Microbiology

Why We're Not Constantly Ill Despite Viruses And Bacteria

New research on how our immune system works shows how the body mobilizes a previously unknown defense against viruses and bacteria- and thus why we do not constantly get ill despite the viruses around us.  Fever, sore muscles and other influenza-like symp ...

Article - News Staff - Dec 7 2015 - 8:50am

Bacteria, Archaea- Some Methane In Hydraulic Fracturing Is Even More Natural Than Assumed

When you think of it, all of the natural gas harvested by hydraulic fracturing is natural but groups that once embraced it as clean energy have now turned on it and have sought to use its biological origins against it, with manufactured videos of flaming ...

Article - News Staff - Dec 15 2015 - 11:07am

Fecal Transplantation: Fresh Vs. Frozen

Among adults with Clostridium difficile infection that is recurrent or not responsive to treatment, the use of frozen compared with fresh fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) did not result in a significantly lower rate of resolution of diarrhea, indica ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 12 2016 - 12:10pm

Asexual: Offspring Without Fertilization In Plants

When a sperm and an egg cell merge a new life begins. This is the case in humans and in animals, but in principle also in plants. A team has discovered a gene trigger in the moss Physcomitrella patens which leads to offspring without fertilization and the ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 19 2016 - 7:00am

Zika Virus Found In Colombia

In October 2015, a team of researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Universidad de Sucre in Colombia ran the first tests confirming the presence of Zika virus transmission in the South American country. In a study published today [Jan 26, 20 ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 26 2016 - 5:25pm

A New Gig For Bees: Delivering Pest Control Agents

A honey bee visits and apple blossom.  It may someday  ...

Article - Steve Savage - Feb 2 2016 - 3:49pm

Why Do Scientists Chase Unicorns? Because Sometimes We Find Them

Scientists chase unicorns because a world with unicorns, metaphorically speaking, is a better place. Michigan State University plant biologist Maren Friesem felt like she was on a unicorn hunt searching for bacteria that could fix their own nitrogen. And ...

Article - News Staff - Feb 1 2016 - 3:10pm

Viruses- Affecting Our Ancestors For 30 Million Years

Researchers have revealed the global spread of an ancient group of retroviruses that affected about 28 of 50 modern mammals' ancestors between 15 and 30 million years ago. Retroviruses are abundant in nature and include human immunodeficiency viruses ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 8 2016 - 8:48am

Ancient Seaweed Fossils Some Of The Oldest Of Multicellular Life

Honing in on when life on Earth evolved from single-celled to multicellular organisms is no easy task. Organisms that old lacked many distinguishing characteristics of modern life forms, making their fossils exceptionally rare. But University of Wisconsin ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 25 2016 - 8:26am

Study Finds Vast Diversity Among Viruses That Infect Bacteria

Viruses that infect bacteria are among the most abundant life forms on Earth. Indeed, our oceans, soils and potentially even our bodies would be overrun with bacteria were it not for bacteria-eating viruses, called bacteriophages, that keep the microbial ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 25 2016 - 8:25am