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Category: food – Page 12

Study identifies gut sensor that propels intestines to move

After every meal, the intestines perform an action called peristalsis—moving food through their hollow interiors with coordinated contractions and relaxations of the smooth muscle.

For more than a century, scientists have known that nerve cells in the gut propel the colon to move, allowing the organ to perform its life-sustaining function. But exactly how these intestinal nerve cells do their job has remained elusive.

Now a new study led by researchers at Harvard Medical School and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai has identified the mechanism behind this phenomenon, showing that the gut’s motility is altered by exercise, pressure, and inflammation.

Active compounds in Piper longum fruits show potential for functional foods and medicine

Mature or nearly mature fruits of Piper longum are used as a spice, valued for their commercial and industrial applications, as well as in traditional Chinese medicine for their multiple effects, such as dispelling cold and relieving pain.

Given their long history of medicinal use, the fruits of P. longum present an opportunity to explore their therapeutic constituents. However, the chemical components of traditional Chinese medicines are often complex, making the efficient discovery of novel active compounds a challenging task in natural product research.

To address this challenge, a research team led by Prof. Haji Akber Aisa from the Xinjiang Technical Institute of Physics & Chemistry of the Chinese Academy of Sciences isolated 12 dimeric amide alkaloid enantiomers with anti-inflammatory and antidiabetic effects from P. longum fruits using a molecular network-based dereplication strategy. This study was published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

Bill Gates signs deal with Indian province to boost agri, health

The provincial government of Andhra Pradesh (AP) in India has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Gates Foundation to advance the use of technology in various sectors, including healthcare, agriculture, and education. The agreement was discussed in a meeting between AP Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and Bill Gates, the Foundation’s chair. Naidu reiterated his administration’s dedication to utilizing innovative technology to propel the state’s development.

The MoU focuses on applying technology in ways that will benefit the public, emphasizing affordable and scalable solutions across essential sectors such as healthcare, medical technology, education, and agriculture. According to Naidu, the collaboration will harness the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance predictive health analytics and automate diagnostic processes. In the agricultural sector, AI-based platforms for expert guidance and satellite technology will be employed to optimize farming practices and resource management through precision agriculture techniques.

“This MoU formalises a strategic collaboration in which the Gates Foundation will provide support to implementation partners, co-identified with the AP government, for targeted interventions within state-driven programmes,” Naidu said.

US Military Wants to Grow Biological Structures in Space

Want to restore the planet’s ecosystems and see your impact in monthly videos? The first 200 people to join Planet Wild with my code SABINE23 will get the first month for free at https://planetwild.com/r/sabinehossen…

If you want to get to know them better first, check out their latest mission, where they go on to Kenya to find a more peaceful solution for the coexistence of lions and farms. https://planetwild.com/r/sabinehossen…

Last month, DARPA published a call for proposals on how to “grow” massive biological structures in space. It’s not as crazy as it sounds: The space race is heating up outside of the weird space biology sector. Some startups are building self-assembling space habitats, others are working on spaceports, and the ISS’s successor is in development. Let’s take a look.

The DARPA Call: https://sam.gov/opp/426e5868fcf74dd4a…

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Microbial micronutrient sharing, gut redox balance and keystone taxa as a basis for a new perspective to solutions targeting health from the gut

