Microbes, Bacteria, Viruses

A petri dish with bacteria from a stool sample. The researchers found a number of bacteria, fungi and viruses in fecal samples from children that were altered in children with autism.

Gut Microbes Could Help Diagnose Autism, Study Suggests

While more research is needed, scientists detected specific differences between the gut microbiomes of children with and without autism

In 1881, Fanny Angelina Hesse suggested agar, a jelly-like substance she used in cooking, as a replacement for gelatin, which scientists used to study microorganisms.

Meet the Forgotten Woman Who Revolutionized Microbiology With a Simple Kitchen Staple

Fanny Angelina Hesse introduced agar to the life sciences in 1881. A trove of unpublished family papers sheds new light on her many accomplishments

Chickens on a poultry farm in Tepatitlan, Jalisco State, Mexico, on June 6, 2024. Outbreaks of H5N2 avian influenza have recently been reported in poultry in Mexico.

Man Infected With H5N2 Bird Flu in Mexico Dies. Here's the Latest on the Virus

The strain is not the same one that has infected U.S. cows and three dairy farm workers, and officials say the risk to the general public remains low

The Black Death killed tens of millions of people in the mid-1300s, but scientists and historians are still trying to figure out how it spread.

Did Body Lice Spread Bubonic Plague? Research Suggests the Parasites Are Better Vectors Than Thought

These blood-sucking insects are capable of transmitting the bacteria that caused the Black Death, according to a laboratory study

A rarely diagnosed medical condition causes gut microbes to produce alcohol inside the body.

This Rare Condition Makes Some People Get Drunk, Even When They Haven't Touched a Drop of Alcohol

A man in Belgium was acquitted of drunk driving charges this week, after doctors showed he has auto-brewery syndrome, which makes his body produce alcohol

Hand washing is one of the simplest ways to prevent disease transmission.

The Dirty Secret About How Our Hands Spread Disease

The human hand is an incredible tool—and a deadly threat

Camembert and other French cheeses may eventually disappear.

These French Cheeses Are at Risk of Extinction

A lack of microbial diversity could eventually spell the end of cheeses like Camembert

Minerals and algae form patterns in the scalding hot water at Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone National Park's Midway Geyser Basin. Yellowstone National Park has more than 10,000 thermal features, making it the largest concentration of active geysers in the world.

How a Microbe From Yellowstone's Hot Springs Could Help Feed the World

A Chicago startup has turned a fungus found by NASA into a protein-packed food

The archive was found by a direct descendant of Herman Matzinger, the doctor who performed McKinley's autopsy.

Newly Discovered Papers From President McKinley's Assassination Are for Sale

The archive belonged to Herman Matzinger, who performed the autopsy on the 25th president and conducted a bacteriological analysis to rule out the possibility of poison-tipped bullets

Researchers studied climate fluctuations in Roman Italy between 200 B.C.E. and 600 C.E.

Plagues That Ravaged the Roman Empire Were Linked to Periods of Cold Weather

The changing climate may have had ripple effects that made people more susceptible to disease, new research suggests

Scientists produced the most complete catalog of marine microbe DNA yet, including data from the deeper zones of the oceans.

DNA From the Ocean's 'Twilight Zone' Could Lead to New Lifesaving Drugs, Scientists Say

Researchers catalogued the genes of more than 300 million groups of marine bacteria, viruses and fungi in hopes that the database could lead to breakthroughs in medicine, energy and agriculture

Matabele ants will tend to the wounds of their nest-mates that have had their legs bitten off by termites.

These Ants Can Diagnose and Treat Their Comrades' Infected Wounds

Matabele ants in sub-Saharan Africa often sustain injuries while hunting termites—and their survival strategy may help humans fight infections, too

What makes cheddar so good? A community of microorganisms working in harmony.

What Makes Cheddar Cheese Taste So Good?

After a year-long cheddar-making experiment, scientists have unraveled the microbial underpinnings of the cheese's buttery flavor

Eczema affects almost 32 million people in the United States.

Here's What Can Cause Itchiness, According to New Research

Scientists discovered a connection between a bacteria linked to eczema and an itch-causing enzyme in a study of mice

The OSIRIS-REx sample return capsule (foreground) landed in the Utah desert on September 24, carrying samples collected from the near-Earth asteroid Bennu (background). 

How NASA Captured Asteroid Dust to Find the Origins of Life

The sample of the space rock Bennu that OSIRIS-REx collected could unlock an ancient existential mystery

Caecilian mothers grow a fatty layer of skin that their babies tear off with specialized teeth and eat.

This Worm-Like Amphibian Eats Its Mother's Skin to Get Microbes

Caecilians are the only known amphibians to pass microbes from one generation to the next, according to a new study

Researchers have isolated phages from zoo-dwelling lemurs, giraffes, binturongs, Visayan pigs and Guinea baboons that might help fight diabetic foot ulcers.

Viruses Found in Animal Poop May One Day Treat Diabetic Foot Ulcers, Scientists Say

Known as bacteriophages, the specialized viruses could hijack and kill drug-resistant bacteria

A new round of Covid-19 vaccinations was recommended by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisers on Tuesday.

What to Know About the New Covid-19 Vaccines, Now Recommended by CDC Advisers

Experts say the latest boosters are effective against emerging variants including EG.5.1 and BA.2.86

A model of a Neanderthal at the Natural History Museum in London. Researchers theorize that molecules that existed in our extinct ancestors could be used to treat pathogens today.

Scientists Turn to Human Ancestors' DNA in Search for New Antibiotics

Microbe-fighting molecules that once existed in Neanderthals and Denisovans have been re-created in the lab and tested in mice

Permafrost melts into the Kolyma River outside of Zyryanka, Russia, in 2019. The worms in the new study seem to have survived buried deep in the permafrost for tens of thousands of years.

Scientists Revive 46,000-Year-Old Roundworms From Siberian Permafrost

The nematodes had survived in a state of slowed metabolism called cryptobiosis, according to a new paper

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