The gut microbiota is the microbial community that occupies the gastrointestinal tract. It is responsible for producing enzymes, metabolites, and other molecules crucial for host metabolism and in response to the environment. Consequently, a balanced gut microbiota is important for mammalian health in many ways, such as helping to regulate the immune and endocrine systems. This in turn, impacts the physiology of tissues throughout the body. However, little was known about the impact of the gut microbiota on host reproduction, ...

The health benefits of exercise are well known but new research shows that the body’s response to exercise is more complex and far-reaching than previously thought. In a study on rats, a team of scientists from across the United States has found that physical activity causes many cellular and molecular changes in all 19 of the organs they studied in the animals. Exercise lowers the risk of many diseases, but scientists still don’t fully understand how exercise changes the body on a molecular level. Most studies have focused on a single organ, sex, or time point, and only include one or two data types.  To take a more comprehensive ...

Philadelphia, May 1, 2024 – Researchers from Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) have identified a causal genetic variant strongly associated with childhood obesity. The study provides new insight into the importance of the hypothalamus of the brain and its role in common childhood obesity and the target gene may serve as a druggable target for future therapeutic interventions. The findings were published today in the journal Cell Genomics. Both environmental and genetic factors play critical roles in the increasing incidence of childhood ...

BURLNGTON, Vt.—For the past eight years, researchers have been conducting a groundbreaking study supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Common Fund: The Molecular Transducers of Physical Activity Consortium (MoTrPAC). With nearly 2,600 volunteers, the study aims to examine the molecular effects of exercise on healthy adults and children, considering factors like age, race, and gender. The goal is to create comprehensive molecular maps of these changes and uncover why physical activity has significant health benefits. “This ...

About The Study: This cross-sectional study uses National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data to examine differences in cardiovascular health metrics at the intersection of race, ethnicity, and sexual identity.  Authors: Nicole Rosendale, M.D., of the University of California San Francisco, is the corresponding author.  To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/  (doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.9053) Editor’s Note: Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, conflict of interest and financial ...

About The Study: Higher intake of plant foods after prostate cancer diagnosis was associated with lower risk of cancer progression, this study suggests.  Authors: Stacey A. Kenfield, Sc.D., of the University of California, San Francisco, is the corresponding author.  To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/  (doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.9053) Editor’s Note: Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, conflict of interest and financial disclosures, and funding and support. #  #  # Embed this ...

NEW YORK, NY — The brain can direct the immune system to an unexpected degree, capable of detecting, ramping up and tamping down inflammation, shows a new study in mice from researchers at Columbia's Zuckerman Institute. "The brain is the center of our thoughts, emotions, memories and feelings," said Hao Jin, PhD, a co-first author of the study published online today in Nature. "Thanks to great advances in circuit tracking and single-cell technology, we now know the brain does far more than that. It is monitoring the function of every system in the body." Future ...

A University of Queensland researcher has found molecular doorways that could be used to help deliver drugs into the brain to treat neurological disorders. Dr Rosemary Cater from UQ’s Institute for Molecular Bioscience led a team which discovered that an essential nutrient called choline is transported into the brain by a protein called FLVCR2. “Choline is a vitamin-like nutrient that is essential for many important functions in the body, particularly for brain development,” Dr Cater said. “We need to consume 400-500 mg of choline ...

DALLAS, May 1, 2024 — Each year, approximately 800,000 people in the U.S. have a stroke.[1] Six local stroke heroes from across the country are being recognized by the American Stroke Association, a division of the American Heart Association, for their resiliency and dedication in the fight against stroke. The American Stroke Association’s annual Stroke Hero Awards honors stroke survivors, health care professionals, advocates and caregivers. During May, American Stroke Month, the Association, ...

During sleep, the brain weakens the new connections between neurons that had been forged while awake – but only during the first half of a night’s sleep, according to a new study in fish by UCL scientists. The researchers say their findings, published in Nature, provide insight into the role of sleep, but still leave an open question around what function the latter half of a night’s sleep serves. The researchers say the study supports the Synaptic Homeostasis Hypothesis, a key theory on the purpose of sleep which proposes that sleeping acts as a reset for the brain. Lead author Professor Jason Rihel (UCL Cell & Developmental Biology) said: “When we are awake, ...

DALLAS (SMU) – An SMU-led research team has found that ancient rocks and fossils from long-extinct marine reptiles in Angola clearly show a key part of Earth’s past – the splitting of South America and Africa and the subsequent formation of the South Atlantic Ocean.  With their easily visualized “jigsaw-puzzle fit,” it has long been known that the western coast of Africa and the eastern coast of South America once nestled together in the supercontinent Gondwana — which broke off from the larger landmass of Pangea.  The research team says the southern coast of Angola, where they dug up the samples, arguably provides the most complete ...

Better than expected life expectancy in two disadvantaged areas in England is probably due to population change according to local residents and professionals. In the UK, people from the most disadvantaged areas can expect to die nine years earlier compared with people from the least disadvantaged areas while people in the north of England have lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and worse health and wellbeing compared with national averages. The study, funded by the NIHR School for Public Health Research, was a collaboration between Lancaster University, ...

