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New York Times: Is Organic Better? Ask a Fruit Fly

15well_fly-articleInline

New York Times reporter Tara Parker-Pope has covered research carried out in the fruit fly lab of SMU biologist Johannes H. Bauer.

The article on the New York Times Wellness blog covers the research of Bauer and Plano, Texas, high school student Ria Chhabra. “Is Organic Better? Ask a Fruit Fly” appeared April 17.

Bauer, an assistant professor in SMU’s Department of Biological Sciences, mentored Chhabra in her research to examine whether there would be health differences to fruit flies fed an organic diet or a nonorganic diet. Chhabra’s study found that flies fed an organic diet fared better on important health tests, particularly fertility and longevity.

Read the New York Times article.

EXCERPT:

Tara Parker-Pope
New York Times

When Ria Chhabra, a middle school student near Dallas, heard her parents arguing about the value of organic foods, she was inspired to create a science fair project to try to resolve the debate.

Three years later, Ria’s exploration of fruit flies and organic foods has not only raised some provocative questions about the health benefits of organic eating, it has also earned the 16-year-old top honors in a national science competition, publication in a respected scientific journal and university laboratory privileges normally reserved for graduate students.

The research, titled “Organically Grown Food Provides Health Benefits to Drosophila melanogaster,” tracked the effects of organic and conventional diets on the health of fruit flies. By nearly every measure, including fertility, stress resistance and longevity, flies that fed on organic bananas and potatoes fared better than those who dined on conventionally raised produce.

While the results can’t be directly extrapolated to human health, the research nonetheless paves the way for additional studies on the relative health benefits of organic versus conventionally grown foods. Fruit fly models are often used in research because their short life span allows scientists to evaluate a number of basic biological effects over a relatively brief period of time, and the results provide clues for better understanding disease and biological processes in humans.

Read the New York Times article.

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SMU is a nationally ranked private university in Dallas founded 100 years ago. Today, SMU enrolls nearly 11,000 students who benefit from the academic opportunities and international reach of seven degree-granting schools. For more information see www.smu.edu.

SMU has an uplink facility located on campus for live TV, radio, or online interviews. To speak with an SMU expert or book an SMU guest in the studio, call SMU News & Communications at 214-768-7650.

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Culture, Society & Family Health & Medicine Plants & Animals Researcher news SMU In The News Student researchers

Le Journal de la Science: Et si manger bio était bel et bien meilleur pour la santé?

Le Journal de la Science: And if eating organic was indeed better for your health?

Bauer, Chhabra, SMU, biology, fruit flies, organic

Science journalist Alain Tranet writing in the Paris-based science publication Le Journal de la Science has covered research carried out in the fruit fly lab of SMU biologist Johannes H. Bauer by Plano, Texas, high school student Ria Chhabra. The article, “Et si manger bio était bel et bien meilleur pour la santé?,” published April 3.

Bauer, an assistant professor in SMU’s Department of Biological Sciences, mentored Chhabra in her research to examine whether there would be health differences to fruit flies fed an organic diet or a nonorganic diet. Chhabra’s study found that flies fed an organic diet fared better on important health tests, particularly fertility and longevity.

Read the article in French. An English translation follows the French excerpt below.

EXCERPT:

By Alain Tranet
Le Journal de la Science

Manger bio serait-il en définitive meilleur pour la santé ? C’est en tout cas ce que suggère une étude américaine menée… sur la mouche du vinaigre. Un résultat qui contredit plusieurs précédents travaux.

Manger bio a-t-il un effet bénéfique sur la santé humaine ? Alors que ce débat fait rage depuis de nombreuses années maintenant, une nouvelle étude menée sur la drosophile met en lumière l’existence d’une influence positive de l’alimentation biologique sur la santé de cette mouche (laquelle est, rappellons-le, un modèle animal abondamment utilisé par les scientifiques pour toutes sortes d’expérimentation, et notamment celles portant sur les mécanismes cellulaires du vieillissement). Ce résultat a été publié par des biologistes américains de la Southern Methodist University (Dallas, États-Unis) dans la revue en accès ouvert PLoS One, sous le titre “Organically Grown Food Provides Health Benefits to Drosophila melanogaster”.

Quelle est la nature exacte du résultat obtenu par le biologiste Johannes H. Bauer et ses collègues ? Ils ont constaté que des mouches drosophiles nourries durant toute leur (courte) existence avec des aliments issus de l’agriculture biologique présentaient une longévité accrue et une plus grande fertilité par rapport à des drosophiles nourries avec des produits issus de l’agriculture conventionnelle.

