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RIKEN researchers have discovered how a species of gut microbe exacerbates obesity in mice fed a high-fat diet. Now published in Cell Metabolism, this finding could help scientists develop new ways of treating obesity via the microbiome.

By Nation Reporter

THE National Biosafety Authority (NBA) has claimed that the nation that the mealie meal from South Africa produced from Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) maize is safe for consumption.

 The Authority says it is working with other Government institutions to ensure that mealie meal that may contain Genetically Modified Organisms to be imported and transited through Zambia is from the maize varieties that had been authorized by the NBA.

Dr Sody Munsaka, the NBA Scientific Advisory Committee chairperson said in a statement yesterday that working together with the Ministry of Agriculture, it had been notifying the nation about the importing mealie meal or any other products which may contain GMOs on the need to obtain authorization from the NBA.

Dr Munsaka said the NBA had conducted risk assessments on maize and soya varieties from South Africa and had been found to be safe for human and animal consumption.

He said the Authority had previously granted permits for products made from GMO maize or which may contain GMOs to various distributors and traders in the country.

 “We have conducted risk assessments on soya beans and all maize varieties from South Africa and these have been found to be safe for humans, animals and the environment. Therefore, all products including mealie meal produced from the assessed maize varieties are safe for human and animal consumption,” Dr Munsaka.

He said among the products containing GMO maize or Soya beans from South Africa that the Authority had permitted into the country included cornflakes, some soups such as Bisto, premixes, spices, some biscuits, Starch, maize grit and dog food.

Mr Munsaka said risk assessment is the process through which the Scientific Advisory Committee ascertains the safety of products before the Authority grants a permit or rejects an application.

 “Therefore, we would like to assure the general public that the mealie meal from the assessed maize by the Scientific Advisory Committee is safe, even if it is spilled or dropped in the country or people accidentally consumed it, it cannot cause any harm based on the comfort ascertained through risk assessment,” Dr Munsaka said.

For decades, researchers have marveled at the ability of glioblastoma, a particularly aggressive brain cancer, to turn off a patient’s cancer-fighting immune cells, thereby allowing tumors to grow freely. This remains a primary reason why there are very few effective therapies available for this mostly fatal disease.

A team of medical researchers, engineers and computer scientists affiliated with multiple institutions across the U.S. has found that machine learning technology can help doctors predict which patients are at risk of developing COPD. In their study, reported in the journal Nature Genetics, the group trained a deep-learning network using patient spirogram data to predict the development of COPD.

Why does stress trigger the development of mental disorders, such as depression, in one person, while others successfully maintain mental health despite adversity? This latter case is referred to as the phenomenon of resilience. Yet the neuronal circuits and neurobiological mechanisms that underlie this individual resilience are still not sufficiently understood.

Children will eat more fruits and vegetables if families take more time to eat meals. This is the result of a new study of health psychologist Professor Jutta Mata from the University of Mannheim and Professor Ralph Hertwig, Director at the Center for Adaptive Rationality of the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin.

Effective hearing loss treatments have eluded medicine because once sensory cells in the inner ear called hair cells are damaged or destroyed, they cannot be regenerated. This loss of hair cells, which can be caused by aging, noise exposure and other factors, renders an individual’s hearing loss permanent.

 By ROGERS KALERO

MTOLO Phiri, the Agriculture Minister should resign on moral grounds for allegedly mismanaging the country’s strategic food reserves thereby plunging the country into a food crisis, a Non-governmental Organisation (NGO) has said.

Eugene Mulenga, national coordinator for Sustainable Resource Empowerment Initiative (SuNREI) said Zambia was in a food crisis because Mr Phiri has failed to manage the country’s strategic food reserves when he allowed the export of the maize grain to neighbouring countries.

Mr Mulenga said in a statement that instead of being defensive and being economical with the truth, Mr Mtolo should accept that he had mismanaged the country’s strategic food reserves leading to government being compelled to import the Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) maize and mealie meal.

Researchers have identified a strong association between prevalence of prescription stimulant therapy for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and rates of prescription stimulant misuse (taken in a way other than as directed by a clinician) by students in middle and high schools. The study, which appeared today in JAMA Network Open, highlights the need for assessments and education in schools and communities to prevent medication-sharing among teens. This is especially important considering non-medical use of prescription stimulants among teens remains more prevalent than misuse of any other prescription drug, including opioids and benzodiazepines.

For many kids, the period between childhood and early adolescence can be difficult.