Scientists have uncovered how space travel profoundly alters the gut microbiome, yielding insights that could shape future space missions.
The groundbreaking study, led by a McGill University researcher in collaboration with University College Dublin (UCD), NASA’s GeneLab and an international consortium, offers the most detailed profile to date of how space travel affects gut microbes.
Scientists have been worried about the potential harms of microplastics for years. These small plastic particles less than 5 mm in length have been found everywhere because of plastic pollution – from the Earth’s deep oceans to remote regions in Antarctica, and even the seafood we eat. But, are microplastics really harmful?
The cocktail of beneficial bacteria passed from mother to infant through breast milk changes significantly over time and could act like a daily booster shot for infant immunity and metabolism.
For decades, scientists have wrestled with rival theories to explain how interactions between species, like competition, influence biodiversity. Tracking microbial life across the planet, researchers from McGill University show that biodiversity does in fact foster further diversity in microbiomes that are initially less diverse. However, diversity rates plateau with increased competition for survival and space in more diverse microbiomes.
In a study published in the journal Cell Reports, researchers at McGill University, Kyoto University and INSERM/University of Paris show that an organic compound produced by the intestinal flora, the metabolite 4-Cresol, exhibits protective effects against type 1 and type 2 diabetes by stimulating the proliferation and function of insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas. These results pave the way for new therapeutic options that could improve the situation of millions of patients.
You are what you eat. Or so the saying goes. Science now tells us that we are what the bacteria living in our intestinal tract eat and this could have an influence on how well we age. Building on this, McGill University scientists fed fruit flies with a combination of probiotics and an herbal supplement called Triphala that was able to prolong the flies’ longevity by 60 % and protect them against chronic diseases associated with aging.
Highly complex interactions among roots, fungi and bacteria underlie the ability of some trees to clean polluted land, according to a novel study by bioinformatics and plant-biology experts from McGill University and Université de Montréal.
