Pilot study provides foundation for understanding how music therapy improves pain after pancreatic surgery

New study published in Global Advances in Integrative Medicine and Health

University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center

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CLEVELAND – A new study from University Hospitals Connor Whole Health found that it was feasible to conduct a live music-assisted relaxation and imagery session among patients admitted for pancreatic surgery. Participants described the music therapy intervention as beneficial and useful throughout recovery while also providing feedback to improve the intervention and data collection procedures moving forward. The findings from this study were recently published in Global Advances in Integrative Medicine and Health.

Patients undergoing pancreatic surgeries such as pancreatoduodenectomy and distal pancreatectomy are known to have painful postoperative recoveries. Even with pharmacologic treatments, patients often experience elevated stress, pain, and anxiety following these procedures.

Despite several studies supporting music interventions’ efficacy for addressing post-operative pain, epigenomics underlying their analgesic effects remain poorly understood. No music therapy research has investigated the relationship between gene expression and acute post-surgical pain. To investigate such mechanisms within music therapy, protocols need to be refined for collecting blood samples pre- and post-intervention so that future mechanistic intervention studies can analyze blood samples for changes in gene expression among patients with acute post-surgical pain.

“Music therapy is a great addition to the holistic care of our surgical oncology patients and it is important to better understand the mechanism by which it makes such a difference,” said Richard S Hoehn, MD, pancreatic surgeon at UH Seidman Cancer Center and co-author of the study.

This study provided valuable data to inform future work in which gene expression mechanisms underlying music therapy’s analgesic effects can be derived from blood samples taken pre- and post-intervention. All participants completed the live music therapy intervention as well as at least one measure of their symptoms during and after the post-surgical intervention. After the live music therapy intervention, patients continued to listen to a recording of the intervention throughout their surgical recovery.

Investigators also attempted to collect dried blood spots before, after, and 15 minutes after the intervention. Blood sampling success was variable (9/15 [60%] across attempts).

The researchers concluded that preliminary findings support (1) the feasibility and acceptability of a live music-assisted relaxation and imagery intervention, (2) continued use of music-assisted relaxation and imagery recordings over the course of hospitalization, and (3) electronic patient-reported outcome collection among adults recovering from pancreatic surgery. However, design modifications are needed for future studies such as expanding eligibility to increase recruitment rates, ensuring staff availability throughout the week, extending the music therapy intervention, and using a more robust blood collection procedure than a dried blood spot.

“This is the first study to investigate music therapy’s role among patients undergoing pancreatic surgery, a population that faces several challenges with post-operative symptom management,” said Samuel Rodgers-Melnick, MPH, LPMT, MT-BC, a researcher with UH Connor Whole Health and Principal Investigator of the study. Mr. Rodgers-Melnick is also a co-investigator for Effective Network to advance Scientific Evidence related to Mechanisms of music-Based interventions for pain and support coLlaborative Efforts (ENSEMBLE), an NIH-funded initiative devoted to understanding how music affects pain. “With this pilot phase complete, we are well-positioned for future studies examining the gene expression mechanisms by which music therapy affects post-surgical pain.”

“This study demonstrates our commitment to providing and studying the impact of nonpharmacologic pain management options for our patients. Reducing pain and anxiety with music therapy allows patients to begin the process of healing which is a key focus of the care we provide,” said Kristi Artz, MD, FACLM, CCMS, Vice President of Connor Whole Health.

You can read the article, “Music Therapy in Patients Undergoing Pancreatic Surgery (MUSIC PUPS): A Mixed Methods Pilot Study” by clicking here.

 

Reference:

Risser K, Block S, Surdam J, Yu H, Doh SJ, Bretz S, Hoehn RS, Rodgers-Melnick SN. Music Therapy in Patients Undergoing Pancreatic Surgery (MUSIC PUPS): A Mixed Methods Pilot Study. Glob Adv Integr Med Health. 2025;14:27536130251368796. Epub 20250813. doi: 10.1177/27536130251368796. PubMed PMID: 40822036; PMCID: PMC12357015.

