In a study, scientists from the University of Bristol, University College London UCL and FB10, together with colleagues from 20 other countries, refute some long-held assumptions about why humans developed the ability to digest the milk sugar lactose as adults.
The new research suggests the following as the origin of lactose intolerance: famine and exposure to pathogens best explain the development of lactose tolerance. Details on this thesis can be found in the publication in Nature. Another central task in the new funding period will be to identify further thematic areas in which the FORTHEM universities can bring impulses from teaching and research into dialogue with the perspective of society - for example, in the FORTHEM Labs on key contemporary issues such as climate change, migration and digitization.
Faculty 10 has been involved from the outset with offerings and will continue to expand this. Its main goals are to support talented researchers at all stages of their careers, to stimulate the exchange of scientific information, and to help build a European research environment in which scientists can perform at their best. Lemke is one of the leading experts in the field of intrinsically disordered protein research. Future food shortages are expected to become exacerbated in many parts of the world.
With this in view, sustainable biological techniques are being explored that could increase the yield of cereals and other food crops and which, unlike the use of chemical pesticides, are environmentally compatible. The bacterium Photorhabdus luminescens is already used as bioinsecticide to protect crops against a wide range of insect pests.
Researchers at imP of FB10 have recently demonstrated that P. A secondary cell form of the bacterium is responsible for this additional effect. This variant first colonizes the fungal mycelium and then destroys it by degrading chitin, a major component of the cell wall of fungi.
