UC Science Today

The American Gut Project is one of the largest crowdsourced and crowdfunded citizen science projects. Co-founder Rob Knight of the University of California, San Diego says the project allows anyone to see what their microbiome looks like. There’s even a project looking into how dog owners share similar microbial populations with their pets, which may offer insight into how one’s dog may affect one's health.

"Our work on dogs has been in some ways, citizen science, based from the beginning.12:10 Because even the initial project looking at families, including families with pets, we made sure that we got approval to return the data back to the people who were participating in the project so that they could understand something about their microbes and get some sort of benefit out of seeing the microbes that were in their bodies and in the bodies of their families. At the moment, I should point out that benefit is primarily in terms of scientific knowledge and just understanding what makes a difference to your microbiome and what doesn’t. But as an increasing number of diseases get linked to the microbiome, it’s possible that in the future, we’ll be able to develop tests for particular diseases th

For the first time, scientists have developed a novel way to increase the body’s supply of energy-burning brown fat, which promotes weight loss and other metabolic benefits. Lead author Kevin Tharp of the University of California, Berkeley says the team grew brown-like beige fat in the lab from white-fat stem cells and implanted them into mice.

"Beige fat, which is basically what we have created in our lab synthetically is converted white fat cells and so when we take these beige fat implants and put them into mice, their overall metabolic health improved. And this is in terms of the amount of weight that they gained on a high fat diet and this is in terms of their general glucose homeostasis."

Tharp says that adult humans have a naturally low supply of brown fat in their bodies, and so artificially increasing that amount could lead to new ways to combat obesity, diabetes, and other metabolic disorders.

"You could theoretically improve someone’s metabolic health by creating an increase in the amount of brown fat mass in an individual."

For the first time, scientists have developed a novel way to increase the body’s supply of energy-burning brown fat, which promotes weight loss and other metabolic benefits. Lead author Kevin Tharp of the University of California, Berkeley says the team grew brown-like beige fat in the lab from white-fat stem cells and implanted them into mice.

"Beige fat, which is basically what we have created in our lab synthetically is converted white fat cells and so when we take these beige fat implants and put them into mice, their overall metabolic health improved. And this is in terms of the amount of weight that they gained on a high fat diet and this is in terms of their general glucose homeostasis."

Tharp says that adult humans have a naturally low supply of brown fat in their bodies, and so artificially increasing that amount could lead to new ways to combat obesity, diabetes, and other metabolic disorders.

"You could theoretically improve someone’s metabolic health by creating an increase in the amount of brown fat mass in an individual."

For the first time, scientists have developed a novel way to increase the body’s supply of energy-burning brown fat, which promotes weight loss and other metabolic benefits. Lead author Kevin Tharp of the University of California, Berkeley says the team grew brown-like beige fat in the lab from white-fat stem cells and implanted them into mice.

"Beige fat, which is basically what we have created in our lab synthetically is converted white fat cells and so when we take these beige fat implants and put them into mice, their overall metabolic health improved. And this is in terms of the amount of weight that they gained on a high fat diet and this is in terms of their general glucose homeostasis."

Tharp says that adult humans have a naturally low supply of brown fat in their bodies, and so artificially increasing that amount could lead to new ways to combat obesity, diabetes, and other metabolic disorders.

"You could theoretically improve someone’s metabolic health by creating an increase in the amount of brown fat mass in an individual."

When and how often women eat may play a role in breast cancer risk. Those were the findings of a new study published by researchers at the University of California, San Diego Moores Cancer Center. Lead author Catherine Marinac says they found that an increase in overnight fasting reduced a woman’s glucose levels and that may reduce the overall risk of breast cancer.

"There’s a lot of recent literature on various fasting regimens in human health and many of these aren’t backed by rigorous scientific evidence, so this is building on that knowledge base."

Now, Marinac says they’re working on a study looking into how the length of the nighttime fasting may affect cancer outcomes in a population of breast cancer survivors.

