Microbiology News and Research

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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

Rapid Metagenomics: A Powerful Tool for the Diagnosis of Pathogenic Organisms

According to recent research presented at this year’s European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) in Copenhagen, Denmark, metagenomic sequencing can also provide quick and actionable antimicrobial resistance predictions to treat bloodstream infections much faster than traditional laboratory tests and has the potential to save lives and help manage antibiotic use (15–18 April 2023).

17 Apr 2023

Microbial Drought Resistance Could Result in Soil Carbon Losses

Soil stores more carbon than plants and the atmosphere combined, and soil microbes are largely responsible for putting it there.

13 Apr 2023

Exceptional Number of Unknown Viruses Found in the Infants' Feces

Viruses are usually associated with illness. But our bodies are full of both bacteria and viruses that constantly proliferate and interact with each other in our gastrointestinal tract.

12 Apr 2023

Trinity Scientists Discover New Mechanisms Involved in Establishing Cellular Identity

A team of scientists led by those in Trinity College Dublin has discovered new mechanisms involved in establishing cellular identity, a process that ensures the billions of different cells in our bodies do the correct job.

10 Apr 2023

Viruses Interact with a Far More Diverse Set of Hosts than was Previously Thought

Viruses are the most abundant and diverse biological entities on Earth, living in every type of habitat. In the ocean alone viruses are ten times more abundant than microbes.

7 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

The “Hangry” Stage of Bacteria Cells

The word “hangry” describes individuals who become angry due to hunger. According to a recent study by Adam Rosenthal, PhD, an assistant professor in the department of microbiology and immunology, some bacteria cells experience hangry and release toxic substances into the body when they are denied certain nutrients.

5 Apr 2023

Dengue Viruses Subvert Mosquito Biology to Tamp Down Human Immune Responses

The saliva of mosquitoes infected with dengue viruses contains a substance that thwarts the human immune system and makes it easier for people to become infected with these potentially deadly viruses, new research reveals.

5 Apr 2023

First Steps Driving Antibiotic Resistance Discovered

Antibiotic resistance is a global health threat. In 2019 alone, an estimated 1.3 million deaths were attributed to antibiotic resistant bacterial infections worldwide.

3 Apr 2023

Maternal vaginal microbiome does not substantially influence the infant stool microbiome

It has been a longstanding assumption that birth mode and associated exposure of newborns to their mothers' vaginal microbiome during delivery greatly affects the development of babies' gut microbiome.

31 Mar 2023

Study reports a new target to fight against antibiotic-resistant pneumonia

Increases in multidrug-resistance in the bacteria Streptococcus pneumoniae have made it the fourth-leading cause of death associated with antibiotic resistance.

30 Mar 2023

Myeloid cells contribute to a long-lived HIV reservoir, study shows

A subset of white blood cells, known as myeloid cells, can harbor HIV in people who have been virally suppressed for years on antiretroviral therapy, according to findings from a small study supported by the National Institutes of Health.

28 Mar 2023

Monocytes harbor stable HIV DNA capable of infecting neighboring cells

To develop treatments that may one day entirely rid the body of HIV infection, scientists have long sought to identify all of the places that the virus can hide its genetic code.

28 Mar 2023

Immune system’s aptitude in reducing reliance on antibiotics for treating infections

The removal of obsolete and damaged cell components by the body is crucial for fighting diseases like tuberculosis (TB), which establish themselves inside human cells, according to researchers from the Francis Crick Institute.

27 Mar 2023

Understanding the cellular effects of antibiotics targeting cell wall biosynthesis

It is still unclear how antibiotics work to destroy bacteria. This knowledge, however, is required for the development of new antibiotics. That is exactly what is required because bacteria are becoming increasingly resistant to existing antibiotics.

27 Mar 2023

Novel tool analyzes how immune cells respond to SARS-CoV-2 vaccination

A study discovered that the magnitude and quality of a key immune cell’s response to two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine were significantly lower in individuals with earlier SARS-CoV-2 infection compared to individuals without previous infection.

21 Mar 2023

Keeping lymph nodes in the body can boost the efficacy of cancer immunotherapy

Cancer treatment routinely involves taking out lymph nodes near the tumor in case they contain metastatic cancer cells.

21 Mar 2023

Decreased viral infection severity in females linked to extra copy of epigenetic regulator

It has long been known that viral infections can be more severe in males than females, but the question as to why has remained a mystery – until possibly now.

20 Mar 2023

First molecular images of olfaction sets the stage to create novel smells

Breaking a longstanding impasse in our understanding of olfaction, scientists at UC San Francisco (UCSF) have created the first molecular-level, 3D picture of how an odor molecule activates a human odorant receptor, a crucial step in deciphering the sense of smell.

16 Mar 2023