He explains that the FDA already requires developers of GM CROPS to compare a handful of key nutritional compounds in GM varieties relative to their non-GM parents.
and the chemistry methods can't yet be used in official safety assessments Hoekenga acknowledges. Making statistical comparisons of metabolic fingerprints is no easy task.
since e-cigarette vapor doesn't contain the chemicals found in tobacco smoke. But we don't know a lot about the safety of these products
heating these flavorings could create new chemicals and byproducts. We don't know how safe it is to breathe second hand vapor.
The report appears in ACS'Journal of Agricultural & Food Chemistry. Andrew P. Neilson and colleagues explain that cocoa the basic ingredient of chocolate is one of the most flavanol-rich foods around.
Cocoa has several different kinds of these compounds so Neilson's team decided to tease them apart
They found that adding one particular set of these compounds known as oligomeric procyanidins (PCS) to the food made the biggest difference in keeping the mice's weight down
The above story is provided based on materials by American Chemical Society. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
While the oil-and protein-rich legume is seen as a cash crop in the developed world it remains a valuable sustenance crop in developing nations.
and other chemicals and help farmers in developing nations feed their families and build more secure livelihoods said plant geneticist Rajeev Varshney of the International Crops Research Institute for Semiarid Tropics in India who serves on the IPGI.
The sequences provide researchers access to 96 percent of all peanut genes in their genomic context providing the molecular map needed to more quickly breed drought-and disease-resistant lower-input and higher-yielding
Apart from being a rich source of oil (44 percent to 55 percent) protein (20 percent to 50 percent)
and carbohydrates (10 percent to 20 percent) peanut seeds are an important nutritional source of niacin folate calcium phosphorus magnesium zinc iron riboflavin thiamine and Vitamin e.
Methane fuels life in pristine chalk riversscientists from Queen Mary University of London have found that naturally high concentrations of the greenhouse gas methane contributes to energy production in chalk rivers in a new study
's School of Biological and Chemical sciences. The researchers analysed the methane concentration in over 30 rivers in Southern England including the River Lambourn in Berkshire.
which contributes to more than a third of greenhouse gas emissions. For example fine sediments washed into rivers from farmland used to grow crops are known to be sources of methane gas.
Professor Trimmer added: We used to think energy from the breakdown of chemicals was only substantial in dark places where photosynthesis is impossible like deep oceans.
Our findings require us to rethink what we know about chemosynthetic production. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Queen Mary University of London.
Amazonian grasses sometimes called macrophytes convert atmospheric carbon to plant biomass which is processed then by aquatic microorganisms upon decomposition.
when water levels are low sequestering some carbon and then die when the floods arrive releasing the carbon into the aquatic system said Thiago Silva an assistant professor of geography at SãO Paulo State university in Rio Claro Brazil.
They are followed by aquatic grasses that need to grow extremely fast to surpass the rising floods
Although most of the macrophyte carbon is released back to the atmosphere in the same form that it is assimilated carbon dioxide some of it is exported actually to the ocean as dissolved carbon
or released to the atmosphere as methane a gas that has a warming potential 20 times larger than carbon dioxide said John Melack a professor at the University of California Santa barbara. Researchers will measure plant growth
and gas exchange and use photographs from the field and satellites. Two other Amazon resources--fisheries and forests--are important to the livelihood of the people of the region.
In a comprehensive analysis of soil collected from 11 distinct U s. regions from Hawaii to northern Alaska researchers found that the extent to which deforestation disturbs underground microbial communities that regulate the loss of carbon into the atmosphere depends almost exclusively on the texture of the soil.
A serious consequence of deforestation is extensive loss of carbon from the soil a process regulated by subterranean microbial diversity.
According to the researchers particles in fine clay-like soil seem to have a larger surface area to bind nutrients and water.
In contrast sandy soils have larger particles with less surface area retaining fewer nutrients and less organic matter.
This has the potential to inform land management practices concerned with the conservation of biodiversity and the sequestration of carbon in the soil.
