UC Davis Distinguished Professor Carlito Lebrilla is among the 185 academic and institutional inventors newly elected to the National Academy of Inventors (NAI). The fellowship is the highest professional distinction awarded solely to inventors and celebrates success in translating research into products and services.

In a new study published June 13 in Nature Food, UC researchers reprogrammed plants’ sugar-making machinery to produce a diverse array of these human milk sugars, also called human milk oligosaccharides.

We’ve all heard the advice: “Eat more fiber.” But the reality behind that seemingly simple recommendation is much more complex when it comes to human health. While consumption of dietary fiber has been associated with decreased risks of obesity, type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease and certain gastrointestinal disorders, honing in on how specific fibers — or more broadly, carbohydrates — from different foods affect the gut microbiome and thus human health remains a black box.