news 2012

Medicine/Pharmacology - Agronomy/Food Science - 23.05
National food policy programs improve access to healthy foods
Access to healthy food in underserved communities has improved significantly after changes in federal nutrition and food assistance programs, according to a study by the Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity.

Life Sciences - Agronomy/Food Science - 11.04
Seed Size Is Controlled by Maternally Produced Small RNAs, Scientists Find
AUSTIN, Texas — Seed size is controlled by small RNA molecules inherited from a plant's mother, a discovery from scientists at The University of Texas at Austin that has implications for agriculture and understanding plant evolution.

Agronomy/Food Science - Medicine/Pharmacology - 4.04
Obesity accounts for 21 percent of U.S. health care costs
Obesity now accounts for almost 21 percent of U.S. health care costs - more than twice the previous estimates, reports a new Cornell study. The research, which is the first to show the causal effect of obesity on medical care costs, uses new methods and makes a stronger case for government intervention to prevent obesity, the authors say.

Life Sciences - Agronomy/Food Science - 19.03
New and much cheaper genomics technique takes off
Genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS), a powerful new technique developed at Cornell, is leveling the playing field in genomics research. Less than a year after publication, it is being applied to answer questions about diverse species, including hops, fox, turf grass, maize, cow, tomato and raspberry.

Agronomy/Food Science - Life Sciences - 12.03
The number of foods in a meal determines how much you’ll eat
The wider the variety of foods served at a meal, the more a person will eat, new Cornell research shows. Conversely, having a "one-pot" dish, such as a soup, pasta, stew or stir-fry, will cut down on the amount of food and calories consumed.

Medicine/Pharmacology - Agronomy/Food Science - 2.02
Higher intake of processed meat linked to greater type 2 diabetes risk in population with high diabetes rates
Diabetes risk is increased in men and women who eat a diet that is high in processed meats, according to a study published online this week in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition . Processed meats include hot dogs, lunch meat, sausages and canned meats.

Medicine/Pharmacology - Agronomy/Food Science - 20.01
Sleep Problems Increase Risk for Cardiovascular Disease, Diabetes and Obesity, Penn Study Shows
People who suffer from sleep disturbances are at major risk for obesity, diabetes, and coronary artery disease, according to new research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

Medicine/Pharmacology - Agronomy/Food Science - 10.01
Gut microbe networks differ from norm in obese people, systems biology approach reveals
For the first time, researchers have analyzed the multitude of microorganisms residing in the human gut as a complex, integrated biological system, rather than a set of separate species. Their approach has revealed patterns that correspond with excess body weight.

Agronomy/Food Science - Medicine/Pharmacology - 21.12.2011
Supersized market economy, supersized belly: Wealthier nations have more fast food and more obesity
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - New research from the University of Michigan suggests obesity can be seen as one of the unintended side effects of free market policies. A study of 26 wealthy nations shows that countries with a higher density of fast food restaurants per capita had much higher obesity rates compared to countries with a lower density of fast food restaurants per capita.

Agronomy/Food Science - Medicine/Pharmacology - 23.11.2011
Obesity as a Vicious Circle
Berkeley, CA, Nov. 23, 2011 - America's waistline has been expanding at an accelerating rate, prompting both concern about the nation's health and puzzlement over the cause. Now a researcher at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)'s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) has come up with some intriguing new data and a provocative hypothesis: that obesity itself makes people much more susceptible to risk factors that promote weight gain in the first place.

Life Sciences - Agronomy/Food Science - 29.08.2011
Researchers identify how insects resist Bt pesticides
For the first time, researchers have identified how cabbage looper caterpillars in the field develop resistance to the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), which naturally occurs in the soil and on plants and has been developed into the most successful and widely used biological insecticide.

Chemistry - Agronomy/Food Science - 20.07.2011
Honey bee tolerates some synthetic pesticides
CHAMPAIGN, lll. - A new study reveals how enzymes in the honey bee gut detoxify pesticides commonly used to kill mites in the honey bee hive. This is the first study to tease out the precise molecular mechanisms that allow a pollinating insect to tolerate exposure to these potentially deadly compounds.

Life Sciences - Agronomy/Food Science - 9.05.2011
Obesity impairs muscle function in rats, Penn State researchers find
Hershey, Pa. - Obesity appears to impair normal muscle function in rats, an observation that could have significant implications for humans, according to Penn State researchers. "Our findings demonstrate that obesity involves more than accumulating excess fat and carrying excess weight," said Rudolf J. Schilder, American Physiological Society postdoctoral fellow in physiological genomics, Penn State College of Medicine.

Agronomy/Food Science - Medicine/Pharmacology - 31.03.2011
Research shows taste perception of bitter foods depends on genetics
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - How we perceive the taste of bitter foods - and whether we like or dislike them, at least initially - depends on which versions of taste-receptor genes a person has, according to a researcher in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences.

Agronomy/Food Science - Life Sciences - 15.03.2011
Gene identified that causes neural tube defects in mice
Cornell researchers report that they have identified a gene that causes neural tube defects (NTDs) in laboratory mice. NTDs, also known as spina bifida and anencephaly, are one of the most common birth defects in the United States, occurring every 1 in 1,000 births.