Plus précisément, les scientifiques ont testé les effets sur la santé de quatre produits issus de l’agriculture biologique : des pommes de terre, du raisin des bananes et du soja. Pour évaluer les effets séparés de ces quatre aliments, quatre groupes de 200 drosophiles ont été constitués, recevant chacun l’un ou l’autre de ces produits durant l’intégralité de leur vie, ainsi que quatre groupes contrôle constitués de 200 drosophiles recevant également durant toute leur existence l’équivalent non biologique de l’un ou l’autre de ces quatre aliments.

TRANSLATION:
Is eating organic ultimately better for our health? That’s what a new U.S. study suggests … for the fruit fly. The result contradicts several previous studies.

Does eating organic have a beneficial effect on human health? While this debate has been raging for many years now, a new study on Drosophila highlights the existence of a positive effect of organic food on the health of the fly (which is, remember, an animal model widely used by scientists for all kinds of experiments, including those on the cellular mechanisms of aging). This result was published by American biologists from Southern Methodist University (Dallas, USA) in the open access journal PLoS One, titled “Organically Grown Food Provides Health Benefits to Drosophila melanogaster.”

What is the exact nature of the result obtained by the biologist Johannes H. Bauer and his colleagues? They found that fruit flies fed throughout their (short) life with organically grown food had increased longevity and higher fertility compared to fruit flies fed with products from conventional farming.

Specifically, the scientists tested the effects on health of four kinds of produce from organic farming: potatoes, grapes, bananas and soybeans. To assess the separate effects of these four foods, 200 fruit flies were sorted into four groups, each receiving either of these products during their entire life, and four control groups consisting of 200 Drosophila also receiving an equivalent non-organic diet.

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SMU is a nationally ranked private university in Dallas founded 100 years ago. Today, SMU enrolls nearly 11,000 students who benefit from the academic opportunities and international reach of seven degree-granting schools. For more information see www.smu.edu.

SMU has an uplink facility located on campus for live TV, radio, or online interviews. To speak with an SMU expert or book an SMU guest in the studio, call SMU News & Communications at 214-768-7650.

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Fast Company: Organic Food Will Make You Live Longer And Be More Fertile (If You’re A Fly)

bauer, fruit flies, organic diet, fertility, longevity

Journalist Ariel Schwartz on Fast Company’s Co.Exist web site has covered research carried out in the fruit fly lab of SMU biologist Johannes H. Bauer.

The article, which covers the research of Bauer and Plano, Texas, high school student Ria Chhabra, appeared April 1, “Organic Food Will Make You Live Longer And Be More Fertile (If You’re A Fly).”

Bauer, an assistant professor in SMU’s Department of Biological Sciences, mentored Chhabra in her research to examine whether there would be health differences to fruit flies fed an organic diet or a nonorganic diet. Chhabra’s study found that flies fed an organic diet fared better on important health tests, particularly fertility and longevity.

Read the Fast Company article.

EXCERPT:

Ariel Schwartz
Fast Company

A new study found that the bugs that ate an organic diet were more healthy and lived longer. So, ask yourself, how much like a fly are you?

Organic food can help you live longer–if you happen to be a fruit fly. A study from researchers at Southern Methodist University found that fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) fed on a diet of organic produce experienced increased fertility and longevity. This could have implications for humans, but don’t start using the study as a pro-organic talking point just yet.

The researchers involved in the study (including high school student Ria Chhabra, who was inspired to initiate the study after speaking with her parents about the benefits of organic food) nourished growing fruit flies with produce–bananas, potatoes, raisins, and soy beans bought from a grocery store. Some of the flies received conventional produce, and others ate organic versions.

Ultimately, the researchers found that none of the flies lived that long–as they note in the study, “Drosophila cultured on produce extract diets were generally shorter lived than flies raised on regular lab food, presumably due to limited nutritional balance in diets prepared from a single produce source.” Within the confines of the study, however, the flies who ate on the organic foods fared best (though the flies that gorged themselves on just organic raisins fared worse so, you know, be careful). The flies fed with organic produce also had a longer egg production peak than their counterparts.

At this point, you might be thinking that the study is a major rebuke to another study from 2012 that found organic food to be no more healthy than conventionally grown food. But that study actually looked at humans, not fruit flies. Another problem: The more recent study provides no indications as to why the fruit flies lived longer and more fertile lives. So take any pro-organic conclusions with a grain of natural sea salt.

Read the Fast Company article.

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For more information, www.smuresearch.com.

SMU is a nationally ranked private university in Dallas founded 100 years ago. Today, SMU enrolls nearly 11,000 students who benefit from the academic opportunities and international reach of seven degree-granting schools. For more information see www.smu.edu.

