Food and Agricultural Sciences News and Research

Latest Food and Agricultural Sciences News and Research

Konstanz biologists win Ursula M. Händel Animal Welfare Prize

Marcel Leist, Professor of In-Vitro Toxicology and Biomedicine at the University of Konstanz, and Thomas Hartung, Professor of Environmental Health Sciences at the University of Konstanz and Doerenkamp-Zbinden Chair of Evidence-Based Toxicology at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, have been awarded the Ursula M. Händel Animal Welfare Prize 2020 of the German Research Foundation.

3 Aug 2020

How economic fallout due to COVID-19 puts global food security at risk

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has forced nations worldwide to implement unprecedented social measures to stem the rapid spread of the virus.

31 Jul 2020

High-resolution imaging reveals how phages can attack and kill bacterial superbugs

A research collaboration involving Monash University has made an exciting discovery that may eventually lead to targeted treatments to combat drug-resistant bacterial infections, one of the greatest threats to global health.

31 Jul 2020

New and unique class of carbohydrate receptors discovered

Exopolysaccharides (EPS) are surface-exposed carbohydrates that surround and protect bacteria and are involved in biofilm formation, cell-to-cell interactions, immune evasion, and pathogenesis.

31 Jul 2020

Coastal urbanization increases contamination in seafood

The first landmark study using next-generation technology to comprehensively examine contaminants in oysters in Myanmar reveals alarming findings: the widespread presence of human bacterial pathogens and human-derived microdebris materials, including plastics, kerosene, paint, talc and milk supplement powders.

31 Jul 2020

Researchers set the path for next generation of biodiversity forecasts

Biodiversity's ongoing global decline has prompted policies to protect and restore habitats to minimize animal and plant extinctions.

30 Jul 2020

New initiative launched to tackle climate change and global poverty

With a founding $25 million gifts from King Philanthropies, MIT's Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) is launching a new initiative to solve problems at the nexus of climate change and global poverty.

30 Jul 2020

Grotesque side effects from unproven stem cell therapies more common than thought

Grotesque side effects from unproven 'stem cell' therapies are more common than we realized, reports a team of researchers led by UConn Health in Annals of Neurology on July 29.

30 Jul 2020

Phthalate exposure associated with sleep disruptions in midlife women

For menopausal women who have difficulty sleeping, it might be because of chemicals in the environment.

30 Jul 2020

Commercial pesticides can help improve crop safety

Researchers have revealed that commercial pesticides can be applied to crops in the Cucurbitaceae family to decrease their accumulation of hydrophobic pollutants, thereby improving crop safety.

29 Jul 2020

CBT helps food allergic children with severe phobia of anaphylaxis

Imagine a young girl with a peanut allergy, so stricken by fear of anaphylaxis that she no longer takes part in everyday activities many children take for granted.

29 Jul 2020

Diversity of soil microbial communities helps regulate climate change

Scientists have reported that changes in the diversity of soil microbial communities can alter the ability of the soil to sequester carbon.

29 Jul 2020

Study shows seafood labels can help people make informed choices

According to a study, companies looking to market seafood products produced from the cells of shellfish or fish must use the word “cell-based” on their labels.

From Rutgers University 29 Jul 2020

Movement of small RNAs underlies mobile RNA interference

Biologists have known for some time that RNA interference can silence genes in far-off cells. They suspected that a messenger substance “transmits” RNA interference.

29 Jul 2020

Scientists map the genome of aphid-like pest that decimates vineyards

Following a decade-long effort, scientists have mapped out the genome of an aphid-like pest capable of decimating vineyards. In so doing, they have discovered how it spreads -- and potentially how to stop it.

29 Jul 2020

Biologists identify a molecular mechanism that underlies phenotypic plasticity

Evolutionary and developmental biologist Craig Albertson and colleagues at the University of Massachusetts Amherst report that they have identified a molecular mechanism that allows an organism to change the way it looks depending on the environment it is exposed to, a process known as phenotypic plasticity.

29 Jul 2020

Human genome may explain the neonatal origins of immune and inflammatory diseases

A study published in the journal Nature Communications has pinpointed a number of areas of the human genome that may help explain the neonatal origins of chronic immune and inflammatory diseases of later life, including type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and coeliac disease.

29 Jul 2020