Microbes
Antarctic lake microbes have flexible survival strategies
Life teems under the Antarctic ice sheet. In subglacial Lake Mercer, it is surprisingly versatile and isolated from the rest of the world.
Microbes
More Stories in Microbes
- Health & Medicine
Could babies get bird flu through breast milk? Maybe, a study hints
H5N1 bird flu might infect human mammary glands, potentially allowing the virus to show up in breast milk.
- Planetary Science
Cosmic rays could, in theory, sustain life on other worlds
The hypothesis could extend the search for extraterrestrial life to include frigid planets with thin atmospheres and underground water.
- Health & Medicine
Some probiotics could feed, rather than fend off, infections
Probiotics containing Lactobacillus gasseri Lg-36 prevented C. difficile infections in mice, but L. acidophilus probiotics made infection more likely.
- 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.
- Health & Medicine
You may already have some protection from bird flu, but don’t count on it
Studies suggest that people who had seasonal flus or vaccinations have low antibody levels against H5N1 bird flu.
- Health & Medicine
Climate change may be pushing fungal allergy season earlier
Rising temperatures and changing rainfall patterns may be lengthening fungal allergy season, which starts 3 weeks earlier than it did two decades ago.
- 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.