An international collaborative research team, including scientists from UQ’s Queensland Brain Institute (QBI), has discovered a novel mechanism underlying memory involving rapid changes in a specific DNA structure.   The team found that G-quadraplex DNA (G4-DNA) accumulates in neurons and dynamically controls the activation and repression of genes underlying long-term memory formation.   In addition, using advanced CRISPR-based gene editing technology, the team revealed the causal mechanism underlying the regulation ...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the STEMM Opportunity Alliance (SOA) announced STEMM Equity and Excellence 2050: A National Strategy for Progress and Prosperity at the 2024 White House Summit on STEMM Equity and Excellence, co-hosted by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). The overarching goal of the national strategy is to help 20 million people from historically excluded and marginalized communities enter, contribute to, and thrive in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Medical (STEMM) fields. SOA ...

Washington, D.C.—Scientists have discovered that calcium plays a significant role in enhancing the resistance of potato plants to bacterial wilt. This disease causes worldwide losses of potatoes costing $19 billion per year. The findings open up new avenues for integrated disease management strategies, including the potential for calcium amendments to soil as a part of a comprehensive approach to controlling bacterial wilt in potatoes. The study is published in Applied and Environmental Microbiology, a journal of the American Society for Microbiology. Ralstonia solanacearum species complex (RSSC) is a phytopathogenic bacterial group that causes bacterial wilt in ...

Social media. The climate crisis. Political polarization. The tumult of a pandemic and online learning. Teens today are dealing with unprecedented stressors, and over the past decade their mental health has been in sustained decline. Levels of anxiety and depression rose after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Compounding the problem is a shortage of mental health providers — for every 100,000 children in the U.S., there are only 14 child and adolescent psychiatrists. In response to this crisis, University of Washington researchers studied whether virtual reality might help reduce stress ...

Bethesda, MD (May 1, 2024) — The American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) has announced the 2024 recipients of its annual recognition prizes, given in honor of outstanding contributions and achievements in gastroenterology.  "AGA is delighted to present the recipients chosen for the 2024 AGA Recognition Prizes. We extend our gratitude to all the nominators for their submission of nomination letters, and to the diligent selection committee members for their work in identifying these exceptional individuals from ...

NAIROBI, KENYA [May 1, 2024] — Local and global experts are meeting in Nairobi, Kenya to update clinical practice guidelines as part of ongoing work with Allied Against Cancer—a collaboration between the National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®), African Cancer Coalition (ACC), American Cancer Society (ACS), and Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI). The meeting brings together subject matter experts to update NCCN Harmonized Guidelines™ for Sub-Saharan Africa, featuring updates for treating cancer in people with HIV and other important ...

Scientists are harnessing cells to make new types of materials that can grow, repair themselves and even respond to their environment. These solid “engineered living materials” are made by embedding cells in an inanimate matrix that’s formed in a desired shape. Now, researchers report in ACS Central Science that they have 3D printed a bioink containing plant cells that were then genetically modified, producing programmable materials. Applications could someday include biomanufacturing and sustainable construction. Recently, researchers have been developing engineered living materials, primarily relying on bacterial ...

Weekly targets, annual resolutions, five-year plans—all of them so troublingly elusive. With best intentions, most of us fail to stick with the goals we set. Next time, consider pursuing them with a friend. New field research by Assistant Professor Rachel Gershon, published in Management Science, suggests that pursuing our goals with friends may make them more attainable. Gershon, along with Cynthia Cryder of Washington University and Katy Milkman of the University of Pennsylvania, ...

For ages now, plants have been the primary source of nutrition for animals and mankind. Additionally, plants are used for the extraction of various medicinal and therapeutic compounds. However, their indiscriminate use, along with the rising demand for food, underscores the need for novel plant breeding practices. Advances in plant biotechnology can address the problems associated with food scarcity in the future by enabling the production of genetically modified (GM) plants with higher productivity and resilience to the changing climate.  Naturally, plants can regenerate an entire new plant from a single ‘totipotent’ cell (a cell that ...

ATLANTA, May 1, 2024 — The American Cancer Society (ACS) today released a first-of-its-kind Cancer Facts & Figures for Asian American, Native Hawaiian, & Other Pacific Islander People, 2024-2026. This report shows that despite limited disaggregated data, there is wide variation in the cancer burden among ethnic groups that make up this fast-growing population. Cancer is the second-leading cause of death in the United States nationally but ranks first in Chinese, Filipino, Korean, and Vietnamese individuals, with lung cancer the leading cause of death in men of every Asian American, Native ...

SPOKANE, Wash. – Despite ChatGPT’s reported ability to pass medical exams, new research indicates it would be unwise to rely on it for some health assessments, such as whether a patient with chest pain needs to be hospitalized.   In a study involving thousands of simulated cases of patients with chest pain, ChatGPT provided inconsistent conclusions, returning different heart risk assessment levels for the exact same patient data. The generative AI system also failed to match the traditional ...

PULLMAN, Wash. -- A new computer model uses a better artificial intelligence process to measure snow and water availability more accurately across vast distances in the West, information that could someday be used to better predict water availability for farmers and others. Publishing in the Proceedings of the AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence, the interdisciplinary group of Washington State University researchers predict water availability from areas in the West where snow amounts aren’t being physically measured. Comparing ...

A simple blood test could allow doctors to determine whether a person may be at higher risk for stroke or cognitive decline during their lifetime, according to a new UCLA Health study.  The study, published in the journal Stroke, found that measuring concentrations of a network of inflammatory molecules in the blood could allow doctors to calculate a risk score for susceptibility for cerebral small vessel disease – a common cause of stroke and a contributor to cognitive decline found especially among the elderly.   Currently, the only way to determine a person’s risk for cerebral vascular diseases has been ...