Breaking down the microbiology world one bite at a time
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- Antibiotic Resistance Potential of ESKAPE Pathogens
Multidrug-resistant infections are a growing global threat, driven by diverse bacterial resistance mechanisms, complicating efforts to develop effective, long-lasting antibiotics.
- Is the Microbiome Overrated?
A medical humanities perspective on the way researchers talk about the microbiome.
- Have We Always Been Alone?
More specific searches for signs of extraterrestrial life might provide the answers we seek on the Red Planet.
- How do plants perceive their microbiome?
In this interview, researcher Andreas Keppler explains how plants determine whether to fight or welcome the microbes that colonize them.
- When Microbes Become Master Chocolatiers
Fine chocolate owes its depth to microbes, tiny chocolatiers fermenting cocoa bean pulp into the complex flavors we crave.
- Engineered Parasites as Potential Treatments for Neurological Disorders
Engineered parasites like Toxoplasma gondii offer novel, targeted therapies for brain disorders by delivering treatments directly into neurons.
- Unexpected baby-guardians
On Mum’s gut bacteria and how they could boost her baby’s healthy development and avoid preeclampsia
- Using urine to detect fungal infection
How a new test can figure out if patients have a fungal infection
- Baking Better Bread
To customize sourdough bread to your specific preferences, you may just need to pick the right microorganisms for the job
- Gut Inflammation Disrupts Hormone Signals and the Brain
Reproductive hormones in male mice are susceptible to gut inflammation during early life.
- ‘Pharaoh’s curse fungus’ turned into a cure for cancer
The deadly fungus, Aspergillus flavus, once denoted as the ‘Pharaoh’s curse fungus’, has now been found to cure leukaemia.
- Amoeba and Bacteria, Newfound Friends?
How an amoeba can help bacteria resist antimicrobials.
- Breaking the Grass Ceiling: CBD Improves Female Depression
A new study shows CBD treatment helped decrease symptoms of depression in mice consuming a high fat diet.
- Trust Your Gut, It’s Working Out
Newly-discovered links between exercise, the microbiome, and immunotherapy paint a compelling picture in the fight against cancer.
- From Therapy to Threat: Antibiotics and the Resistome
Antibiotic-induced dysbiosis disrupts gut microbial harmony, fuel resistance gene spread, and triggers inflammation—reshaping immunity, brain health, and future disease risks.
- Plastic to Paracetamol: Manufactured by E. coli
E. coli bacteria help convert plastic waste into paracetamol, thus addressing the concerns of environmental pollution and extensive fossil fuel usage.
- Phage discovery gets its groove back with Phage DisCo
Phage discovery can be long and drawn out, but scientists are ready to get down with this groovy new method that skips the hassle.
- High-Dose Probiotics Improve Mood in Stress Model
Combined treatment with Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium improved stress-related depression and anxiety in mice.
- How scientists spy on bacteriophages inside your belly
Scientists made glowing phages to track their spread inside the guts, revealing their effects on bacterial communities.
- Soil Bacteria: Protozoan Prey or Potential Pathogen?
The virulence of environmental microbial populations might hinge on who doesn’t become the protozoans’ lunch.
- The New Biome in Town
You’ve heard of the gut microbiome and the skin microbiome. Now introducing the kidney microbiome!
- Codon Trash? Dengue Calls It Treasure!
The Secret Code of Dengue: Using Non-Optimal Codons to Win the Game?
- The infectious viral loops
HIV-1 virus infects human immune cells by producing 15 different circular RNAs.
- Roping in Resistant Microbial Outlaws
Howdy! Allow me to introduce you to the new sheriff in town: lariocidin, a potent antimicrobial lasso peptide.
- The dark side of plastic-degrading bacteria in healthcare
While the ability to degrade plastics might seem beneficial, it poses a threat to the integrity of medical devices and increases the risk of infections.
- Beyond oxygen: an electric way to thrive
Researchers found E. coli can perform extracellular anaerobic respiration, growing without carbon energy sources.
- Entacapone- A Promising Therapy for the Brain but a Potential Threat to Gut Health?
The drug entacapone disrupts the gut microbiome, leading to implications for host health.
- Beating the Heat: How the Fungus Live Among Us
Three pathogenic fungus strains offer different methods for enduring the human body’s core temperature.
- How a Few Mutations Could Reignite a Deadly Virus
Just a few mutations could bring back the mosquito-borne Western Equine Encephalitis Virus.
- Reimagining the AMR fight: Exploiting Fitness Costs
How exploiting bacterial fitness costs can help us find a way to tackle resistance in bacteria and help us use the existing drugs more effectively.
- HD5: The Secret Trick of Shigella Infection
How a pesky microbe’s infectiousness comes from exploiting the body’s immune system to gain entry into host cells.
- What the Gut’s First Residents Say About Baby’s Brain Health
Newborns’ first gut microbes may predict social development at 6 months, revealing early links between microbiome and brain health.
