Microbiology News
August 22, 2025
Top Headlines
Aug. 19, 2025 — MSU researchers discovered that microbes begin shaping the brain while still in the womb, influencing neurons in a region critical for stress and social behavior. Their findings suggest modern birth practices that alter the microbiome may have ...
Aug. 18, 2025 — NASA-backed simulations reveal that meltwater from Greenland’s Jakobshavn Glacier lifts deep-ocean nutrients to the surface, sparking large summer blooms of phytoplankton that feed the Arctic food ...
Aug. 17, 2025 — Roughly two-thirds of all atmospheric methane, a potent greenhouse gas, comes from methanogens. Tracking down which methanogens in which environment produce methane with a specific isotope signature is difficult, however. UC Berkeley researchers ...
Aug. 17, 2025 — Scientists have engineered a groundbreaking cancer treatment that uses bacteria to smuggle viruses directly into tumors, bypassing the immune system and delivering a powerful one-two punch against cancer cells. The bacteria act like Trojan horses, ...
Aug. 8, 2025 — Researchers at Scripps have created T7-ORACLE, a powerful new tool that speeds up evolution, allowing scientists to design and improve proteins thousands of times faster than nature. Using engineered bacteria and a modified viral replication system, ...
Aug. 6, 2025 — A prehistoric predator changed its diet and body size during a major warming event 56 million years ago, revealing how climate change can reshape animal behavior, food chains, and survival ...
Aug. 4, 2025 — An intriguing new study reveals that over 80% of parasites found in the ancient poo of New Zealand’s endangered kākāpō have vanished, even though the bird itself is still hanging on. Researchers discovered this dramatic parasite decline by ...
Aug. 3, 2025 — Every time someone snaps a wildlife photo with iNaturalist, they might be fueling breakthrough science. From rediscovering lost species to helping conservation agencies track biodiversity and invasive threats, citizen observations have become vital ...
Aug. 1, 2025 — Ape behavior just got a name upgrade — “scrumping” — and it might help explain why humans can handle alcohol so well. Researchers discovered that African apes regularly eat overripe, ...
July 25, 2025 — Fermenting stevia with a banana leaf-derived probiotic turns it into a powerful cancer-fighting agent that kills pancreatic cancer cells while sparing healthy ones. The secret lies in a metabolite called CAME, produced through microbial ...
July 23, 2025 — Scientists have discovered a sugar compound from deep-sea bacteria that can destroy cancer cells in a dramatic way. This natural substance, produced by microbes living in the ocean, causes cancer cells to undergo a fiery form of cell death, ...
July 22, 2025 — New research from the University of Sydney sheds light on how coronaviruses emerge in bat populations, focusing on young bats as hotspots for infections and co-infections that may drive viral ...
Latest Headlines
updated 11:25am EDT
Aug. 21, 2025 — Scientists have decoded the microbial and environmental factors behind cacao fermentation, the critical process that defines chocolate’s taste. By recreating the fermentation with controlled ...
Aug. 20, 2025 — Two independent research teams have unveiled near-complete reference genomes of the central bearded dragon, a reptile with the rare ability to change sex depending on both chromosomes and nest ...
Aug. 17, 2025 — By flipping a single genetic switch, researchers made one fruit fly species adopt the gift-giving courtship of another, showing how tiny brain rewiring can drive evolutionary ...
Aug. 16, 2025 — Once on the brink during the last ice age, great white sharks made a remarkable recovery globally, but their DNA reveals a baffling story. Classic migration explanations fail, leaving scientists with ...
Aug. 15, 2025 — Scientists at UC San Diego have discovered a small but powerful section of DNA, called HAR123, that could help explain what makes the human brain so unique. Instead of being a gene, HAR123 acts like ...
Aug. 14, 2025 — Denisovans, a mysterious human relative, left behind far more than a handful of fossils—they left genetic fingerprints in modern humans across the globe. Multiple interbreeding events with distinct ...
Aug. 9, 2025 — A fossilized Caribbean dirt ant, Basiceros enana, preserved in Dominican amber, reveals the species ancient range and overturns assumptions about its ...
Aug. 7, 2025 — Chinese scientists uncovered a powerful energy source for deep Earth microbes: hydrogen and oxidants generated by rock fracturing during earthquakes. The process may also suggest how life could exist ...
Aug. 7, 2025 — Scientists discovered that jewel wasp larvae that undergo a developmental "pause" live longer and age more slowly at the molecular level by nearly 30%. This slowdown is tied to conserved biological ...
Aug. 5, 2025 — Tyrannosaurus rex might be the most famous meat-eater of all time, but it turns out it wasn’t the only way to be a terrifying giant. New research shows that while T. rex evolved a skull designed ...
Earlier Headlines
Aug. 5, 2025 — A group of Chinese scientists has created powerful new tools that allow them to edit large chunks of DNA with incredible accuracy—and without leaving any trace. Using a mix of advanced protein ...
Aug. 2, 2025 — Long before evolution equipped them with the right teeth, early humans began eating tough grasses and starchy underground plants—foods rich in energy but hard to chew. A new study reveals that this ...
