Microbiome News and Research

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Living cells can produce semi-interpenetrating polymer networks

Biomedical engineers at Duke University have demonstrated that a class of interwoven composite materials called semi-interpenetrating polymer networks (sIPNs) can be produced by living cells. The approach could make these versatile materials more biologically compatible for biomedical applications such as time-delayed drug delivery systems.

11 Jun 2021

SARS-CoV-2 virus does not spread on hospital surfaces

By observing what was going on across the world in early 2020, researchers from the University of California San Diego School of Medicine knew that their region will soon be flooded with patients infected with COVID-19—the disease caused by the coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2.

11 Jun 2021

Study reveals new insights into role of polyphenols in the soil microbiome

Fruits, vegetables, red wine and chocolate are all rich in polyphenols, natural plant compounds that double as cancer-fighting antioxidants. We can access these foods' health benefits because the microbes in our guts happily feast on them, breaking them down into smaller chemical components.

10 Jun 2021

International travelers may pick up AMR genes from different destinations

According to a research work published in the Genome Medicine journal, travelers abroad may contract bacteria and other vectors with genes that confer antibiotic resistance, which linger in the travelers’ gut when they return home.

9 Jun 2021

Study explores how the microbiome could be manipulated for good

There's a lot of interest right now in how different microbiomes--like the one made up of all the bacteria in our guts--could be harnessed to boost human health and cure disease. But Daniel Segrè has set his sights on a much more ambitious vision for how the microbiome could be manipulated for good: "To help sustain our planet, not just our own health."

7 Jun 2021

Diet plays a crucial role in liver disease outcome, mouse model shows

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common cause of chronic liver disease worldwide. NAFLD patients are at higher risk of developing Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), which causes severe and chronic liver inflammation, fibrosis and liver damage.

2 Jun 2021

Each city has its own exclusive microbiome, finds study

A new study performed by researchers report that each city has its own exclusive microbiome or a “fingerprint” of bacteria and viruses that uniquely identify it.

1 Jun 2021

New consortium of bacteria can be used to treat aggressive colitis in humanized mouse models

A new study reported in Nature Communications shows that a consortium of bacteria, developed to complement lacking or poorly represented functions in the imbalanced microbiome of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients, inhibited and treated chronic immune-mediated colitis in humanized mouse models.

31 May 2021

Metagenomic sequencing helps examine differences in the gut microbiome after injury

Researchers used metagenomic sequencing to identify variations in virus and bacterial populations that occur following spinal cord injury in mice.

13 May 2021

Bacterial species in the soil can evolve with climate change

While evolution is normally thought of as occurring over millions of years, researchers at the University of California, Irvine have discovered that bacteria can evolve in response to climate change in 18 months.

29 Apr 2021

Warped immune cell signaling during bile acid exposure may lead to Crohn’s disease

People with Crohn's disease are typically treated with powerful anti-inflammatory medications that act throughout their body, not just in their digestive tract, creating the potential for unintended, and often serious, side effects.

8 Apr 2021

Study shows autism spectrum disorder is related to changes in the gut microbiome

According to a new study, autism spectrum disorder is associated with changes in the gut microbiome.

7 Apr 2021

Study reveals the evolution of the human gut microbiota

The gut microbiota in human beings mostly evolves into an adult-like composition five years after birth, but significant differences continue to persist.

1 Apr 2021

Plants influence how their bacterial and fungal neighbors react to climate change

University of California, Irvine, biologists have discovered that plants influence how their bacterial and fungal neighbors react to climate change.

31 Mar 2021

Bacteria residing within tumor cells may boost cancer immunotherapy

Cancer immunotherapy may get a boost from an unexpected direction: bacteria residing within tumor cells. In a new study published in Nature, researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science and their collaborators have discovered that the immune system "sees" these bacteria and shown they can be harnessed to provoke an immune reaction against the tumor.

23 Mar 2021

Decades of crop breeding prevents modern corn from recruiting nitrogen-fixing microbes

Corn didn't start out as the powerhouse crop it is today. No, for most of the thousands of years it was undergoing domestication and improvement, corn grew humbly within the limits of what the environment and smallholder farmers could provide.

17 Mar 2021

Probiotic spray reduced incidence of fire blight in apple flowers

While many celebrate apple blossoms as classic signs of spring, they are also welcoming entry gates for pathogens. Full of nutrients to lure pollinators and promote pollen germination, flowers also attract bacteria like Erwinia amylavora, a pathogen that causes a damaging disease called fire blight.

10 Mar 2021