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    Category Biology/Biotechnology

    Early-life Exercise alters Gut Microbes, promotes Healthy Brain and Metabolism

    December 30, 2015, Categories  Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology

    Microbes under a microscope. Credit: NIAID

    Microbes under a microscope. Credit: NIAID

    The research indicates that there may be a window of opportunity during early human development to optimize the chances of better lifelong health.
    “Exercise affects many aspects of health, both metabolic and mental, and people are only now starting to look at the plasticity of these gut microbes,” said Prof Monika Fleshner. Microbes take up residence within human intestines shortly after birth and are vital to the development of the immune system and various neural functions. These microbes can add as many 5 million genes to a person’s overall genetic profile and thus have tremendous power to influence aspects of human physiology.

    While this diverse microbial community remains somewhat malleable throughout adult life and can be influenced by envir...

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    Being Anxious Could be Good for You—in a Crisis

    December 29, 2015, Categories  Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology

    Modulation of threat encoding by individual anxiety. (a) Left panel: correlation (Pearson) between state anxiety and the difference of the encoding parameter estimates between THREAT+ and THREAT− conditions in temporal electrodes at 280 ms. Right panel: encoding parameter estimates in temporal electrodes split into high and low anxious individuals for both THREAT+ and THREAT− conditions at 280 ms. T+: THREAT+, T-: THREAT-. (b) Left, correlation (Pearson) between state anxiety and the encoding parameter estimates in motor lateralization signals for THREAT+ condition at 200 ms. Right, encoding parameter estimates in motor lateralization signals split into high and low anxious individuals for both THREAT+ and THREAT− conditions at 200 ms. ***: p<0.001, *p<0.05. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.10274.010 - See more at: http://elifesciences.org/content/4/e10274#sthash.lORur2Lf.dpuf

    Modulation of threat encoding by individual anxiety. (a) Left panel: correlation (Pearson) between state anxiety and the difference of the encoding parameter estimates between THREAT+ and THREAT− conditions in temporal electrodes at 280 ms. Right panel: encoding parameter estimates in temporal electrodes split into high and low anxious individuals for both THREAT+ and THREAT− conditions at 280 ms. T+: THREAT+, T-: THREAT-. (b) Left, correlation (Pearson) between state anxiety and the encoding parameter estimates in motor lateralization signals for THREAT+ condition at 200 ms. Right, encoding parameter estimates in motor lateralization signals split into high and low anxious individuals for both THREAT+ and THREAT− conditions at 200 ms. ***: p<0.001, *p<0.05. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10...

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    Researchers find Evidence of Cavity-Dwelling Microbial Life from 3 billion years ago

    December 29, 2015, Categories  Biology/Biotechnology, Environment/Geology

    Researchers find evidence of cavity-dwelling microbial life from 3 billion years ago

    Raman micro-spectroscopy. A, B: Thin section photomicrographs (left) and corresponding Raman intensity maps (right) of the silicified cavities showing the downward-oriented accretion and the kerogenous composition of the dark laminae. Red colors indicate kerogen-rich areas. C: Representative first-order Raman spectrum of the kerogen with the characteristic disordered peaks for amorphous carbon (D and D’) and the graphite peak (G). Credit: Geology (2016). DOI: 10.1130/G37272.1

    A team of researchers from Germany and Switzerland has found examples of microbial life from >3B yrs ago, that appeared to have evaded UV radiation hiding in subsurface cavities. Scientists believe that life first came to exist on planet Earth ~3...

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    New Study Opens New Door for ALS Drug Discovery

    December 29, 2015, Categories  Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology

    Credit: National Cancer Institute

    Credit: National Cancer Institute

    1st-ever evidence-based description of neuronal protein clumps thought to be important in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) announced today. These clumps are toxic to the type of neurons that die in patients with ALS. This research could be a crucial step toward developing drugs to stop the creation of the clumps and stem the progression of the disease.

    “This study is a big breakthrough because it sheds light on the origin of motor neuron death and could be very important for drug discovery,” Nikolay Dokholyan, PhD. Patients with ALS suffer gradual paralysis and early death as a result of the loss of motor neurons, which are crucial to moving, speaking, swallowing, and breathing.

    The study focuses on a subset of ALS cases – 1 to 2% associated with variat...

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