Sugar

Artificial sweeteners are widely promoted as zero-calorie alternatives to sugar, ideal for those trying to lose weight. But a new study is indicating artificial sweeteners may increase appetite and food cravings, particularly in females and the obese.

A new study is showing how fructose can alter cells in the small intestine, subsequently enhancing nutrient absorption and promoting weight gain. The research indicates excessive fructose consumption increases the body’s ability to absorb dietary fats.

Sugarcane is a key food crop, but its large environmental impact leaves plenty of room for improvement. Unfortunately it’s tricky and time-consuming to breed new varieties, but now researchers have used CRISPR gene-editing to do so more easily.

While neural implants play a vital role in monitoring or stimulating parts of the brain, they're often attacked by the body's immune system. A new device gets around that problem by being very soft – and it's implanted using a needle made of sugar.

A new study has found moderate consumption of fructose and sucrose can dramatically amplify fat production in the liver. The research also suggests these sugar-induced changes to fat metabolism can continue for long periods of time.

Scientists recently discovered the liver releases a hormone to suppress consumption of sweet foods once a person has consumed high volumes of sugar. A new study has homed in on exactly how this mechanism works, and where in the brain it takes place.

Researchers at the University of Michigan have conducted studies in fruit flies and found that excess amounts of sugar can shut down crucial neural circuits linked to regulating satiety, possibly leading to overeating in humans.

A study is suggesting low-calorie sweeteners can disrupt metabolic processes, but only when consumed with carbohydrates. The research hopes to reconcile conflicting studies investigating links between low-calorie sweeteners and metabolic disorders.

Scientists in Denmark have now offered further insights into how sugar reshapes our brain chemistry, by performing experiments on pigs and taking note of how the reward circuitry lights up after consumption.

Researchers have created bacteria that can effectively eat air. By carefully directing the evolution of E. coli in the lab, the team managed to wean them off their preferred diet of sugar, and make the switch to carbon dioxide in the air around them.

Low-calorie alternatives to sucrose could make tasty treats that are at least less bad for us. And now, researchers from Tufts University have developed a more efficient method for producing one such sweetener, using farms of bacteria.

The latest ingredients of life to be discovered off-world are certain bio-essential sugars, which have now been found in meteorites. This could lend weight to the idea that meteorite impacts are responsible for the origin of life on Earth.