New research offers insight into the evolutionary history of amylase genes, which are key to our ability to eat and digest starchy food. A study found that human ancestors started carrying multiple ...

A new study reveals how the duplication of the salivary amylase gene may not only have helped shape human adaptation to starchy foods, but may have occurred as far back as more than 800,000 years ago, ...

Amylase is a general term for enzymes that hydrolyze starch and glycogen with the specificity of enzyme preparation. Its main mechanism of action is to hydrolyze starch into maltose, glucose, dextrin, ...

Starch, a complex carbohydrate, is a vital source of nutrition for many mammals. Humans farm it in the form of rice, wheat, corn, potatoes and oats. Rats comb our garbage piles for scraps of pizza and ...

Two new studies found that ancient human ancestors carried a surprising diversity of genes for amylase, an enzyme that breaks down starch. By Carl Zimmer As soon as you put starch in your mouth — ...

Historically, the similarity between AMY1 copies has made this stretch of the genome difficult to map with traditional short-read sequencing techniques like sequencing by synthesis, which map out ...

Amylase and lipase tests help detect two key digestive enzymes in your bloodstream. Abnormal levels may mean you have a medical condition such as pancreatitis or a problem with your kidneys. The ...