Pathogen News and Research

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Invasive E. coli Strains Promote Host Invasion of Harmless Strains

When scientists assess how dangerous a bacterium is, the first question often seems simple: can it be stopped or killed?

1 Oct 2026

Researchers Engineer Synthetic Plant Receptors to Supercharge Crop Immunity

Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) scientists have developed a way to "supercharge" a plant's natural immune response.

26 Sep 2026

Restoring Gut Indole Levels Reduces Campylobacter Infection in Mouse Models

What if something produced naturally by your gut bacteria could help fight a dangerous foodborne pathogen?

17 Sep 2026

New Surveillance Tool Uses Mosquito Waste to Track Emerging Pathogens

When public health researchers want to know whether diseases such as COVID-19 or polio are circulating in a community, they can look for genetic evidence in wastewater.

16 Sep 2026

New Mathematical Models Track Surface Protein Interactions to Map Evolutionary Terrains

When a virus mutates, the world usually finds out the hard way. Variants of influenza and SARS‑CoV‑2 can slip past vaccines and antibody drugs before scientists fully understand what has changed.

15 Sep 2026

Synchronized Gene Regulatory Pathways Defend C. diff Against Host and Microbiota Threats

The pathogen Clostridioides difficile (C. diff) - a leading cause of hospital-acquired infections - must contend with a variety of threats inside the harsh environment of the gut to survive and grow.

10 Sep 2026

Homolog Gene Regulation Alters Cell-Cycle Progression for Sprouting Trichomes

Trichomes-tiny hair‑like structures on leaves-serve as physical barriers that protect plants from insect herbivores, UV radiation, excessive water loss, and toxic chemicals.

8 Sep 2026

Historic Parchment Unlocks Ancient Genetic History of Sheeppox Virus

Some of Europe's most well-known historic manuscripts, including the York Gospels, have proven to be biological time capsules for uncovering the 3,500-year history of the sheeppox virus (SPPV).

4 Sep 2026

Single Line T Cell Immunity Fails Maintaining Permanent Zika Protections

CA-Zika virus has been spreading for decades, but it first grabbed worldwide headlines in 2016. That February, with an outbreak sweeping the Americas, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the surge in Zika-linked birth defects a "public health emergency of international concern"-a designation which lasted until that November.

31 Aug 2026

Essential SNX5 Protein Alerts Human Immune Cells to Tuberculosis Infections

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have identified a protein that helps the immune system respond to tuberculosis (TB), one of the world's leading infectious diseases.

31 Aug 2026

Bat DNA Offers Insights Into Longevity and Cancer Resistance

Bats are anomalies in the mammalian world-they fly, have long lifespans, and rarely get cancer. Scientists now suspect the bat immune system enables them to live longer without disease, according to a new study published today in Nature.

27 Aug 2026

Study Shows How Zombie Cells Drive Chronic Inflammaging-and Age-Related Diseases

When our immune system detects a pathogen or injury, it sets off biological alarm bells. This alert brings in a variety of immune and other cells to deal with the threat and heal any harm done.

21 Aug 2026

Scientists Discover Cluster of Genetic Variants Resisting Common Malaria Treatments

Researchers searching for genetic clues to the growing problem of malaria drug resistance identified new mutations associated with the parasite's decreased susceptibility to current treatment.

18 Aug 2026

Research Reveals Supposedly Decoded Gene Has Hidden Cellular Function

The complete genome for the tuberculosis bacterium was sequenced and published in 1998. Since then, scientists have deciphered about two-thirds of TB's genes. Or have they?

18 Aug 2026

New Research Bypasses Rapid Fungicide Resistance Through Cell Wall Disruption

Powdery mildew is among the most widespread crop diseases, affecting cereals, grapes, cucurbits, tomatoes, fruit crops, and ornamentals in fields and greenhouses.

5 Aug 2026

Scientists Identify Lethal Columnaris Fish Disease in Brazil for the First Time

For the first time in Brazil, scientists have identified the presence of bacteria that cause columnaris disease, a serious disease in farmed fish intended for human consumption.

3 Aug 2026

Scientists Discover How Heart Muscle Cells Remodel Actin Filaments

Biophysicists unraveled a mystery of how muscles form at the molecular level and how they maintain their function.

30 Jul 2026

3D Mapping of Tonsil Genetic Structures Unlocks Antibody Optimization

About 2 meters worth of genetic material must fit into the nucleus of each and every one of most of our trillions of cells, coiling and winding to form what looks like a tangled mess.

28 Jul 2026

Molecular Insights Into Fungal Effectors Disabling Host Immune Transcription Factors

Plants defend themselves through a layered innate immune system: pathogen-associated molecular pattern-triggered immunity (PTI) and effector-triggered immunity (ETI), mediated by pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) and nucleotide-binding leucine-rich repeat (NLR) receptors, respectively.

28 Jul 2026

Uncovering Plant Discrimination and Dose Responses to Beneficial Soil Microbes

For years, beneficial Bacillus bacteria have been used to promote plant growth and protect crops, yet most studies treat these microbes as functionally interchangeable.

28 Jul 2026