New therapies possibleresearchers at Mcmaster University have discovered a key molecule that could lead to new therapies for people with celiac disease an often painful and currently untreatable autoimmune disorder.
which is a main source of protein intake in the western diet. Researchers in the Farncombe Family Digestive Health Research Institute at Mcmaster University have discovered that a molecule elafin
which is present in the intestine of healthy individuals is decreased significantly in patients with celiac disease.
In studies with mice the researchers found that the administration of the elafin molecule protects the intestinal lining of the upper gut that is damaged by gluten.
and to maintain carbon storage capacity the new study shows that sustainable management of wood resources can achieve both goals while also reducing fossil fuel burning.
Reductions in fossil fuel consumption and carbon emissions from construction will become increasingly critical as demand for new buildings bridges
Comparison with ground-based measurements from carbon flux towers and yield statistics confirmed the results.
The study confirms that even with coarse resolution the satellite method could estimate the photosynthetic activity occurring inside plants at the molecular level for areas with relatively homogenous vegetation like the Corn belt.
That's where missions with better resolution could help such as NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2--a mission planned for launch in July 2014 that will also measure solar-induced fluorescence.
and other human influences in the agricultural areas we're not going to correctly estimate the amount of carbon taken up by vegetation particularly corn Joiner said.
Rice scientists mixed very low concentrations of diamond particles (about 6 nanometers in diameter) with mineral oil to test the nanofluid's thermal conductivity
They found it to be much better than nanofluids that contain higher amounts of oxide nitride or carbide ceramics metals semiconductors carbon nanotubes and other composite materials.
The Rice results appeared this month in the American Chemical Society journal Applied materials and Interfaces.
at Viakable Technology and Research center in Monterrey Mexico and a research collaborator at Carbon Sponge Solutions in Houston.
They use sub-100 nanometer particles in low-enough concentrations that they don't limit flow
and diamond molecules collide when heated. Brownian motion and nanoparticle/fluid interactions play an important role Taha-Tijerina said.
's Benjamin M. and Mary Greenwood Anderson Professor in Mechanical engineering and Materials Science and of chemistry.
dairy consumptiongreenhouse gas emissions from food production may threaten the UN climate target of limiting global warming to 2 degrees Celsius according to research at Chalmers University of Technology Sweden.
and lamb will account for half of all agricultural greenhouse gas emissions while only contributing 3 percent of human calorie intake.
Harvard university researchers Fabien Paulot and Daniel Jacob used computer models including a NASA model of chemical reactions in the atmosphere to better represent how ammonia interacts in the atmosphere to form harmful particulate matter.
In the air ammonia mixes with other emissions to form microscopic airborne particles or particulates. The particulates that pose the greatest health risk are those that measure no more than 2. 5 micrometers across or about 1/30 the width of a human hair
As such the particles are on the list of six common air pollutants regulated by EPA's National Ambient Air Quality Standards.
Next they used the NASA GEOS-Chem model of atmospheric composition to simulate the complex chemistry that converts agricultural emissions--in this case ammonia--into fine particulate matter.
To study this concept researchers evaluated the association between dietary intake of fruits and vegetables in young adults and the presence of coronary artery calcification (CAC) 20 years later.
Fruits and vegetables are packed with vitamins minerals fiber antioxidants and other things that are known to promote good health.
MABS target proteins found on the surface of West Nile virus . However this antibody was not to be able to accumulate at high levels in the brain.
and a protein expression system to make and harvest the proteins in the leaves. For the study MABS were produced rapidly in tobacco plants in as little as ten days giving promise to change the image of scourged product that causes lung cancer into a manufacturing system for societal benefits against infectious diseases.
