Hibiscus flower bud Panoramic Image Stacking 10X (Objective Lens Magnification) IoD Dr. Alexandre Beber Institute of Biotechnology CAS Vestec, Central Bohemia, Czech Republic Fluorescent actin filaments (yellow) and fluorescent anillin protein (blue) deposited on a glass coverslip after dewetting Fluorescence, Confocal 60X (Objective Lens Magnification) IoD Todd Becker Teabeck Verona, Wisconsin, USA Platinum spark plug Image Stacking, Reflected Light 4X (Objective Lens Magnification) IoD Dr. Frantisek Bednar Svosov, Zilinsky, Slovak Republic Slime mold (Trichia crateriformis) Image Stacking 5X (Objective Lens Magnification) IoD Taylor Bell Gustometry + SF Micro Society Norwalk, Connecticut, USA Freshwater amphipod Image Stacking 4X (Objective Lens Magnification) IoD Timothy Boomer WildMacro.com Vacaville, California, USA Slime mold (Didymium sp.) fruiting bodies Image Stacking 10X (Objective Lens Magnification) IoD Dr. Michael John Bridge & Michael Sieverts University of Utah HSC Cell Imaging Core Salt Lake City, Utah, USA Mouse femur bone lacunar-canalicular network (voids in bone that house osteocytes and their interconnected micro-tubular processes) Confocal 63X (Objective Lens Magnification) IoD Arturo Calderón, Dr. Miguel Tapia-Rodríguez & Dr. Juan Pedro Laclette National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) Department of Immunology Mexico City, Mexico Muscle architecture of an evaginating tapeworm (Taenia crassiceps cysticercus) Confocal, Fluorescence, Image Stacking 10X (Objective Lens Magnification) IoD Hsuan Chen Academia Sinica Chen-Hui Chen's Lab in the Institute of Cellular and Organismic Biology Taipei City, Taipei, Taiwan In toto image of the skin and mucous cells in a live zebrafish larva Confocal 10X (Objective Lens Magnification) IoD Dr. Arthur Chien Macquarie University Microscopy Facility Macquarie University, New South Wales, Australia Cleared mouse embryo Stereomicroscopy, Reflected Light, Focus Stacking 0.5X (Objective Lens Magnification) IoD Nikky Corthout & Alex Calzoni VIB (Flanders Institute of Biotechnology) Center for Brain and Disease Research Leuven, Vlaams-Brabant, Belgium Retrograde labeled neurons in the cortex of a cortical mouse brain section Image Stacking, Fluorescence, Confocal 20X (Objective Lens Magnification) IoD John-Oliver Dum Medienbunker Produktion Bendorf, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany Cabbage butterfly eggs Brightfield, Image Stacking 20X (Objective Lens Magnification) IoD Nadia Efimova Amicus Therapeutics Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA Maturing mouse cortical neuron in culture Confocal, Deconvolution, Fluorescence 63X (Objective Lens Magnification) IoD Ricardo Roberto Fernández Martínez IES Virgen de la Luz Department of Biology and Geology Avilés, Asturias, Spain Tail of planktonic shrimp larvae Image Stacking 17X (Objective Lens Magnification) IoD Frank Fox Trier University of Applied Sciences Konz, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany Marine organism (Pyrocystis lunula, Dinophyceae) Differential Interference Contrast (DIC) 100X (Objective Lens Magnification) IoD Ian Gardiner Calgary, Alberta, Canada Clam shrimp (Lynceus mucronatus) Reflected Light, Focus Stacking 2.5X (Objective Lens Magnification) IoD Dr. Saikat Ghosh & Dr. Juan S. Bonifacino National Institutes of Health NICHD Bethesda, Maryland, USA iPSC-derived human neurons Confocal 40X (Objective Lens Magnification) IoD Dr. Thomas G.W. Graham University of California, Berkeley Department of Molecular and Cell Biology Berkeley, California, USA Algae from a mud puddle Confocal 10X (Objective Lens Magnification) IoD Daniel B. Hoffman & Dr. Jacob Sorensen University of Minnesota Department of Kinesiology Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA Rat skeletal muscle fibers with associated neuromuscular junctions (white) Confocal 40X (Objective Lens Magnification) IoD Dr. Hema Saranya Ilamathi Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR) Department of Medical biology Trois-Rivieres, Quebec, Canada Distribution of cellular batteries (mitochondria-yellow), along the transport cables (Tubulin-red, actin-cyan) in human fibroblast Confocal 63X (Objective Lens Magnification) IoD Don Komarechka Komarechka Photography Ltd. Ravna Gora, Varna, Bulgaria Two fluorescing diamonds Fluorescence 10X (Objective Lens Magnification) IoD Charles Krebs Charles Krebs Photography Issaquah, Washington, USA Feeding bryozoan colony zooids. Bryozoans are microscopic aquatic invertebrates that live in colonies. Reflected Light 5X (Objective Lens Magnification) IoD Charles Krebs Charles Krebs Photography Issaquah, Washington, USA