Algae as a beacon of hope?

14-Dec-2022 - Whether it'snew biofuels, innovative cancer drugs or sustainable foods, researchers around the world see immense potential in so-called euglenoids. However, of 1,000 known species, only 20 have been studied so far. The Euglena International Network (EIN) wants to change that. On board: ...

Porridge-making in the Neolithic period

20-Sep-2022 - Cereal, milk and meat were the staple diet of people in Britain as long as 5500 years ago. By carrying out a chemical analysis of lipid residues in well-preserved ceramics, a research team led by the University of Bristol and including researchers from Friedrich-Alexander-Universität ...

More than a coffee ring

Researchers develop method that promotes uniform drying of particle-containing liquids

10-Jun-2022 - What do coffee, red wine and ink have in common? The stubborn stains they leave behind. Anyone who has ever knocked over a cup of coffee will know that coffee dries in an unusual pattern, the stain is lighter at the center but it gets darker around the perimeter, an effect known as the coffee ...

What fat residues reveal about past eating habits

New method for determining the distribution of lipids in archaeological ceramics

06-Jul-2020 - Researchers at FAU, the University of Bristol and the University of Nottingham (UK) have developed a new method that enables fat residues in millennia-old vessels to be analysed more reliably than before. Using imaging mass spectrometry, the distribution and concentration of lipids - e.g. from ...

White wine for the immune system?

How alcohol in moderation positively influences defective immune reactions

06-May-2020 - Excessive consumption of alcohol is bad for your health. Moderate amounts of alcohol can, however, have a positive effect on health under certain circumstances. In a recent paper* published in the journal Nature, a research team from the Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU) ...

How the potato becomes a sun worshipper

FAU researchers succeed in growing tubers even at high temperatures

07-May-2019 - There's one thing the potato doesn't like: warmth. If the temperatures are too high, the plant will produce significantly fewer tubers or sometimes no tubers at all. Biochemists at the Friedrich Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU) have now found out why this is so: When the temperature ...

FAU researchers investigate food sources for tomorrow's spacemen

20-Nov-2018 - If mankind sets out in the future to explore the vastness of the universe, astronauts will spend many months in space ships on their way to foreign planets - and will have to provide themselves with food in the process. An experiment conducted by researchers from the Friedrich Alexander ...

A healthy life with chocolate, tea, coffee and zinc?

11-Oct-2018 - Ageing and a low life expectancy are caused by oxidative stress, among other things. A research team led by Prof. Dr. Ivana Ivanović-Burmazović, Professor of Bioinorganic Chemistry at the Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU), has now discovered, together with scientists from ...

"Whoever drinks (non-alcoholic) beer lives a hundred years"

FAU Researchers Investigate Healthy Ingredients in Beer

09-Oct-2018 - Beer ingredients as an anti-inflammatory and antiobesity agent? Researchers around Prof. Dr. Claus Hellerbrand, Institute for Biochemistry of the FAU, have received the research prize of the European Foundation for Alcohol Research and the European Brewery Convention over 60,000 euros for their ...

Can Muesli help against arthritis?

12-Jan-2018 - It is well known that healthy eating increases our general sense of wellbeing. Researchers at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) have now discovered that a fibre-rich diet can have a positive influence on chronic inflammatory joint diseases, leading to stronger bones. The ...