 

About University Hospitals / Cleveland, Ohio

Founded in 1866, University Hospitals serves the needs of patients through an integrated network of 21 hospitals (including five joint ventures), more than 50 health centers and outpatient facilities, and over 200 physician offices in 16 counties throughout northern Ohio. The system’s flagship quaternary care, academic medical center, University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, is affiliated with Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Northeast Ohio Medical University, Oxford University, the Technion Israel Institute of Technology, and National Taiwan University College of Medicine. The main campus also includes the UH Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital, ranked among the top children’s hospitals in the nation; UH MacDonald Women's Hospital, Ohio's only hospital for women; and UH Seidman Cancer Center, part of the NCI-designated Case Comprehensive Cancer Center. UH is home to some of the most prestigious clinical and research programs in the nation, with more than 3,000 active clinical trials and research studies underway. UH Cleveland Medical Center is perennially among the highest performers in national ranking surveys, including “America’s Best Hospitals” from U.S. News & World Report. UH is also home to 19 Clinical Care Delivery and Research Institutes. UH is one of the largest employers in Northeast Ohio with more than 30,000 employees. Follow UH on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. For more information, visit UHhospitals.org.

 

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Journal

Global Advances in Integrative Medicine and Health

KULTURAL KAPITALI$M

New book offers guidelines for managing, sustaining nonprofit theaters

Carnegie Mellon University

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Arts and culture are big business: In 2022, nonprofit arts and culture organizations generated more than $150 billion in economic activity, supporting millions of jobs and generating billions in tax revenue. How can nonprofit arts leaders turn their creative passions into sustainable business successes? A new guide for managers in the arts, as well as for teachers and students of arts administration, provides real-world strategies to help develop the entrepreneurial mindset necessary for leading and sustaining nonprofit arts organizations.

The book, Entrepreneurial Arts and Cultural Leadership: Traits of Success in Nonprofit Theatre, was coauthored by a researcher at Carnegie Mellon University and the founder and leader of a top U.S. theater company.

“More and more theatres and performing arts organizations are claiming to be looking for new business models,” says Brett Ashley Crawford, teaching professor of arts management at Carnegie Mellon’s Heinz College, who coauthored the book. “In our book, we outline what is needed for nonprofits to succeed and thrive.”

Nonprofits worldwide are facing big challenges, including shifting audience patterns; lower responses from donors; and changing priorities in foundations, corporations, and government support systems. Using as a case study Bethesda, Maryland’s Imagination Stage, one of the top U.S. theater companies for young people, the authors examine the leadership traits that drive innovation, adaptability, and long-term viability in the arts.

In their book, they offer insights on how leaders of nonprofit theaters can navigate financial instability, advocate for equity and inclusion, and implement sustainable business models. Among the topics addressed:

• Traits of success in the world of nonprofit theater
• The importance of entrepreneurship in arts leadership
• Considerations related to theater staff and board members
• Approaches to partnering with the community
• Advocating for the arts and the vision of the organization
• Balancing risk and opportunity

“We hope this book can help leaders and organizations adapt to the ever-changing economic and social conditions of the world today,” says Bonnie Fogel, founder and longtime leader of Imagination Stage, who coauthored the book.

 

Reading for pleasure in freefall: New study finds 40% drop over two decades

University of Florida

A sweeping new study from the University of Florida and University College London has found that daily reading for pleasure in the United States has declined by more than 40% over the last 20 years — raising urgent questions about the cultural, educational and health consequences of a nation reading less.

Published today in the journal iScience, the study analyzed data from over 236,000 Americans who participated in the American Time Use Survey between 2003 and 2023. The findings suggest a fundamental cultural shift: fewer people are carving out time in their day to read for enjoyment.

“This is not just a small dip — it’s a sustained, steady decline of about 3% per year,” said Jill Sonke, Ph.D., director of research initiatives at the UF Center for Arts in Medicine and co-director of the EpiArts Lab, a National Endowment for the Arts research lab at UF in partnership with University College London. “It’s significant, and it’s deeply concerning.”

Who’s reading and who isn’t

The decline wasn’t evenly spread across the population. Researchers found steeper drops among Black Americans than white Americans, people with lower income or educational attainment, and those in rural (versus metropolitan) areas — highlighting deepening disparities in reading access and habits.

“While people with higher education levels and women are still more likely to read, even among these groups, we’re seeing shifts,” said Jessica Bone, Ph.D., senior research fellow in statistics and epidemiology at University College London. “And among those who do read, the time spent reading has increased slightly, which may suggest a polarization, where some people are reading more while many have stopped reading altogether.”