- Sepsis Survival Dependent on Gut Microbiota
Sepsis survival is influenced by gut microbiota, AhR activation, and metabolites like indoles and tryptophan, improving immune response.
- Bacteria help beetles adapt to climate change
Wolbachia infection enabled host beetles to adjust male egg size in response to stressful environments.
- Don’t Go Infecting My Heart
Heartworm’s tools for host survival might provide a way to combat the growing threat it presents in humans and canines.
- Microbial molecular warfare: When prey becomes predator
Researchers investigate how some bacteria fight back against one of their predators: Amoebas.
- The Hidden Link: How Animals Could Fuel the Spread of COVID-19
Viral infections in animals
- The Gut Fingerprint
Just like the fingerprints, every human has a personal gut microbiome.
- Brain Boosting Bugs? How Gut Archaea May Increase Cognitive Performance
Researchers have discovered that people with higher levels of M. smithii performed better on tests measuring attention, memory, and cognitive flexibility.
- A New Fungal Fighter
A modified macrolide called mandimycin, uniquely targets fungal cell membranes, offering potent activity against multidrug-resistant fungal pathogens.
- Our Unexpected Immune Architects
Gut protists aid our body’s defence against infections by influencing the immune system of far-reaching organs like the lungs.
- How the Zika virus turns human skin into a mosquito magnet
By increasing the production of mosquito-attractive compounds, the virus enhances its chances of being picked up by mosquitoes and transmission to new hosts.
- CRISPR– Cas9: A Promising Tool against antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections
CRISPR-Cas9, a powerful gene-editing tool, protects probiotics from antibiotic resistance and presents a promising strategy to combat bacterial infections
- Fighting Side by Side with a Bacteria
The respiratory microbiota may play a key role in regulating immune responses against influenza infections
- Microbial collectibles from mosquitos
A collection of mosquito microbiome
- How sugar loving gut microbiota help fight obesity
A tiny gut microbe that loves eating sugar might help us prevent obesity. Let’s find more about our tiny sugar tooth.
- Bacteria to lose weight: An on-the-nose approach
Researchers develop a new method in mice to reduce appetite using engineered probiotic bacteria to secrete appetite-regulating hormones.
- Biological Time Under Siege
Insights about if and how several parasites hijack their hosts’ biological clocks for their advantage.
- The Enemy of My Enemy is My Friend
How one bacteria befriended an old foe to take down a thriving competitor
- Teamwork: Fighting antimicrobial resistance
Essential oils and tetracycline make for an antibacterial double act
- Bacteria are on the Case
How can nasal bacteria cure infections?
- Cut Off the Head, and the Bacteria Will Follow
Effective targets against Staphylococcus aureus could be found in the very control networks the bacteria uses to attack during infection.
- Zika: The Brain’s Nemesis
Zika virus attacks the developing brain, causing devastating birth defects and potentially leading to lifelong neurological challenges.
- Bacteria’s first response against antibiotics? Epigenetics
Bacteria modify RNA molecules to become more resistant to the effect of antibiotics. Researchers analyze and characterize these modifications.
- The impact of microplastics on the plankton microbiome
This study shows that microplastics impact our ecosystems right down to the tiniest organisms.
- A gut shield for bumblebees
Gut bacteria protect bumblebees from infection
- Danger signals: bacteria getting ready for hard times
Danger!!!, peptidoglycan improves bacteria survival
- Female gut: Superpower or reproductive trouble?
Specific gut microbiota can cause endometriosis and infertility in women
- Leishmaniasis Treatment Using Protein Destroyers
An exploration of how protein destructive enzymes may help treat leishmania infection
- The antimicrobial benefits of Tea tree oil and its uses against infections
Tea tree oil works as an antimicrobial agent against infections to reduce biofilm formation.
- The phage pirates of Lake Mendota
A 20-year time series takes a deep dive into viral infection and evolution
- Microbes can help create ‘universal’ blood type O
Gut bacteria can help switch blood types A and B to the universal type O in the lab
- That’s Metal! Tackling Antimicrobial Resistance with Bismuth
Co-administration of bismuth-containing compounds and antibiotics increases their antimicrobial activity, including against resistant bacterial pathogens, through disruption of iron uptake.
- From Superfood to Super Vaccine?
Results showed that mice receiving the Spirulina-derived EVs adjuvanted vaccine had over 100 times increased production of antibodies.
- HNF4α: The Metabolic Mastermind in Sepsis
Sepsis is life-threatening, causing organ failure and liver damage. HNF4α protects the liver, offering hope for new therapeutic strategies.
- Bioheist: A tale of intranuclear bacteria
Researchers study how a parasitic bacteria infects the nuclei of deep-sea mussels
- The newest Antarctica resident: the H5N1 bird flu virus
The birds of Antarctica have a cold
- Coffee: Fueling Your Morning and Your Microbes
Habitual coffee consumption encourages the growth of Lawsonibacter in over 20,000 people
- Microbe F(ungus) v/s Microbe B(acteria)
Penicillium species found in peat bogs secrete chemicals harmful to Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
- Too Much of a Good Thing: Excess Serotonin Damages the Gut
Stressful situations can increase serotonin in the gut and may lead to gastrointestinal issues.
