The Trump administration is resisting the World Health Organization’s effort to sharply limit antibiotic use in farm animals, a move intended to help preserve the drugs’ effectiveness. Read more.
Author: Jamie Sponner
The Future of Chicken, Without Antibiotics
Human drugs have been crucial to poultry farming. So what’s replacing them? Read more.
Meat plant that recalled 7 million pounds of ground beef has history of “egregious” animal welfare practices
In 2017, regulators warned JBS over its treatment of sick dairy cattle at its Tolleson, Arizona plant. The resulting documents may help clarify the source of this year’s Salmonella outbreak. Read more.
‘Hyperalarming’ study shows massive insect loss
In 2014, an international team of biologists estimated that, in the past 35 years, the abundance of invertebrates such as beetles and bees had decreased by 45 percent. In places where long-term insect data are available, mainly in Europe, insect numbers are plummeting. Read more.
Do gut bacteria make a second home in our brains?
Some research has suggested distant microbes—those living in our gut—might affect mood and behavior and even the risk of neurological disease, but by indirect means. Read more.
Exploding tick population — and illnesses they bring — worries government
The congressional advisory committee sounded the alarm on Lyme and other emerging tick-related illnesses saying they have become “a serious and growing threat to public health.” Read more.
A single genetic change in gut bacteria alters host metabolism
New Study provides greater understanding on how the microbiome impacts metabolism. Read more.
Warning of ‘ecological Armageddon’ after dramatic plunge in insect numbers
Three-quarters of flying insects in nature reserves across Germany have vanished in 25 years, with serious implications for all life on Earth, scientists say. Read more.
Scientist unveils blueprint to save bees and enrich farmers
Urgent planting of wildflowers will attract pollinators and boost farmers’ food crops, expert to tell UN. Read more.
Rodney Dietert, PhD
Dr. Dietert is a Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology. He received the BS degree in Zoology from Duke University in 1974 and his PhD from University of Texas at Austin in 1977. Dr. Dietert has been: Director of Graduate Studies for the Graduate Field of Immunology, Senior Fellow in the Center for the Environment, Director of the Institute for Comparative and Environmental Toxicology, Director of the Program on Breast Cancer and Environmental Risk Factors and President of the Immunotoxicology Specialty Section of the Society of Toxicology. His research on the immune programming and the developmental basis of childhood and adult disease has been supported by the NSF, the USDA, the NIH and industry.
Dr. Dietert’s research and public health interests concern risk reduction for noncommunicable diseases (also known as chronic diseases). The initiatives include: 1) microbiome-based strategies for self-completion of the infant and microbiome management for improved later-life health, 2) determination of immunological risk in early life from environmental chemicals, foods, and drugs, 3) identification and prevention of co-morbid, noncommunicable diseases, and 4) integrated approaches to reduce the risk of noncommunicable diseases.
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