Many people turn to artificial or so-called natural sweeteners to cut calories and lose weight. A new study led by Dr. Raylene Reimer, PhD, published in the high-impact journal Gut discovered that the consumption of low-calorie sweeteners while pregnant increased body fat in their offspring and disrupted their gut microbiota - the trillions of bacteria and other microorganisms that inhabit the intestinal tract and affect our health and risk of numerous diseases.
Tiny, symbiotic fungi play an outsized role in helping plants survive stresses like drought and extreme temperatures, which could help feed a planet experiencing climate change, report scientists at Washington State University.
Recently published in the journal Functional Ecology, the discovery by plant-microbe biologist Stephanie Porter and plant pathologist Maren Friesen sheds light on how microbe partners can help sustainably grow a wide variety of crops.
Tiny partners in plant survival
Flow rates and time of year must be taken into account to better understand the potential risks posed by emerging organic contaminants in rivers and streams, according to Penn State researchers who studied contaminant concentrations and flow characteristics at six locations near drinking water intakes in the Susquehanna River basin.
Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are prevalent in people, wildlife and the water in northeastern Tanzania, but it's not antibiotic use alone driving resistance. Instead, researchers at Washington State University found transmission of bacteria in the environment is the most important factor.
These conclusions come from a four-year study led by researchers from WSU's Paul G. Allen School for Global Animal Health. The results of the study were just published in Nature Communications.
Although a link has been established between chronic inflammation and neurodegenerative diseases, there have been many open questions regarding how cellular senescence, a process whereby cells that stop dividing under stress spew out a mix of inflammatory proteins, affects these pathologies.
Drastic ecosystem interventions like eradicating an unwanted species can sometimes backfire, but new University of Queensland-led modelling may help to avoid these ecological hiccups.
Dr Matthew Adams, from UQ's School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, said despite all good intentions, ecological interventions can have devastating consequences.
"It would be great if we could simply assume that eradicating an invasive species from a natural environment is always a good thing," Dr Adams said.
People who cycle to work have a lower risk of dying, a New Zealand study has found.
The study, by researchers from the University of Otago, Wellington, the University of Melbourne and the University of Auckland, has just been published in the International Journal of Epidemiology.
Osaka, Japan - Serine racemase (SRR) is a multifunctional enzyme that carries out several different reactions in human cells, including the conversion of L-serine into pyruvate. Despite already being well characterized, a team of researchers led by Osaka University have discovered an important new role for SRR in cancer metabolism, exposing the metabolic pathway as a viable target for novel anti-cancer therapies.
BOSTON (Jan. 29, 2020, 9:00 a.m. EST)--The typical American adult gets one of every five calories from a restaurant, but eating out is a recipe for meals of poor nutritional quality in most cases, according to a new study by researchers at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University.
According to the World Health Organization, antibiotic resistance is one of the biggest threats to global health. Sensing and treating bacterial infections earlier could help improve patients' recovery, as well curb the spread of antibiotic-resistant microbes. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Central Science have developed color-changing bandages that can sense drug-resistant and drug-sensitive bacteria in wounds and treat them accordingly.