It is our hope that these results may usher in new age of cost-effective MABS therapeutics against WNV
of lipid accumulation in the liver. Despite its great promise when researchers planted the original strain of resistant-starch rice in Okinawa the yield per hectare was about half that achieved in mainland Japan.
and Chemical sciences commented: Our results challenge the common misconception that goats aren't intelligent animals--they have the ability to learn complex tasks
Agrilife Research scientists say that the mixture of phenolic compounds present in the peach extract are responsible for the inhibition of metastasis according to the study
because it shows in vivo the effect that natural compounds in this case the phenolic compounds in peach have against breast cancer
In general peach fruit has chemical compounds that are responsible for killing cancer cells while not affecting normal cells as we reported previously
and now we are seeing that this mixture of compounds can inhibit metastasis said Cisneros-Zevallos.
and compounds in different types of cancer as well as in diabetes studies in vitro and in vivo to understand the molecular mechanisms involved.
Dong and his team will build miniature greenhouses that precisely control light intensity humidity temperature carbon dioxide chemicals and even pathogens.
When crops are sprayed with fungicide only a small part of the chemical is absorbed by the plant.
and protein contents increased suggesting a detoxification mechanism. They also increased their feeding activity possibly to compensate for the increase in energy demand the researchers said.
#Bioenergy from sustainable forestry does not meet EU emission reduction criteriathe levels of forest residue bioenergy considered to be sustainable from a forestry perspective may provide considerable reductions in greenhouse gas emissions in European countries.
These criteria are foreseen to require a 60%reduction in greenhouse gas emissions compared to an alternative fossil fuel.
This lag follows from the effect of the harvest residue removals on the carbon balance of forests especially soil (indirect land-use-related emissions.
which molecules could be delivered. To do this they used pig breast tissue. Surprisingly they found that even large molecules such as proteins can be transported through these openings making a wide range of medications deliverable.
Validating the modelfeedback from a proposal submitted to the National institute of health confirmed that the researchers needed to use human breast tissue to prove the feasibility of the pig model.
A variety of compounds show promise in fighting the many types of breast cancer. Perumal points to a natural compound developed by former colleague
and Distinguished Professor Emeritus Chandradhar Dwivedi to prevent skin cancer--as having the potential to prevent breast cancer.
Additional methods are also being used in Perumal's lab to increase the penetration of the compounds through the nipple.
and the carbon isotopes of leaf wax a marker for plant varieties (grasses indicate dry conditions).
and water vapor is the Earth's most important greenhouse gas Russell said. As you start varying the hydrological cycle of Indonesia you almost have to vary the Earth's water vapor concentration.
By looking at how concentrations of chemical elements in the sediment change with depth the researchers can develop a continuous record of how much surface runoff poured into the lake.
carbon isotopes from plant leaf wax. Leaves are covered with a carbon-based wax that protects them from losing too much water to evaporation.
Different plants have different carbon isotopes in their leaf wax. Tropical grasses which are adapted for dryer climates tend to have the C-13 isotope.
Trees which thrive in wetter environs use the C-12 isotope. The ratio of those two isotopes in the sediment cores is an indicator of the relative abundance of grass versus trees.
The cores showed an increase in abundance of grass in the same sediments that showed a decrease in surface runoff.
Taken together the results suggest a dry period strong enough to alter the region's vegetation that was correlated closely with the peak glaciation in the northern hemisphere.
The next step for Russell and his colleagues is to see if this pattern is repeated in multiple glacial cycles.
Austria-wide the Institute for Milk Hygiene Milk Technology and Food Science at the University of Veterinary medicine Vienna offers effective Listeria monitoring and a range of molecular and microbiological examination methods for the food industry.
#Forests crucial to green growththe value of forests and tree-based ecosystems extends far beyond carbon sequestration;
Not only do they store carbon they support biodiversity regulate water flows and reduce soil erosion. Nearly 1. 6 billion people worldwide depend on forests as a source of food medicines timber and fuel.
#UV exposure found to lower folate levels in young womenwomen who are pregnant or trying to fall pregnant and taking a folic acid supplement may be at risk of reducing their folate benefit through sun exposure a new QUT study has warned.
