Microbes
- Genetics
Genes could record forensic clues to time of death
Scientists have found predictable patterns in the way our genetic machinery winds down after death.
- Animals
Here’s why so many saiga antelope mysteriously died in 2015
Higher than normal temperatures turned normally benign bacteria lethal, killing hundreds of thousands of the saiga antelopes.
- Microbes
The secret to icky, sticky bacterial biofilms lies in the microbes’ cellulose
Bacteria use a modified form of cellulose to form sticky networks that can coat various surfaces.
- Microbes
A new gel could help in the fight against deadly, drug-resistant superbugs
An antibacterial ointment breaks down the defenses of drug-resistant microbes such as MRSA in lab tests.
- Microbes
New pill tracks gases through your gut
Swallowing these pill-sized sensors could give new insight into what’s going on in your gut.
- Microbes
These disease-fighting bacteria produce echoes detectable by ultrasound
Ultrasound can help keep tabs on genetically modified bacteria to better fight disease inside the body.
- Materials Science
New 3-D printed materials harness the power of bacteria
The three-dimensional materials contain live bacteria and could generate wound dressings or clean up pollutants.
- Oceans
In the deep ocean, these bacteria play a key role in trapping carbon
Mysterious nitrite-oxidizing bacteria capture more carbon than previously thought and may be the primary engine at the base of the deep ocean’s food web.
- Health & Medicine
Step away from the cookie dough. E. coli outbreaks traced to raw flour
Flour, though low in moisture, can sicken people with E. coli toxins if it is eaten raw.
- Life
Lena Pernas sees parasitic infection as a kind of Hunger Games
In studies of Toxoplasma, parasitologist Lena Pernas has reframed infection as a battle between invader and a cell’s mitochondria.
- Microbes
Now we know how much glacial melting ‘watermelon snow’ can cause
Algae that give snow a red tint are making glacial snow in Alaska melt faster.
- Genetics
The Zika epidemic began long before anyone noticed
Zika spread undetected into Brazil and Florida, a genetic study suggests.
