An international research team has developed a new method to analyze the global genome, or the metagenome of the intestinal microbiota. The intestinal microbiota is all the bacteria found in the digestive tract.  The metagenome corresponds to all the genes in these bacteria. 

They believe their method method markedly simplifies microbiome analysis and renders it more powerful.  The scientists have thus been able to sequence and assemble the complete genome of 238 intestinal bacteria, 75% of which were previously unknown.  

The 37th International Conference on High Energy Physics (ICHEP) began last Thursday in Valencia, Spain with three days of parallel sessions, now moves on to plenary sessions until Wednesday, summing up the current state of the art in the field. The plenary sessions will be webcast.

Mindfulness meditation is all the rage in meditation circles but does it work? Most research claiming benefits have focused on lengthy, weeks-long training programs using people who already like meditation. A new paper in Psychoneuroendocrinology is about a small study and the authors found that brief mindfulness meditation practice – 25 minutes for three consecutive days – alleviates psychological stress. 

Probiotics are a popular fad but there is little evidence they are anything more than a well-marketed placebo. Like homeopathy, at least that means the only harm will be in your wallet.

If you call yourself a paleo diet aficionado, you probably eat a lot of bugs. As many as you can. Because finding enough food was the kind of struggle only dinosaurs can sympathize with - an ant diet is a struggle.

All across the world, there is one thing babies share in common; their size, if they are born to healthy, well-educated, well-nourished mothers.