In a paper titled Exposure to solar ultraviolet radiation is associated with decreased folate status in women of childbearing age published in the Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology B:
Biology QUT researchers found UV exposure significantly depleted folate levels. Professor Michael Kimlin and Dr David Borradale from QUT's Aussun Research Lab said the study of 45 young healthy women in Brisbane aged 18 to 47 showed high rates
of sun exposure accounted up to a 20 per cent reduction in folate levels. This is concerning as the benefits of folic acid are well-known with health professionals urging young women to take a folic acid supplement prior to
and during pregnancy Professor Kimlin said. Folate has been found to reduce miscarriage and neural tube defects such as spina bifida in unborn babies.
The NHMRC recommends pregnant women or those planning a pregnancy take 500 micrograms a day.
Professor Kimlin said the study which was the first to investigate the effects of sun exposure on folate levels in women of childbearing age found women who had high levels of sun exposure had folate levels below those recommended for women considering pregnancy.
The women at risk were those who were outside during the most UV intense time of the day between 10am
and the lowest levels of folate whilst not deficient in folate they were on the lower side of normal.
and folate depletion further research including a controlled clinical trial was needed. We are not telling women to stop taking folate supplements
but rather urging women to talk to their doctor about their folate levels and the importance of folate in their diet especially those who are planning a pregnancy Dr Borradale said.
The results of this study reinforce the need for adequate folate levels prior to and during pregnancy.
What is folate and how can I get it? Folic acid is A b vitamin that is very important for pregnant women and those planning a baby.
Folate is found in foods such as green leafy vegetables like spinach citrus fruits legumes whole grains and vegemite.
Folic acid is added also to many foods such as breads flours and pastas. Folic acid can also be taken as a pill.
Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Queensland University of Technology. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
Journal Reference e
#Secret of multiple insecticide resistance in mosquitoesresearchers at LSTM have discovered how unprecedented multiple and extreme-level resistance is generated in mosquitoes found in the rice fields of Tiassalã in southern CÃ'te d'Ivoire.
The paper CYP6 P450 enzymes and ACE-1 duplication produce extreme and multiple insecticide resistance in the malaria mosquito Anopheles gambiae published in PLOS Genetics today highlights the combination of stringently-replicated whole genome transcription
profiling in vivo transgenic gene expression and in vitro metabolism assays to identify and validate genes from the P450 detoxification enzyme superfamily
The red lipid-rich aril a fleshy pulp surrounding the seeds of Clusia is highly attractive to many animals.
and ways to increase carbon sequestration and mitigate climate change said Sonny Ramaswamy director of USDA's National Institute of Food
Earlier studies have found that climate change is projected to reduce maize yields globally by the end of the century under a business as usual scenario for future emissions of greenhouse gases;
Julio Betancourt a USGS paleoecologist and co-author on the study thinks that in the future molecular caving the application of molecular genetics to cave sediments will become more than an afterthought to answer such questions in aridland paleoecology and conservation.
The study published online in the journal Molecular Ecology has important implications for future climate changes.
It was part of the 247th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS.
The above story is provided based on materials by American Chemical Society. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length h
which exploded and released large quantities of radioactive compounds in the Ukraine region of the Soviet union in 1986.
Benefits included increased carbon and nitrogen in soils erosion prevention more mycorrhizal colonization--beneficial soil fungus that helps plants absorb nutrients--and weed suppression.
and soil-carbon benefits accrue slowly over decades she said. By integrating a suite of ecosystem services into a unified analytical framework we highlighted the potential for cover crops to influence a wide array of ecosystem services.
At its peak the fungus destroyed the entire malting barley crop in the Red river and Ohio river Valleys according to molecular biologist Yang Yen an Agricultural Experiment Station researcher and professor at South dakota State university.
Using advanced genetic and molecular technologies Yen has begun tracing the biochemical pathways that make wheat susceptible or resistant to head blight.
Gene expression Yen has undertaken a molecular study of the disease investigating how the fungal infection impacts wheat gene expression.
By looking at how genes were expressed the molecular biologist narrowed the possibilities from thousands of genes to 608 then to 47 and eventually to three.
Resistance to the disease is controlled by the chemical pathways of two growth hormones jasmonate and ethylene Yen explains.
