Diverse natural fatty acids follow 'Golden Mean'
Bioinformatics scientists at Friedrich Schiller University in Jena (Germany) have discovered that the number of theoretically possible fatty acids with the same chain length but different structures...
View ArticleNew way of visualizing fatty acids inside cells
International researchers, including those from Osaka University, developed a new method to image intracellular fatty acids at a single cell level. They treated cells with fatty acids containing a...
View ArticleWant more crop variety? Researchers propose using CRISPR to accelerate plant...
Out of the more than 300,000 plant species in existence, only three species—rice, wheat, and maize—account for most of the plant matter that humans consume, partly because in the history of...
View ArticleNew online tool allows consumers to assess the health benefits and risks of...
FishChoice, a new online tool to help consumers and professionals efficiently and effectively balance the benefits and risks of eating seafood, has been launched by the EU-funded ECsafeSEAFOOD project...
View ArticlePetrol and jet fuel alternatives are produced by yeast cell factories
There have been many attempts to modify this stubborn little enzyme, but none have succeeded. Until now. With new findings from Chalmers University of Technology, the fatty acid synthase (FAS) enzyme...
View ArticleHow to brew high-value fatty acids with brewer's yeast
Short-chain fatty acids are high-value constituents of cosmetics, active pharmaceutical ingredients, antimicrobial substances, aromas or soap. To date, it has only been possible to extract them from...
View ArticleAgriculture, dietary changes, and adaptations in fat metabolism from ancient...
Good vs bad cholesterol. Margarine vs butter. Red meat vs. vegan. The causal links between fats and health have been a hotly debated topic for scientists, physicians and the public.
View ArticleWant to eat fish that's truly good for you? Here are some guidelines to...
Seafood is very healthy to eat – all things considered. Fish and shellfish are an important source of protein, vitamins and minerals, and they are low in saturated fat. But seafood's claim to fame is...
View ArticleMicroalgae have great potential as fish feed ingredient
Commercially produced microalgae could become a sustainable fish feed ingredient, a project from the National Food Institute, Technical University of Denmark, has shown. In the project concepts have...
View ArticleIn roundworms, fats tip the scales of fertility
Proper nutrition can unleash amazing powers, moms have always assured us, frequently citing Popeye the Sailor Man as evidence. Now, two University of Colorado Boulder scientists have confirmed just how...
View ArticleUsing a nickel catalyst with hydrocarbons to make fatty acids
(Phys.org)—A team of researchers with the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology has developed a way to make fatty acids using a nickel catalyst along with hydrocarbons. In their paper published...
View ArticleScientists watch fat metabolism in live fish, observe real-time lipid...
Studying how our bodies metabolize lipids such as fatty acids, triglycerides, and cholesterol can teach us about cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and other health problems, as well as reveal basic...
View ArticleMetal soaps critical in speed of deterioration of oil paintings
An oil painting is not a permanent and unchangeable object, but undergoes a very slow change in the outer and inner structure. Metal soap formation is of great importance. Joen Hermans has managed to...
View ArticleUnveiling the nasty action of trans-fatty acids in blood
Tohoku University researchers have found that trans-fatty acids promote cell death in a more direct manner than previously thought, leading to the development of atherosclerosis, a major cause of heart...
View ArticleModifying cell wall can increase bacterial lipids
If you want to create sustainable biofuels from less and for less, you've got a range of options. And one of those options is to go microbial, enlisting the help of tiny but powerful bacteria in...
View ArticleModern European genes may favor vegetarianism
A Cornell study, published May 26 in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution, describes how shifts in diets in Europeans after the introduction of farming 10,000 years ago led to genetic adaptations...
View Article'Exciting biology' uncovers plants' high-fat diet for fungal benefactors
One of biology's most enduring relationships, credited with helping plants to colonise land more than 400 million years ago, has yielded a fundamental survival secret with implications for agriculture...
View ArticleA new ligand extends the half-life of peptides from minutes to days
EPFL scientists have developed a ligand molecule that connects peptide drugs to blood-serum albumin and keeps them from being cleared out by the kidneys too soon. The ligand is easy to synthesize and...
View ArticleLipid transfer from plants to arbuscular mycorrhiza fungi
Textbooks tell us that in arbuscular mycorrhizal symbioses, the host plant supplies its fungal symbionts solely with sugars, in return for inorganic nutrients. New findings by...
View ArticleBiochemists link synthetic compound to hunger-hormone production
New research suggests that a man-made cousin of a small molecule found in olive oil can disrupt the hunger-signaling pathway. Researchers identified this promising new target by screening a library of...
View ArticleStudy identifies enzyme that protects cells from toxic fat
A new study from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Howard Hughes Medical Institute sheds light on how a key fat-producing enzyme helps protect cells from a toxic form of fat.
View ArticleNew insights into the fuctions of fat metabolism
What happens when the body's fat stores are activated? With the support of the Austrian Science Fund FWF, the biochemist Ruth Birner-Grünberger investigated the complex interaction of activation and...
View ArticleTurning human waste into plastic, nutrients could aid long-distance space travel
Imagine you're on your way to Mars, and you lose a crucial tool during a spacewalk. Not to worry, you'll simply re-enter your spacecraft and use some microorganisms to convert your urine and exhaled...
View ArticleAn algal photoenzyme that uses blue light to convert fatty acids to hydrocarbons
(Phys.org)—A team of researchers affiliated with several institutions in France has discovered an algal photoenzyme that uses blue light to convert fatty acids to hydrocarbons. In their paper published...
View ArticleKey odorants in world's most expensive beef could help explain its allure
Renowned for its soft texture and characteristic flavor, Wagyu beef—often referred to as Kobe beef in the U.S.—has become one of the world's most sought-after meats. Now in a study appearing in the...
View ArticleStiff fibres spun from slime
Nature is an excellent teacher – even for material scientists. Researchers, including scientists at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, have now observed a remarkable mechanism by...
View ArticleHow marine algae could help feed the world
Our planet faces a growing food crisis. According to the United Nations, more than 800 million people are regularly undernourished. By 2050, an additional 2 to 3 billion new guests will join the...
View ArticleNovel histone modifications couple metabolism to gene activity
Scientists of Helmholtz Zentrum München and Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich (LMU) have discovered that two new classes of histone modifications couple cellular metabolism to gene activity. The...
View ArticleStudy finds that fat fuel is needed to reverse cardiac hypertrophy
The metabolic triggers that causes enlarged hearts—a condition known as cardiac hypertrophy—remain elusive, but researchers at Purdue University are getting closer to solving this riddle.
View ArticleTiny red animals dart in the dark under the ice of a frozen Quebec lake
In a frozen lake in Quebec, tiny red creatures zip about under the ice. Guillaume Grosbois and Milla Rautio, researchers at Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, Saguenay, Québec, Canada report the...
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