Microbes

More Stories in Microbes

  1. Life

    How disease-causing microbes load their tiny syringes to prep an attack

    Tracking individual proteins in bacterial cells reveals a shuttle-bus system to load tiny syringes that inject our cells with havoc-wreaking proteins.

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  2. Life

    Bacteria fossils hold the oldest signs of machinery needed for photosynthesis

    Microfossils from Australia suggest that cyanobacteria evolved structures for oxygen-producing photosynthesis by 1.78 billion years ago.

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  3. Microbes

    Evolutionary virologist Daniel Blanco-Melo seeks out ancient pathogens

    Daniel Blanco-Melo has reconstructed two viral strains brought to the Americas with European colonizers in the 16th century.

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  4. Life

    Human cancer cells might slurp up bacteria-killing viruses for energy

    In the lab, human cancer cells show signs of cell growth after ingesting bacteria-killing viruses, a hint our cells might use bacteriophages as fuel.

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  5. Microbes

    Watch: Recent microbial discoveries are changing our view of life on Earth

    Videos capture the strange movements and predatory styles of protists — among the closest microbial cousins to multicellular life.

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  6. Health & Medicine

    Mexican virologist Susana López Charretón uncovered rotaviruses’ secrets

    Knowledge of the complex dance between virus and host cell has led to the development of life-saving vaccines.

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  7. Life

    Young squash bugs seek out adults’ poop for an essential microbe

    Squash bug nymphs don’t rely on their parents to pick up a bacterium they’d die without. They find it on their own.

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  8. Life

    ‘Polyester bees’ brew beer-scented baby food in plastic cribs

    Ptiloglossa bees’ baby food gets its boozy fragrance from fermentation by mysteriously selected microbes.

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  9. Life

    Coral reefs host millions of bacteria, revealing Earth’s hidden biodiversity

    A new estimate of microbial life living in Pacific reefs is similar to global counts, suggesting many more microbes call Earth home than thought.

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