Researchers discover a new gear in life's clock: Vitamin D

New research from Portland State University finds vitamin D, or a lack thereof can trigger or suspend embryonic development in a species of fish. The study also provides evidence suggesting the vitamin is critical to the ...

Skin color: Handy tool for teaching evolution

Variations in skin color provide one of the best examples of evolution by natural selection acting on the human body and should be used to teach evolution in schools, according to a Penn State anthropologist.

First complete 3D visualization of vitamin D receptor

For the first time, a team from the Institut de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire, France, has obtained a high-resolution, full 3D image of a small but vital molecule locked up within our cells: ...

UK scientists grow super broccoli

Popeye might want to consider switching to broccoli. British scientists recently unveiled a new breed of the vegetable that experts say packs a big nutritional punch.

Treating mastitis in dairy cattle with vitamin D

A natural remedy that delays and reduces the severity of mastitis infection in dairy cattle is being investigated by scientists at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

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Vitamin D

Vitamin D is a group of fat-soluble prohormones, the two major forms of which are vitamin D2 (or ergocalciferol) and vitamin D3 (or cholecalciferol). The term vitamin D also refers to metabolites and other analogues of these substances. Vitamin D3 is produced in skin exposed to sunlight, specifically ultraviolet B radiation.

Vitamin D plays an important role in the maintenance of organ systems.

Vitamin D deficiency can result from inadequate intake coupled with inadequate sunlight exposure; disorders that limit its absorption; conditions that impair conversion of vitamin D into active metabolites, such as liver or kidney disorders; or, rarely, by a number of hereditary disorders. Deficiency results in impaired bone mineralization and leads to bone softening diseases rickets in children and osteomalacia in adults, and possibly contributes to osteoporosis. However, sunlight exposure, to avoid deficiency, carries other risks, including skin cancer; this risk is avoided with dietary absorption, either through diet or as a dietary supplement.

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