Nutrients News and Research

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Scientists Discover How Elusive Brain Stem Cells Make Decisions

As the human brain takes shape before birth, a remarkable type of stem cell helps give it many of the features that make it distinctly human.

7 Sep 2026

Macrophages Function as Trash Collectors for Energy-Demanding Tissues

The body's heart muscle (for pumping blood), skeletal muscle (for movement and posture), and brown fat (for heat production), each require a lot of energy and make a lot of waste. And that waste needs to be managed.

7 Sep 2026

Researchers Unlock Key Potassium Channel That Controls Plant Stalk Elongation

Potassium (K) is one of the three essential nutrients for plants. It plays a critical role in a wide range of processes, including cell growth, photosynthesis, and regulation of water balance. Plants take up K from the soil and circulate it throughout their bodies via molecules called K+ channels.

3 Sep 2026

Antarctic Soil Microbes Are Frequently Picking Up Genes for Turning Air Into Energy

Antarctica is one of the driest, coldest places on Earth and long ago its soil microbes were largely dismissed as static or inactive, asleep in the harsh conditions – but new research has revealed that is decidedly not the case.

28 Aug 2026

Study Traces How Animals Tap into a Microbial Energy Reserve Believed to Be Inaccessible

This study reveals widespread enzymatic capabilities in animals to break down microbial storage compounds, impacting our understanding of carbon cycling.

27 Aug 2026

New Research Explains Genetic Theft and Evolution in Parasitic Plants

Many plant species parasitize other plants by latching on and taking the nutrition their host needs to survive.

27 Aug 2026

Research Identifies Essential Energy Sources for Developing Carnivorous Larval Fish

Lipids are essential for fish because they supply energy, support cell structure, and help carry fat-soluble nutrients. This is especially important in carnivorous fish, which use carbohydrates less efficiently than many other animals.

25 Aug 2026

Single-Cell Study Decodes Ancient Plant Partnership With Soil Fungi

Scientists at VIB and Ghent University have produced the first high-resolution, cell-by-cell map of how tomato roots respond to colonization by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi.

19 Aug 2026

Breakthrough Discovery Pinpoints How Brain Immune Cells Respond to Toxic Cellular Waste

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego, and their colleagues have discovered a critical cellular mechanism that causes brain degeneration in both a rare childhood condition and the far more prevalent Alzheimer’s disease.

17 Aug 2026

New Roadmap Fixes Cellular Waste Accumulation to Halt Brain Degeneration

Researchers at University of California San Diego and their colleagues have identified a key cellular pathway that drives brain degeneration in both a rare childhood disorder and the far more common Alzheimer's disease.

13 Aug 2026

Transition From Milk to Solid Food Shapes Immune System Development

The early period of life is a critical phase in which the immune system must learn to tolerate harmless environmental stimuli, such as food and microbes that normally live in and on the body, while remaining vigilant against harmful substances and pathogens.

12 Aug 2026

Living Organisms Depend on Bacterial Production of Critical Vitamin B12

All living organisms need a little bit of it to form red blood cells and DNA, as well as to build and support brain and nerve cells. But it's hard to come by: Humans don't make it. Animals don't make it. Plants don't make it.

7 Aug 2026

Tireless Stem Cells Drive Continuous Renewal Across High Friction Human Intestines

Digestion is hard on the cells that line the human gut, and they are constantly being shed and replaced. This renewal is driven by a population of tireless stem cells. These stem cells can both replace the various types of intestinal cells that have been lost as well as renew themselves.

6 Aug 2026

Macrophages Release Brain Protein Beacon Drawing Nerves Into Breast Tumors

New research from the University of Oklahoma demonstrates how an aggressive form of breast cancer co-opts the body's own immune system to attract nerves that fuel tumor growth.

5 Aug 2026

Research Decodes How Gut Microbes Process Plant-Based Nutrients

Plant-based diets are good for you. They promote gut, immune, metabolic and cardiovascular health, in part by cultivating a diverse community of intestinal bacteria.

28 Jul 2026

Research Maps Structural Mechanism Linking Amino Acid Availability to Cancer Growth

Cells carry their own growth switches. When enough nutrients-amino acids in particular-are available, cells flip this switch on and begin to grow. Researchers at KAIST and Yonsei University have now uncovered the molecular mechanism by which amino acid signals activate this cellular growth switch.

27 Jul 2026