Microbes

  1. Microbes

    Drug-resistant bacteria evolved on hedgehogs long before the use of antibiotics

    A standoff between bacteria and antibiotic-producing fungi living on hedgehogs may have led to the rise of one type of MRSA some 200 years ago.

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  2. Microbes

    A bacteria-virus arms race could lead to a new way to treat shigellosis

    As bacteria that cause shigellosis evolve to escape a virus, the microbes may become less deadly, a hopeful sign for “phage therapy.”

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  3. Animals

    Cicada science heats up when Brood X emerges. 2021 was no exception

    Mating mobs of big, hapless, 17-year-old cicadas made for a memorable spring in the Eastern United States

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  4. Animals

    Gut bacteria let vulture bees eat rotting flesh without getting sick

    Acid-producing bacteria in the gut of vulture bees let these “weirdos of the bee world” safely snack on animal carcasses.

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  5. Life

    Fungi may be crucial to storing carbon in soil as the Earth warms

    Fungi help soil-making bacteria churn out carbon compounds that are resilient to heat, keeping those compounds in the ground, a study suggests.

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  6. Microbes

    A sailor’s story captures the impact of rising serious fungal infections

    Fungal infections are hard to diagnose, hard to treat and are on the rise. A young sailor is staying positive to navigate the challenges.

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  7. Microbes

    Are viruses alive, not alive or something in between? And why does it matter?

    The way we talk about viruses can shift scientific research and our understanding of evolution.

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  8. Health & Medicine

    By taking on poliovirus, Marguerite Vogt transformed the study of all viruses

    She pioneered the field of molecular virology with her meticulous lab work and “green thumb” for tissue culture.

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  9. Life

    Probiotics help lab corals survive deadly heat stress

    In a lab experiment, probiotics prevented the death of corals under heat stress, suggesting beneficial microbes could help save ailing reefs.

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  10. Animals

    Viruses can kill wasp larvae that grow inside infected caterpillars

    Proteins found in viruses and some moths can protect caterpillars from parasitoid wasps seeking a living nursery for their eggs.

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  11. Paleontology

    3.42-billion-year-old fossil threads may be the oldest known archaea microbes

    The structure and chemistry of these ancient cell-like fossils may hint where Earth’s early inhabitants evolved and how they got their energy.

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  12. Microbes

    Missing Antarctic microbes raise thorny questions about the search for aliens

    Scientists couldn’t find microbial life in soils from Antarctica, hinting at a limit for habitability on Earth and other worlds.

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