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.

New research shows protein movements play an important role in their ability to function

Researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine have reported that they have interrogated the atomic structure of proteins, adding to proof that the wobbles, shakes, and quivers of proteins play an important role in their ability to operate.

18 Jul 2022

Research combines robotics and biology to create biohybrid microrobots using E. coli

A team of scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems’ Physical Intelligence Department merged robotics and biology by outfitting E. coli bacteria with artificial components to create biohybrid microrobots.

From The Max Planck Institute 18 Jul 2022

New bacterial tool improves drug production in bacterial cells

The prescription humans use to manage high blood pressure, discomfort, or memory loss may one day originate from modified bacteria, cultivated in a vat like a yogurt, offering more inexpensive, sustainable drug options than people now have.

11 Jul 2022

Protecting foods with antimicrobial, plant-based food wrap

Aiming to produce environmentally friendly alternatives to plastic food wrap and containers, a Rutgers scientist has developed a biodegradable, plant-based coating that can be sprayed on foods, guarding against pathogenic and spoilage microorganisms and transportation damage.

From Rutgers University 21 Jun 2022

Scientists restructure the genome of E. coli using fragments extracted from mummy

An international group led by McMaster University researchers, in partnership with the University of Paris Cité, has recognized and reconfigured the first ancient genome of E. coli using fragments derived from a 16th-century mummy’s gallstone.

17 Jun 2022

A new breakthrough in the quest to improve photosynthesis in certain crops

A Cornell University study describes a breakthrough in the quest to improve photosynthesis in certain crops, a step toward adapting plants to rapid climate changes and increasing yields to feed a projected 9 billion people by 2050.

19 Apr 2022

Study shows how T cell-derived interleukin-22 promotes antibacterial defense of colonic crypts

Intestinal epithelial cells line the inner wall of the gut, creating a barrier to dangerous bacteria like enteropathogenic E. coli that seek to attach and efface that barrier, causing diarrhea.

11 Apr 2022

Rockefeller scientists reveal how a narrow-spectrum antibiotic selectively targets C. diff

Most antibiotics are double-edged swords. Besides killing the pathogen they are prescribed for, they also decimate beneficial bacteria and change the composition of the gut microbiome.

7 Apr 2022

Bacteria form distinctive lane-like patterns when constrained to a channel

It's well understood that populations of species don't distribute at random. Rather, as populations grow, individuals are organized around barriers in the landscape.

22 Mar 2022

Nanotranslator enables communication between two different living microorganisms

Cells communicate with one another in the language of chemistry, but those from different kingdoms, such as bacteria and yeast, speak dialects virtually unintelligible to the other.

17 Mar 2022

Sustainable Food Packaging that Protects Food from Microbes

In this interview, AZoLifeSciences talks to Dr. Mary Chan about the development of a new ‘smart’ food packaging that is biodegradable and has antimicrobial properties, extending the shelf-life of fresh food.

From Nanyang Technological University Singapore (NTU Singapore) 15 Mar 2022

A cryptic molecule can awaken killer viruses from their slumber

Some gut bacteria have a spooky superpower: they can reanimate dormant viruses lurking within other microbes.

24 Feb 2022

Researchers develop and demonstrate new procedure for controlling directed evolution

A new procedure for controlling directed evolution in bacteria is developed and demonstrated by scientists at North Carolina State University.

16 Feb 2022

Researchers discover a sustainable approach for drug development

Although several people think of medicines as purely synthetic compounds, nature is an important element of most of the medications humans depend on.

4 Feb 2022

Producing New Antibiotics Through Gene Editing

In this interview, we speak to Professor Jason Micklefield about his latest research that may be able to produce new antibiotics through gene-editing technologies.

From The University of Manchester 24 Jan 2022

Scientists discover “resistance gene” in harmful E. coli bacteria

Researchers have discovered a gene that makes E. coli bacteria resistant to antibiotics, effectively leading to better treatment for people across the globe.

20 Jan 2022

Using E.Coli to bring 3D Printing to Life

In this interview, we speak to Dr. Avinash Manjula Basavanna about his latest research that incorporated E. Coli to bring 3D printing materials to life.

From Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) 13 Jan 2022

Researchers fine-tune an additional system for more efficient gene editing

Over the past decade, the CRISPR genome-editing system has revolutionized molecular biology, giving scientists the ability to alter genes inside living cells for research or medical applications. Now, researchers at Gladstone Institutes have fine-tuned an additional system for more efficient gene editing, using molecules called retrons.

6 Jan 2022

‘Smart’ food packaging material kills microbes and keeps food fresh

A team of scientists from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, US, has developed a 'smart' food packaging material that is biodegradable, sustainable and kills microbes that are harmful to humans. It could also extend the shelf-life of fresh fruit by two to three days.

From Nanyang Technological University Singapore (NTU Singapore) 29 Dec 2021

Scientists test the accuracy of enzymes that copy DNA under weightlessness

Researchers at Queen’s University boarded a modified Falcon 20 aircraft at Ottawa airport on May 22nd, 2019 as part of a scheduled “vomit comet” flight. In this mode of flight, the plane repeatedly climbs in a steep parabola to 8 km, alternating with a freefall descent.

2 Dec 2021