Digestion is the mechanical and chemical breaking down of food into smaller components, to a form that can be absorbed, for instance, into a blood stream. Digestion is a form of catabolism; a break-down of macro food molecules to smaller ones.
The pancreas secretes around a cup of digestive juices per day—a mixture of molecules capable of breaking down the food people consume.
Scientists at Scripps Research and the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research have discovered a special type of cell that resides in salivary glands and is likely crucial for oral health.
In recent years, proteomics research using mass spectrometry to comprehensively investigate the protein components of biological samples has become very popular.
A recent study proves that antibiotic use in the first week of birth is associated with a reduction in the number of healthy bacteria required to digest milk.
QUT PhD researcher Lauren Ashwood has studied sea anemones' venom makeup extensively, in particular, Telmatactis stephensoni a reef-based sea anemone that can grow from 8 to 10 cm.
Researchers predicted that there would be approximately 20,000 protein-coding genes when the human genome sequence was revealed two decades ago.
A team of researchers from the Universitat de Barcelona (UB) discovered a mechanism associated with the movement of cholesterol within cells.
A new scientific review, published in Nutrients, highlights coffee's effects on digestion and the gut, and its impact on organs involved in digestion.
Researchers at the RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science (CSRS) in Japan have recently created a healthier form of starch in the cassava plant. Published in the scientific journal Plant Molecular Biology, the study shows how reducing levels of starch branching enzymes (SBEs) in cassava plants changes the composition of tapioca starch, making it more resistant to digestion and healthier for us to eat.
Researchers from EMBL Hamburg and the Centre for Structural Systems Biology (CSSB) identified the molecular structure of a gut protein that aids the absorption of various drugs. This finding can help produce drugs that reach target tissues more effectively.
We spoke to Professor Ermias Kebreab about his latest research into methane emissions and how, by feeding cows seaweed, we could potentially reduce them.
The bacteria living in the intestine consist of some 500 to 1000 different species. They make up what is known as the intestinal flora, which plays a key role in digestion and prevents infections.
Nagoya University researchers and colleagues have improved understanding of the molecular mechanisms of a key protein that makes the stomach acidic. Their findings, published in the journal Nature Communications, could lead to better drugs for stomach ulcers and shed light on the functions of similar proteins across the human body.
Researchers have isolated unique immune cells in the cauliflower coral and starlet sea anemone that can help fight infection.
In a randomized control study of 10 healthy young men, researchers compared how consuming the single amino acid leucine or its two-molecule equivalent, dileucine, influenced muscle-building and breakdown.
The BRCA1 protein known widely for its role in hereditary breast cancer is also a vital part of the cellular system repairing double-stranded DNA breaks.
The expected decline in the number of landfills across the United States coupled with bans on disposing large amounts of organic waste in landfills that have been enacted in multiple states has prompted researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to examine other ways to grapple with the issue of food waste disposal.
Researchers discovered that bacteria present in cow’s rumen could digest materials like plastic, which is especially tough to break down.
The NIDCR has funded the creation of the Human Salivary Proteome Wiki, the first public platform that organizes information on each of the proteins found in human saliva.
Researchers revealed a predicted causative role for certain cell types in type 1 diabetes by examining its genetic foundations.