Two of the three genes are involved directly in the chemical pathways Yen explains. How the third one is involved we still do not know
Their findings were unveiled at the 247th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS.
and ferment it producing compounds that are anti-inflammatory. The other bacteria in the gut are associated with inflammation
and can cause gas bloating diarrhea and constipation. These include some Clostridia and some E coli.
When these compounds are absorbed by the body they lessen the inflammation of cardiovascular tissue reducing the long-term risk of stroke said John Finley Ph d. who led the work.
and the large polyphenolic polymers are metabolized to smaller molecules which are absorbed more easily These smaller polymers exhibit anti-inflammatory activity he said.
and help convert polyphenolics in the stomach into anti-inflammatory compounds. When you ingest prebiotics the beneficial gut microbial population increases and outcompetes any undesirable microbes in the gut like those that cause stomach problems he added.
The above story is provided based on materials by American Chemical Society. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length h
#Amazon inhales more carbon than it emits, NASA findsa new NASA-led study seven years in the making has confirmed that natural forests in the Amazon remove more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than they emit
This finding resolves a longstanding debate about a key component of the overall carbon balance of the Amazon basin.
The Amazon's carbon balance is a matter of life and death: living trees take carbon dioxide out of the air as they grow
He found that each year dead Amazonian trees emit an estimated 1. 9 billion tons (1. 7 billion metric tons) of carbon to the atmosphere.
To compare this with Amazon carbon absorption the researchers used censuses of forest growth and different modeling scenarios that accounted for uncertainties.
In every scenario carbon absorption by living trees outweighed emissions from the dead ones indicating that the prevailing effect in natural forests of the Amazon is absorption.
Until now scientists had only been able to estimate the Amazon's carbon balance from limited observations in small forest areas called plots.
On these plots the forest removes more carbon than it emits but the scientific community has been vigorously debating how well the plots represent all the natural processes in the huge Amazon region.
In the years since then he worked with 21 coauthors in five nations to measure the carbon impacts of tree deaths in the Amazon from all natural causes--from large-area blowdowns to single trees that died of old age.
We found that large natural disturbances--the sort not captured by plots--have only a tiny effect on carbon cycling throughout the Amazon said Sassan Saatchi of JPL also a co-author.
However our results show that galaxies'chemical history plays an equally important role commented Dr Cortese.
which have a star formation and chemical history significantly different to the one in our own Milky way.
This report on the color-changing food deterioration tags was presented today as part of the 247th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS.
We successfully synchronized at multiple temperatures the chemical evolution process in the smart tag with microbial growth processes in the milk according to Zhang.
Silver chloride and Vitamin c are also in the tags reacting slowly and controllably. Over time the metallic silver gradually deposits on each gold nanorod forming a silver shell layer.
That changes the particle's chemical composition and shape so the tag color now would be different.
Although the nanorods are made of gold and silver a tag would still be very inexpensive and all the chemicals in the tiny tag cost much less than one cent--$0. 002.
and some of them (such as Vitamin c acetic acid lactic acid and agar) are even edible he explained.
The above story is provided based on materials by American Chemical Society. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
#Reindeer grazing may counteract effects of climate warming on tundra carbon sinklocal reindeer grazing history is an important determinant in the response of an ecosystem's carbon sink to climate warming say researchers at the Arctic
The consequences of global climate warming on ecosystem carbon sink in tundra are of great interest
because carbon that is currently stored in tundra soils may be released to the atmosphere in a warmer climate.
Carbon balances showed that under the current climate lightly grazed dwarf-shrub-dominated tundra were a stronger carbon sink than heavily grazed graminoid-dominated tundra.
However warming decreased the carbon sink in lightly grazed tundra but had no effect in heavily grazed tundra.
The main reason for this grazer-induced difference was that in heavily grazed tundra graminoids with rapid growth rates were able to increase their photosynthesis and carbon fixation under increased temperatures.
Increased carbon fixation in heavily grazed tundra compensated the warming-induced increase in the carbon dioxide release from the ecosystem.
