PHILADELPHIA (April 04, 2012) – Scientists from the Monell Center report that blood glucose levels following starch ingestion are influenced by genetically-determined differences in salivary amylase, an enzyme that breaks down dietary starches. Specifically, higher salivary amylase activity is related to lower blood glucose.
An international team led by the University of Toronto and Hebrew University has identified the earliest known evidence of the use of fire by human ancestors. Microscopic traces of wood ash, alongside animal bones and stone tools, were found in a layer dated to one million years ago at the Wonderwerk Cave in South Africa.
Complex organic compounds, including many important to life on Earth, were readily produced under conditions that likely prevailed in the primordial solar system. Scientists at the University of Chicago and NASA Ames Research Center came to this conclusion after linking computer simulations to laboratory experiments.