Mushroom gills showing sporophores (sporangiophores) Darkfield, Image Stacking 20X (Objective Lens Magnification) IoD Dr. Håkan Kvarnström Bromma, Sweden Amoeba (Arcella) Differential Interference Contrast (DIC) 60X (Objective Lens Magnification) IoD Michael Landgrebe Weissensberg, Bavaria, Germany Fossil diatom Brightfield (inverted) 60X (Objective Lens Magnification) IoD Dr. Francisco Lázaro-Diéguez Albert Einstein College of Medicine Bronx, New York, USA Non-parenchymal liver cells Confocal 63X (Objective Lens Magnification) IoD Dr. Olivier Leroux Ghent University Faculty of Sciences/Faculty of Bioscience Engineering Gent, Oost-Vlaanderen, Belgium Composition of transverse sections of plant organs Fluorescence 20X (Objective Lens Magnification) IoD Dr. Pichaya Lertvilai University of California San Diego Scripps Institution of Oceanography La Jolla, California, USA Coral (Acropora granulosa) fluorescing under blue light Image Stacking, Fluorescence, Darkfield 5X (Objective Lens Magnification) IoD Dr. Yu-Hsiu Liu Academia Sinica Chen-Hui Chen's Lab in the Institute of Cellular and Organismic Biology Nankang, Taipei, Taiwan Palmskin zebrafish larva Confocal 25X (Objective Lens Magnification) IoD Walter Machielsen Rotterdam, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands Buckthorn trichomes Differential Interference Contrast (DIC) 40X (Objective Lens Magnification) IoD Dr. David Maitland Feltwell, Norfolk, United Kingdom Wing scales of the cinnabar moth (Tyria jacobaeae) under ultraviolet light (UV) Fluorescence, Image Stacking 20X (Objective Lens Magnification) IoD Sébastien Malo Saint Lys, Haute-Garonne, France Crab spider (Thomisus onustus) Darkfield, Image Stacking, Reflected Light 6.3X (Objective Lens Magnification) IoD Sébastien Malo Saint Lys, Haute-Garonne, France Geranium (Geraniaceae) stamen covered in pollen Darkfield, Image Stacking, Reflected Light 6.3X (Objective Lens Magnification) IoD Amir Maqbool Higher Education Department Jammu and Kashmir India Department of Zoology Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India Phoretic mites on the leg of a bumblebee Image Stacking 3X (Objective Lens Magnification) IoD Dr. Robert Markus University of Nottingham School of Life Sciences Imaging (SLIM) Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, United Kingdom Actin cytoskeleton of bovine pulmonary epithelial cells Structured Illumination Microscopy (SIM) 63X (Objective Lens Magnification) IoD Dr. Simon Frederik Merz, Dr. Lea Bornemann & Dr. Ewa Patrycja Smajek LaVision BioTec, a Miltenyi Biotec Company Department of Biophysics Bielefeld, North-Rhine Westphalia, Germany Fly (cyan) caught in a Venus flytrap (red) Fluorescence, Light Sheet 2.4X (Objective Lens Magnification) IoD Marek Miś Marek Miś Photography Suwalki, Podlaskie, Poland Leaf epidermis stomata (Stromanthe sp.) Polarized Light 10X (Objective Lens Magnification) IoD Ángel Navarro Gómez Madrid, Spain Mechanosensors in a Venus flytrap Image Stacking 20X (Objective Lens Magnification) IoD Dr. Foo Yong Ng Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Department of Biology Science and Biotechnology Bangi, Selangot, Malaysia Moss Image Stacking 2X (Objective Lens Magnification) IoD Dr. Lori O'Brien University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Department of Cell Biology and Physiology Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA Embryonic mouse (Mus musculus) kidney showing the collecting duct (blue) and nephron progenitor (yellow) cells Confocal 5X (Objective Lens Magnification) IoD Yusuf Ziya Öztürk TCDD Teknik Müh. Müş. A.Ş. Ankara, Çankaya, Turkey Bee Image Stacking 3.7X (Objective Lens Magnification) IoD Alison Pollack San Anselmo, California, USA Slime mold (Craterium leucocephalum), looking like a beautiful tiny goblet Image Stacking, Reflected Light 10X (Objective Lens Magnification) IoD Alison Pollack San Anselmo, California, USA Slime mold (Diderma tigrinum) Image Stacking, Reflected Light 10X (Objective Lens Magnification) IoD Dr. Andrew M. Posselt University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Division of Transplant Surgery Mill Valley, California, USA Blue black weevil (Metapocyrtus sp.) Image Stacking 6X (Objective Lens Magnification) IoD Frank Reiser Nassau Community College Department of Biology Garden City, New York, USA Ostracods and algae (Cladophora) Darkfield, Reflected Light 2.5X (Objective Lens Magnification) IoD Dr. Colin Rogers & Dr. Erica Weekman University of Kentucky Sanders Brown Center on Aging Lexington, Kentucky, USA Mouse retina blood vessels (green) astrocytes (red) and microglia (purple) Confocal 20X (Objective Lens Magnification) IoD