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Advances in DNA Assembly Enable Efficient Microbial Cell Factories

A review in Quantitative Biology demonstrates that scientists can now reliably build and combine very large pieces of DNA, making it much easier to redesign microbes such as yeast and bacteria to act as efficient "cell factories."

7 May 2026

New Single-Cell Technique Reveals Why Bacteria Survive Antibiotics

SinBactM's innovative approach to single-bacterium metabolomics reveals distinct metabolic states, enhancing understanding of antibiotic resistance in bacteria.

6 May 2026

AI Designs New Antibiotics That Reduce MRSA Infections In Mice

SyntheMol-RL integrates reinforcement learning for antibiotic design, producing synthesizable candidates that show efficacy against MRSA in preclinical models.

5 May 2026

AI Model Reads DNA Like Language to Trace Ancestry

Researchers at the University of Oregon have developed an artificial intelligence tool that can read genetic code the way large language models like ChatGPT read text. Scanning the genome for biological mutation patterns, the computer model traces pairs of genes back in time to their last common ancestor.

5 May 2026

Engineered Bacteriophage Speeds up the "Training" of Plastic-Eating Bacteria

Millions of tons of plastic waste build up in landfills and oceans each year. One promising approach is to engineer microbes to break plastic down into useful chemical building blocks.

4 May 2026

Genomic Tool TRACS Improves Tracking of Microbial Transmission Patterns

The research, published today (24 April) in Nature Microbiology, describes how the new tool, called TRAnsmision Clustering of Strains (TRACS), uses genomics to distinguish between closely related bacterial strains.

4 May 2026

How the Microbiome Shapes Cancer Immunity and Therapy Response

This review examines how the human microbiome regulates anti-tumor immunity through DNA damage, inflammation, immune-cell activity, microbial metabolites, and tumor microenvironment remodeling. It highlights emerging microbiome-based strategies, including FMT, probiotics, prebiotics, engineered bacteria, and live biotherapeutics, while stressing the need for rigorous validation and clinical trials.

29 Apr 2026

Key Protein Switch Activates Leptospira Virulence and Disease Spread

During infection, pathogens must adapt quickly to the conditions to thrive inside the body. A research team at the University of Basel, Switzerland, has uncovered how a key protein switches on the machinery that enables Leptospira pathogens to survive and cause disease.

28 Apr 2026

Generative AI Model Accelerates Drug Discovery With New Antibiotic Candidate

Researchers at McMaster University have developed a new generative artificial intelligence (AI) model capable of drastically speeding up drug discovery - and, in early tests, it has already designed a brand-new antibiotic.

24 Apr 2026

Structural Insight Into Vibrio Bacteria Opens Way for New Treatment Strategies

Scientists have mapped in unprecedented detail the structure of Vibrio bacteria, which can cause life-threatening infections linked to antibiotic resistance.

24 Apr 2026

New Methods Increase Understanding of How Bacteria Manage DNA

New analytical methods developed at Baylor College of Medicine and collaborating institutions have increased our understanding of how bacteria manage DNA.

23 Apr 2026

New MIND Tool Enables Precise Control of Complex Microbiomes

University of California San Diego researchers have developed a new tool for understanding and modifying any microbiome, including the human microbiome.

22 Apr 2026

Phages Communicate Across Species to Control Infection Decisions

Recent research reveals that bacteriophages can communicate across species, influencing infection dynamics and microbial ecosystems through arbitrium peptides.

22 Apr 2026

Is Fast Food Harming the Gut Health of Seagulls? We Could be About to Find Out

A brand new study looking at the impact of fast food on the gut health of seagulls has just won funding from the Royal Society.

22 Apr 2026

Study Reveals How Neurons Sense Bacterial Signals in Nematodes

Neural interaction with bacteria, e.g. in the gut microbiome, has important effects on brains of animals from worms to people.

21 Apr 2026

Single-Molecule Imaging Reveals How Anabaena Maintains Its Rectangular Shape

Photosynthetic bacteria helped shape Planet Earth. Among them are cyanobacteria that produced the oxygen in our atmosphere and made complex life possible, captivating scientists for decades. Now, researchers at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) report a surprising new discovery-a system thought to separate DNA has developed to sculpt the shape of the cell in cyanobacteria instead. The results, published in Science, shed light on how protein systems evolve and how multicellularity emerged in this type of ecologically essential bacteria.

17 Apr 2026