The researchers also noted some more promising findings, including that reading with children did not change over the last 20 years. However, reading with children was a lot less common than reading for pleasure, which is concerning given that this activity is tied to early literacy development, academic success and family bonding, Bone said.

Why it matters

Reading for pleasure has long been recognized not just as a tool for education, but as a means of supporting mental health, empathy, creativity and lifelong learning. The EpiArts Lab, which uses large data sets to examine links between the arts and health, has previously identified clear associations between creative engagement and well-being.

“Reading has historically been a low-barrier, high-impact way to engage creatively and improve quality of life,” Sonke said. “When we lose one of the simplest tools in our public health toolkit, it’s a serious loss.”

The American Time Use Survey offers a unique window into these trends.

“We’re working with incredibly detailed data about how people spend their days,” Bone said. “And because it’s a representative sample of U.S. residents in private households, we can look not just at the national trend, but at how it plays out across different communities.”

Why are Americans reading less?

While causes were not part of the study, the researchers point to multiple potential factors, including the rise of digital media, growing economic pressures, shrinking leisure time and uneven access to books and libraries.

“Our digital culture is certainly part of the story,” Sonke said. “But there are also structural issues — limited access to reading materials, economic insecurity and a national decline in leisure time. If you’re working multiple jobs or dealing with transportation barriers in a rural area, a trip to the library may just not be feasible.”

What can be done?

The study’s authors say that interventions could help slow or reverse the trend, but they need to be strategic.

“Reading with children is one of the most promising avenues,” said Daisy Fancourt, Ph.D., a professor of psychology and epidemiology at University College London and co-director of the EpiAtrts Lab. “It supports not only language and literacy, but empathy, social bonding, emotional development and school readiness.”

Bone added that creating more community-centered reading opportunities could also help: “Ideally, we’d make local libraries more accessible and attractive, encourage book groups, and make reading a more social and supported activity — not just something done in isolation.”

The study underscores the importance of valuing and protecting access to the arts — not only as a matter of culture, but as a matter of public health.

“Reading has always been one of the more accessible ways to support well-being,” Fancourt said. “To see this kind of decline is concerning because the research is clear: reading is a vital health-enhancing behavior for every group within society, with benefits across the life-course.”

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Journal

iScience

Article Title

The decline in reading for pleasure over 20 years of the American Time Use Survey

Article Publication Date

20-Aug-2025

Abrupt Antarctic changes could have ‘catastrophic consequences for generations to come’, experts warn

Australian National University

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Antarctica is at risk of abrupt and potentially irreversible changes to the continent’s ice, ocean and ecosystems that could have profound implications for Australia and beyond, unless urgent action is taken to curb global carbon emissions. 

That’s according to new research published today in the journal Nature, from researchers at The Australian National University (ANU) and the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in collaboration with scientists from each of Australia’s major Antarctic research centres.  

The research team argues the large and abrupt changes now unfolding in Antarctica are “interlinked”, putting even more pressure on the global climate, sea level and ecosystems. 

According to the researchers, the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) is at severe risk of collapse as global atmospheric carbon dioxide levels continue to rise. The collapse of the WAIS would raise sea levels by more than three metres, threatening the world’s coastal cities and communities. 

According to the study’s lead author Dr Nerilie Abram, who is the Chief Scientist at the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD), such a collapse would result in “catastrophic consequences for generations to come”. 

“Rapid change has already been detected across Antarctica’s ice, oceans and ecosystems, and this is set to worsen with every fraction of a degree of global warming,” said Dr Abram, who carried out this work during her time as Professor of Climate Science at ANU. 

“The loss of Antarctic sea ice is another abrupt change that has a whole range of knock-on effects, including making the floating ice shelves around Antarctica more susceptible to wave-driven collapse. The decline in Antarctic sea ice and the slowdown of deep circulation in the Southern Ocean are showing worrying signs of being more susceptible to a warming climate than previously thought. 

“As sea ice is lost from the ocean surface, it is also changing the amount of solar heat being retained in the climate system, and that is expected to worsen warming in the Antarctic region. 

“Other changes to the continent could soon become unstoppable, including the loss of Antarctic ice shelves and vulnerable parts of the Antarctic ice sheet that they hold behind them.” 

Study co-author Professor Matthew England, from UNSW and the ARC Australian Centre for Excellence in Antarctic Science (ACEAS), said abrupt changes to Antarctica’s climate and ecosystems could have severe consequences for Australia. 

