Microbes

Microbes

The secret to icky, sticky bacterial biofilms lies in the microbes’ cellulose

Bacteria use a modified form of cellulose to form sticky networks that can coat various surfaces.

Microbes

A new gel could help in the fight against deadly, drug-resistant superbugs

An antibacterial ointment breaks down the defenses of drug-resistant microbes such as MRSA in lab tests.

Microbes

New pill tracks gases through your gut

Swallowing these pill-sized sensors could give new insight into what’s going on in your gut.

Microbes

These disease-fighting bacteria produce echoes detectable by ultrasound

Ultrasound can help keep tabs on genetically modified bacteria to better fight disease inside the body.

Materials Science

New 3-D printed materials harness the power of bacteria

The three-dimensional materials contain live bacteria and could generate wound dressings or clean up pollutants.

Oceans

In the deep ocean, these bacteria play a key role in trapping carbon

Mysterious nitrite-oxidizing bacteria capture more carbon than previously thought and may be the primary engine at the base of the deep ocean’s food web.

Health & Medicine

Step away from the cookie dough. E. coli outbreaks traced to raw flour

Flour, though low in moisture, can sicken people with E. coli toxins if it is eaten raw.

Life

Lena Pernas sees parasitic infection as a kind of Hunger Games

In studies of Toxoplasma, parasitologist Lena Pernas has reframed infection as a battle between invader and a cell’s mitochondria.

Microbes

Now we know how much glacial melting ‘watermelon snow’ can cause

Algae that give snow a red tint are making glacial snow in Alaska melt faster.

Genetics

The Zika epidemic began long before anyone noticed

Zika spread undetected into Brazil and Florida, a genetic study suggests.

Climate

Ocean acidification may hamper food web’s nitrogen-fixing heroes

A new look at marine Trichodesmium microbes suggests trouble for nitrogen fixation in an acidifying ocean.

Life

Origin of photosynthesis may go further back than estimates from 50 years ago

Analyzing ancient rocks has helped push back the date when photosynthetic organisms first emerged by nearly a billion years.