gut

The unique gut microbiome found within a tiny plastics-munching worm could potentially be harnessed to successfully break down problematic materials on a large scale.Zophobas atratus worms – more accurately, the larvae of the darkling beetle – are popular insect snacks in many countries where they are often bred and sold for pet reptile food. But while they're known as superworms for their protein-rich nutritional value, their true superpower may be found in the makeup of their gut bacteria. In this new study, Nanyang…

CLIMATEWIRE | Former President Donald Trump’s second term could begin with a clear direction on climate policy: Trash it.Dozens of conservative organizations have banded together to provide Trump a road map — known as Project 2025 — if he prevails in November. It outlines a series of steps that the former president could take to reverse the climate actions taken by the Biden administration.Trump has already said that boosting fossil fuels would be one of his top priorities. A proposed executive order in Project 2025…

Researchers connecting pieces of the massive Alzheimer's puzzle are closer to slotting the next one in place, with yet another link between our guts and brain.Recent animal studies have demonstrated Alzheimer's can be passed on to young mice through a transfer of gut microbes, confirming a link between the digestive system and the health of the brain.A new study adds further support to the theory that inflammation could be the mechanism through which this occurs."We showed people with Alzheimer's disease have more gut…

An MIT biotech researcher has been able to run the iconic computer game Doom using actual gut bacteria. Lauren Ramlan didn’t get the game going on a digital simulation of bacteria, but turned actual bacteria into pixels to display the 30-year-old FPS, as reported by Rock Paper Shotgun.Specifically, Ramlan created a display inside of a cell wall made entirely of E. coli bacteria. The 32x48 1-bit display may not win any resolution awards, but who cares, right? It’s Doom running on bacteria. The researcher dosed the bacteria…

We may have an adequate understanding of the human body in that, well, we invented aspirin and sequenced the genome, but researchers still find out new things about the humble homo sapien all of the time. Case in point? Scientists hanging out in the human gut and mouth. The researchers are calling these virus-like structures “obelisks”, due to their presumed microscopic shape.These entities replicate like viruses, but are much smaller and simpler. Due to the minuscule size, they fall into the “viroid” class, which are…

By University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center January 30, 2024A new study revealed that incorporating navy beans into the diet of colorectal cancer survivors can significantly improve gut microbiome health, emphasizing the potential role of diet in cancer treatment and prevention.Integrating navy beans into the diet enhances the diversity of the gut microbiome, which could aid in cancer prevention and treatment.Eating navy beans may benefit colorectal cancer survivors by improving gut health and influencing factors…

Photo: NextEra Energy Republicans have vowed to tear apart the Inflation Reduction Act, but the chief executive of NextEra Energy, the US’s largest renewable developer, says that’s “unlikely” if they win the election. The US’s largest renewable developer on the IRA The Biden administration’s landmark climate change law, the Inflation Reduction Act, has created a US clean energy manufacturing boom, thanks to the generous tax credits and other incentives. The Republican Party says…

Phylogenetic trees of detected gut bacteria. The tree indicates phylogenetic relationships of 4,616 bacterial species. Credit: Nishimura et al., 2024, PLOS ONE, CC-BY 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) DNA from ancient feces can offer archaeologists new clues about the life and health of Japanese people who lived thousands of years ago, according to a study published in PLOS ONE by Luca Nishimura and Ituro Inoue from…

Antibiotic resistance is causing us all sorts of havoc. It's turning once manageable pathogens into superbugs, hitting our most vulnerable people the hardest.Superbugs were involved with nearly 5 million deaths globally in 2019, so antibiotic resistance is generally not something we at all want to promote in the slightest.But while it's boosting our bacterial nemeses, resistance factors mean our good bacteria are becoming more resistant to antibiotics as well.A new study has found antibiotic resistance genes is also…

Researchers have chanced upon a bacteria naturally present in the gut of mosquitoes that inhibits the growth of a parasite that causes the deadliest form of malaria. Unlikely to produce resistance, the bacteria could be easily introduced in the field to complement existing malaria eradication strategies.The mosquito-borne disease malaria is caused by five protozoan parasites, with Plasmodium falciparum being the deadliest among them, and the most prevalent on the African continent. Unlike its protozoan relatives, P.…