News by Subject Biology

New findings provide insights about how the intestine maximizes nutrient uptake, while at the same time protecting the body from potentially dangerous microbes.

An international team of researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig and the University of Osnabrück, Germany, have observed wild chimpanzees in the Loango National Park, Gabon, eating tortoises. They describe the first observations of this potentially cultural behavior where chimpanzees hit tortoises against tree trunks until the tortoises' shells break open and then feed on the meat.

Researchers have discovered that humans and great apes possess a receptor on their cells that detects metabolites from bacteria commonly found in fermented foods and triggers movement of immune cells. Claudia Stäubert of the University of Leipzig and colleagues report these findings in a new study published May 23 in PLOS Genetics.

A new study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, published by Elsevier, demonstrated that employees at a large urban hospital who purchased the least healthy food in its cafeteria were more likely to have an unhealthy diet outside of work, be overweight and/or obese, and have risk factors for diabetes and cardiovascular disease, compared to employees who made healthier purchases.

Researchers may be able to improve corn yields and nutritional value after discovering genetic regulators that synthesize starch and protein in the widely eaten grain, according to a Rutgers-led study. The research, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could benefit millions of people who rely on corn for nutrition in South America, Africa and elsewhere.

A new study co-led by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln may explain why some people struggle to expel parasitic worms that infect their intestines. The research suggests that the phenomenon is primarily a numbers game: Large groups of worms can overwhelm the immune system and kick-start a self-perpetuating cycle that nearly guarantees their survival, whereas smaller groups and lone worms cannot.