Microbiology

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New DNA Test Detects Listeria in Ice Cream and Reveals How It Survives Freezing

Researchers developed a PMA-ddPCR assay to detect and quantify potentially viable Listeria monocytogenes in ice cream, identifying the pathogen in two of 500 commercial samples and demonstrating good agreement with conventional culture-based measurements. The method also supported predictive models of bacterial growth under different temperature conditions, while experiments showed that the pathogen could survive 240 days of frozen storage without substantial changes in population levels.

21 Oct 2026

Scientists Analyzed 28,724 Food Safety Alerts and Found a Surprising Limit to AI

Researchers analyzed 28,724 European food safety notifications from 2019 to 2025 and found that accounting for the direction of country-to-country alert links improved predictions, while more complex machine learning models offered little additional benefit. Simpler network measures performed just as well at identifying future notification links, highlighting the importance of careful model evaluation and targeted food safety surveillance.

21 Oct 2026

In Situ Plasmonic Nanostructure Growth Enables Label Free Bacterial SERS Analysis

A research team led by Senior Researcher Minyoung Lee and Principal Researcher Sunggyu Park of the Advanced Bio and Healthcare Materials Research Division at the Korea Institute of Materials Science (KIMS), headed by President Chul-jin Choi, has developed a label-free surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) analysis technology that rapidly detects extremely low concentrations of viable bacteria by directly growing plasmonic metal nanostructures on and around bacterial cells.

20 Oct 2026

Mobile Genetic Elements and Reservoir Type Drive Resistance-Gene Abundance in Water Sources

Aquatic environments are recognized as reservoirs and pathways for antimicrobial resistance, receiving antibiotic residues and resistant microorganisms from sewage, livestock farming, and aquaculture. Previous studies have detected resistance genes in drinking water sources and shown that conventional treatment may remove them incompletely.

16 Oct 2026

Korean Researchers Identify New Mechanism Underlying Superbug Antibiotic Resistance

A joint research team led by Professor Hongbaek Cho of the Department of Biological Sciences at Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU) and Professor Jeong Min Chung of the Department of Biotechnology at The Catholic University of Korea has identified a new mechanism underlying antibiotic resistance in Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a major multidrug-resistant "superbug."

16 Oct 2026

Using Bacteria to Create Biocement Materials

Cement manufacturing is one of the largest sources of CO2 emissions in the construction industry. At the Department of Architecture, Karen Antorveza Paez, who has just completed her doctorate at ETH Zurich, is researching an alternative that works in a totally different way: instead of firing rocks at over 1,000°C, she is getting bacteria to bond grains of sand together into solid architectural elements.

16 Oct 2026

Immature Viral Procapsids Facilitate Evolutionary Shifts Toward Cellular Protein Compartments

Researchers at the University of Miami have identified a group of previously unknown viruses that bridge an evolutionary gap between viruses and cellular protein compartments, a discovery with important implications for both biotechnology and scientists’ understanding of the origins of life.

16 Oct 2026

Artificial Intelligence Integrates Multi-Omic Data to Predict HPV Lesion Progression

Infection with human papillomavirus (HPV) is extremely common and, in the vast majority of cases, clears up on its own. However, in some people, it persists and can develop into precancerous lesions or even cancer.

16 Oct 2026

Non-Dominant Bacterial Networks Drive Stability and Resilience in Gut Microbiome

The stability of the human gut microbiome relies on interactions between different bacterial species. However, the specific molecular mechanisms of these interactions, particularly among non-dominant species, remain largely unexplored.

16 Oct 2026

Breakthrough in Bacterial Enzyme Engineering for Sustainable Industrial Chemical Production

To produce pharmaceuticals, food ingredients, and flavours and fragrances, it is often necessary to oxidise alcohols. In conventional chemistry, this transformation typically relies on harsh oxidants and elevated temperatures, besides generating toxic waste.

15 Oct 2026

Gene Amplification Unexpectedly Increases Bacterial Susceptibility to Frontline Antibiotics

This study was led by Yuqin Song and Jie Feng from the Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. The researchers investigated how insertion sequence (IS)-mediated gene amplification contributes to the adaptability of Acinetobacter baumannii, an important nosocomial pathogen known for its multidrug resistance and persistence in clinical environments.