July 30, 2025 — Scientists have used artificial intelligence to upgrade plant immune systems, potentially revolutionizing how crops like tomatoes and potatoes can defend against harmful bacteria. By reengineering ...
July 29, 2025 — Scientists at UC Merced have engineered artificial cells that can keep perfect time—mimicking the 24-hour biological clocks found in living organisms. By reconstructing circadian machinery inside ...
July 23, 2025 — What made ribose the sugar of choice for life's code? Scientists at Scripps Research may have cracked a major part of this mystery. Their experiments show that ribose binds more readily and ...
July 20, 2025 — What scientists once dismissed as junk DNA may actually be some of the most powerful code in our genome. A new international study reveals that ancient viral DNA buried in our genes plays an active ...
July 21, 2025 — Gene editing may hold the key to rescuing endangered species—not just by preserving them, but by restoring their lost genetic diversity using DNA from museum specimens and related species. ...
July 19, 2025 — Romaine lettuce has a long history of E. coli outbreaks, but scientists are zeroing in on why. A new study reveals that the way lettuce is irrigated—and how it’s kept cool afterward—can make ...
July 16, 2025 — Scientists have uncovered a surprisingly simple “tissue code”: five rules that choreograph when, where, and how cells divide, move, and die, allowing organs like the colon to remain flawlessly ...
July 24, 2025 — A tiny, overlooked wrist bone called the pisiform may have played a pivotal role in bird flight and it turns out it evolved far earlier than scientists thought. Fossils from bird-like dinosaurs in ...
July 16, 2025 — Hawaiian coral reefs may face unprecedented ocean acidification within 30 years, driven by carbon emissions. A new study by University of Hawai‘i researchers shows that even under conservative ...
July 12, 2025 — A cat named Pepper has once again helped scientists discover a new virus—this time a mysterious orthoreovirus found in a shrew. Researchers from the University of Florida, including virologist John ...
July 11, 2025 — In a bold step toward sustainable space travel, scientists are engineering a radically small, protein-rich rice that can grow in space. The Moon-Rice project, led by the Italian Space Agency in ...
July 8, 2025 — High heat and heavy metals dampen a bumblebee’s trademark buzz, threatening pollen release and colony chatter. Tiny sensors captured up-to-400-hertz tremors that falter under environmental stress, ...
July 8, 2025 — Scientists at MIT have turbocharged one of nature’s most sluggish but essential enzymes—rubisco—by applying a cutting-edge evolution technique in living cells. Normally prone to wasteful ...
July 6, 2025 — Kenyan fig trees can literally turn parts of themselves to stone, using microbes to convert internal crystals into limestone-like deposits that lock away carbon, sweeten surrounding soils, and still ...
July 7, 2025 — Scientists found that embryonic skin cells “whisper” through faint mechanical tugs, using the same force-sensing proteins that make our ears ultrasensitive. By syncing these micro-movements, the ...
July 7, 2025 — Scientists have decoded the sea spider’s genome for the first time, revealing how its strangely shaped body—with organs in its legs and barely any abdomen—may be tied to a missing gene. The ...
July 4, 2025 — Scientists have discovered that the bacteria behind Lyme disease and anaplasmosis have a sneaky way of surviving inside ticks—they hijack the tick’s own cell functions to steal cholesterol they ...
June 27, 2025 — A groundbreaking study suggests that the famous Cambrian explosion—the dramatic burst of diverse animal life—might have actually started millions of years earlier than we thought. By analyzing ...