Jan Rosenboom Rostock, Mecklenburg Vorpommern, Germany Diatoms (single-celled algae) arranged on the head of a pin Image Stacking, Reflected Light 4X (Objective Lens Magnification) IoD Danny Sanchez Mineralien LLC Valley Village, California, USA Golden rutile in quartz Reflected Light, Darkfield 6X (Objective Lens Magnification) IoD Hans Schoofs Uppsala University Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology (IGP) Uppsala, Sweden Blood and lymphatic vessels in a mouse diaphragm Confocal 20X (Objective Lens Magnification) IoD Dr. Leo Serra University of Cambridge Sainsbury Laboratory Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom Bindweed (Convolvulus) leaf epidermal cells autofluorescing Confocal 20X (Objective Lens Magnification) IoD Dr. Leo Serra University of Cambridge Sainsbury Laboratory Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom Patterns at the surface of an embryonic leaf of Thale cress (Arabidopsis thaliana) Confocal 20X (Objective Lens Magnification) IoD Stephen Vidman & Dr. Andrea Tedeschi Ohio State University Department of Neuroscience Columbus, Ohio, USA 3D capillary network section of the mammalian brain (dentate gyrus of the hippocampus) Confocal, Deconvolution 10X (Objective Lens Magnification) IoD Priscilla Vieto Bonilla & Brandon Antonio Segura Torres Universidad Nacional del Comahue Department of Biological Sciences San Carlos de Bariloche, Río Negro, Argentina One-week-old Axolotl after hatching Image Stacking, Stereomicroscopy 25X (Objective Lens Magnification) IoD Cagri Yalcin Impressions Microscopiques Amsterdam, Noord Holland, Netherlands Crystals of malonic acid dissolved in ethanol Polarized Light 4X (Objective Lens Magnification) IoD Zhao Zengchao Gaush Meditech Ltd. Hefei, Anhui Province, China Bristle of a millipede (Polyxenidae) Image Stacking 50X (Objective Lens Magnification) IoD Dr. Tong Zhang Northwestern University Biological Imaging Facility Evanston, Illinois, USA Lily (Lilium) anther cross section with pollen Confocal 20X (Objective Lens Magnification) IoD Dr. Tong Zhang Northwestern University Biological Imaging Facility Evanston, Illinois, USA Lily (Lilium) anther cross section with pollen Confocal 20X (Objective Lens Magnification) About Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition The Nikon Small World Competition is open to anyone with an interest in photography or video. In 2024, the competition will celebrate its 50th anniversary. Ahead of the celebration, participants may upload digital images and videos directly at . For additional information, contact Nikon Small World, Nikon Instruments Inc., 1300 Walt Whitman Road, Melville, NY 11747, USA, or phone (631) 547-8569. Entry forms for Nikon's 2024 Small World and Small World in Motion Competitions are available at About Nikon Instruments Inc. Nikon Instruments Inc. is the US microscopy arm of Nikon Healthcare, a world leader in the development and manufacture of optical and digital imaging technology for biomedical applications. For more information, visit or contact us at 1-800-52-NIKON. 1 Global Prevalence of Diabetic Retinopathy and Projection of Burden through 2045: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis Teo Z.L., Tham Y.-C., Yu M., Chee M.L., Rim T.H., Cheung N., Bikbov M.M., (...), Cheng C.-Y. (2021) Ophthalmology, 128 (11) , pp. 1580-1591. SOURCE Nikon Instruments Inc.

A study published Monday in Nature Climate Change showed that climate change is making more than half of hundreds of known infectious diseases worse. These include diseases such as malaria, hantavirus and cholera. The researchers, from the University of Hawaii and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, ran a systematic search for examples of the impacts of 10 climatic hazards sensitive to greenhouse gas emissions on each known human pathogenic disease. They found that 58%, or 218 out of 375 infectious diseases that affect people globally have been at some point aggravated by climate hazards - flooding, heat waves and drought. Of those, 16% had their impact lessened. The researchers identified and mapped 1,006 unique pathways where climatic hazards, “via different transmission types, led to pathogenic diseases.” “If the climate is changing, the risk of these diseases is changing,” Jonathan Patz, M.D. MPH., co-author and director of the Global Health Institute at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, wrote in the study. He added that physicians need to think of these diseases as symptoms of a sick Earth. Dr. Carlos del Rio, M.D., an Emory University infectious disease researcher who was not part of the study, told AP News, “The findings of