Entirely New Immune System Discovered in Bacteria
Like humans, bacteria have various immune systems to defend against pathogens such as viruses. These immune systems usually degrade the DNA of the pathogens to…
Microbiology News
Chlorinated Drinking Water Doesn’t Disrupt Healthy Gut Microbiomes in Young Children
Chlorinated water supplies don’t disturb healthy gut microbiomes in young children. Study addresses concern that adverse effects on microbiome could lead to longer term susceptibility…
Researchers Harness Probiotic Bacteria To Deliver Parkinson’s Disease Treatment
Animal studies show live biotherapeutic produced by gut-healthy probiotic bacteria is safe, reduces treatment complications. Researchers have engineered probiotic bacteria that can synthesize the dopamine…
Gut Bacteria May Be an Important Factor in Blood Pressure Medicine Resistance
Findings could lead to new options for hypertensive patients who don’t respond to medication. Almost half of the U.S. adult population has high blood pressure…
Your Gut Microbiome Shapes Your Life. But Where Did It Come From?
The role of chance in microbiome composition. The gut microbiome is an ecosystem of hundreds to thousands of microbial species living within the human body….
Microscopic Ocean Predator May Be a Secret Weapon in the Battle Against Climate Change
Microscopic Ocean Predator With a Taste for Carbon Capture A single-celled marine microbe capable of photosynthesis and hunting and eating prey may be a secret…
Fecal Microbiota Signature Enables Stool Analysis for Early Detection of Pancreatic Cancer
A genetic signature of 27 microorganisms in stool defines the high-risk population for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, the most common pancreatic cancer, and could be used…
Darwin’s “Mystery of Mysteries” and the Microbiome
Vanderbilt researchers are reimagining Charles Darwin’s work by communicating how the origin of species might depend largely on the microbiome—the totality of bacteria, viruses, fungi…
What Brain-Eating Amoebae Can Tell Us About Life on Earth and Evolutionary History
By providing new insight into how Naegleria divides, an international team of researchers, led by UMass Amherst, adds to fundamental knowledge of life. An international…
Climate Change and Extreme Weather Will Have Complex Effects on Infectious Disease Transmission
Temperature variation affects pathogens and their hosts in distinct ways, and these organisms are influenced by the type of variation and the average background temperature…
Spectacular Chain-Mail Structure: The Protective Armor of Superbug C. difficile Revealed
Spectacular structure of chain-mail may explain the success of C.diff at defending itself against antibiotics and immune system molecules. The spectacular structure of the protective…
Bizarre Bacterial Superpower: How Some Gut Microbes Awaken Zombie Viruses in Their Neighbors
Gut bacteria brew all sorts of chemicals, but we don’t know what most of them do. A new study suggests that one such compound, previously…
Disgusting Biodiversity: The Surprising Structural Reason Your Kitchen Sponge Is a Bacterial Incubator
Environmental structure affects interactions between microbial species, making the common kitchen sponge a better incubator for bacterial diversity than a laboratory Petri dish. Researchers at…
Ancestors of Legionella Bacteria – Which Causes Legionnaires’ Disease – Infected Cells Two Billion Years Ago
Researchers at Uppsala University have discovered that the ancestors of legionella bacteria infected eukaryotic cells as early as two billion years ago. It happened soon…
Biologists Investigate Smallest Propeller on Earth – Used by One of the Fastest Organisms on the Planet
University of Exeter scientists have discovered new information about the tiny propellers used by single-cell organisms called archaea. Like bacteria, archaea are found in a…
“Jumping Genes” – Human Gut Bacteria Have Sex to Share Vitamin B12
Essential nutrient passes between cells via ‘jumping genes.’ Your gut bacteria need vitamin B12 just as much as you do. Though DNA is usually passed…
Surprising Discovery Proves That Deadly Gene Has Jumped From a Harmless Organism to a Deadly Pathogen
University of South Australia scientists have made a surprising discovery in the origins of an antibiotic-resistant gene previously thought to have been confined to Adelaide….
Massive Sponge Gardens Discovered on the Peaks of Extinct Underwater Volcanoes in the Arctic Deep Sea
Sponges grow in large numbers and to impressive size on the peaks of extinct underwater volcanoes. Massive sponge gardens thrive on top of seamounts in…
