Newly-found gut bacteria linked to reduced levels of the harmful cholesterol that contributes to cardiovascular disease. Continue reading Move over Cheerios – gut microbes lower cholesterol just fine
Researchers have discovered unique compartments in bacteria that could lead to new treatment options for bacterial infections in humans. Continue reading Bacteria have organelles too!
Researchers have discovered and characterized new types of immune cells in the thymus, a small gland found in the space between our lungs. Continue reading Newly discovered cells expand our understanding of the immune system
by Mara Casebeer Most bacteria, like the common E. coli, are around a micron in length – less than a tenth of the width of a strand of human hair and invisible without a microscope. Recently, scientists discovered a bacterium, Candidatus (Ca.) Thiomargarita magnifica, that is almost 10,000 times longer than E. coli. Ca. T. magnifica cells were found attached to sunken leaves in the … Continue reading How this Long Bacterium Beats the Diffusion Limit
by Abby Knecht Continue reading What is….the human microbiome?
Researchers show that symbiotic bacteria can evolve in the gut to become harmful, providing clues to how autoimmune diseases develop. Continue reading Gut Microbiome Bacteria Can Evolve to Cause Autoimmune Diseases
Exposure to heavy metals leads to increased antibiotic resistance within the human body. Continue reading Heavy Metal Exposure Creates Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria
by Sanjana Kulkarnifigures by Corena Loeb The bacteria Mycobacterium tuberculosis (TB) has been infecting humans for thousands of years. Today, TB, which is thought to have originated in Africa and evolved alongside human hosts, is found across the globe and causes 1-2 million deaths annually, making it the second leading infectious disease killer after COVID-19. As new COVID-19 variants keep emerging, we can observe the … Continue reading The Human-Tuberculosis Arms Race
by Molly Sargen Antibiotics are drugs that kill or inhibit the growth of microbes, including bacteria and fungi. These drugs work by blocking essential processes like protein production, DNA replication, and cell division. After Alexander Fleming’s serendipitous discovery of Penicillin, antibiotics became a central feature of medical care. Today, antibiotics are used to treat a wide variety of infections and prevent new infections during invasive … Continue reading Antibiotic Persistence and Resistance
by Sophia Swartzfigures by Jasmin Joseph-Chazan If you put all of the living things on Earth in a box–from humans to anteaters to teeny-tiny tardigrades–and then plucked one of these organisms out at random, it is very, very likely that you just found yourself a microbe. Microbes, although too small to be seen with the naked eye, are some of the most common forms of … Continue reading Mapping Individual Microbes among the Multitudes