this study are terrifying and illustrate well the enormous consequences of climate change on human pathogens. Those of us in infectious diseases and microbiology need to make climate change one of our priorities, and we need to all work together to prevent what will be without doubt a catastrophe as a result of climate change.” Effects Not Limited to Infectious Diseases The research team didn’t limit their study to infectious diseases. They also looked at illnesses such as asthma, allergies and animal bites. They identified 286 unique illnesses, of which 223 appeared to be made worse by climate hazards, nine decreased by climate hazards and 54 were both aggravated and minimized. Camilo Mora, Ph.D., a climate data analyst at the University of Hawaii, said the study doesn’t predict future cases. “There is no speculation here whatsoever. These are things that have already happened.” One example is a case that occurred in Siberia in 2016. A reindeer that had died from anthrax decades earlier and been frozen in permafrost, thawed. A child touched it, caught anthrax and started an outbreak. The researchers discovered 3,213 empirical case examples in which climatic hazards were implicated in pathogenic diseases. They were associated with 286 unique pathogenic diseases. These included anaphylaxis, black fly bites, conjunctivitis, Diptera, enterobiasis, insect bites, swimmer’s itch, trichinellosis, Anthrax, Bacillus cereus food poisoning, chlamydia, cholera, leprosy, Lyme disease, plague, Queensland Tick Typus, Q fever and many others. Jessica Leibler, DrPH, ScM, an environmental epidemiologist at the Boston University School of Public Health who wasn’t involved in the study, told NBC News that 58% “seems like a really high number, but it reflects the reality that infectious diseases are driven by what’s going on in our environment. Climate drives habitat change and disruption around the world. That also brings humans into contact with animal species in ways that we were not in contact with them historically or haven’t been in the recent past. Our recent pandemic is an example to the extent that the leading hypothesis is that bats might have played a role.” Animal-to-Human Transmission Increased Animals that commonly spread infectious diseases to humans include mosquitos, snakes, birds and rodents. One example, Mora noted, is voles, which use snow cover for winter habitat. But as snowpacks decrease, the small rodents seek shelter in homes, where he said they have been documented to transmit hantavirus. Increased environmental temperatures have also increased the range of many animals and insects, such as ticks, fleas and mosquitoes, which carry West Nile virus, Zika and dengue fever. A study published in Nature in April noted there were about 10,000 viruses with the potential to infect humans, and most are “circulating silently in wild mammals.” Climate change and shifts in land-use patterns increase the possibility of cross-species viral transmission as animals that rarely had contact with people have increased contact. The authors wrote, “Whereas most studies agree that climate change mitigation through reducing greenhouse gas emissions will prevent extinctions and minimize harmful ecosystem impacts, our results suggest that mitigation alone cannot reduce the likelihood of climate-driven viral sharing. Instead, the mildest scenarios for global warming appear likely to produce at least as much or even more cross-species viral transmission.” They project the possibility of more than 4,000 viruses that could be shared between different species that have never met. And that the sharing could be one virus or all of their viruses, “So when we’re saying 4,000, what we mean is there are going to be 4,000 pairs of species sharing viruses for the first time, and that could be 4,000 cross-species transmission,” Colin J. Carlson, Ph.D., an assistant professor of biology at Georgetown University and one of the co-authors of the April Nature study, said. “It could be 400,000. We just don’t know.” Dr. Aaron Bernstein, M.D., MPH, interim director of the Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, added, “It’s not entirely surprising that as habitats shrink and the climate warms, you see greater chances for animals to bump into each other - especially animals that have not historically been in contact with each other- and that creates interfaces where pathogens can move from one species to another. What it means for us is that we have to really think hard about how we approach emerging infections like COVID-19. And part of that has to take seriously the need to prevent spillover rather than trying to play catch-up.”