- Waste Food into novel cuisine: courtesy Neurospora intermedia
N. intermedia fungus is converting waste food into appetizing, healthier, and sustainable food alternatives.
- The Secret Role of RNA in Boosting Our Immune Defenses
RNA isn’t just a messenger; it’s a key player in boosting the immune system by helping proteins responsible for detecting a viral invasion.
- MicroBites is 4!
MicroBites 4 year anniversary! Let’s have a look at the past four years in numbers.
- Finding Relief from IBS: The Power of Probiotics
Probiotics may boost gut health by strengthening the intestinal barrier at a molecular and structural level, helping to ease IBS symptoms.
- Bacteria That Turn Toxins to Gold in Rice Fields
Bacteria That Turn Toxins to Gold in Rice Fields In 1976, the bustling corridors of a metal-processing plant… Read more: Bacteria That Turn Toxins to Gold in Rice Fields
- Why Does Tuberculosis Have So Many Survival Tricks Up Its Sleeve?
Mycobacterium tuberculosis employs unique L-cysteine biosynthesis pathways, crucial for redox balance, virulence, and antibiotic resistance, highlighting novel drug targets.
- Custom Cures for a Superbug Showdown
Superbugs may be tough, but personalized medicine and cutting-edge tech are here to put them in their place!
- Micromachines: Using bacteria to create an oscillator
Scientists explore the synchronization of multiple bacteria to create an oscillator, paving the way for biological micromachines.
- Sweet Defense: Glucose Fuels Antiviral Immunity
Antiviral genes develop a sweet tooth, using glucose to strengthen defenses against viruses.
- The promise of phages in the fight against antibiotic resistance
Phages can be used as personalized medicine to combat bacterial infections for which antibiotics are no longer efficient alone.
- The Oropouche virus: why should we be worried?
Why is the Oropouche virus alarming the world?
- The healing bacterium
A bacterial species found in chronic wound microbiome helps in diabetic wound healing.
- Designer cocktails: a new frontier in… medicine?
New research seeks to fight bacterial pathogens with viral cocktails
- Together We Achieve More
A beneficial relationship between bacterium, fungus, and plant
- The issues of Nontuberculous Mycobacterial Lung Disease
The issues of Nontuberculous Mycobacterial Lung Disease Non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) are a type of bacteria that cause rare… Read more: The issues of Nontuberculous Mycobacterial Lung Disease
- The bacterial tug-of-war
Antibiotic resistance in bacteria leads to competition between ribosomes and ATP (energy) molecules for cellular magnesium.
- How Single-Atom Changes Overcome Antibiotic Instability
To combat growing antimicrobial resistance, scientists develop a novel synthetic strategy, granting access to improved drug candidates.
- Using Herbs to Tackle Parasitic Infections
How plants may offer innovative treatments for intestinal parasitic infections
- TickTok-borne Encephalitis: When Autoantibodies go Viral
TickTok-borne Encephalitis: When Autoantibodies go Viral In the world of microbiology, our immune system can be seen as… Read more: <strong>TickTok-borne Encephalitis:</strong> When Autoantibodies go Viral
- Using microbes’ weapons to fight antibiotic-resistant bacteria
Machine learning is used in genetic information of microbes to pinpoint peptides that they use against other microbes and bacteria.
- Can a Single Influenza Virus Use Two Different Methods To Infect us?
Influenza viruses can exploit either of dual entry pathways—sialic acid and MHC-II receptors—enhancing host adaptability and pandemic potential.
- Faecal bacteria fighting inflammatory microbes
Effective poop transplants work by competing for resources with inflammatory microbes (in mice).
- Christmas lights: Fluorescent proteins in bacteria.
Fluorescence in bacteria can be applied to study protein function.
- Microwaves under the microscope
From kitchens to labs, microwaves harbor microbes shaped by their environment.
- Untouchable Friends: plants and bacteria exchange genes
Microbiota and plants exchange genes to support each other’s functions.
- Hot to Go! Frogs recoup from deadly fungus in hot bricks
How bricks can help sick frogs heat things up when fighting a fungal disease
- AI meets virology: Are new drugs just one click away?
Virologists redefine our knowledge on evolution and entry mechanisms of an entire virus family with a Nobel Prize-winning algorithm.
- Can Antibiotics Be Our New Ally Against Viral Infections?
Antibiotics move beyond bacteria, leading immune forces in a unified defense against viral intruders.
- Herpes’ Route from the Nose to the Brain
Herpes can infiltrate the brain and trigger chronic inflammation leading to disease, but researchers don’t know how the virus makes its way to the brain.
- Is mouse chow nutritionally sufficient?
How fiber composition influences the mouse digestive system.
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