Researchers discovered potentially far-reaching effects of a particular gut bacterium that was linked to better growth in Bangladeshi children receiving a therapeutic food designed to nurture healthy gut microbes. A strain of the bacterium harbored in the children's gut microbial communities possessed a previously unknown gene capable of producing and metabolizing key molecules involved in regulating many important functions ranging from appetite, immune responses, neuronal function, and the ability of pathogenic bacteria to produce disease.
Read more …Beneficial gut microbe has surprising metabolic capabilities
Young people today are growing up in a social media-saturated world where technology plays a central role in shaping most of their experiences. And the rapid rise of social media use has consequently created parental and societal fears about young people's social and psychological well-being. Now, a team of researchers has used real social media data to show that young people may indeed be more sensitive to social media feedback (likes) than adults, and that this directly impacts their engagement and their mood.
Read more …Young people's moods directly affected by social media 'likes'
The innate immune system is the body's first line of defence against pathogens like bacteria or viruses. TRIM25 is a protein that is important in the innate immune response against RNA viruses, such as influenza viruses, coronaviruses, or Zika virus. New research has shown how TRIM25 binds to viral RNA and why this binding is essential for its antiviral activity.
Read more …The cellular superhero that protects us against RNA viruses