The first couple of months of life is a critical window for microbiome development. Several factors, such as mode of delivery, diet, environment, and the use of antibiotics, shape a child’s gut microbiota, which can have a profound impact on childhood development and lifelong health. For example, recent studies suggest that infants whose microbiome development is disrupted via cesarean section delivery, early antibiotic use, limited breastfeeding, or other factors are at greater risk for asthma and allergies, respiratory infections, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), type 1 diabetes, and obesity. Citation 14, Citation 15 The assembly of the infant microbiome is first determined by maternal – infant exchanges of microbiota. Citation 16 Therefore, optimizing the maternal microbiome during pregnancy is likely part of a comprehensive approach to protect and promote the fetus’s health and provide the newborn with a specific microbial inoculum at birth. Citation 14, Citation 17 After birth, maternal breast milk promotes the colonization and maturation of the infant’s gut microbiome. Human milk contains a high concentration of indigestible glycans, known as HMOs which can act as growth substrates for beneficial Bifidobacteria to support the early founder strains of the infant microbiome. Citation 18, Citation 19 In addition, HMOs extert several microbiome-independent mechanism such as serving as decoy receptors to effectively block the attachment of pathogenic bacteria and directly interacting with various receptors. Citation 20 The infant microbiome evolves and diversifies further throughout life in response to whether an infant is breastfed, or formula-fed and which type of formula is used. The weaning period (i.e. the introduction of solid food at around 4–12 months) represents another important window of opportunity to positively impact the development of the microbiome as the bacterial community needs to adapt to digest dietary fibers. Studies linking low gut microbial diversity and the lack of specific bacteria to atopic dermatitis emphasize the first 18 month as a critical window period. Citation 21 Complete gut colonization then occurs within approximately 3 years of life and plays an essential role in further digestion, immunity and neuroendocrine pathway development. Citation 22, Citation 23 In cases where antibiotic treatment is necessary, biotic supplements (i.e. pre, pro, syn or postbiotics) have been shown to lessen the deleterious impact of antibiotics on the infant gut microbiome. Citation 24, Citation 25

In healthy adults, the gut microbiome is fully developed and designed to maintain overall balance while promoting its own survival against environmental stressors, with microorganisms engaging in complex interactions. Recent high-resolution studies examining microbiome composition before, during, and after antibiotic use at the individual gene x strain level demonstrate the remarkable adaptability or ‘fitness’ of gut microbial ecosystems. Citation 26, Citation 27 A healthy and fully functional ecosystem primarily aims to preserve its balance, with ecological diversification playing a crucial role in shaping the genetic structure of resident populations to defend against competition and external disruptors and stressors. Citation 27, Citation 28 Thus, intestinal bacterial ecosystems seem to carry an inherent ecological resilience helping to protect both, themselves and as a consequence their host’s health. This resilience seems to be driven by two main factors: a more diverse microbiome appears generally better at preserving its own balance; Citation 29, Citation 30 and 2) a highly collaborative and interdependent nature of microbial communities seems to play a key role in ecological resilience. In a healthy state, different species work together in a balanced and mutually beneficial way through mechanisms like crossfeeding of various microbial nutrients beyond SCFAs and other forms of metabolic cooperation to stabilize bacterial communities under varying environmental conditions. Citation 31 Understanding these mechanisms across all life stages, from infancy to adulthood to old age, while accounting for the variability in adult microbiome profiles shaped by factors such as genetics, diet, lifestyle, and environmental exposures Citation 32–35 will likely enable the design of better-tolerated and more precise interventions. These interventions could holistically target the functionality of microbiome networks rather than focusing solely on individual species or strains and, thus, allow to tap into the endogenous biochemical pathways that act to maintain bacterial homeostasis.

The large diversity of the adult microbiome, however, presents a notable challenge. A previous comprehensive investigation involving over 1,000 healthy individuals from diverse ancestral backgrounds living in shared environments provided interesting insights. It showed that genetic ancestry has minimal influence on gut microbiome composition. Instead, notable similarities were found in the microbiomes of unrelated individuals sharing the same household with over 20% of the differences in microbiome composition between individuals attributed to factors such as habitual diet, medication use, and anthropometric measurements. Citation 36 This is supported by findings from controlled-feeding studies in humans Citation 35 Citation 37 For example, microbiome composition changed detectably within 24 h of initiating a high-fat/low-fiber vs. a low-fat/high-fiber diet Citation 37 despite entrotype stability.

Tesla Automation Could Create Wealth Beyond Imagination

Elon Musk envisions a future where automation and AI could transform society by creating abundance and new job opportunities, while also posing challenges such as job displacement, wealth concentration, and the need for innovative solutions like universal basic income ## Questions to inspire discussion ## Income Opportunities in the Age of Abundance.

🤖 Q: How can I profit from owning assets in an abundant future? A: Rent out assets like bots, cars, and homes as a major income source, creating new job opportunities in asset management and maintenance.

🎨 Q: What industries will thrive in a post-scarcity world? A: Bespoke industries like Etsy will flourish as people seek custom-made products from human artisans, creating new job opportunities for unique, high-quality craftsmanship. ## Lifestyle Changes and Affordability.

