5,519 results
- Health & Medicine
Worm genes take on bacterial foes
Creatures as simple as worms have an effective immune defense.
- Chemistry
Rooting for new antimicrobial drugs
A compound from a tree found throughout tropical Africa could prove useful as a topical antifungal medication.
- Tech
Voltage from the Bottom of the Sea: Ooze-dwelling microbes can power electronics
Some types of bacteria living in seafloor mud can generate enough electricity to power small electronic devices.
- Health & Medicine
Bugged by Foreign Cuisine
One common experience that tourists encounter while traveling far from home is gut-wrenching diarrhea. In some developing countries, it’s so common that it’s picked up geographic eponyms, like Montezuma’s revenge in Mexico or Delhi belly on the Indian subcontinent. Mexican cuisine typically offers diners tabletop condiments–from spicy chili liquids to diced-veggie salsas and guacamole–to customize […]
- Chemistry
New sensor can ID dangerous bacteria
When newly created organic molecules, called TWTCPs, are attached to a porous silicon wafer and exposed to a certain class of bacterium, the wafer changes color.
- Earth
Gasoline additive’s going, but far from gone
As the federal government proposes phasing out the gasoline additive MTBE, scientists explore ways to remove this potential carcinogen from drinking-water supplies that it has tainted throughout the nation.
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Immune cells carry concealed weapons
Scientists propose that protein-cleaving enzymes called proteases are the real microbe destroyers in bacteria-killing cells called neutrophils.
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Infected butterflies reverse sex roles
In butterfly populations afflicted by male-killing bacteria, females gather in frantic swarms to mate.
- Chemistry
The power of caffeine and pale tea
The relatively rare brew known as white tea offers more caffeine than green tea—and perhaps more anticancer activity.
- Health & Medicine
Mixed Blessing: Unusual gene helps heart, hurts immunity
People carrying a variant of a gene that encodes an immune protein called toll-like receptor 4 have a weaker defense against infections but appear to be less prone to heart disease.
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Hey, we’re richer than we thought!
The latest inventory of life in the United States has turned up an extra 100,000 species of plants, animals, and fungi.
- Health & Medicine
Coffee beans, cavity-causing germs
Compounds in coffee loosen the grip of bacteria that cause tooth decay.
