Biochemistry

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Wrap-and-plant method effective in reducing post-harvest loss of yam crops

Wrapping yam seeds in biodegradable paper made from a mixture of unusable parts of banana plants and recycled cardboard boxes sharply increased yam size and yields in field tests conducted in Benin, Africa.

22 Feb 2023

Non-nutritive sweeteners do not increase blood glucose and other endocrine responses, study shows

New research conducted by a team of scientists at the University of Toronto has shown that non-nutritive sweeteners (NNS) do not increase blood glucose and other endocrine responses.

22 Feb 2023

Probiotic application shown to promote health and growth of piglets

This study is led by Prof. Heping Zhang (Inner Mongolia Key Laboratory of Dairy Biotechnology and Engineering, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University).

20 Feb 2023

Location is the key for psychedelic drugs to work

Location, location, location is the key for psychedelic drugs that could treat mental illness by rapidly rebuilding connections between nerve cells.

17 Feb 2023

Scientists unravel the secrets of polydopamine coatings

Dopamine is best known as a neurotransmitter. What is rather unknown, however, the underwater glue used by mussels contains large amounts of L-Dopa molecules, an analog of dopamine.

17 Feb 2023

Betalain-tomatoes confer anti-inflammatory effects against macrophages and murine colitis

Metabolic engineering is a field of plant biotechnology that seeks to genetically modify plant metabolic pathways to generate plant varieties with improved health benefits.

17 Feb 2023

Beef, pork, chicken, and other meats contain new antioxidants, analysis reveals

Imidazole dipeptides (IDPs), which are abundant in meat and fish, are substances produced in the bodies of various animals, including humans, and have been reported to be effective in relieving fatigue and preventing dementia.

17 Feb 2023

Substituting meat for mycoprotein reduces intestinal genotoxins, increases healthy gut bacteria

Researchers from Northumbria University have found that swapping red and processed meat for Quorn's mycoprotein, a fungi-based meat alternative, leads to a significant reduction in intestinal genotoxins - which can cause bowel cancer - and increases healthy gut bacteria.

17 Feb 2023

Reimagining FDA-approved drugs for spinocerebellar ataxia type 5

A team of researchers has developed a new method to screen FDA-approved drugs to determine if they could be repurposed or improved to help patients with a rare, debilitating disease of the nervous system.

17 Feb 2023

Adding antioxidants to cell cultures for efficient production of antibodies

Researchers at the Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, India, have investigated the effects of oxidative stress on the production of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), and how antioxidants can alleviate this stress to improve their performance.

16 Feb 2023

PFAS chemical helps suppress the neutrophil respiratory burst, study finds

In a new study, researchers found that the PFAS chemical GenX suppresses the neutrophil respiratory burst – the method white blood cells known as neutrophils use to kill invading pathogens.

16 Feb 2023

New approach to better target cellular proteins

By studying how enzymes move from one membrane compartment to another inside a cell, scientists at the University of Illinois Chicago have figured out a way to better target cellular proteins, which play a role in many diseases.

16 Feb 2023

Baby kangaroo feces may offer a solution to reduce methane emissions from cattle

Baby kangaroo feces might help provide an unlikely solution to the environmental problem of cow-produced methane.

15 Feb 2023

Pungent ginger constituent puts white blood cells on heightened alert

Ginger has a reputation for stimulating the immune system. New results from the Leibniz Institute for Food Systems Biology at the Technical University of Munich (Leibniz-LSB@TUM) now support this thesis.

15 Feb 2023

New method triggers and analyzes the dynamics of brain protein linked to Alzheimer’s

Scientists are not yet clear on how the tau protein changes from a benign protein essential for normal function in our brains into the toxic neurofibrillary tangles that are a signature of Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases.

15 Feb 2023

UChicago scientists shed light on the longstanding puzzle of RNA methylation

University of Chicago scientists have discovered a new wrinkle in our understanding of how our genes work.

14 Feb 2023

Extracts from two common wild plants block SARS-CoV-2 from entering human cells

Two common wild plants contain extracts that inhibit the ability of the virus that causes COVID-19 to infect living cells, an Emory University study finds.

13 Feb 2023

New method maps spontaneous formation of protein-rich droplets

Terahertz spectroscopy maps spontaneous formation of protein-rich droplets that may lead to neurodegenerative diseases.

13 Feb 2023

Two-step screening of aroma compounds reveals a novel and effective modulator of dendritic cells

Dendritic cells (DCs) are important players of the immune system with important functions such as the identification of infectious pathogens, production of cytokines (chemical signalers of the immune system), presentation of antigens to activate T-cells, and more.

13 Feb 2023

New route to understanding the origins of life

A team of scientists from France and Austria has discovered a new abiotic pathway for the formation of peptide chains from amino acids - a key chemical step in the origin of life.

13 Feb 2023