With billions of dollars in federal biomedical research support in question, universities should look to build collaborations with industry, which today provides only about 3 to 8 percent of research funding for the 243 universities ranked as the best in the U.S. for translational science by the Cure Innovation Index. A new Cure analysis finds universities engage industry through four distinct pathways: scientific collaboration, industry-sponsored clinical research, small-business partnerships, and entrepreneurial training. On the first two, the expected pattern holds and top-ranked universities lead. On the second two, it reverses and lower-ranked universities outperform the top-ranked.

While gut bacteria clearly influence host health, determining whether they or their metabolic byproducts alone contribute to longevity remains challenging. A recent study using gnotobiotic flies colonized with genetically engineered Escherichia coli demonstrated that bacterial polyamines directly extend host lifespan. By clearly separating metabolite effects from bacterial presence, these findings highlight gut-derived polyamines as a tangible, promising target for future life-extending strategies for healthy longevity.

Scientists have developed a new fluorine-based tracer that can be tracked using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to monitor how quickly food moves through the gastrointestinal tract. The new method has so far been successfully tested in rats in a preclinical study, but it could eventually help diagnose gastrointestinal motility disorders or monitor treatment response. The study was published in Advanced Healthcare Materials.