SMU has an uplink facility located on campus for live TV, radio, or online interviews. To speak with an SMU expert or book an SMU guest in the studio, call SMU News & Communications at 214-768-7650.

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Health & Medicine Plants & Animals Researcher news SMU In The News

MNN: Organic food is good for flies, study finds

Bauer, fruit fly, organic diet, Chhabra, SMU

The Mother Nature Network covered research carried out in the fruit fly lab of SMU biologist Johannes H. Bauer by Plano, Texas, high school student Ria Chhabra in its March 27, 2013, article “Organic food is good for flies, study finds.”

Bauer, an assistant professor in SMU’s Department of Biological Sciences, mentored Chhabra in her research to examine whether there would be health differences to fruit flies fed an organic diet or a nonorganic diet. Chhabra’s study found that flies fed an organic diet fared better on important health tests, particularly fertility and longevity.

Read the Mother Nature Network article.

EXCERPT:

By Russell McLendon
Mother Nature Network

Fruit flies live longer and lay more eggs when they eat organic food, according to a study published by university researchers and an ambitious Texas teenager.

After listening to her parents debate the benefits of buying organic food, Ria Chhabra decided to take matters into her own hands. The Texas high-school student — along with biology researchers from Southern Methodist University — began studying how an organic diet affects the health of fruit flies, hoping to shed light on potential benefits for people.

Fruit flies and humans have lots of obvious physiological differences, but the insects are still common test subjects for studying human health, since about 77 percent of known human disease genes have a relevant match in the fruit-fly genome. And based on Chhabra’s research, both species may have a lot to gain by eating more organic food.

“To our surprise, in the majority of our tests of flies on organic foods, the flies fed organic diets did much better on our health tests than the flies fed conventional food,” says SMU biologist Johannes Bauer, who served as Chhabra’s mentor, in a press release. “Longevity and fertility are the two most important aspects of fly life. On both of these tests, flies fed organic diets performed much better than flies fed conventional diets. They lived longer, had higher fertility, and had a much higher lifetime reproductive output.”

That’s a promising result, but as Chhabra points out, it’s still unclear why exactly the organic-fed flies turned out healthier.

“We don’t know why the flies on the organic diet did better,” says Chhabra, a student at Clark High School in Plano, Texas. “That will require further research. But this is a start toward understanding potential health benefits.”

Read the Mother Nature Network article.

Follow SMUResearch.com on Twitter.

For more information, www.smuresearch.com.

SMU is a nationally ranked private university in Dallas founded 100 years ago. Today, SMU enrolls nearly 11,000 students who benefit from the academic opportunities and international reach of seven degree-granting schools. For more information see www.smu.edu.

SMU has an uplink facility located on campus for live TV, radio, or online interviews. To speak with an SMU expert or book an SMU guest in the studio, call SMU News & Communications at 214-768-7650.

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Outside: Eating Organic Helps Flies Live Longer

Johannes Bauer, SMU, fruit flies, organic diet

Outside magazine writer Adam Roy has covered research carried out in the fruit fly lab of SMU biologist Johannes H. Bauer by Plano, Texas, high school student Ria Chhabra in its March 27, 2013, article “Eating organic helps flies live longer.”

Bauer, an assistant professor in SMU’s Department of Biological Sciences, mentored Chhabra in her research to examine whether there would be health differences to fruit flies fed an organic diet or a nonorganic diet. Chhabra’s study found that flies fed an organic diet fared better on important health tests, particularly fertility and longevity.

Read the Outside article.

EXCERPT:

By Adam Roy
Outside Online

Eating organic food may help you live longer—if you’re a fly, that is. A group of researchers from Southern Methodist University offered fruit flies extracts of different varieties of organic and conventional produce purchased at the same Whole Foods in Texas. They found that flies who fed on organic potatoes, raisins and soy enjoyed a significantly longer lifespan and were more fertile.

The new report follows a study published by Stanford researchers last year which found that organic produce wasn’t significantly more nutritious than conventionally-raised fruits and vegetables, provoking a debate on the merits of chemical-free food. While the new study’s authors stop short of saying that the results are as applicable to humans as to flies, they do suggest that other animals could reap some of the same health benefits.

Read the Outside article.

Follow SMUResearch.com on Twitter.

For more information, www.smuresearch.com.

SMU is a nationally ranked private university in Dallas founded 100 years ago. Today, SMU enrolls nearly 11,000 students who benefit from the academic opportunities and international reach of seven degree-granting schools. For more information see www.smu.edu.

SMU has an uplink facility located on campus for live TV, radio, or online interviews. To speak with an SMU expert or book an SMU guest in the studio, call SMU News & Communications at 214-768-7650.