Microbiology

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Inhibiting host cell proteases can help prevent COVID-19 infection

How can we prevent the novel coronavirus from invading a host cell in an attempt to prevent infection?

2 Jun 2020

Recombineering technique may overcome barriers in bacterial engineering

Genetic engineering of bacteria has transformed contemporary medicine, from bacterial-based insulin to a deeper insight into infectious diseases.

From Harvard Medical School 1 Jun 2020

Study explores the ways parasites respond to climate change

Warming events are increasing in magnitude and severity, threatening many ecosystems worldwide. As the global temperatures continue to climb, it also raises uncertainties as to the relationship, prevalence, and spread of parasites and disease.

1 Jun 2020

Sheep poo could hold the key to developing new antiparasitics

Sheep poo could hold the key to developing the next generation of antiparasitic treatments that could protect Australian livestock and save the industry millions of dollars a year.

29 May 2020

Study identifies potent neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2

A joint research team led by Sunney Xie, Director of Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Genomics at Peking University has successfully identified multiple highly potent neutralizing antibodies against the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, the causative virus of the respiratory disease COVID-19, from convalescent plasma by high-throughput single-cell sequencing.

29 May 2020

Study shows how ocean virus captures the metabolism of carbon-storing bacteria

Below the surface of the ocean, a virus is stealing the metabolism of the most abundant organism present on Earth. That might be attractive to those who breathe above the ocean’s surface.

28 May 2020

Damped circadian oscillations observed in the absence of KaiA protein in cyanobacterium

Circadian rhythms are driven by a highly autonomous, self-sustaining circadian clock in our cells, telling us when to sleep or wake up in a 24-hour cycle.

27 May 2020

Study finds strong link between fermented foods and the gut microbiome

According to a new international study, fermented foods can be the main source of potentially probiotic lactic acid bacteria (LAB) for the human gut.

27 May 2020

New tool shows how microbes influence health and promote diseases

Scientists from the Quadram Institute and Earlham Institute have developed a unique tool that is helping them to translate the complex communication that takes place between the body and the microbiome.

25 May 2020

Compounds in Brazilian shrub can reduce the virulence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria

Researchers have discovered that the Brazilian peppertree—an invasive, weedy shrub found in Florida—contains specific compounds that lower the virulence of Staphylococcus bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics.

25 May 2020

Researchers identify the smallest gene to study the evolution of metazoans

St Petersburg University researchers have successfully interpreted the Intoshia variabili gene, which happens to be the smallest representative of the parasite belonging to Orthonectida group.

22 May 2020

X-ray experiments reveal antibody to block entry of SARS-CoV-2

As scientists across the globe race to develop a vaccine against SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, an international team led by Davide Corti at Vir Biotechnology and David Veesler at the University of Washington has been working around the clock on a complementary approach - identifying neutralizing antibodies that could be used as a preventative treatment or as a post-exposure therapy.

20 May 2020

Researchers discover a combination punch to combat drug-resistant infections

McMaster University researchers have discovered a combination punch to treat drug-resistant infections that is showing promise based on testing in mice.

19 May 2020

Cross-neutralization of SARS and COVID-19 coronaviruses by an antibody

An antibody first identified in a blood sample from a patient who recovered from Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome in 2003 inhibits related coronaviruses, including the cause of COVID-19.

19 May 2020

Study shows coronavirus does not induce cross-protective immune antibodies

According to researchers, patients infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) or SARS-CoV-2 generate antibodies that adhere to the other coronavirus; however, the cross-reactive antibodies are not actually cross-protective, as far as cell-culture experiments are concerned.

19 May 2020

Research reveals community structure of microorganisms living around Antarctic lakes

A research group of Assistant Prof. Yuu Hirose of the Department of Applied Chemistry and Life Science at Toyohashi University of Technology, Niigata University, the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, and the National Institute of Polar Research, has revealed the community structure of microorganisms living around freshwater lakes in the Langhovde and Skarvsnes ice-free areas of Antarctica.

15 May 2020

Study identifies link between gut microbiome and neurodegenerative disease

Researchers from Harvard University have discovered a new link between the gut and the brain in ALS, a neurodegenerative disease.

14 May 2020

The microbiome regulates our immune system's fitness

Working alongside colleagues in Mainz, Bern, Hannover and Bonn, researchers from Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, the Berlin Institute of Health and the German Rheumatism Research Center Berlin were able to show how the microbiome helps to render the immune system capable of responding to pathogens.

13 May 2020

Microbiome 'fingerprint' method helps track microbial strains transferred from maternal to infant gut

Microbial communities in the intestine -- also known as the gut microbiome -- are vital for human digestion, metabolism and resistance to colonization by pathogens.

11 May 2020

New study sheds light on enigmatic giant microbes

In the recent past, researchers have uncovered giant viruses in some of the most enigmatic locations in the world, from Siberia’s thawing permafrost to locations unknown under the Antarctic ice.

11 May 2020