A fermentation technique was utilised to assess a fungus, i.e. Cunninghamella bertholletiae/polymorpha, isolated from rotting cassava, ability to produce mycotoxins and resultant oxidation by-products of the mycotoxins using liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC/MS). Thus, the mycotoxins/secondary metabolites, fumonisin B1 (FB1) and deoxynivalenol (DON) were produced while, heptadecanone, octadecanamide, octadecenal and 3-keto-deoxynivalenol (DON) were successfully identified as biodegradation by-products in the fermentation broth treated with hydrolysing ‘monkey cup’ juice from Nepenthes mirabilis. Exposure to the mycotoxins and the biodegradation by-products through consumption of contaminated produce including contact due to the cumulative presence in arable agricultural soil can be harmful to humans and animals. Therefore, this work reports on a strategy for the mitigation and reduction of mycotoxins in agricultural soil using natural plant pitcher juices from N. mirabilis’ ‘monkey cup’.

Researchers have developed a first-of-its-kind small, flexible, stretchable bandage that accelerates healing by delivering electrotherapy directly to the wound site.

Scientists have discovered that a high-fat diet allows the immune system to eliminate a parasitic worm which is a major cause of death and illness in the developing world.

Scientists have figured out how to capture brain activity in octopuses that are awake and moving – a breakthrough step in understanding how the brain controls their behavior.

Photo of the experimental laboratory model for detecting hidden attractors in the Chua circuit

Columbia researchers invent a technique to study cancer tissues archived in biobanks, increasing the number and variety of tumor samples available for scientific analysis and advancing the discovery of biomarkers and drug targets.

MIT chemists devised a new way to generate white phosphorus, a critical intermediate in the manufacture of phosphorus-containing products. Their approach could reduce the carbon emissions of the process by half or even more.

The researchers created maps showing where warmer weather has left trees in conditions that don’t suit them, making them more prone to being replaced by other species. The findings could help inform long-term wildfire and ecosystem management in these “zombie forests.”

Australia’s rarest bird of prey - the red goshawk - is facing extinction, with Cape York Peninsula now the only place in Queensland known to support breeding populations.