💰 Q: How will abundance affect the cost of living? A: Middle-class living becomes possible on **$20,000/year instead of **$100,000/year, reducing costs of energy, transportation, homes, groceries, and making luxuries more accessible.

✈️ Q: Will travel become more affordable in an abundant future? A: Vacation land and travel become more accessible as abundance reduces costs of travel and accommodations, creating new job opportunities in the travel industry. ## Entertainment and Sports.

🏆 Q: How will abundance impact professional sports and gaming? A: Professional athletes and gamers will gain popularity and lucrative opportunities as more people afford tickets and subscriptions, creating new job opportunities in competitive fields. ## Economic Considerations.

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Novel IVF method mimics fallopian tube environment, increasing sperm viability

The success of in vitro fertilization depends on many factors, one of which is sperm viability. A recent study from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign documents a new way to select viable sperm and prolong their viability in the laboratory, reducing one source of variability during the process. The work is published in the journal Scientific Reports.

“The in women, or the oviduct, has an ability to lengthen sperm lifespan that, until now, we couldn’t recreate in IVF. In 2020, we discovered that complex sugars called glycans are the components of the oviduct that can bind and store sperm and keep them alive,” said senior study author David Miller, professor in the Department of Animal Sciences, part of the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at Illinois.

Miller’s group collaborated with chemists to test hundreds of oviduct glycans for their ability to bind pig sperm, settling on one called sulfated Lewis X trisaccharide, or suLeX, for further testing. They focused on pig sperm not only as a proof of concept for future human studies, but also because animal agriculture relies on IVF, too. In pig IVF, multiple sperm often fertilize single eggs, resulting in inviable embryos. The hope with using glycans was that fewer free-swimming sperm would approach and fertilize eggs simultaneously.

Lowering bioenergetic age may help fend off Alzheimer’s

The researchers turned to a group of molecules called acylcarnitines, which are associated with declining cognition and breaking down or metabolizing fats and proteins for energy. To test if high acylcarnitine levels in the blood could predict who’s at risk of developing Alzheimer’s, the researchers used data from a large-scale study called the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative.

“It was fascinating,” the author said. “Dividing research participants into groups based on their specific acylcarnitine levels highlighted people with more severe Alzheimer’s disease and others with fewer symptoms.” This led the researchers to define a bioenergetic clock based on acylcarnitines—how old a person’s metabolism acts, compared to actual age. Higher bioenergetic age is linked to higher acylcarnitine levels, worsened Alzheimer’s pathology, cognitive decline and brain atrophy.

The researchers also quantified cognitive decline using a common test called the mini-mental state examination, on which a score below 24 out of 30 points indicates impairment. They found that people with low acylcarnitine levels to begin with declined more slowly, losing about 0.5 points less per year than people with high acylcarnitine levels. The benefit is on par with the Alzheimer’s drug lecanemab.

To some degree, a person’s bioenergetic clock ticks forward at a rate determined by their genetics, but having a healthy lifestyle—for example, eating a plant-based diet and exercising —can help keep acylcarnitine levels low, which means a younger bioenergetic age, the author explained.

They went on to identify a subgroup of participants, about 30% of the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative, with older bioenergetic age but favorable genetic background. These individuals may benefit more from early lifestyle interventions designed to decrease their bioenergetic age and potentially delay or prevent the onset of Alzheimer’s.

Moving forward, the senior author hopes to home in on the lifestyle interventions most effective for lowering bioenergetic age. For example, eating a low-carb diet may help maintain metabolic health, but just how low would carbohydrate consumption have to be for a person to see benefits?

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Scientists witness living plant cells generate cellulose and form cell walls for the first time

In a groundbreaking study on the synthesis of cellulose—a major constituent of all plant cell walls—a team of Rutgers University-New Brunswick researchers have captured images of the microscopic process of cell-wall building continuously over 24 hours with living plant cells, providing critical insights that may lead to the development of more robust plants for increased food and lower-cost biofuels production.

The discovery, published in the journal Science Advances, reveals a never seen before and may provide practical applications for everyday products derived from plants, including enhanced textiles, biofuels, biodegradable plastics, and new medical products.

The research is also expected to contribute to the fundamental knowledge while providing a new understanding of the formation of cell walls, the scientists said.