NIEHS Superfund Research Program - Research Brief Podcasts

Killifish living in four polluted East Coast estuaries have adapted quickly to survive high levels of toxic industrial pollutants. In a new study, researchers explored the complex genetics involved in the Atlantic killifish's resilience, bringing us one step closer to understanding how they rapidly evolved to tolerate normally lethal levels of environmental contaminants. Exploring the evolutionary basis for these genetic changes may provide new information about the mechanisms of environmental chemical toxicity in both animals and humans.

Bacteria and other microbes in the intestines prevent liver fibrosis, or scarring, upon chronic liver injury in mice, according to a new study from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). The research, funded in part by the Superfund Research Program (SRP), is the first to show a beneficial role of intestinal microbiota in maintaining liver homeostasis and preventing liver fibrosis resulting from chronic damage to the liver.

A new study has shown that periphyton -- a community of algae, bacteria, and other natural material living on submerged surfaces -- is helping to transform mercury from a Superfund site into methylmercury, a more toxic form. The study, led by Dartmouth College Superfund Research Program (SRP) researchers, also found lower than anticipated levels of methylmercury in small fish located downstream from a former chemical plant, despite elevated levels of methylmercury in sediment, water, and periphyton.