Researchers at Rutgers and other universities found city homes to be rife with industrial chemicals, cleaning agents and fungi that love warm, dark surfaces, while jungle huts had fresher air, more sunlight and natural materials with which humans evolved.
Toxicological Sciences continues to deliver cutting-edge research in toxicology in the November 2019 issue. This issue features research on computational toxicology and databases, developmental and reproductive toxicology, and more.
New information published by scientists at Wake Forest Baptist Health suggests that gut bacteria and its interactions with immune cells and metabolic organs, including fat tissue, play a key role in childhood obesity.
As if you didn’t already have enough to worry about to keep you up at night, a new study indicates that poor sleep can negatively affect your gut microbiome, which can, in turn, lead to additional health issues.
With the increasing rate of multi-drug resistance, it is fundamental to identify new antibiotics. In this study, researchers found the synthesis of the vitamin biotin is integral for the growth of drug-resistant bacteria in human plasma. They were able to treat drug-resistant infections by inhibiting biotin synthesis in an infection mimicking human conditions. By inhibiting biotin synthesis, they have the potential to produce a novel class of antibiotics.
Major burns lead to changes in the gastrointestinal tract bacteria, and these alterations of the gut microbiome are influenced by resuscitation with intravenous (IV) fluids, according to animal studies reported in SHOCK®: Injury, Inflammation, and Sepsis: Laboratory and Clinical Approaches, Official Journal of the Shock Society. The journal is published in the Lippincott portfolio by Wolters Kluwer.
When waves crash in the ocean, they inject tiny particles into the air that carry organic molecules more than 5,000 years old. This discovery, published in Science Advances by a national team of scientists, helps to solve a long-standing mystery as to what happens to ancient marine molecules.
A study in humans and mice demonstrated that a fetus has its own microbiome, or communities of bacteria living in the gut, which are known to play important roles in the immune system and metabolism. Researchers also confirmed that the fetal microbiome is transmitted from the mother. These findings open the door to potential interventions during pregnancy to stimulate the fetal microbiome when a premature birth is expected, to help the baby grow faster and be better equipped to tolerate early life infection risk. The study was published in the journal JCI Insight.
Genetic differences in the immune system shape the collections of bacteria that colonize the digestive system, according to new research by scientists at the University of Chicago.
An international team of scientists lead by the Joint Genome Institute has developed a genetic engineering tool that makes producing and analyzing microbial secondary metabolites – the basis for many important agricultural, industrial, and medical products – much easier than before, and could even lead to breakthroughs in biomanufacturing.
In a media roundtable at 11 a.m. U.S. Central on Tuesday, October 15, leading neuroscientists will summarize key science being presented at the American Neurological Association’s 2019 Annual Meeting (ANA2019). Reporters may attend in person or dial in.
An immune cell that helps set the daily rhythms of the digestive system has been identified by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The findings open the door to new treatments for digestive ailments targeting such cells.
The award is given biennially to a Penn Nursing faculty member or a graduate from the School’s doctoral program who has made a distinguished contribution to nursing through scholarly practice. It honors Norma M. Lang, PhD, the professor and dean emerita of Penn Nursing for her world-renowned contributions to health policy and practice.
Findings showcasing a connection between bacteria in the microbiome and colon cancer, which may be used to screen younger populations at risk, were published in the journal Gastroenterology by researchers from the George Washington University.
Three University of California San Diego researchers have received prestigious awards through the National Institutes of Health (NIH) High-Risk, High-Reward Research Program, including the Pioneer Award, the program’s top honor.
Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have demonstrated a way to isolate and grow targeted bacteria using genomic data, making strides toward resolving the grand challenge of uncultivated microbial “dark matter” in which the vast majority of microorganisms remain unstudied in the laboratory.
Scientists have developed a computer method that may help improve understanding and treatment of Crohn’s disease, which causes inflammation of the digestive tract.
The Rutgers-led study, published in the journal Genome Medicine, used artificial intelligence to examine genetic signatures of Crohn’s in 111 people. The method revealed previously undiscovered genes linked to the disease, and accurately predicted whether thousands of other people had the disease.
When we eat red meat, the animal carbohydrate Neu5Gc is incorporated in our tissues, where it generates inflammation. UC San Diego researchers discovered how gut bacteria enzymes strip our cells of Neu5Gc, introducing the possibility of using the enzymes to reduce the risk of inflammatory diseases.
Scientists at the US Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have demonstrated a method to insert genes into a variety of microorganisms that previously would not accept foreign DNA, with the goal of creating custom microbes to break down plants for bioenergy.
Certain human gut microbes with links to health thrive when fed specific types of ingredients in dietary fibers, according to a new study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The work — conducted in mice colonized with human gut bacteria and using new technologies for measuring nutrient processing — is a step toward developing more nutritious foods based on a strategy of targeted enrichment of key members of gut microbial communities.
New study suggests the gut microbiome has a role in mechanisms related to muscle strength in older adults. Researchers found differences in bacterial profiles of older adults with high and low physical function, bacterial and strength differences in mice colonized with fecal samples from the adults.
