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Key Proteins in Human Breast Milk Crucial for Baby’s Healthy Gut

The abundance of two species of bacteria known to be good for human health and used as probiotics, Clostridium butyricum and Parabacteroides distasonis, has been linked to high concentrations of key proteins in human breast milk, particularly osteopontin and κ-casein.

13 Sep 2023

Newly Discovered Fungus Helps Destroy a Harmful Food Toxin

Patulin is a harmful mycotoxin produced by fungi typically found in damaged fruits, including apples, pears, and grapes.

1 Sep 2023

Caecilians Pass Microbes to Their Young Through Skin-Feeding

Caecilians are an elusive type of amphibian that primarily live underground and look like a cross between a worm and a snake. One of the few things that is known about caecilians is their unique method for feeding their young.

25 Jul 2023

Dad’s Genes “Remote Control” Mom’s Metabolism to Benefit Fetus

The unborn baby “remote controls” its mother’s metabolism, resulting in a nutritional tug-of-war between the two. The mother’s body requires the baby to survive, but she also needs enough glucose and fats in her system to be able to deliver the baby, breastfeed, and reproduce again.

12 Jul 2023

Mapping Immune Microenvironments in Human Placenta

Until recently, scientific evidence on the ability of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID, to replicate in the human placenta has been inconclusive.

10 Jul 2023

Cells with “Jumping Genes” Self-Destruct in the Early Stages of Development

A previously unknown type of cell that self-destructs within days of forming as part of a quality control procedure to protect the growing fetus has been found by researchers studying gene activity data of the early human embryo.

21 Jun 2023

Scientists Discover New Embryonic Cell Type that Self-Destructs to Protect the Developing Embryo

Scientists studying gene activity data of the early human embryo have discovered an overlooked type of cell which self-destructs within days of forming, as part of a quality control process to protect the developing foetus.

21 Jun 2023

Researchers Use the Bionanoprobe to Explore Role of Zinc in Follicle Development

The discovery that zinc is involved in the fertilization process earlier than initially thought was made with the help of the Bionanoprobe, a cutting-edge instrument at Argonne.

18 May 2023

Zinc Biofortification in Microgreens Could Help to Mitigate Global Malnutrition

When the seeds of plants such as pea and sunflower are biofortified with zinc, the seedlings they quickly produce -; harvested as microgreens -; could both help to mitigate global malnutrition and boost the odds of people surviving a catastrophe.

5 May 2023

Maternal vaginal microbiome does not substantially influence the infant stool microbiome

It has been a longstanding assumption that birth mode and associated exposure of newborns to their mothers' vaginal microbiome during delivery greatly affects the development of babies' gut microbiome.

31 Mar 2023

Beneficial microbes in the infant gut use nitrogen from human milk to support pediatric development

A University of Massachusetts Amherst nutrition scientist who has spent his career studying breast milk has demonstrated how beneficial microbes in the gut of infants use nitrogen from human milk to support pediatric nutrition and development.

28 Mar 2023

Keeping lymph nodes in the body can boost the efficacy of cancer immunotherapy

Cancer treatment routinely involves taking out lymph nodes near the tumor in case they contain metastatic cancer cells.

21 Mar 2023

Study shows mothers provide necessary microbes to babies born via cesarean

Can newborns delivered by cesarean surgery lack vital microbes? Recent data suggests that “no” could be the answer. Mothers are able to transmit bacteria to their babies through alternative, compensating channels, according to research published in the journal Cell Host & Microbe on March 8th, 2023.

10 Mar 2023

New model simplifies the understanding of vascular malformations

Our bodies are made up of 60,000 miles of complex pipes that play a vital role in transporting nutrients throughout our bodies, performing waste disposal, and supplying our organs with fresh oxygen and blood.

27 Feb 2023

Study sheds light on unique processes that bestow naked mole-rats’ with eternal fertility

Unlike humans and other mammals, which become less fertile with age, naked mole-rats can reproduce throughout their remarkably long lifespans.

22 Feb 2023

Baby kangaroo feces may offer a solution to reduce methane emissions from cattle

Baby kangaroo feces might help provide an unlikely solution to the environmental problem of cow-produced methane.

15 Feb 2023

U.S. people show interest in using genetic technologies to improve offspring education

An article published today in the journal Science indicates that a substantial proportion of Americans are willing to use an essentially unregulated reproductive genetic technology to increase the chances of having a baby who is someday admitted to a top-100 ranked college.

10 Feb 2023

Analyzing the evolution of model organisms

A model organism used in laboratories for the past 100 years has evolved so extensively that it may no longer be fit for purpose.

8 Feb 2023

Newly discovered genetic mutation may be a root cause of severe cases of childhood glaucoma

An international team of scientists led by Mass Eye and Ear, a member of Mass General Brigham, and Boston Children's Hospital, has discovered a new genetic mutation that may be a root cause of severe cases of childhood glaucoma, a devastating condition that runs in families and can rob children of their vision by 3 years of age.

30 Jan 2023

Key genes driving cleft lip and palate identified

A research group headed by the University of Iowa recognized three genes that, when deleted, produce cleft lip or palate, a facial abnormality that affects around one in every 1,600 babies in the United States, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

13 Jan 2023