Microbiology

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Intelectin-2: A Dual-Action Lectin Fortifies Gut Barrier and Fights Bacteria

The mucosal surfaces that line the body are embedded with defensive molecules that help keep microbes from causing inflammation and infections.

14 Jan 2026

Two-Faced Nanoparticles Restore Antibiotic Power Against Superbugs

Over the decades, many strains of disease-causing bacteria have evolved defenses to even the most potent antibiotics, setting off a growing health crisis.

14 Jan 2026

Marsupial Gut Microbiomes Show Diet Adaptations, Antibiotic Resistance Risks

Marsupials are a group of mammals that encompass many of Australia's most iconic animals, unique because of their geographically isolated evolution.

14 Jan 2026

Giant Virus with A Massive Genome and Unusual Infection Strategy

Ushikuvirus, a newly identified giant virus, showcases unique cytopathic effects and structural features, enhancing knowledge of viral evolution and diversity.

14 Jan 2026

New Technique Measures How Effectively Antibiotics Kill Bacteria

Drugs that act against bacteria are mainly assessed based on how well they inhibit bacterial growth under laboratory conditions.

12 Jan 2026

Giant Virus Uses Unique Codon Strategy to Optimize Host Resource Usage

A virus relies on the host's translation machinery to replicate itself and become infectious. Translation efficiency partially depends on the usage of a codon, or sequence of three nucleotides, that matches the cellular pool of tRNA, key molecules in translation.

12 Jan 2026

Scientists Discover Tug-of-War Mechanism Driving Bacteria Flagella Direction Switching

Scientists have uncovered a new explanation for how swimming bacteria change direction, providing fresh insight into one of biology's most intensively studied molecular machines.

12 Jan 2026

Giant Ushikuvirus Discovery Sheds Light on the Origins of Life

The origin of life on Earth becomes even more fascinating and complex as we peer into the mysterious world of viruses.

8 Jan 2026

Unusual Antibody Tactics Hinder Pathogen Attachment to Cells

Pathogens can create sticky situations. When microbes invade the body to cause an infection, often one of their first lines of attack is to cling tenaciously to the surfaces of targeted human cells.

8 Jan 2026

Cooperation's Fate: Population Bottlenecks Reshape Microbial Social Dynamics

Microbes often display cooperative behavior in which individual cells put in work and sacrifice resources to collectively benefit the group.

8 Jan 2026

Asexual Parasite's Host-Switching Strategy: A Short-Term Evolutionary Win

Australian researchers have uncovered how a particular strain of a diarrhea-causing parasite managed to infect more animal species, offering new insights into how parasitic infections emerge and spread to people.

7 Jan 2026

Gut Microbiome Plays a Direct Role in Shaping Brain Function and Evolution

A groundbreaking new study reveals that changes to the gut microbiome can change the way the brain works.

6 Jan 2026

Tumor Bacteria Found to Drive Immunotherapy Resistance

Cleveland Clinic researchers have discovered that bacteria inside cancerous tumors may be key to understanding why immunotherapy works for some patients but not others.

5 Jan 2026

Mapping Two Millennia of Betaherpesvirus Evolution via Ancient Human Genomes

Researchers have successfully reconstructed the ancient genomes of Human betaherpesvirus 6A and 6B (HHV-6A/B) from human remains that are over two thousand years old.

5 Jan 2026

Fungal Detoxification Pathway Enables Infestation of Bark Beetle Pests

Spruce bark is rich in phenolic compounds that protect trees from pathogenic fungi. A research team at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena investigated how these plant defenses function within the food web, particularly in spruce bark beetles (Ips typographus), which ingest the compounds through their diet. Could the beetles use substances from the spruce's defenses to protect themselves against pathogenic fungi?

30 Dec 2025

Antibiotic Resistance: A Global Crisis Threatening Modern Medicine's Future

Once a medical miracle, antibiotics are now losing their power. Across the world, common infections are becoming harder-and sometimes impossible-to treat. This new review paints a sobering picture of global antimicrobial resistance (AMR), tracing how bacteria and fungi are evolving faster than medicine can respond.

24 Dec 2025