Tuesday, August 5, 2025
Saturday, August 2, 2025
Wednesday, July 30, 2025
Tuesday, July 29, 2025
Wednesday, July 23, 2025
Sunday, July 20, 2025
Monday, July 21, 2025
Saturday, July 19, 2025
Wednesday, July 16, 2025
Thursday, July 24, 2025
Wednesday, July 16, 2025
Saturday, July 12, 2025
Friday, July 11, 2025
Tuesday, July 8, 2025
- What Happens When Bees Can’t Buzz Right? Nature Starts Falling Apart
- MIT Scientists Just Supercharged the Enzyme That Powers All Plant Life
Sunday, July 6, 2025
Monday, July 7, 2025
- Whispers in the Womb: How Cells “hear” to Shape the Human Body
- How a Lost Gene Gave the Sea Spider Its Bizarre, Leggy Body
Friday, July 4, 2025
Friday, June 27, 2025
Thursday, June 26, 2025
Wednesday, June 25, 2025
- New Viruses Discovered in Bats in China Could Be the Next Pandemic Threat
- Scientists Reprogram Ant Behavior Using Brain Molecules
Tuesday, June 24, 2025
Monday, June 23, 2025
Friday, June 20, 2025
Thursday, June 19, 2025
- How Life Endured the Snowball Earth: Evidence from Antarctic Meltwater Ponds
- Microscopic Heist: How Lung Bacteria Forge Weapons to Steal Iron and Survive
Monday, June 16, 2025
Tuesday, June 24, 2025
Thursday, June 12, 2025
Wednesday, June 11, 2025
Sunday, June 15, 2025
- Tiny Wasp’s Shocking Reproductive Trick May Transform Global Agriculture
- 83% of Earth’s Climate-Critical Fungi Are Still Unknown
Friday, June 6, 2025
Thursday, June 12, 2025
Sunday, June 8, 2025
Wednesday, June 25, 2025
Tuesday, June 3, 2025
- DNA Floating in the Air Tracks Wildlife, Viruses -- Even Drugs
- Large-Scale Immunity Profiling Grants Insights Into Flu Virus Evolution
- Tea, Berries, Dark Chocolate and Apples Could Lead to a Longer Life Span, Study Shows
Monday, June 2, 2025
- Nitrogen Loss on Sandy Shores: The Big Impact of Tiny Anoxic Pockets
- Student Discovers Long-Awaited Mystery Fungus Sought by LSD's Inventor
- Synthetic Compound Shows Promise Against Multidrug Resistance
- Insect Protein Blocks Bacterial Infection
Friday, May 30, 2025
Thursday, May 29, 2025
- Leprosy Existed in America Long Before Arrival of Europeans
- Evolution of a Single Gene Allowed the Plague to Adapt, Survive and Kill Much of Humanity Over Many Centuries
- Rock Record Illuminates Oxygen History
- Dinosaurs Could Hold Key to Cancer Discoveries
- HIV Discovery Could Open Door to Long-Sought Cure
- Genetic Basis of Purring in Cats
- Discovery of a New Marine Flagellate
- Cotton Virus Circulated Undetected for Nearly 20 Years, Study Finds
- Cannabis Pangenome Reveals Potential for Medicinal and Industrial Use
Wednesday, May 28, 2025
- Study Deepens Understanding of Cell Migration, Important for Potential Medical Advances
- Kinetic Coupling -- Breakthrough in Understanding Biochemical Networks
- Synthetic Molecular Rings Re-Create Energy Flow Found in Plants
- Newly Identified Group of Nerve Cells in the Brain Regulates Bodyweight
- Genetic Deep Dive Dispels Fear of Hybrid Worm Threat
- Yeast Can Now Produce Human DNase1
- Chemists Recreate How RNA Might Have Reproduced for First Time
- Gut Bacteria May Hold Key to Unlocking Better Cancer Treatment
- A High-Fat Diet Sets Off Metabolic Dysfunction in Cells, Leading to Weight Gain
- Researchers Engineer a Herpes Virus to Turn on T Cells for Immunotherapy
- New AI Tool Reveals Single-Cell Structure of Chromosomes -- In 3D
- Timing, Consistency of Activity Linked to Better Fitness
- Coastal Alaska Wolves Exposed to High Mercury Concentrations from Eating Sea Otters
- Intestinal Bacteria Influence Aging of Blood Vessels
Tuesday, May 27, 2025
- Zika Virus Uses Cells' 'self-Care' System to Turn Against Host
- Nordic Studies Show the Significance of Old-Growth Forests for Biodiversity
- Stirling Research Could Extend Biopesticide Effectiveness
- Discovery Offers New Insights Into Skin Healing in Salmon
- HIV Vaccine Study Uncovers Powerful New Antibody Target
Monday, May 26, 2025
- A Root Development Gene That's Older Than Root Development
- Flowers Unfold With Surprising Precision, Despite Unruly Genes
Friday, May 23, 2025
Thursday, May 22, 2025
- The Scent of Death? Worms Experience Altered Fertility and Lifespan When Exposed to Dead Counterparts
- Ancient DNA Used to Map Evolution of Fever-Causing Bacteria
- 'Selfish' Genes Called Introners Proven to Be a Major Source of Genetic Complexity
- Study Discovers DNA Switch That Controls TB Growth, and Could Help Unlock Its Antibiotic Resistance Secrets
- How Cholera Bacteria Outsmart Viruses
- Looking to Cut Calories? Try Adding Chilies, Study Suggests
- Scientists Test in an Animal Model a Surgical Technique to Improve Cell Therapy for Dry AMD
Wednesday, May 21, 2025
- Plant Cell Sculptors
- Bed-Netting Prototypes to Target Malaria-Causing Parasites
- Something's Fishy Here
- Yeast Reveals How Species Adapt to a Warmer Climate
- Researchers Identify a Dual Origin of Cells Controlling Puberty and Reproduction
- Scientists Invent Breakthrough Device to Detect Airborne Signs of Disease
- Unlocking the Secrets of Bat Immunity
- Engineered Bacteria Can Deliver Antiviral Therapies, Vaccines
- Natural Algal Communities Can Inhibit Aquaculture Pathogens
- Songbirds' Great Risk Results in Great Genetic Reward
- How Hibiscus Flowers Lost Their Bullseyes
- Hand2: Positional Code That Allows Axolotls to Regrow Limbs Found
- Live View: Stress-Induced Changes in Generations of Cancer Cells