Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries

Scientists have discovered hundreds of genes involved in the development of diabetes and other metabolic diseases.

New research shows that a high-fat Mediterranean diet with nuts and extra virgin olive oil could modify the function of specific cell genes. This should help in the fight against several conditions, especially cardiovascular disease.

Tired, a few aches and pains, more interested in sitting comfortably by the fire than a wet walk in the woods? Dog or owner, staying mentally active at whatever age creates positive emotions and can slow down mental deterioration.

With the prevalence of allergy and asthma on the rise around the world, the race is on to explain this increase and stem the tide. A recent study finds a clue in an unlikely source… intestinal worms.

Agriculture – both victim and cause of climate change. New research shows moving away from animal protein towards legumes makes sense nutritionally and environmentally.

Referred to as ‘perplexing’, a group of North American Pleistocene horses have been identified, until now, as different species. Now mitochondrial and partial nuclear genomic studies support the idea that there was only one species, which belongs to a new genus.

Scientists have been searching for over two decades to explain how the Arctic is contaminated with toxic mercury pollution. A new study sheds light on the likely process, while warning of its hazards to humans and the environment.

Old adage? Urban myth? Either way the saying ‘You are never further than two metres from a rat’ tends to make people look around themselves nervously. Since our move into settlements first gave rats the environment they needed to thrive, we’ve been battling their numbers – for the most part unsuccessfully.

An abundant food source in a time of food insecurity, just one snag – how can we break the ‘yuck’ barrier and get insects onto our plates?

Research carried out on day-old mussel larvae explores the effect of a changing climate on shell development, with potential applications for aquaculture and biotechnology.

A study supported by the EU-funded SPACERADARPOLLINATOR project reveals the roles that visual experience, visual learning and foraging activity, have on the neural structure of bumblebees.

Food sharing as a means to both reduce waste and boost urban sustainability is clearly a good idea. But what works where and how can it be made more effective? Just some questions one project is answering.

European aquaculture is a vital industry employing thousands of people and generating billions of euros in turnover. But there is scope for greater development.

With EU nations throwing away 88 million tonnes of food a year, a group of experts from 13 countries have launched a platform to share knowledge with consumers, producers and retailers in the hope of bringing that figure down.

The latest research*eu RESULTS PACK– a collection of articles on EU-funded projects dedicated to a specific field of scientific research – is now available in free, accessible PDF. This brochure provides a detailed snapshot at the EU’s wide array of research interests with regards to the Earth’s marine environments.

Scientists analysing earthenware jugs say residue contains wine compounds dating back 8 000 years.

As most cities-dwellers know, urban environments offer both challenges and opportunities. But when it comes to birdlife, can telomeres provide an insight into which tips the balance?

Humans evolved their big heads to manage their complex social structures, an idea called the social brain hypothesis. Now a new study conducted by British and American researchers suggests that whale and dolphin brains evolved in much the same way.

European aquaculture production provides direct employment to 80 000 people and has an estimated EUR 3 billion annual turnover. But parasites can cause severe disease outbreaks leading to high economic losses in finfish aquaculture.

With food security issues becoming ever more pressing, much research is being done to strike the right balance between high yields and low environmental impact. A major EU-funded project has run a successful pilot bringing together data from sensors and satellites to boost yields while accurately identifying levels of fertilisers needed.

Fish population dynamics models are essential tools used to estimate fishing impact and provide key indicators of exploitation. A EU-funded project is helping to provide a new generation of models harnessing the progress made in monitoring using in situ and satellite data.

The ability of the crow family, corvids, to use tools and plan tactically to solve problems has fascinated many researchers from those studying self-recognition in magpies to the New Caledonian crow’s accurate crafting of tools. Now EU support has enabled a Swedish researcher to study ravens’ abilities to barter and plan.

Just like great wine needs time, great grapes require continuous attention and reliable assessment tools. Noting the absence of a convincing alternative to manual sampling and analysis, an EU-funded consortium has developed VineRobot, an ‘Unmanned ground vehicle’ (UGV) equipped with non-invasive sensor technology.

The WINESENSE project has successfully developed a novel extraction process for grape marc, resulting in higher polyphenol content. The consortium is already working on products for the cosmetics industry.