Health & Medicine
A molecule produced by gut microbes may help spur heart disease
A leftover from microbes’ meals is linked to early heart disease in people. In mice, it contributed to plaque buildup in the arteries.
Microbes
More Stories in Microbes
- Chemistry
Gut microbes may flush ‘forever chemicals’ from the body
Experiments in mice show that some gut bacteria can absorb toxic PFAS chemicals, allowing animals to expel them through feces.
- Animals
As bird flu evolves, keeping it out of farm flocks is getting harder
New versions of the H5N1 virus are increasingly adept at spreading. Suggestions to either let it rip in poultry or vaccinate the birds could backfire.
- Health & Medicine
Many U.S. babies may lack gut bacteria that train their immune systems
Too little Bifidobacterium, used to digest breast milk, in babies' gut microbiomes can increase their risk of developing allergies and asthma.
- Health & Medicine
Humans have shockingly few ways to treat fungal infections
It's not quite as bad as The Last of Us. But progress has been achingly slow in developing new antifungal vaccines and drugs.
- Health & Medicine
Lining medical stents with hairlike fuzz could fend off infections
Implanted tubes that transport bodily fluids can get gross. A lab prototype suggests a new vibration-based way to keep them clean and prevent infection.
- Health & Medicine
Bird flu in cows shows no signs of adapting to humans — yet
Easy replication in cattle mammary glands means H5N1 bird flu is under no evolutionary pressure to adapt to spread easily in humans.
- Space
Fermenting miso in orbit reveals how space can affect a food’s taste
A miso test on the International Space Station shows fermenting food is not only possible in space, it adds nuttier notes to the Japanese condiment.
- Health & Medicine
A new antifungal drug works in a surprising way
Mandimycin, which targets a different essential fungi cell resource than other antifungal drugs, should harm other cell types as collateral — but doesn’t.
- Microbes
Elite athletes’ poop may hold clues to boosting metabolism
In a small study, mice given fecal transplants from elite cyclists and soccer players had higher levels of glycogen, a key energy source.
