Microbes

  1. Photo of blue cheese
    Microbes

    Meet the fungal friends and foes that surround us

    Keith Seifert’s book The Hidden Kingdom of Fungi explores how microfungi shape our world.

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  2. microscope image of tiny Dictyostelium discoideum amoebas shown as dots forming larger blobs
    Health & Medicine

    Tiny amoebas move faster when carrying cargo than without

    A new study of the carrying capacity of single-celled amoebas may help scientists develop mini “trucks” to precisely target disease in the human body.

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  3. Microbes

    This giant bacterium is the largest one found yet

    On average, Thiomargarita magnifica measures 1 centimeter long and maxes out at 2 centimeters. It is 50 times larger than other giant bacteria.

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  4. molecular syringes illustrated poking into cell membranes
    Microbes

    New images reveal details of two bacteria’s molecular syringes

    It’s unclear exactly how these species use their tiny injectors, but learning how they work could lead to nanodevices that target specific bacteria.

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  5. rod-shaped E. coli bacteria, colorized in orange
    Life

    Some E. coli set off viral grenades inside nearby bacteria

    A bacterial toxin called colibactin awakens dormant viruses embedded in bacterial DNA, but its ecological role is still unknown.

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  6. image of purple gloved hands filling a bottle with fecal transplant pills
    Health & Medicine

    Fecal transplant pills helped some peanut allergy sufferers in a small trial

    In a small study, a one-day fecal microbiota transplant allowed some peanut-allergic adults to safely eat one to two peanuts several months later.

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  7. a dirty kitchen sponge on a white background
    Life

    Why kitchen sponges are the perfect home for bacteria

    Sponges are remarkably diverse hot spots for bacteria, in part because of the mixed-housing environment that the tools offer their tenants.

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  8. illustration of floating Clostridioides difficile bacteria with a chain mail–like outer layer amid a blue background
    Microbes

    A chain mail–like armor may shield C. difficile from some antibiotics

    Examining the structures that protect Clostridioides difficile from medicines could help researchers find new ways to target and kill the bacteria.

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  9. a thirteen-lined ground squirrel curled up into a tight ball
    Animals

    Gut microbes help some squirrels stay strong during hibernation

    Microbes living in the critters’ guts take nitrogen from urea and put it into the amino acid glutamine, helping squirrels retain muscle in the winter.

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  10. an anole clinging to a wire fence
    Animals

    Urban animals may get some dangerous gut microbes from humans

    Fecal samples from urban wildlife suggest human gut microbes might be spilling over to the animals. The microbes could jeopardize the animals’ health.

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  11. sawdust
    Chemistry

    A disinfectant made from sawdust mows down deadly microbes

    Antimicrobial molecules found in wood waste could be used to make more sustainable, greener disinfectants.

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  12. a European hedgehog next to a mossy plant
    Microbes

    Drug-resistant bacteria evolved on hedgehogs long before the use of antibiotics

    A standoff between bacteria and antibiotic-producing fungi living on hedgehogs may have led to the rise of one type of MRSA some 200 years ago.

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