A Better Kind of Face Mask: Researchers Develop Virus Killing Masks
The research team utilized accessible and affordable equipment to improve N95 masks and cut waste Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have created a practical method…
Bacteria
Applying a Special Type of Bacteria to Concrete Increases Its Strength by 30%
The addition of denitrifying bacteria to recycled coarse aggregate concrete can significantly improve its freeze-thaw resistance Concrete is one of the most frequently used construction…
Keeping Food on the Table in a Warming World: Bolstering Plant Immunity Against the Heat
Climate change is making plants more susceptible to disease. New research could help them fight back. When heat waves strike, they don’t just take a…
Giant Bacteria – 5,000 Times Bigger Than Normal – Discovered in Guadeloupe Mangroves
Though newly discovered bacteria are visible to the naked eye, microscopy reveals unexpected complexity. At first glance, the slightly murky waters in the tube look…
Scientists Have Created a Method To Prevent Deadly Infections Without Antibiotics
UCLA researchers have created a new surface treatment that prevents bacteria from sticking to medical devices such as catheters and stents. A hospital or medical…
Plastic Pollution in the Ocean May Harbor Novel Antibiotics
Many environmentalists point to plastic pollution in the ocean as a large and growing problem, pointing to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and how even…
Molecular Machines: Bacteria-Killing Drills Get an Upgrade
Molecular machines that kill infectious bacteria have been taught to see their mission in a new light. New nanoscale drills have been developed that are…
Antibiotics Can Lead to Life-Threatening Fungal Infection Because of Disruption to the Gut’s Immune System
Patients prescribed antibiotics in the hospital are more likely to get fungal infections because of disruption to the immune system in the gut. Using immune-boosting…
Plant Protein Kills Bacterial Cells – New Model for Antibacterial Mechanism Could Result in New Antibiotics
Discovery of an aberrant protein that kills bacterial cells could help unravel the mechanism of certain antibiotics and point the way to new drugs. An…
Improved Silver Coating for Medical Devices Kills Bacteria To Prevent Infection
According to folklore, silver bullets kill werewolves, but in the real world, researchers want to harness this metal to combat another deadly foe: bacteria. Scientists…
Evidence of Zoonotic Spread: Superbug C. difficile Can Jump Between Pigs and Humans
A study investigating samples of the superbug Clostridioides difficile across 14 pig farms in Denmark finds the sharing of multiple antibiotic-resistance genes between pigs and human patients, providing…
New Engineered Bacteria Could Prevent Side Effects of Antibiotics
Microbes that safely break down antibiotics could prevent opportunistic infections and reduce the spread of antibiotic resistance. Antibiotics are life-saving drugs, but they can also…
Entirely New Immune System Discovered in Bacteria
Like humans, bacteria have various immune systems to defend against pathogens such as viruses. These immune systems usually degrade the DNA of the pathogens to…
Diverse Life Forms Evolved 3.75 Billion Years Ago – Challenging the Conventional View of When Life Began
Diverse life forms may have evolved earlier than previously thought. Diverse microbial life existed on Earth at least 3.75 billion years ago, suggests a new…
New Discovery on How Bacteria Swim Could Help Prevent the Spread of Disease and Improve Medical Treatments
University of Minnesota researchers studied for the first time how bacteria move through fluids containing small solid particles. For years, science fiction authors have written…
Methane-Eating Bacteria Convert Potent Greenhouse Gas Into Usable Fuel
State-of-the-art method reveals never-before-seen atomic structures controlling the process. Methanotrophic bacteria consume 30 million metric tons of methane per year and have captivated researchers for…
New Antibiotics Could Work by Starving Pneumonia-Causing Bacteria of Their Favorite “Food”
Australian researchers have revealed how the bacterium Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcus) obtains the essential nutrient, manganese, from our bodies, which could lead to better therapies to…
Microbes in Your Gut May Affect Personality – Could Be Associated With Mental and Physical Fatigue
Clarkson University Associate Professor of Physical Therapy Ali Boolani is performing research to determine if gut microbiome and metabolomic pathways in the gut could be…