“Consequences for Australia include rising sea levels that will impact our coastal communities, a warmer and deoxygenated Southern Ocean being less able to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, leading to more intense warming in Australia and beyond, and increased regional warming from Antarctic sea ice loss,” Professor England said. 

Changes to the Antarctic environment could also have devasting consequences on the region’s wildlife and ocean ecosystems. 

“The loss of Antarctic sea ice brings heightened extinction risk for emperor penguins, whose chicks depend on a stable sea ice habitat prior to growing their waterproof feathers,” Professor England said. 

“The loss of entire colonies of chicks has been seen right around the Antarctic coast because of early sea ice breakout events, and some colonies have experienced multiple breeding failure events over the last decade.” 

According to the researchers, the adult survival or breeding capacity of krill and a number of other penguin and seal species are also at risk, while keystone phytoplankton species are becoming increasingly affected by ocean warming and acidification. 

“Another potential risk is a collapse in the Antarctic overturning circulation, which would mean vital nutrients remain at the seafloor, instead of being recirculated back to the surface where biological systems, including marine animals, depend on them,” Professor England said. 

Dr Abram said it was clear existing efforts through the Antarctic Treaty System to reduce pressures on Antarctic ecosystems won’t be enough on their own. 

“While critically important, these measures will not help to avoid climate-related impacts that are already beginning to unfold,” she said. 

“The only way to avoid further abrupt changes and their far-reaching impacts is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions fast enough to limit global warming to as close to 1.5 degrees Celsius as possible. 

“Governments, businesses and communities will need to factor in these abrupt Antarctic changes that are being observed now into future planning for climate change impacts, including in Australia.” 

This research involved an international team of experts including climate scientists from multiple Australian institutions and scientists from South Africa, Switzerland, France, Germany and the United Kingdom. 

The work was led by the Australian Centre for Excellence in Antarctic Science (ACEAS) in collaboration with Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future (SAEF), the Australian Antarctic Program Partnership (AAPP) and the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD). The research contributes to delivering the Australian Antarctic Science Decadal Strategy 2025-2035. 

Images available to download here.  

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Journal

Nature

DOI

10.1038/s41586-025-09349-5 

Article Title

Emerging evidence of abrupt changes in the Antarctic environment

Article Publication Date

20-Aug-2025

 

Saving bees with ‘superfoods’ – engineered supplement boosts colony reproduction

University of Oxford

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Worker bees feeding in the lab, Oxford Bee Lab. Credit: Caroline Wood.

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Credit: Caroline Name.

More images available to download via the link in the notes section

A new study led by the University of Oxford in collaboration with Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, University of Greenwich, and the Technical University of Denmark could provide a cost-effective and sustainable solution to help tackle the devastating decline in honeybees. An engineered food supplement, designed to provide essential compounds found in plant pollen, was found to significantly enhance colony reproduction. The results have been published today (20 August) in the journal Nature.

The challenge: addressing a critical nutrient deficiency

Climate change and agricultural intensification have increasingly deprived honeybees of the floral diversity they need to thrive. Pollen, the major component of their diet, contains specific lipids called sterols necessary for their development. Increasingly, beekeepers are feeding artificial pollen substitutes to their bees due to insufficient natural pollen. However, these commercial supplements – made of protein flour, sugars, and oils – lack the right sterol compounds, making them nutritionally incomplete.

In the new study, the research team succeeded in engineering the yeast Yarrowia lipolytica to produce a precise mixture of six key sterols that bees need. This was then incorporated into diets fed to bee colonies during three-month feeding trials. These took place in enclosed glasshouses to ensure the bees only fed on the treatment diets.

Key findings:

• By the end of the study period, colonies fed with the sterol-enriched yeast had reared up to 15 times more larvae to the viable pupal stage, compared with colonies fed control diets.
• Colonies fed with the enriched diet were more likely to continue rearing brood up to the end of the three-month period, whereas colonies on sterol-deficient diets ceased brood production after 90 days.
• Notably, the sterol profile of larvae in colonies fed the engineered yeast matched that found in naturally foraged colonies, suggesting that bees selectively transfer only the most biologically important sterols to their young.

Senior author Professor Geraldine Wright (Department of Biology, University of Oxford), said: “Our study demonstrates how we can harness synthetic biology to solve real-world ecological challenges. Most of the pollen sterols used by bees are not available naturally in quantities that could be harvested on a commercial scale, making it otherwise impossible to create a nutritionally complete feed that is a substitute for pollen.”

