Category Health/Medical

This image shows the impact of saturated fatty acids on the liver, muscles and fatty tissue. Credit: © DDZ

The global proliferation of overweight and obese people and people with type 2 diabetes is often associated with the consumption of saturated fats. Scientists at the German Diabetes Center and the Helmholtz Center in Munich (HMGU) have found that even the one-off consumption of a greater amount of palm oil reduces the body’s sensitivity to insulin and causes increased fat deposits as well as changes in the energy metabolism of the liver. The results of the study provide information on the earliest changes in the metabolism of the liver that in the long term lead to fatty liver disease in overweight persons as well as in those with type 2 diabetes.

DZD researchers working at the Germa...

High-protein paternal diet confers an advantage to sons in sperm competition. Biology Letters, 2017; 13 (2): 20160914 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2016.0914

New research involving Monash University biologists has debunked the view that males just pass on genetic material and not much else to their offspring. Instead, it found a father’s diet can affect their son’s ability to out-compete a rival’s sperm after mating. The study sought to understand if the nutritional history of fathers had an effect on their sons. Experiments were carried out in the fruit fly, which shares many similar pathways and characteristics with human genes.

Dr Susanne Zajitschek from the School of Biological Sciences, said the study highlighted the importance of the paternal environment on future generations, even a long time b...

African Acacia Vachellia drepanolobium tree houses Tetraponera ant colonies inside hollow domatia. Formicamycins, antibacterial polyketides produced by Streptomyces formicae isolated from the plant-ants can combat MRSA

A new antibiotic, produced by bacteria found on a species of African ant, is very potent against antibiotic-resistant ‘superbugs’ like MRSA. Researchers at the University of East Anglia (UEA) and t

he John Innes Centre (JIC) discovered a new member of the Streptomyces bacteria family, isolated from the African fungus-growing plant-ant Tetraponera penzigi. They have named the new species Streptomyces formicae and the antibiotics formicamycins, after the Latin formica, meaning ant.

Lab tests have shown these new antibiotics are effective against methicillin resistant Staphyloc...

1. Schematic model of miR-29 action in brain aging. During aging an accumulation of iron in neurons occurs. This induces expression of miR-29 that in turn represses expression of IRP-2 thereby limiting iron uptake. This mechanism counteracts aging-related damages. MiR-29 may also counteract effects aging-related phenotypes by additional mechanisms, for example modulation of pro-apoptotic BCL-2 family members
2. MiR-29 is up-regulated with age in neurons. a Genomic organization of miR-29 family in N. furzeri.

The older we get, our brain ages. Cognitive abilities decline and the risk of developing neurodegenerative diseases like dementia, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease or having a stroke steadily increases...