Category Health/Medical

People fed beta-glucan-enriched pasta for 2 months showed increased populations of beneficial bacteria in their intestinal tracts, and reduced populations of non-beneficial bacteria. They also showed reduced LDL (bad) cholesterol. This work is part of a broad effort to identify potential prebiotics – foods that could encourage the growth of health-promoting bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract.

β-glucans are healthy fibers that humans cannot digest, but that can be digested by some species of our gut bacteria. They are special types of sugars that are found in the cell walls of certain microbes, as well as in oats and barley...

This is an image of a cultured neuron with an added BDNF protein. Credit: Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School Singapore

Research has linked the abnormal behavior of 2 genes (BDNF and DTNBP1) to the underlying cause of schizophrenia. These findings have provided a new target for schizophrenia treatment. “In particular, we wanted to understand the ability of a specific type of …interneurons, to modulate brain network activity to maintain a balance in brain signalling.” said Assistant Professor Shawn Je, from the Neuroscience and Behavioural Disorders Programme at Duke-NUS.

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This is a 3-D printed nerve regeneration pathway implanted in a rat helped to improve walking in 10 to 12 weeks after implantation. Credit: University of Minnesota College of Science and Engineering

Scientists have developed a 1st-of-its-kind, 3D printed guide that helps regrow both the sensory and motor functions of complex nerves after injury. The groundbreaking research has potential to help more than 200,000 people annually who experience nerve injuries or disease.

Nerve regeneration is a complex process. Because of this complexity, regrowth of nerves after injury or disease is very rare. Nerve damage is often permanent. Advanced 3D printing methods may now be the solution...

Why do some people get so sick and even die after being infected by the foodborne pathogen E. coli O157:H7, while others experience much milder symptoms and recover relatively quickly.

Over the course of a 4-year study, researchers co-cultured the pathogenic E. coli O157:H7 serotype with a nonpathogenic strain of the bacteria and inoculated mice. These mice got much sicker than mice that were infected with the pathogenic strain alone.

“Within our intestines, each of us carries 3several hundred different types of bacteria, including E. coli, and E. coli comes in a large number of varieties” he said. “This research suggests that some strains of harmless E. coli in our intestines can interact with pathogenic E...