Microbiology

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Phage Surface Proteins Act as Molecular Anchors to Attach Cells

Bacteriophages, or phages, are viruses that infect bacteria and are not considered human pathogens. Yet researchers at the Translational Microbiology Laboratory of the Institute of Biochemistry, HUN-REN Biological Research Centre, Szeged, have shown that some gut phages can also physically interact with human cells.

13 Jun 2026

Brazilian Researchers Identify Forty Five New Toxins in Salmonella Samples

Researchers at the University of São Paulo (USP) in Brazil have discovered 45 new toxins produced by Salmonella bacteria, some of which are associated with foodborne infections.

12 Jun 2026

New Insights Into How Pancreatic Beta Cells Manage Protein Folding

Origami masters turn simple sheets of paper into ornate sculptures. In the origami of life, our cells must fold proteins into specific three-dimensional shapes before they can carry out their biological jobs.

12 Jun 2026

Aggregative Multicellularity Key to the Development of Multicellular Organisms: Study

A recent study by Ruibao Li and Jennah Dharamshi published in Nature may help us understand the beginnings of animal evolution billions of years ago.

12 Jun 2026

Diagnosing and Treating Borrelia recurrentis Infections in Refugee Populations

Louse-borne relapsing fever is caused by the spirochete bacterium Borrelia recurrentis, which is transmitted by body lice (not head lice).

11 Jun 2026

Bacteria Migrate Over Vast Distances in Coordinated Communities

While scientists have studied how bacteria move towards food using a chemical radar known as chemotaxis, they have only watched single species swim in isolated environments over distances of only a few centimeters.

10 Jun 2026

UIC Scientists Discover Antibiotic to Fight Drug-Resistant Superbugs

Scientists at the University of Illinois Chicago have discovered a new antibiotic that may be a bulwark in the fight against drug-resistant superbugs, according to new research published in Nature.

10 Jun 2026

New Project Explores Virovory’s Potential to Combat Eutrophication

Toxic cyanobacterial blooms can close lakes, contaminate drinking water and pose risks to human health.

10 Jun 2026

Label-Free Raman Spectroscopy Accelerates Precision Phage Therapy

This study was led by Prof. Jian Xu (Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences) in collaboration with Prof. Hongzhou Lu (Shenzhen Third People's Hospital) and Prof. Jiadong Huang (University of Jinan).

8 Jun 2026

Researchers Reconstruct the Billion Year History of Osmotrophic Eukaryotic Evolution

Decomposers are crucial for keeping Earth habitable, breaking down dead biomass and returning key nutrients, like carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus, back into the ecosystem.

5 Jun 2026

New Antibiotic Compound Blocks Ribosome to Starve Dangerous Pathogens

Researchers at McMaster University have discovered a new antibiotic that kills some of the world's most dangerous and drug-resistant bacteria - and does so by targeting a previously unknown vulnerability, opening the door to an entirely new class of treatments.

5 Jun 2026

New Chromosome Packaging Discovery Explains Unlimited Growth in Cancer Cells

Published today in Nature, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and UPMC Hillman Cancer Center report a previously unrecognized change in how the cell's genetic material is packaged into structures called chromosomes.

4 Jun 2026

New Marine Species Euplotes Gigatrox Swallows Genetically Identical Relatives

Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) have discovered a microscopic organism that can transform into a cannibalistic "supergiant" that drastically changes size, shape, and behavior, and abandons filter-feeding to hunt and consume their genetically identical relatives.

4 Jun 2026

How a Tiny Bacterial Enzyme Could Clean Up Chemical Manufacturing

Industrial oxidation chemistry is a cornerstone of modern manufacturing, accounting for nearly one-third of all chemical industrial processes.

3 Jun 2026

Zebrafish Provide New Insights Into Microbiome Dynamics

A new advance in animal husbandry involving a popular aquarium fish should speed the pace of discovery in laboratory studies of host-microbe interactions, researchers report.

2 Jun 2026

Intact Gut Microbes Accelerate Selenium Excretion to Protect Against Toxic Overload

Selenium is an essential micronutrient that supports antioxidant and immune functions, yet how its metabolism is regulated by interactions between host and gut microbiota remains unclear. In a recent study, researchers from Japan used rats to investigate how gut microbiota and the host jointly manage selenium metabolism.

2 Jun 2026

New Protein Discovery Reveals How Bacteria Transport Complex Sugars

Even though sugars are often framed as simple sources of energy, they also serve as structurally complex and functionally diverse molecules that mediate interactions between organisms.

1 Jun 2026

Scientists Reveal How Surface Acids Prevent Bacteria From Blobbing

Researchers have discovered how acids on the surface of bacteria give these microscopic organisms their characteristic "rod" shape-by keeping an enzyme at bay that would otherwise turn the cylindrical cells into shape-shifting blobs.

27 May 2026

New TriPcide Antibiotics Kill Dormant MRSA Without Resistance

The study on TriPcides reveals their ability to combat MRSA and dormant bacteria, offering a new strategy to address antimicrobial resistance in public health.

27 May 2026

Rapid Diagnostic Tool Yields Definitive Bacterial Pathogen Screening Results in 40 Minutes Flat

Inspired by the widely used and user-friendly COVID-19 strip test kits, a team of science students from Chulalongkorn University has developed a test kit for detecting pathogens in milk and dairy products. The team combined the LAMP technique with strip test technology to create a simple screening tool for harmful bacteria that can be easily used by the public.

26 May 2026