George Washington University researchers published a comprehensive list of the types and ratios of microbes that inhabit the healthy human gut in PLOS ONE, supporting growing research in the field.
Mythbuster: The idea that bacterial collaborations within microbiomes, like in the mouth, have evolved to be generous and exclusive very much appears to be wrong. In an extensive experiment, they were possible between random microbes, and members of the same microbiome were stingy with each other.
If a woodrat is in captivity and is eating an artificial diet, that finely tuned gut microbiome changes. In a paper published in the International Society for Microbial Ecology Journal
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced $64 million in funding for 25 university-led genomics research projects on plants and microbes for bioenergy and bioproducts.
You are what you eat — right down to the microbiome living in your gut. Diet can affect which microbes are in the intestinal tract, and research has shown that harmful gut microbiome changes can lead to illnesses such as heart disease, obesity and cancer.
In an extensive “data mining” analysis of British medical records, researchers at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center conclude that taking even a single course of antibiotics might boost—albeit slightly—the risk of developing colon cancer—but not rectal cancer—a decade later. The findings, reported in the August 20 issue of the journal Gut, highlight the need for judicious use of this broad category of drugs, which are frequently improperly or overprescribed, the report authors say.
Scientists have analyzed the genetic repertoire of bacteria in the human mouth and gut
The effort marks the first chapter in efforts to compile a compendium of all genes in the human microbiome
Mapping the microbial genome can reveal links between bacterial genes and disease risk and could inform the development of precision therapies
Analysis reveals staggering person-to-person variation in microbial gene content
Unique microbial genes, specific to each person, have functions distinct from common, or shared, genes
Unique genes may act as a microbe’s evolutionary organ
Researchers have made the data publicly accessible at The Universe of Microbial Genes
The National Microbiome Data Collaborative (NMDC), a new initiative aimed at empowering microbiome research, is gearing up its pilot phase after receiving $10 million from the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science.
The maturation of skin microbial communities during childhood is important for the skin health of children and development of the immune system into adulthood
The vaginal microbiome is believed to protect women against Chlamydia trachomatis, the etiological agent of the most prevalent sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in developed countries.
UT Southwestern researchers have shown that precision editing of the bacterial populations in the gut reduces inflammation-associated colorectal cancer in mice.
A specific class of bacteria from the gut prevents mice from becoming obese, suggesting these same microbes may similarly control weight in people, a new study reports. The beneficial bacteria, called Clostridia, are part of the microbiome — collectively trillions of bacteria and other microorganisms that inhabit the intestine. University of Utah Health investigators led the study which publishes online in the journal Science on July 25.
A research team led by Tufts University engineers has developed a 3D printed pill that samples bacteria found in the gut -- known as the microbiome -- as it passes through the gastrointestinal tract (GI). The ability to profile bacterial species throughout the GI tract could have important implications for the diagnosis and treatment of many diseases.
Greg Caporaso and his team are changing how scientists study microbiomes with a remake of his groundbreaking open-share software program called QIIME 2.
A new type of therapeutic food, specifically designed to repair the gut microbiomes of malnourished children, is superior to standard therapy in an initial clinical trial conducted in Bangladesh.
Published in Nature Microbiology, a new study has investigated the origin and evolution of a virus called crAssphage, which may have coevolved with human lineage.
Extremely premature infants who fail to grow as expected have delayed development of their microbiome, or communities of bacteria and other micro-organisms living in the gut, according to a new study published in Scientific Reports. Analysis of these infants’ metabolism revealed that their bodies are responding as if they were fasting, despite caloric intake similar to extremely premature infants with appropriate growth. The study findings also suggest that the unique makeup of the microbiome in infants with growth failure might contribute to their inability to properly metabolize nutrients.
The males of one species of butterfly are more attracted to females that are active, not necessarily what they look like, according to a recent research conducted at Augustana University.The paper, “Behaviour before beauty: Signal weighting during mate selection in the butterfly Papilio polytes,” found that males of the species noticed the activity levels of potential female mates, not their markings.
Farmers use fertilizer to put nutrients into their soil to help crops grow. When nutrients get into the soil, microbes can help plants grow by changing nutrients into other forms, such as nitrate or ammonium, that plants either use or are leached out of the soil, Strauss said. Other microbes give the soil more nutrients by providing new sources of nitrogen that can also benefit plants.
BOSTON – (June 24, 2019) -- New research has identified a type of bacteria found in the microbiomes of elite athletes that contributes to improved capacity for exercise. These bacteria, members of the genus Veillonella, are not found in the guts of sedentary people. By taking a closer look at the bacteria, the researchers from Joslin Diabetes Center determined Veillonella metabolizes lactic acid produced by exercise and converts it into propionate, a short chain fatty acid.
Long ago, during the European Renaissance, Leonardo da Vinci wrote that we humans “know more about the movement of celestial bodies than about the soil underfoot.” Five hundred years and innumerable technological and scientific advances later, his sentiment still holds true. But that could soon change. A new study in Nature Communications details how an improved method for studying microbes in the soil will help scientists understand both fine-grained details and large-scale cycles of the environment.