The presence of food-specific IgA antibodies in the gut does not prevent peanut or egg allergies from developing in children, according to a Northwestern Medicine study published in Science Translational Medicine.
Scientists examined stool samples from more than 500 infants across the country and found that the presence of Immunoglobulin A, the most common antibody found in mucous membranes in the digestive tract, does not prevent peanut or egg allergies from developing later in life.
This discovery calls into question the role of Immunoglobulin A, or IgA, which was previously thought to be a protective factor against the development of food allergies.
More people are opting to go vegetarian or vegan as factory farming’s impact on the planet becomes more apparent. But one carnivorous delight they may not have to give up is bacon, especially if they’re willing to be a bit flexible. A Dutch startup has been working on cultured bacon for a few years now, and New York-based MyForest Foods is producing a bacon substitute made from mushroom roots. They’ll soon have a competitor that will tempt consumers’ palates with yet another variety, this one made from a most unexpected source: seaweed (though to be fair, mushroom root is a pretty unexpected source for imitation bacon too).
Seaweed is good for you; it contains iodine as well as critical nutrients and antioxidants. But it doesn’t have the greatest taste (though this is admittedly a matter of personal preference; plenty of people love to snack on roasted sheets of the stuff). Umaro Foods, based in Berkeley, California, think they’ve found the perfect combination of ingredients to make seaweed taste—and feel—like bacon.
They start with red seaweed protein, which they say accounts for the bulk of the final product’s meaty taste, color, and texture. They add chickpea protein, which contains fatty acids and amino acids. Coconut oil and sunflower oil provide the fat, and spices like paprika and sea salt boost the flavor. Red radish juice adds color to make it all look more like real bacon. The product has a little less protein than real bacon, and about the same amount of fat.
Year 2017 Basically the tardigrade is the most promising set of genes on any creature due to many types of survival genes like going years without food or even genes for radiation resistance which could be used in crispr to augment human genes.
Tardigrades — aka water bears or moss piglets — are perhaps the most resilient creatures on the planet, able to survive complete dehydration, space vacuum and being frozen. However, only recently have scientists begun to unravel the genes that underpin the tardigrade’s biological superpowers. “They’re 0.2mm to 1mm in length and despite being so small they are able to do all these things we cannot,” says Mark Blaxter, a biologist at the University of Edinburgh who has been studying tardigrades for 20 years. “In their DNA, they hold a cornucopia of secrets.”
With Kazurahu Arakawa, from the University of Keio, Japan, Blaxter recently analysed the first true tardigrade genome. The results, published today in the open access journal PLOS Biology, are a first step towards explaining the genetics underpinning the tardigrade’s extraordinary resilience and to pinpoint its place within the evolutionary tree of life. We spoke to Blaxter about his new research and his fascination for this remarkable little animal.
**WIRED:**How come we are only now able to analyse the tardigrade’s true genomes?
Colon cancer is the second deadliest cancer in the US. Early detection is important but finding and diagnosing polyps is difficult. 2 AI-powered endoscopes have been developed in Japan to tackle the problem. One can judge a lesion’s malignancy in 0.4 second with almost 100% accuracy. The other indicates lesions during an exam, even indistinct ones, like a car navigation system. We also introduce fermented Japanese foods that are beneficial for gut health and explain how they should be eaten.
Year 2018 o.o! This could be the first step toward avatars and as well as medical sciences finding a way to treat a human being better essentially with more precision. Also this means we really are wetware computers that can be coded and controlled much like robots are which can lead to our own level of superintelligence in the future by having more abilities with downloaded information.
Amazon is bringing its palm print-scanning biometric payment technology to several Whole Foods locations.
Biometrics: Every person has measurable physical characteristics that are unique to them — and because these attributes are unique and measurable, they can be used to verify our identity.
Biometric technologies — like the one that probably unlocks your phone — automate this verification, analyzing a face, fingerprint, or palm for distinct identifiers linked to a specific person.
Hyderabad resident Kadavendi Mahipal Chary has built an affordable farming machine that cuts labour costs and cultivates fields, for which he has won a national-level award.
