Coenzyme-free enzyme pathway turns a cheap dairy byproduct into a gut-health sugar
Peer-Reviewed Publication
This month, we’re focusing on nutrition and the powerful role it plays in our lives. Here, we’ll share the latest research on how nutrients affect the body and brain, how scientists investigate diet and health, what these findings may mean for building healthier habits, and more.
Updates every hour. Last Updated: 9-Nov-2026 14:17 ET (9-Nov-2026 19:17 GMT/UTC)
Galacto-N-biose (GNB) is a functional disaccharide found in gut mucins that selectively feeds beneficial Bifidobacterium and helps maintain the intestinal barrier, making it a very important ingredient for infant nutrition and functional foods. Researchers in China have now built a coenzyme-free in vitro synthetic enzymatic pathway that produces GNB directly from low-cost lactose, reaching a 76% molar yield without any ATP or UDP-sugar donors, offering a new route for the low-cost, large-scale green manufacturing of GNB and other high-value functional oligosaccharides.
Eating a diet rich in red, yellow, and orange fruits and vegetables may help reduce inflammation and exacerbations associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), according to a new study in the September 2026 issue of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases: Journal of the COPD Foundation, a peer-reviewed, open access journal.
A multi-component nutritional supplement has been found to improve markers of vascular health, in a randomised controlled trial led by the University of Surrey. The formulation combined ingredients (vitamins/minerals, amino acids and plant-derived bio actives) selected for their relevance to several biological processes associated with ageing.
A German-Israeli eye-tracking study found that both the design and familiarity of front-of-package nutrition labels shape what consumers notice and how they interpret food products. Participants in both countries found Israel’s warning-label system easier to understand and more helpful for making healthy choices than Nutri-Score, offering timely evidence as Europe and the United States reconsider how nutrition information should appear on packaged foods.
The 13th World Congress on Targeting Microbiota, taking place in Málaga, Spain, on November 4–5, 2026, will examine the evidence needed to translate microbiome research into clinical practice. The programme focuses on microbial function, causality and translation, with sessions on immunity, diagnostics, precision nutrition, cancer and healthy longevity.