15 Oct 2026

Metagenomic Sequencing Reveals Widespread Resistance Across Estuarine Bacteria

Marine bacteria have evolved to bypass the copper-based coatings placed under ships to stop the growth of barnacles, algae, and other marine life.

14 Oct 2026

New Dianjunaceae Fungal Family Traces Its Origins Back to Dinosaur Extinction

Deep in the forests of Yunnan, China, scientists have discovered a 'fungal giant' that challenges our understanding of how large fungi can become.

14 Oct 2026

Improving CRISPR-Based Diagnostics for Sensitive Detection of Infectious RNA Viruses

Scientists have long used a powerful gene-editing tool called CRISPR to make precise changes to DNA.

14 Oct 2026

Google DeepMind’s Nature Study on Watermarking AI-Designed Proteins Validated with Carterra HT-SPR

Carterra®, a leading provider of high-throughput surface plasmon resonance (HT-SPR™) platforms for antibody and small molecule drug discovery, today highlighted the role of its LSA-XT platform in new research from Google DeepMind published in Nature.

13 Oct 2026

Time Capsule Fungus Offers Opportunity for Rare Glimpse into 50 Years of Wheat Disease Evolution

A pair of tiny glass vials sealed away for half a century could provide novel insights into one of Australia's most damaging wheat diseases when a 50-year-old time capsule is opened on October 17, 2026.

13 Oct 2026

Microbe Retains Self-Replication Machinery While Discarding Almost All Metabolic Pathways

Scientists have discovered a previously unknown microorganism, which has the smallest genome ever found, that is possibly able to replicate and express its own genetic information.

10 Oct 2026

Ancient Gut Microbes Traveled Globally With Prehistoric Human Ancestors

As waves of humans left Africa tens of thousands of years ago, eventually populating the entire planet, they were joined on their world-conquering ride by the trillions of microorganisms that compose the gut microbiome.

8 Oct 2026

Researchers Discover Novel Protein Plug Mechanism in Multidrug-Resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa

8 Oct 2026

Collision-Sensing Enables Efficient Bacterial Navigation Through Complex Micro-Scale Mazes

Whether in fish schools, bird flocks or human crowds, moving as a group can offer safety and efficiency, but it can also lead to congestion and jamming," says Alexandre Persat, Professor at EPFL.

7 Oct 2026

Microbiology

New DNA Test Detects Listeria in Ice Cream and Reveals How It Survives Freezing

Scientists Analyzed 28,724 Food Safety Alerts and Found a Surprising Limit to AI

In Situ Plasmonic Nanostructure Growth Enables Label Free Bacterial SERS Analysis

Mobile Genetic Elements and Reservoir Type Drive Resistance-Gene Abundance in Water Sources

Korean Researchers Identify New Mechanism Underlying Superbug Antibiotic Resistance

Using Bacteria to Create Biocement Materials

Immature Viral Procapsids Facilitate Evolutionary Shifts Toward Cellular Protein Compartments

Artificial Intelligence Integrates Multi-Omic Data to Predict HPV Lesion Progression

Non-Dominant Bacterial Networks Drive Stability and Resilience in Gut Microbiome

Breakthrough in Bacterial Enzyme Engineering for Sustainable Industrial Chemical Production

Gene Amplification Unexpectedly Increases Bacterial Susceptibility to Frontline Antibiotics

Metagenomic Sequencing Reveals Widespread Resistance Across Estuarine Bacteria

New Dianjunaceae Fungal Family Traces Its Origins Back to Dinosaur Extinction

Improving CRISPR-Based Diagnostics for Sensitive Detection of Infectious RNA Viruses

Google DeepMind’s Nature Study on Watermarking AI-Designed Proteins Validated with Carterra HT-SPR

Time Capsule Fungus Offers Opportunity for Rare Glimpse into 50 Years of Wheat Disease Evolution

Microbe Retains Self-Replication Machinery While Discarding Almost All Metabolic Pathways

Ancient Gut Microbes Traveled Globally With Prehistoric Human Ancestors

Researchers Discover Novel Protein Plug Mechanism in Multidrug-Resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Collision-Sensing Enables Efficient Bacterial Navigation Through Complex Micro-Scale Mazes

The Future of Vision Restoration With ReVision Implant

How a Single List Is Changing Visibility for Women in Science

How Avatar Medical's 3D Technology Is Transforming How We Visualize the Human Body

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