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Category: food – Page 99

A tiny invasive flying beetle that’s killed hundreds of millions of trees lands in Colorado

The Emerald Ash Borer Network says that once the beetles reach their adult stage, the metallic green bugs will eat up foliage on ash trees – their only food source. But it’s the larvae that eat up the inner bark of ash trees and prevent nutrients and water from circulating.

Once that happens, Littleton officials said the tree that’s been attacked becomes structurally unsound and will die within just a few years.

It’s believed that the insects were introduced to the U.S. from Asia after tagging along on solid wood packing material, the network said. They were first discovered in the U.S. near Detroit in 2002, and have since expanded to at least 35 states as well as at least five Canadian provinces. Ash trees will typically lose most of their canopy within two years of an infestation and die within three to four years, the National Invasive Species Information Center says.

Study finds, ‘greedy’ genes from father encourage unborn babies to steal their mother’s food

A mice experiment shows that genes from the father make an unborn child manipulate their mother’s metabolism so that the fetus could have more and more nutrition.

A new mice study from the University of Cambridge (UC) reveals that during pregnancy, a fetus tries to suck in as many nutrients as possible from its mother, and unique “greedy genes” from the father helps the fetus do so.

A pregnant woman’s body has to feed the unborn baby, but at the same time, it also needs to ensure her well-being. Plus, a baby which becomes over-healthy is also challenging to give birth to, and therefore, genes from the mother tend to limit fetal growth.

Seaweed to Replace Plastic | Edible & Biodegradable Packaging | Notpla

Notpla has been announced as the winner of Prince William’s Earthshot Prize, in the category of ‘Build a Waste-Free World’!

https://www.notpla.com/

We visited Notpla, a company that is challenging plastic pollution by creating edible and biodegradable packaging using seaweed.
Seaweed and other plants are 100% biodegradable and can break down in weeks, making them a great sustainable packaging alternative to plastic. We spoke with Pierre, the co-founder of Notpla to learn more about the company’s ambitions. Notpla is a company dedicated to innovation and improving the market of single use packaging through the use of their revolutionary plant-based material.

Check out Notpla-https://www.notpla.com/

Learn more about the Nick Maughan Foundation-https://nmf.org/

Continue reading “Seaweed to Replace Plastic | Edible & Biodegradable Packaging | Notpla” | >

FDA Grants Accelerated Approval for Alzheimer’s Disease Treatment

In January 6 2023, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration approved Leqembi (lecanemab-irmb) via the Accelerated Approval pathway for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. Leqembi is the second of a new category of medications approved for Alzheimer’s disease that target the fundamental pathophysiology of the disease. These medications represent an important advancement in the ongoing fight to effectively treat Alzheimer’s disease.

Recently it has been granted full approval. Leqembi, developed jointly by Japan’s Eisai and Biogen of the United States, was shown in a clinical trial to modestly reduce cognitive decline among patients in the early stages of the disease.

But the study also raised concerns about side effects including brain bleeds and swelling.

Full approval story.

https://news.cgtn.com/news/2023-07-07/New-Alzheimer-…index.html.

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Continue reading “FDA Grants Accelerated Approval for Alzheimer’s Disease Treatment” | >

Lab-grown meat: the science of turning cells into steaks and nuggets

“It tastes like chicken.” That’s a common review of UPSIDE Foods’ new trial product. Perhaps that’s not surprising: it is, after all, chicken — at the cellular level. But the fillets are not from a slaughterhouse. They are grown in bioreactors in an urban factory in California.

Alittle over a decade ago, only a handful of researchers were investigating the potential of laboratory-made meat. The world’s first cultured beef burger, which reportedly cost US$325,000, was made by Maastricht University biomedical engineer Mark Post, who ate it at a press conference in 2013. Such products are now much closer to market: more than 150 companies around the world are working on cultured meat (from ground beef to steaks, chicken, pork and fish), milk or related ‘cellular agriculture’ products, including leather.

Companies making cultured meat are attracting billions of dollars of investment. Here are their biggest challenges.

Here’s What NASA Pays to Be Locked in a Mars Simulator for a Year

Four individuals have agreed to be sequestered inside a 1,700-square-foot simulated Mars habitat at NASA’s Johnson Space Center to study what it would be like to live on the Red Planet and how humans can learn to cope in that extreme environment.

During their 378-day stay, which officially kicked off earlier this week, they’ll have a surprisingly busy schedule, including a strict exercise regimen as well as a lengthy list of duties, from performing simulated spacewalks to growing crops.

In other words, it’s a demanding job that’s bound to be tough on the crew of four.

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