Scientists develop biofortified rice to combat nutrient deficiencies
A team from UNIGE, together with ETH Zurich and NCHU in Taiwan, has developed a rice line that has enhanced vitamin B1 content.
A team from UNIGE, together with ETH Zurich and NCHU in Taiwan, has developed a rice line that has enhanced vitamin B1 content.
Biotechnology
Apr 11, 2024
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75
A joint research team has developed a new electrochemical catalyst that promotes the conversion from carbon dioxide (CO2) to ethylene (C2H4).
Analytical Chemistry
Mar 29, 2024
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76
Vitamin B12 deficiency in people can cause a slew of health problems and even become fatal. Until now, the same deficiencies were thought to impact certain types of algae, as well. A new study has examined the algae Phaeocystis ...
Ecology
Feb 5, 2024
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73
Kiwi fruits with their tangy green flesh are routinely purchased and devoured throughout the year by people across the nation. This is no surprise. Kiwi fruit is high in vitamin C, dietary fiber, and potassium. The subtropical ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 5, 2024
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32
Evidence from teeth reveals that vitamin D deficiency during childhood was likely a major issue in industrialized England, according to a study published January 31, 2024 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Anne Marie ...
Archaeology
Jan 31, 2024
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62
Vitamin C, also known as ascorbic acid (AsA), is a prevalent antioxidant found in various organisms, notably plants and animals. Functionally, AsA plays a variety of roles, from enzyme cofactor to safeguarding against oxidative ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Nov 14, 2023
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1
A team of scientists led by Dr. Ulrich Kleinekathöfer, professor of Theoretical Physics at Constructor University in Bremen, has now discovered how B12 is absorbed by certain intestinal bacteria. Published in the journal ...
Cell & Microbiology
Nov 2, 2023
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251
Have you ever bitten into a nut or a piece of chocolate, expecting a smooth, rich taste, only to encounter an unexpected and unpleasant chalky or sour flavor? That taste is rancidity in action, and it affects pretty much ...
Analytical Chemistry
Oct 20, 2023
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44
Kiwifruit is a popular, commercially available fruit packed with nutrients. Over the last decade, the cultivation of kiwifruit has been plagued by a severe epidemic caused by Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae (Psa).
Molecular & Computational biology
Oct 19, 2023
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34
In a first-of-its-kind long-term study, a collaborative group of scientists, including senior author Ashley Keiser, assistant professor of soil ecology at the University Of Massachusetts Amherst's Stockbridge School of Agriculture, ...
Earth Sciences
Sep 26, 2023
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23
A vitamin is an organic compound required as a nutrient in tiny amounts by an organism. A compound is called a vitamin when it cannot be synthesized in sufficient quantities by an organism, and must be obtained from the diet. Thus, the term is conditional both on the circumstances and the particular organism. For example, ascorbic acid functions as vitamin C for some animals but not others, and vitamins D and K are required in the human diet only in certain circumstances. The term vitamin does not include other essential nutrients such as dietary minerals, essential fatty acids, or essential amino acids, nor does it encompass the large number of other nutrients that promote health but are otherwise required less often.
Vitamins are classified by their biological and chemical activity, not their structure. Thus, each "vitamin" may refer to several vitamer compounds that all show the biological activity associated with a particular vitamin. Such a set of chemicals are grouped under an alphabetized vitamin "generic descriptor" title, such as "vitamin A," which includes the compounds retinal, retinol, and many carotenoids. Vitamers are often inter-converted in the body.
Vitamins have diverse biochemical functions, including function as hormones (e.g. vitamin D), antioxidants (e.g. vitamin E), and mediators of cell signaling and regulators of cell and tissue growth and differentiation (e.g. vitamin A). The largest number of vitamins (e.g. B complex vitamins) function as precursors for enzyme cofactor bio-molecules (coenzymes), that help act as catalysts and substrates in metabolism. When acting as part of a catalyst, vitamins are bound to enzymes and are called prosthetic groups. For example, biotin is part of enzymes involved in making fatty acids. Vitamins also act as coenzymes to carry chemical groups between enzymes. For example, folic acid carries various forms of carbon group – methyl, formyl and methylene - in the cell. Although these roles in assisting enzyme reactions are vitamins' best-known function, the other vitamin functions are equally important.
Until the 1900s, vitamins were obtained solely through food intake, and changes in diet (which, for example, could occur during a particular growing season) can alter the types and amounts of vitamins ingested. Vitamins have been produced as commodity chemicals and made widely available as inexpensive pills for several decades, allowing supplementation of the dietary intake.
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