Microbiology News and Research

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New Microbe with Potential to Revolutionize Biomanufacturing and Carbon Capture

A unique strain of cyanobacteria, or algae, isolated from volcanic ocean vents has been found by an international team of researchers from the United States and Italy.

30 Oct 2024

Cryo-EM Technology Paves the Way for Major Biological Discovery

Ben Orlando's research talk at MSU's Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in 2019 laid the groundwork for a team effort that had been developing for decades.

25 Oct 2024

Mobile Genetic Elements Alter Antagonistic Strategies of Gut Bacteria

Bacteria evolve rapidly in the human gut by sharing genetic elements with each other. Bacteriodales is a prolific order of gut bacteria that trade hundreds of genetic elements.

25 Oct 2024

Light-Activated Immune Therapy Shows Promise Against Solid Tumors

Immunotherapies that mobilize a patient's own immune system to fight cancer have become a treatment pillar.

25 Oct 2024

New Bacterial Toxins Discovered as Potential Weapons Against Infections

Researchers have discovered a new group of bacterial toxins that can kill harmful bacteria and fungi, opening the door to potential new treatments for infections.

23 Oct 2024

Structural Insights into Bacteriophages Open Doors for New Therapeutics

The viruses that infect bacteria are the most abundant biological entities on the planet. For example, a recent simple study of 92 showerheads and 36 toothbrushes from American bathrooms found more than 600 types of bacterial viruses, commonly called bacteriophages or phages.

23 Oct 2024

Mapping Auxiliary Metabolic Genes in Ocean Viruses

The microbes that cycle nutrients in the ocean don't do the work on their own – the viruses that infect them also influence the process.

21 Oct 2024

New study reveals hidden diversity of acetic acid bacteria in the sourdough microbiome

Biologists have sequenced various acetic acid bacterial genomes to understand their genomic diversity, function, and ecology in the sourdough microbiome.

10 Oct 2024

CAR-NKT Cells Show Promise in Overcoming Solid Tumor Barriers

Chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy (CAR-T) has shown significant promise in the treatment of blood malignancies in the fight against cancer.

8 Oct 2024

UNC Researchers Unveil CAR-NKT Therapy for Enhanced Antitumor Activity

In the fight against cancer, chimeric antigen receptor T cell (CAR-T) therapy has achieved notable success in treating blood cancers. However, it has been largely ineffective against solid tumors.

8 Oct 2024

Fighting Drug-Resistant TB with a Novel Antibiotic

A novel semi-synthetic molecule that produces significant activity against strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, including those that are resistant to drugs, can be generated from natural compounds according to a study published in the American Society for Microbiology journal Microbiology Spectrum.

4 Oct 2024

Zinc Inhibits Plasmid Transfer in Gut Microbes

Genes responsible for antimicrobial resistance (AMR) can spread from microbe to microbe through circular genetic material called plasmids, and this lateral transfer occurs in the gut. This week in Applied and Environmental Microbiology, researchers in Iowa report that the transmission of some AMR plasmids may be inhibited by a readily available source-;dietary zinc supplements.

4 Oct 2024