Fatty Acid Oxidation

Single archaeon shown to turn long-chain fatty acids directly into methane

Researchers report that a thermophilic archaeon from the Archaeoglobi group can oxidize long-chain fatty acids and produce methane entirely on its own, without needing a partner organism. The finding, described in a new Nature Microbiology study, challenges the long-held assumption that such hydrocarbon-to-methane conversion requires syntrophic cooperation between separate bacteria and archaea.

nature.com · 2026-10-21

MIT study finds ketogenic diet raises small intestine tumor risk in mice

MIT researchers led by Omer Yilmaz found that mice fed a ketogenic diet developed more tumors in the small intestine than those on a control diet, even as the same diet suppressed colon tumor growth. The team traced the small intestine effect to fatty acid oxidation, a metabolic pathway that spurs intestinal stem cells to multiply faster, and found that ketone bodies themselves appeared uninvolved in either outcome.

technologyreview.com · 2026-10-20