The significance of reindeer grazing history to tundra carbon balances has not been studied previously. The present results may modify climate models that predict the effects of global warming on global carbon cycles.
The study shows that it is critical to know the grazing history before the responses of tundra carbon balances to climate warming can be understood.
and identified the various antioxidant polyphenol compounds. In our antibacterial studies we have been testing honey's activity against E coli Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa among others.*
*This study was presented the 247th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS. Story Source:
The above story is provided based on materials by American Chemical Society (ACS. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length h
1) offer 5-10 healthy food options 2) modify the ingredients of popular items to contain less saturated and trans fats.
Furthermore the regular nacho cheese sauce was replaced with a no trans-fat variety and the popcorn was prepared with canola oil that has saturated less fat
and no trans-fat compared to the coconut oil bars previously used Overall the healthier items accounted for 9. 2%of total sales a clear indication of demand for these items.
Sales of these items did increase from game to game suggesting increasing interest in these foods.
#Big data tackles tiny molecular machinesopen feed cut. Such is the humdrum life of a motor molecule the subject of new research at Rice university that eats
and excretes damaged proteins and turns them into harmless peptides for disposal. The why is obvious:
Without these trash bins the Escherichia coli bacteria they serve would die. And thanks to Rice the how is becoming clearer.
how proteins perform the regulatory mechanisms in cells upon which life depends. The Rice team of biological physicist Josã Onuchic and postdoctoral researchers Biman Jana and Faruck Morcos published a new paper on the work this month for a special issue of the Royal Society
of Chemistry journal Physical chemistry Chemical Physics. The special issue edited by Rice biophysicist Peter Wolynes
The paper describes the Onuchic group's first successful attempt to feed data through their computational technique to describe the complex activity of a large molecular machine formed by proteins.
Structural techniques like X-ray crystallography and nuclear magnetic resonance have worked quite well to help us understand how smaller proteins function Onuchic said.
X-rays only take snapshots of constantly moving proteins he said but functional proteins big protein complexes and molecular machines have multiple conformations.
Computational models are also useful but to understand the full dynamics of these large proteins where a lot of the interesting biology takes place we have to supplement them with more information he said.
That information comes from direct coupling analysis (DCA) a statistical tool developed by Morcos and Onuchic with colleagues at the University of California San diego and the Pierre and Marie Curie University.
DCA looks at the genetic roots of proteins to see how amino acids--the beads in the unfolded protein strands--co-evolved to influence the way a protein folds.
Even after they fold proteins are in perpetual motion acting as catalysts for countless bodily functions.
They can combine into larger molecular machines that grab other molecules walk cargoes within a cell
One such biomachine is Ftsh a membrane-bound molecule in E coli made of six protein copies that form two connected hexagonal rings.
The molecule attracts and degrades misfolded proteins and other cellular detritus pulling them in through one ring which closes like the shutter of a camera and traps the proteins.
They are cut apart as they exit through the other ring. Through molecular simulations using structure-based models
and the discovery via DCA of likely couplings in the genetic source of the proteins the Rice team found evidence to support the hypothesis of a paddling mechanism in the molecule that Morcos described as a collapse of the two rings once trash found its way inside.
First the ring pore closes to grab the protein; then the molecule flattens he said.
Then when the motor is flat the rings open to release the peptides and the molecule expands again to restart the cycle.
Key to the success of DCA is the realization that amino acid mutations represent contacts that co-evolve for specific purposes.
The contact maps created by DCA can reveal previously unknown details to model transitions between functional states like the paddling in Ftsh Onuchic said.
We can look at the evolutionary tree of these proteins and see which pairs of amino acids changed together.
We then assume these are said contacts he. Through DCA Faruck uses a lot of physics to understand
and we had crystallographic data for this motor protein in the 1990s there weren't enough sequences available until the 2000s Morcos said.
He said understanding essential motor proteins in bacteria will be important as researchers begin to apply DCA to advance human health.
Wolynes is the D. R. Bullard-Welch Foundation Professor of Science and a professor of chemistry.
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