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.

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

Using data from Sanger sequencing to quantify of genetic variants in bacterial cultures

Genetic variations, such as mutations, recombinations, or transpositions occur naturally in cultured microorganisms and are often considered nonneutral mutations.

7 Mar 2023

Innovative method to quickly identify bacteria in fluids

Shine a laser on a drop of blood, mucus, or wastewater, and the light reflecting back can be used to positively identify bacteria in the sample.

3 Mar 2023

Disinfecting water with peptide-coated silver sulfide quantum dots

Water contaminated with bacteria poses a serious threat to global health. In the scientific publication Angewandte Chemie, a Chinese research team developed a simple new technique for disinfection.

1 Mar 2023

Limiting antibiotic use in livestock associated with reduction in antibiotic-resistant infection

A California policy restricting antibiotic use in animals raised for food is associated with a reduction in one type of antibiotic-resistant infection in people in the state, according to a new study published today in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.

23 Feb 2023

Engineering a phage's DNA by introducing modified CRISPR-Cas machinery genes

Bacteriophages (or phages) are viruses that infect bacteria. They are the most abundant biological entity, and they can be found wherever bacteria live. To propagate themselves, phages inject their DNA into their bacterial hosts.

13 Feb 2023

New arsenal in the fight against superbugs

RMIT scientists have created a new type of antibiotic that can be rapidly re-engineered to avoid resistance by dangerous superbugs.

8 Feb 2023

Researchers decipher how common environmental bacterium can digest complex waste

A common environmental bacterium, Comamonas testosteroni, could someday become nature's plastic recycling center.

7 Feb 2023

Learning about cellular proteins through “snapshots” of translation

Pep-tRNAs, nascent polypeptides inside the ribosome that are covalently connected to transfer RNA, are engaged in a variety of cell processes, including gene expression, according to advances in molecular biology.

1 Feb 2023

Scientists receive $10 million from HHMI for research on using viruses as therapeutic agents

Taking a bold step into a new era of biology, a team of scientists from the University of California San Diego, the J. Craig Venter Institute and Yale University has been awarded $10 million by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute to support research on using viruses as new therapeutic agents.

27 Jan 2023