E. coli News and Research

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E. coli or Escherichia coli is the name of a type of bacteria that lives in your intestines. Most types of E. coli are harmless. However, some types can make you sick and cause diarrhea. One type causes travelers' diarrhea. The worst type of E. coli causes bloody diarrhea, and can sometimes cause kidney failure and even death. These problems are most likely to occur in children and in adults with weak immune systems. You can get E. coli infections by eating foods containing the bacteria. To help avoid food poisoning and prevent infection, handle food safely. Cook meat well, wash fruits and vegetables before eating or cooking them, and avoid unpasteurized milk and juices. You can also get the infection by swallowing water in a swimming pool contaminated with human waste. Most cases of E. coli infection get better without treatment in 5 to 10 days.

Reengineering the Cellular Synthetic Machinery to Produce Never-Before-Seen Polymers

Synthetic biologists have become increasingly creative in engineering yeast or bacteria to churn out useful chemicals -; from fuels to fabrics and drugs -; beyond the normal repertoire of microbes.

14 Jun 2023

Researchers Discover How Deadly Hospital Pathogen can Survive Harsh Environments

The deadly hospital pathogen Acinetobacter baumannii can live for a year on a hospital wall without food and water. Then, when it infects a vulnerable patient, it resists antibiotics as well as the body's built-in infection-fighting response.

17 May 2023

Study Provides a New Picture of How Bacterial Cells Repair Faulty DNA

A new study adds to an emerging, radically new picture of how bacterial cells continually repair faulty sections of their DNA.

17 May 2023

Tracking Antimicrobial Resistance Trends in Commensal Escherichia Coli Isolated From Swine

The spread of drug-resistant microbes has become a global health concern that threatens our ability to treat infections.

15 May 2023

Scientists Engineer the First CRISPR-Based Drug Candidate to Directly Target E. Coli

Many people have experienced infections from E. coli, which are primarily seen as inconvenient and unpleasant.

10 May 2023

Tokyo Tech Researchers Discover How Surface Chemistry can Influence Adhesion of Bacterial Cells

The biofilm-forming bacteria E. coli adheres firmly to hydrophobic and hydrophilic protein-adsorbing self-assembling monolayers (SAMs) and weakly to hydrophilic protein-resisting SAMs, uncovered a recent study by Tokyo Tech researchers.

8 May 2023

Csx28 Membrane Protein Enhances CRISPR's Anti-Viral Defense

CRISPR achieved scientific popularity for its capacity to quickly and precisely edit genes. At the core, however, CRISPR systems are immune systems that aid bacteria to safeguard themselves from viruses through targeting and abolishing viral RNA and DNA.

28 Apr 2023

Cross-Resistant Bacteria from Agricultural Animal as First Line of Defense in Human

New research headed by the University of Oxford has revealed that overuse of antimicrobials in livestock production can lead to the evolution of bacteria more resistant to the first line of the human immune response. The findings were published today in eLife. They show that farmed chickens and pigs could possess huge reservoirs of cross-resistant bacteria, which are capable of powering future epidemics.

27 Apr 2023

Interpretable Machine Learning Framework Helps Optimize Chromosome Design and Synthesis

Artificially synthesizing genomes has numerous applications, including medical research and industrial strains. Scientists are continuously progressing in the depth and breadth of genome design and synthesis, from Craig Venter’s team’s synthesis of the artificial life JCVI-syn1.0 in 2010 to the rewriting and synthesis of the prokaryotic E. coli genome, and the Sc2.0 project’s artificial synthesis of the yeast genome.

26 Apr 2023

Small Vesicles Originating From Intestinal Bacteria Have an Adverse Effect on the Liver

Researchers from Niigata University and Kyoto Prefectural University have revealed that small vesicles, around 100 nm in size, released by intestinal bacteria induce immune activation and progression of liver cirrhosis, as well as reduction of serum albumin level, subsequently leading to edema and ascites.

19 Apr 2023

40% of Supermarket Meat Samples Contain Multidrug-Resistant Bacteria

Multidrug-resistant E. coli were found in 40% of supermarket meat samples tested in a Spanish study.

17 Apr 2023

Evolutionary Encounter of Two Protein Components Could Occur Entirely by Chance

Proteins are the key players for virtually all molecular processes within the cell. To fulfil their diverse functions, they have to interact with other proteins.

7 Apr 2023

Role of Engineered E. coli in Sending Therapeutic Nanobodies to the Gut

Numerous bacterium types have taken up residence in humans. Currently, research is concentrated on genetically modifying these bacteria to increase their inherent therapeutic qualities.

5 Apr 2023

Machine learning reveals the complexities of difficulties in designer chromosome synthesis

Artificially synthesizing genomes has several applications, including medical research and industrial strains.

28 Mar 2023

Rice biologists embark on a three-year project to create genetically encoded antibiotics

Synthetic biologists at Rice University are embarking on a three-year project to create "genetically encoded antibiotics," strands of RNA that bacteria will readily copy and share that will selectively kill only disease-causing, pathogenic bacteria.

14 Mar 2023

Analyzing the antimicrobial resistance profile of the main agent of urinary tract infections

The human intestine is an environment inhabited by many bacteria and other microorganisms collectively known as the gut microbiome, gut microbiota or intestinal flora. In most people, it contributes to wellness. A healthy gut indicates a stronger immune system, improved metabolism, and a healthy brain and heart, among other functions.

14 Mar 2023

“Bacterial suicide squad” recruits and activates innate and adaptive antitumor immune responses

Combining discoveries in cancer immunology with sophisticated genetic engineering, Columbia University researchers have created a sort of "bacterial suicide squad" that targets tumors, attracting the host's own immune cells to the cancer to destroy it. The new work, published today in Science Advances, marks a major step forward in efforts to enlist non-pathogenic bacteria to combat cancer.

9 Mar 2023