Bacteria From Bees Possible Alternative To Antibiotics

Raw honey has been used against infections for millennia, before honey — as we now know it — was manufactured and sold in stores. So what is the key to its’ antimicrobial properties? Researchers at Lund University in Sweden have identified a unique group of 13 lactic acid bacteria found in fresh honey, from the honey stomach of bees. The bacteria produce a myriad of active antimicrobial compounds.

African Elephants Are Superior Smellers

They have five times more olfactory receptors than humans, and the most of any animal characterized to date. Credit: Photo courtesy of Eric Green
They have five times more olfactory receptors than humans, and the most of any animal characterized to date. Credit: Photo courtesy of Eric Green

Sense of smell is critical for survival in many mammals. The ability to distinguish different odors, which is important for sniffing out food, avoiding predators, and finding mates, depends on the number and type olfactory receptors found in an organism’s genome. In a study published today in Genome Research, researchers examined the olfactory receptor (OR) repertoire encoded in 13 mammalian species and found that African elephants have the largest number of OR genes ever characterized; more than twice that found in dogs, and five times more than in humans.

Eye Movements Reveal Difference Between Love and Lust

A new study suggests the difference between love and lust might be in the eyes. Specifically, where your date looks at you could indicate whether love or lust is in the cards. The new study found that eye patterns concentrate on a stranger’s face if the viewer sees that person as a potential partner in romantic love, but the viewer gazes more at the other person’s body if he or she is feeling sexual desire.

One Injection Stops Type 2 Diabetes in Its Tracks

diabetes-injection
Type 2 Diabetes insulin injection.

In mice with diet-induced diabetes — the equivalent of type 2 diabetes in humans — a single injection of the protein FGF1 is enough to restore blood sugar levels to a healthy range for more than two days. The discovery could lead to a new generation of safer, more effective diabetes drugs. The team found that sustained treatment with the protein doesn’t merely keep blood sugar under control, but also reverses insulin insensitivity, the underlying physiological cause of diabetes. Equally exciting, the newly developed treatment doesn’t result in side effects common to most current diabetes treatments.

“We want to move this to people by developing a new generation of FGF1 variants that solely affect glucose and not cell growth. If we can find the perfect variation, I think we will have on our hands a very new, very effective tool for glucose control.” says Ronald M. Evans, director of Salk’s Gene Expression Laboratory and corresponding author of the paper.

How Cannabis Compound Could Slow Tumor Growth

Scientists at the University of East Anglia have shown how the main psychoactive ingredient in cannabis could reduce tumor growth in cancer patients. Credit: © Ondrej Hajek / Fotolia
Scientists at the University of East Anglia have shown how the main psychoactive ingredient in cannabis could reduce tumor growth in cancer patients.
Credit: © Ondrej Hajek / Fotolia

Scientists have shown how the main psychoactive ingredient in cannabis, THC, could reduce tumor growth in cancer patients. New research reveals the existence of previously unknown signaling platforms which are responsible for the drug’s success in shrinking tumors.