Lead author Dr Elynor Moore (Department of Biology, University of Oxford at the time of the study, now Delft University of Technology) added: “For bees, the difference between the sterol-enriched diet and conventional bee feeds would be comparable to the difference for humans between eating balanced, nutritionally complete meals and eating meals missing essential nutrients like essential fatty acids. Using precision fermentation, we are now able to provide bees with a tailor-made feed that is nutritionally complete at the molecular level.”

From pollen to precision nutrition: Identifying and producing key bee sterols

Before this work, it was unclear which of the diverse sterols in pollen were critical for bee health. To answer this, the researchers chemically assessed the sterol composition of tissue samples harvested from pupae and adult bees. This required some extraordinarily delicate work; for instance, dissecting individual nurse bees to separate the guts. The analysis identified six sterol compounds that consistently made up the majority in bee tissues: 24-methylenecholesterol, campesterol, isofucosterol, β-sitosterol, cholesterol, and desmosterol.

Using CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing, the researchers then engineered the yeast Yarrowia lipolytica to produce these sterols in a sustainable and affordable way. Y. lipolytica was selected since this yeast has a high lipid content, has been demonstrated as food-safe, and is already used to supplement aquaculture feeds. To produce the sterol-enriched supplement, engineered yeast biomass was cultured in bioreactors, harvested, then dried into a powder.

Co-author Professor Irina Borodina (The NNF Center for Biosustainability, Technical University of Denmark) said: “We chose oleaginous yeast Yarrowia lipolytica as the cell factory because it is excellent at making compounds derived from acetyl-CoA, such as lipids and sterols, and because this yeast is safe and easy to scale up. It is used industrially to produce enzymes, omega-3 fatty acids, steviol glycosides as calorie-free sweeteners, pheromones for pest control, and other products.”

Benefits for agriculture and biodiversity

Pollinators like honeybees contribute to the production of over 70% of leading global crops. Severe declines – caused by a combination of nutrient deficiencies, climate change, mite infestations, viral diseases, and pesticide exposure - poses a significant threat to food security and biodiversity. For instance, over the past decade, annual commercial honey bee colony losses in the U.S have typically ranged between 40 and 50%, and could reach 60 to 70% in 2025. This new engineered supplement offers a practical means to enhance colony resilience without further depleting natural floral resources. Since the yeast biomass also contains beneficial proteins and lipids, it could potentially be expanded into a comprehensive bee feed.

Co-author Professor Phil Stevenson (RBG Kew and Natural Resources Institute, University of Greenwich) added: “Honey bees are critically important pollinators for the production of crops such as almonds, apples, and cherries and so are present in some crop locations in very large numbers, which can put pressure on limited wildflowers. Our engineered supplement could therefore benefit wild bee species by reducing competition for limited pollen supplies.”

Danielle Downey (Executive Director of honeybee research nonprofit Project Apis m., not affiliated with the study) said: “We rely on honey bees to pollinate one in three bites of our food, yet bees face many stressors. Good nutrition is one way to improve their resilience to these threats, and in landscapes with dwindling natural forage for bees, a more complete diet supplement could be a game changer. This breakthrough discovery of key phytonutrients that, when included in feed supplements, allow sustained honey bee brood rearing has immense potential to improve outcomes for colony survival, and in turn the beekeeping businesses we rely on for our food production.”

Next steps and future applications

Whilst these initial results are promising, further large-scale field trials are needed to assess long-term impacts on colony health and pollination efficacy. Potentially, the supplement could be available to farmers within two years.

This new technology could also be used to develop dietary supplements for other pollinators or farmed insects, opening new avenues for sustainable agriculture.

Notes to editors:

For media enquiries and interview requests, contact: Geraldine Wright (geraldine.wright@biology.ox.ac.uk) and Elynor Moore (E.V.Moore@tudelft.nl).

The study ‘Engineered yeast provide rare but essential pollen sterols for honeybees’ will be published in Nature at 16:00 BST/ 11:00 ET Wednesday 20 August 2025 at https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09431-y To view a copy of the study before this under embargo, contact: Geraldine Wright (geraldine.wright@biology.ox.ac.uk) and Elynor Moore (E.V.Moore@tudelft.nl)

Images related to the study that can be used in articles can be found here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1My9L9vABWGoOCAG9UUnAZu4O_ubBJ-hZ?usp=sharing

These images are for editorial purposes relating to this press release ONLY and MUST be credited (see image name). They MUST NOT be sold on to third parties.

