Infectious Diseases News and Research

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Scientists Reconstruct a 700-Million-Year Evolutionary Tree of Blood Cells

Almost all animal species -- including humans -- have blood cells, but between different species our blood tells different stories. The lineage and components of blood cells vary widely, and this variety is a testament to how animals have evolved to protect themselves from infectious diseases.

26 May 2026

Scientists Find Key Genetic Boundary That Dictates Immune System Failure

Not all broken genes fail in the same way: some simply stop working, while others interfere with what still works.

22 May 2026

How Minimal Medical Care Shifts Amazonian Villagers' Unique Gut Bacteria

Even minimal exposure to modern medicine can rapidly change the human microbiome. In a new study publishing May 20 in the Cell Press journal Cell Reports, researchers reveal that the gut microbes of remote Amazonian Indigenous communities began shifting toward patterns more commonly seen in urban, industrialized populations after only a few medical visits.

21 May 2026

Engineers Develop New mRNA Adjuvant That Dramatically Amplifies Cancer-Fighting T Cells

Engineers from the University of Houston, MIT and Harvard have developed a new mRNA-based strategy that dramatically amplifies the T-cell response to vaccines - an advance that could lead to far more powerful cancer vaccines and stronger protection against infectious diseases.

20 May 2026

Novel Synthetic Molecules Attack Cell Membranes to Prevent Severe Bacterial Infections

In a new study, researchers show how so‑called TriPcides can target the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus, including antibiotic‑resistant strains such as MRSA. The compounds disrupt the bacteria's ability to cause infection and can also kill dormant bacterial cells, which are often difficult to treat with existing antibiotics.

20 May 2026

Copper-Free Click Reactions Allow Safe In Vivo Tracking of Tumors Inside the Body

Conventional cancer treatments like chemotherapy often struggle with poor targeting, leading to severe systemic toxicity and drug resistance. Diagnostic techniques, while improving, are frequently invasive and cannot monitor treatment responses in real time.

20 May 2026

Study Explores How Highly Infectious TB Cases Drive Transmission

Superspreading became a familiar concept to many during the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior studies examining infectious disease epidemics, including those on COVID-19, have found that some individuals are much more likely to transmit infections to other people.

15 May 2026

RNA Modularity Explains Emergence of Human-Infective Cholera Strains

Scientists from St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have uncovered what gives Vibrio cholerae, the bacterium that causes cholera, the ability to colonize the human gut.

15 May 2026

How Genetic Bonuses Help Gut Bacteria Adapt to Industrialization

Billions of microorganisms-primarily bacteria, viruses, and fungi-colonize our gut. This complex community is known as the microbiome.

7 May 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

Influenza D Virus Shows Potential to Infect Human Cells

The influenza D virus that researchers say has been flying under the radar since its detection in animals in 2011 can vigorously make copies of itself in human cells and lung tissue samples, a new study shows.

27 Apr 2026

Researchers Find COVID-19 Shifting Toward an Endemic Phase

The World Health Organization declared the global health emergency related to the COVID-19 pandemic over in 2023, as most people had developed immune protection against the virus through vaccination and/or prior infection.

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

Scientists Map Human Genes That Control HIV Infection Dynamics

The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which is the cause of AIDS, is a master of deception, using just nine genes to hijack the complex cellular machinery of the human body.

21 Apr 2026

Gene Editing Reprograms Immune System to Produce Therapeutic Proteins

An innovative gene-editing strategy could establish a new way for the body to manufacture therapeutic proteins-including certain kinds of highly potent antibodies the are naturally difficult to produce-by reprogramming the immune system itself.

20 Apr 2026

How Bacterial Enzymes Use Ratchet Mechanisms to Break Down Collagen

Collagen is an important protein that helps build the tissues of humans and animals. It is very strong because it is made of three protein strands twisted tightly together like a rope. Because of this sturdy structure, ordinary protein-cutting enzymes usually cannot break it down.

6 Apr 2026

Cysteine Pathways Shape T Cell Expansion and Cancer Defense

A research team from the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, its Bloomberg~Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health have discovered how the immune system's CD8+ T cells use the nutrient cysteine to control two essential functions that compete for this resource - the immune cell's ability to multiply and its ability to kill cancer cells.

1 Apr 2026