"So, we have a cohort of women that were followed longitudinally that had breast cancer at one time point and we’re looking at whether fasting might improve their cancer outcomes, so reduced risk of breast cancer or improved mortality."

When and how often women eat may play a role in breast cancer risk. Those were the findings of a new study published by researchers at the University of California, San Diego Moores Cancer Center. Lead author Catherine Marinac says they found that an increase in overnight fasting reduced a woman’s glucose levels and that may reduce the overall risk of breast cancer.

"There’s a lot of recent literature on various fasting regimens in human health and many of these aren’t backed by rigorous scientific evidence, so this is building on that knowledge base."

Now, Marinac says they’re working on a study looking into how the length of the nighttime fasting may affect cancer outcomes in a population of breast cancer survivors.

"So, we have a cohort of women that were followed longitudinally that had breast cancer at one time point and we’re looking at whether fasting might improve their cancer outcomes, so reduced risk of breast cancer or improved mortality."

When and how often women eat may play a role in breast cancer risk. Those were the findings of a new study published by researchers at the University of California, San Diego Moores Cancer Center. Lead author Catherine Marinac says they found that an increase in overnight fasting reduced a woman’s glucose levels and that may reduce the overall risk of breast cancer.

"There’s a lot of recent literature on various fasting regimens in human health and many of these aren’t backed by rigorous scientific evidence, so this is building on that knowledge base."

Now, Marinac says they’re working on a study looking into how the length of the nighttime fasting may affect cancer outcomes in a population of breast cancer survivors.

"So, we have a cohort of women that were followed longitudinally that had breast cancer at one time point and we’re looking at whether fasting might improve their cancer outcomes, so reduced risk of breast cancer or improved mortality."

Nutrition and exercise are often among the nation’s leading public health concerns. But a growing body of research suggests that sleep is just as important. Dr. Aric Prather of the University of California, San Francisco says that insufficient sleep can affect both short-term and long-term health.

"Chronically, this seems to put people at risk for things like coronary heart disease, the metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, obesity, as well as premature mortality. Of course it also puts people at risk for things like automobile accidents, things that can have incredible consequences. And then there’s even some growing literature suggesting that short sleep may even put people at risk for neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s disease."

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that more than a quarter of Americans are not getting enough sleep, while nearly 10 percent experience chronic insomnia. Prather says it’s an issue we can all address.

"Sleep is a very tractable health behavior, and it could have an incredible effect on population health beyond just the individual."

Nutrition and exercise are often among the nation’s leading public health concerns. But a growing body of research suggests that sleep is just as important. Dr. Aric Prather of the University of California, San Francisco says that insufficient sleep can affect both short-term and long-term health.

"Chronically, this seems to put people at risk for things like coronary heart disease, the metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, obesity, as well as premature mortality. Of course it also puts people at risk for things like automobile accidents, things that can have incredible consequences. And then there’s even some growing literature suggesting that short sleep may even put people at risk for neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s disease."

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that more than a quarter of Americans are not getting enough sleep, while nearly 10 percent experience chronic insomnia. Prather says it’s an issue we can all address.

"Sleep is a very tractable health behavior, and it could have an incredible effect on population health beyond just the individual."

Nutrition and exercise are often among the nation’s leading public health concerns. But a growing body of research suggests that sleep is just as important. Dr. Aric Prather of the University of California, San Francisco says that insufficient sleep can affect both short-term and long-term health.

"Chronically, this seems to put people at risk for things like coronary heart disease, the metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, obesity, as well as premature mortality. Of course it also puts people at risk for things like automobile accidents, things that can have incredible consequences. And then there’s even some growing literature suggesting that short sleep may even put people at risk for neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s disease."

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that more than a quarter of Americans are not getting enough sleep, while nearly 10 percent experience chronic insomnia. Prather says it’s an issue we can all address.

"Sleep is a very tractable health behavior, and it could have an incredible effect on population health beyond just the individual."