Showing 10 of 140 news

4th March 2016

Discovery of mechanism for transfer of botulinum neurotoxin genes

A new study has shown how Clostridium botulinum could potentially transfer their deadly neurotoxin genes to other bacteria. This highlights the need for constant vigilance in identifying new threats to food safety. The botulinum neurotoxin is the most potent known, and has been much...

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19th February 2016

Norwich to be home to the Quadram Institute, a new Food & Health research centre

The Quadram Institute is the name of the new centre for food and health research to be located at the heart of the Norwich Research Park, one of Europe’s largest single-site concentrations of research in food, health and environmental sciences.  Building of a new...

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Tamas Korcsmaros

3rd February 2016

Autophagy – A review of techniques

The third edition of “Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy” was recently published in the leading journal Autophagy,featuring TGAC’s Autophagy Regulatory Network resource and co-authored by Dr Tamas Korcsmaros, Computational Biology Fellow at The Earlham Institute and the Quadram...

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15th January 2016

More weapons but less ammo: benefits and drawbacks of selenium supplementation for immunity

A more thorough evaluation of selenium supplementation is needed, to better understand its benefits to our immune system, and the risks. This is the finding of a new study from the Institute of Food Research, and funded by the Food Standards Agency, which has...

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15th January 2016

New research quantifies Clostridium botulinum spores in raw food materials

A study from the Institute of Food Research has provided new evidence on the background levels of spores of Clostridium botulinum in raw food ingredients that is helping the food industry deliver safe chilled foods more sustainably. Botulism is a serious form of food...

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18th December 2013

New funding puts Norwich at the heart of green technologies

With over £5.5 million of funding over five years, researchers at the Institute of Food Research and the John Innes Centre will help make the UK a world leader in industrial biotechnology.  Four of 13 new national ‘Networks in Industrial Biotechnology and Bioenergy’ announced by...

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13th December 2013

New method for quantifying stability of emulsions

A recent paper on using atomic force microscopy to study and measure properties of oil droplets, such as those in food emulsions, was featured on the back cover of the journal Soft Matter. Understanding, at the molecular level, more about emulsions, and how fats and...

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6th December 2013

Should we still take vitamin D supplements?

A new systematic review of evidence, published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, suggests that low levels of vitamin D levels are a consequence of ill health, rather than a cause of it, casting strong doubt on the value of vitamin D supplements. Daniel Lock and...

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27th November 2013

Livestock-associated MRSA found in poultry

The Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency (AHVLA) has identified the presence of Livestock-Associated Meticillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (LA-MRSA) on a poultry farm. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/livestock-associated-mrsa-found-at-a-farm-in-east-anglia The discovery of this livestock-associated strain of MRSA in poultry should present a very low risk to human health, provided normal...

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27th November 2013

More than bread and beer: the National Collection of Yeast Cultures

A new video looks at the National Collection of Yeast Cultures, a BBSRC-funded National Capability at the Institute of Food Research. Brewers’ yeast, Saccharomyces cerivisae, features widely in products we consume daily in our billions across the world, but these ancient unicellular fungi are poised...

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Showing 10 of 140 news