First we eat. Then we do everything else.
UChicago | Wellnews
by arcieslak
3y ago
by Elise Wachspress One of the goals of the Duchossois Family Institute (DFI) is to understand how our own individual genes, those of the microbes cohabiting with us, and the many metabolites they produce all work together to create healthy, robust biological systems—or fail to do so. Over the past century, medical science has shown great success in creating drugs and other treatments that address human ailments and extend lifetimes. It excels in rescuing people from acute disease and fighting pathogens (like developing multiple vaccines against a new and evolving virus within less than a year ..read more
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The ecosystems within us
UChicago | Wellnews
by bethanyhubbard
3y ago
by Elise Wachspress Among the most beloved spaces on the UChicago campus is Botany Pond, created by the first chairman of the University’s Botany Department. Tucked between the University’s iconic Reynolds Club, where everyone meets for food and performances, and the Anatomy Building, Botany Pond provides both a natural respite and a physical reminder of Chicago’s storied—and ongoing—research in ecology and evolution. This pocket woodland enclave, so popular it has its own live YouTube channel, provides a home for a surprisingly wide assortment of life, with trees, plants, fish, turtles, ducks ..read more
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Tracking our inner allies against disease
UChicago | Wellnews
by bethanyhubbard
3y ago
by Elise Wachspress Aside from the obvious, COVID-19 has taught us a lot of things we might never have thought would interest us. Now we all know what Zoom is (even if we don’t know who might be wearing pajama bottoms). We know how Instacart works and that Amazon delivers toilet paper. We get the basics of making face masks and the safest materials to use. Even the Oxford English Dictionary is pointing out words surging in usage after decades of disuse. For better or worse, we also now know a lot more about intensive care units. Some of us might have been familiar with surgical ICUs, when frie ..read more
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Transplanting hearts for a lifetime
UChicago | Wellnews
by bethanyhubbard
3y ago
by Elise Wachspress Imagine you need a new heart to survive. First, there is the drama of waiting for a donor heart that is a good match—knowing that your chance at life depends on someone else losing theirs. Then, there is the actual surgery—having your chest opened and an entire team implanting this new organ, followed by both the euphoria of success—one year survival rates are now over 85 percent—and the realization that rehabilitation will require strength of body, mind, and will. Next comes an intense drug regimen to protect your new heart from being rejected by your body’s immune system ..read more
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Tuning a community of bacteria for health
UChicago | Wellnews
by bethanyhubbard
3y ago
by Elise Wachspress For those mesmerized by the early days of tech culture—with characters like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Sergey Brin, and Larry Page—one amazing facet of the story was how quickly the movement became democratized. It took little so capital to get into the game—just a lot of free time and access to the silicon chips that redefined how we capture, organize, and transfer data. Soon young people were developing businesses in local hacker clubs or their dorm rooms. Dreams of launching the next Napster or Myspace attracted many of these enthusiasts into the larger “maker” culture, a k ..read more
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Streaking to improve human health
UChicago | Wellnews
by bethanyhubbard
3y ago
by Elise Wachspress For those who remember the 1970’s, “streaking” might mean “running through public places naked.” But if you’ve ever taken a microbiology class, you know one of the first lab lessons is “streaking a plate,” a technique used to spread a sample of bacteria out across a petri dish filled with agar, a Jello-like substance from seaweed also used in ice cream and some candies. Streaking is used to separate the bacteria and get them to grow in individual “colonies,” which can, perhaps with further streaking, be purified into samples of one single type of bacteria. First perfected w ..read more
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News roundup: August 2020
UChicago | Wellnews
by bethanyhubbard
3y ago
The future of microbiome science depends on data science. Everything from microbiome diagnosis to microbiome transplants rely on vast amounts of data analysis. (BuiltIn.com) Evolutionary biology holds clues for understanding how the genome, microbiome, and environment interact to guide organismal development Research on the humble hydra provides clues to “phenotypic plasticity”—changes in behavior and biology in response to environmental changes. (Phy.Org) Can the human immune system mount a lasting defense against SARS-CoV-2? Several leading immunologists, including UChicago’s Luis Barreiro ..read more
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Securing our Cell Networks
UChicago | Wellnews
by cbellido
3y ago
by Elise Wachspress All systems depend on moving information. Whether you are running a household, a company, or a country, relaying knowledge is critical. As institutions grow in size and complexity, new forms of communications become ever more essential. Drums, yodeling, and semaphores have given way to cell towers and the Internet to relay information around our big, curved planet. Complicated systems need network nodes and signaling that transmit knowledge quickly, reliably, and accurately. Our own bodies also depend on information transfer as well, and thanks to evolution, our biological ..read more
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Research on celiac patients provides a warning for us all
UChicago | Wellnews
by arcieslak
3y ago
by Elise Wachspress While we often think of our immune cells as fighting the good fight against bacteria, viruses, and our own rogue cells (as in cancer), the system is sometimes reacting to specific dietary antigens, chemical toxins and even healthy tissue it mistakenly perceives to be dangerous microbes. We’ve long called bread “the staff of life,” but there are some people whose immune systems think of it more like an incitement to all-out war. For those with celiac disease, the immune army resident in the gut sets their weapons against gluten, a protein in the seeds of wheat and other grai ..read more
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News roundup: July 2020
UChicago | Wellnews
by arcieslak
3y ago
Do plants hold a key for understanding our own immune systems? Researchers identify plant genes that select which microbes get to live inside leaves, safeguarding plant health. (Futurity) Historical studies of infants’ poop suggest their microbiomes are more malleable than adults’. Research suggests probiotics may have the power to improve the health of those under two years. (The Scientist) Are worldwide increases in inflammatory bowel disease worldwide caused by mothers passing on their microbiomes to their children? Researchers are finding gut microbiota alterations in IBD moms persists dur ..read more
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