About the University of Oxford

Oxford University has been placed number 1 in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings for the ninth year running, and ​number 3 in the QS World Rankings 2024. At the heart of this success are the twin-pillars of our ground-breaking research and innovation and our distinctive educational offer.

Oxford is world-famous for research and teaching excellence and home to some of the most talented people from across the globe. Our work helps the lives of millions, solving real-world problems through a huge network of partnerships and collaborations. The breadth and interdisciplinary nature of our research alongside our personalised approach to teaching sparks imaginative and inventive insights and solutions.

Through its research commercialisation arm, Oxford University Innovation, Oxford is the highest university patent filer in the UK and is ranked first in the UK for university spinouts, having created more than 300 new companies since 1988. Over a third of these companies have been created in the past five years. The university is a catalyst for prosperity in Oxfordshire and the United Kingdom, contributing around £16.9 billion to the UK economy in 2021/22, and supports more than 90,400 full time jobs.

The Department of Biology is a University of Oxford department within the Maths, Physical, and Life Sciences Division. It utilises academic strength in a broad range of bioscience disciplines to tackle global challenges such as food security, biodiversity loss, climate change and global pandemics. It also helps to train and equip the biologists of the future through holistic undergraduate and graduate courses. For more information visit www.biology.ox.ac.uk.

About Kew Science
Kew Science is the driving force behind RBG Kew’s mission to understand and protect plants and fungi, for the well-being of people and the future of all life on Earth. Over 550 Kew scientists work with partners in more than 100 countries worldwide to halt biodiversity loss, uncover secrets of the natural world, and to conserve and restore the extraordinary diversity of plants and fungi. Kew’s Science Strategy 2021–2025 lays out five scientific priorities to aid these goals: research into the protection of biodiversity through Ecosystem Stewardship, understanding the variety and evolution of traits in plants and fungi through Trait Diversity and Function; digitising and sharing tools to analyse Kew’s scientific collections through Digital Revolution; using new technologies to speed up the naming and characterisation of plants and fungi through Accelerated Taxonomy; and cultivating new scientific and commercial partnerships in the UK and globally through Enhanced Partnerships. One of Kew’s greatest international collaborations is the Millennium Seed Bank Partnership, which has to date stored more than 2.4 billion seeds of over 40,000 wild species of plants across the globe. In 2023, Kew scientists estimated in the State of the World’s Plants and Fungi report that 45% of all known flowering plants are threatened with extinction.

About the University of Greenwich:

University of Greenwich has been providing higher education for over 125 years. It has over 20,000 UK and international students studying at three campuses in the UK, and an additional 17,000 students studying overseas. The university operates across three campuses: Greenwich and Avery Hill in London and Medway in Kent. Its renowned research has been globally received and endorsed by five Queen’s Anniversary Prizes for Higher & Further Education. Notable alumni include the late Nobel Laureate Sir Charles Kao, Blur musician David Rowntree and campaigner Doreen Lawrence, Baroness Lawrence of Clarendon.

The Natural Resources Institute (NRI) is a specialist research, development and education institute of the University of Greenwich, focusing on food, agriculture, environment, and sustainable livelihoods. An established global leader in research, teaching and innovation, NRI collaborates with partners across sectors and disciplines to co-create environmental resilience, sustainable agriculture, health and food security. NRI works towards a just world free from disease, hunger, poverty and violence. Learn more at nri.org.

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Journal

Nature

DOI

10.1038/s41586-025-09431-y 

Article Title

Engineered yeast provide rare but essential pollen sterols for honeybees

Article Publication Date

20-Aug-2025

Bees in a feeding choice chamber at Oxford Bee Lab. Credit: Caroline Wood [VIDEO] 

  

Bee keeper Dan Etheridge with a bee frame. Credit: Caroline Wood.

Rearing cage honeybees in the lab, Oxford Bee Lab. Credit: Caroline Wood.

One of the Oxford Bee Lab's hives. Credit: Caroline Wood

Jennifer Chennells weighing honeybee dietary choice tubes, Oxford Bee Lab. Credit: Caroline Wood