Frank Duca
University of Minnesota, MN·Physiology
Rates of obesity and diabetes keep climbing in the United States, and chemicals in the environment may be part of the reason. Glyphosate is the most widely used weedkiller in the country.
- Fields
Physiology
Public Health & Epidemiology
Microbiology & Immunology
- Topics
glyphosate
herbicide
pesticide exposure
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Jul 2027
What they work on
- Assess whether glyphosate exposure at different developmental timepoints promotes obesity or impaired glucose control in male and female mice fed a chow or high-fat diet.
- Determine whether changes in the gut microbiome cause the effects of glyphosate exposure on energy and glucose homeostasis in mice.
- Identify how glyphosate-driven changes in intestinal bile acid signaling, including signaling through the bile acid sensor FXR (Farnesoid X receptor), contribute to impaired metabolic homeostasis.
More about the research
It is considered safe because it blocks the shikimate pathway, a chemical route found in plants but not in mammals. Gut bacteria, however, can be affected by glyphosate, and those bacteria help control how the body handles energy and sugar. No study has asked whether glyphosate exposure promotes obesity or diabetes.
Why it matters
If glyphosate disrupts metabolism through gut bacteria, the findings could reshape how the health effects of everyday pesticide use are judged, a question that touches millions of people. The work could identify microbial targets to offset harm from environmental chemicals. It may also lead to more targeted therapies for metabolic diseases such as obesity and diabetes.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Tammy Kindel
Medical College of Wisconsin, WI·Medicine & Clinical Research
Test whether the gut microbiome after sleeve gastrectomy raises blood bile acids that activate FXR, a bile-acid sensor, using fecal transfer from operated mice and metagenomic sequencing of rodent and human stool.
Ting Fu
University of Wisconsin-Madison, WI·Microbiology & Immunology
Determine how host- and microbe-derived bile acids generated during inflammation and tumor growth shape gut macrophages and their crosstalk with T cells and intestinal stem cells.
Tiangang Li
University of Oklahoma-Health Sciences Center, OK·Physiology
Identify which Cullin-RING E3 ligase complex mediates the benefits of neddylation inhibitors on blood sugar and liver fat, using liver-specific knockout mice and AAV8 gene delivery in mouse models of fatty liver disease.
The school
University of Minnesota: 88 labs on PI Pages, $1.4B a year on research, 722 research doctorates a year.
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