Glycosylation is the process by which cells add sugar groups (also called carbohydrates) to proteins to modify their functions. EMBL researchers developed a new method to systematically and quantitatively study glycosylation and used it to show that gut bacteria can influence glycosylation patterns in the brains of mice. Using this method, the researchers could identify over 150,000 glycosylated forms of proteins (‘proteoforms') in the brain, a more than 25-fold increase over previous studies. The study sheds new light on connections between the microbiome and the nervous system and provides a new method to study glycosylation's role in fundamental biological processes.

Short snouts and a flat profile - within a span of 100 years, humans have significantly changed the shape of the skulls of German domestic pigs. According to a team from Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU), this is likely down to new breeding practices introduced at the beginning of the 20th century. Their findings have been published in the journal "Royal Society Open Science". The researchers analysed 3D scans of 135 skulls of wild boars and domestic pigs from the early 20th and 21st centuries. Surprisingly, the same effects can even be observed in species that were kept separately.

In a landmark discovery, researchers applied a novel AI model called the max-logistic intelligence classifier to analyze 865,859 CpG methylation sites in early COVID-19 patients' blood samples. They uncovered compelling evidence that COVID-19 most likely originated from the natural synthesis of two rare but serious infectious diseases, glanders and Sennetsu fever, with some common human diseases.

In a breakthrough for the advanced study of gut health, scientists from the National University of Singapore (NUS) have developed a 3D microscopic version of the human intestines condensed into a small chip about half the size of a five-cent coin. This new cell culturing platform, known as the Gut-Microbiome on a chip (GMoC), provides a realistic in vitro microgut model that allows researchers to examine the interactions of gut microbes and their collective impact on gut health. The chip offers a scalable, reproducible, and efficient method to dissect the roles of gut microbes and their community, which is of key interest for the preventive healthcare and pharmaceuticals industry.