Lifeboat Foundation

Cotton is the primary source of natural fiber on Earth, yet only four of 50 known species are suitable for textile production. Computer scientists at DePaul University applied a bioinformatics workflow to reconstruct one of the most complete genomes of a top cotton species, African domesticated Gossypium herbaceum cultivar Wagad. Experts say the results give scientists a more complete picture of how wild cotton was domesticated over time and may help to strengthen and protect the crop for farmers in the U.S., Africa and beyond.

The findings are published in the journal G3 Genes|Genomes|Genetics. Thiru Ramaraj, assistant professor of computer science in DePaul’s Jarvis College of Computing and Digital Media, is lead author on the publication. Leaps in technological advancement in the past decade made it possible for Ramaraj to analyze the genome in his Chicago lab.

“The power of this technology is it allows us to create high-quality genomes that supply a level of detail that simply wasn’t possible before,” says Ramaraj, who specializes in bioinformatics. “This opens up the possibility for more researchers to sequence many crops that are important to the global economy and to feeding the population.”

A Cleveland Clinic research team has published an “atlas” of metabolites associated with cardiovascular disease in the European Heart Journal. The novel findings provide key details about the routes and potential branching paths taken by bacteria and metabolic by-products, metabolites.

The study mapped out the multiple by-products of bacteria-processing amino acids associated with cardiovascular disease and then compared that to patient data to assess disease risk in two large cohorts—one in the US and another in Europe.

Bacteria in and on our bodies produce metabolites through processing certain molecules, referred to as precursors. Precursors can come in components of our diet, like protein, or as other metabolized substances. Probiotics (living organisms) and prebiotics (fiber, starch) have increasingly been introduced in foods or supplements as possible clinical interventions.

Debris field found — the crew perished in a catastrophic implosion. What are the lessons to be learned from this? How does this apply to future space, stratospheric, and oceanic tourism?

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Continue reading “Titan Sub Crushed Crew Lost” »

Making the yogurt of the future requires a cast of 21st-century helpers: machine learning, gut science and even a mysterious artificial stomach.

At a new Danone facility near Paris, researchers feed dollops of yogurt into globular glass vessels and plastic tubes designed to mimic the human gut. Once the bacteria inside show they can survive the digestive juices, artificial intelligence is put to work to probe their potential health benefits.

To consumers bombarded with claims about the supposed power of probiotics, the goal may sound familiar: souped-up yogurt. But the owner of Activia and Actimel is betting technology can yield answers on which friendly bacteria work best and why, giving its products a scientific edge at a time when revenue is lagging and consumers are growing wary of processed food.

Scheele said that most of the dogs are rescues coming from the Atlanta area, which is near the USDA National Detector Dog Training Center.

Before they can be trained, the dogs are tested for temperament and to make sure they can detect five basic scents. Scheele said the detector dogs have to be food-driven animals, which he said (suprisingly) all dogs are not.

“That’s pork, beef, citrus, mango and apple,” Scheele said. “That’s to prove that the dog has the capability to do it and has the temperament to work in an environment like an airport or at a cargo facility, around the darkness or chaos that goes with imported goods or that sort of thing.”

Researchers from the University of California, Davis, and an international team of scientists have used the genome-editing tool CRISPR-Cas to create disease-resistant rice plants, according to a new study published in the journal Nature June 14.

Small-scale field trials in China showed that the newly-created rice variety, developed through genome editing of a recently discovered gene, exhibited both high yields and resistance to the fungus that causes a serious disease called rice blast. Rice is an essential crop that feeds half of the world’s population.

Guotian Li, a co-lead author of the study, initially discovered a mutant known as a lesion mimic mutant while working as a postdoctoral scholar in Pamela Ronald’s lab at UC Davis. Ronald is co-lead author and Distinguished Professor in the Department of Plant Pathology and the Genome Center.

Population aging is the top global demographic trend; the pandemic can teach us how to prepare for it.

Total world population passed the 8 billion milestone on November 15, 2022. The progression from 7 to 8 billion people took a mere 12 years, conjuring up long-standing fears associated with rapid population growth, including food shortages, rampant unemployment, the depletion of natural resources, and unchecked environmental degradation.

But the most formidable demographic challenge facing the world is no longer rapid population growth, but population aging. Thoughtful preparedness—combining behavioral changes, investment in human capital and infrastructure, policy and institutional reforms, and technological innovations—can enable countries to meet the challenge and take advantage of the opportunities presented by demographic change.

Select packages of frozen fruit sold at H-E-B, Costco and Walmart in Texas are being recalled due to a potential risk of Hepatitis A contamination.

Willamette Valley Fruit Co. is recalling bags of frozen fruit that contain strawberries grown in Mexico.

The recall affects Great Value Sliced Strawberries, Great Value Mixed Fruit, Great Value Antioxidant Blend, Rader Farms Organic Fresh Start Smoothie Blend, and Rader Farms Organic Berry Trio distributed by H-E-B, Costco, and Walmart.

TOPEKA, Kan. (KSNT) — Multiple packages of frozen fruit, specifically strawberries, are being recalled due to possible Hepatitis A contamination.

The Food and Drug Administration said Willamette Valley Fruit Co. of Salem, Oregon, is voluntarily recalling select packages of frozen strawberries and a frozen fruit blend containing strawberries. The impacted strawberries were grown in Mexico and are potentially carrying Hepatitis A.

Hepatitis A is a contagious liver disease caused by the Hepatitis A virus, which can be spread through close contact with someone who is infected, or by eating foods or consuming beverages that have been contaminated, according to the CDC.