A new review proposes Functional Food Microecology, an interdisciplinary framework connecting functional foods, gut microbes and host health. It describes how probiotics, prebiotics, postbiotics, synbiotics and fermented foods influence gut-organ signaling, and how multi-omics, AI and synthetic biology could enable precision nutrition. The authors argue that microbiome-targeted diets could reduce antibiotic dependence and support sustainable food systems within One Health.

LEAD Integrating big data and artificial intelligence offers a sustainable solution to optimize feed efficiency and reduce the environmental footprint of global poultry farming.

A child wakes at 4 a.m. for school. Another loses sleep and playtime to a screen. Parents do their best, but how much of their children’s health is shaped by pressures beyond their control? Ateneo developmental-behavioral pediatrician Dr. Lourdes Sumpaico-Tanchanco puts these everyday realities under scrutiny, explaining how family routines, culture, nutrition, stress, and surroundings interact with genetics to shape health across a lifetime. Her Ateneo Breakthroughs lecture brings a sharp Philippine perspective to a global concern: we ask parents to raise healthy children, but do our schools, workplaces, and communities make that possible? From early classes to caregiving shared across generations, the story examines what families can change—and where institutions must step up.