Microbiology

Gut Bacteria: Now Assuming Control Of Your Brain

It sounds like science fiction, but a new paper in the journal BioEssays  says that bacteria within us — which outnumber our own cells about 100-fold — may very well be affecting both our cravings and moods to get us to eat what they want, and often are d ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 15 2014 - 4:30pm

Zombie Ant Fungi Manipulate Where Victims Die

A parasitic fungus- Ophiocordyceps camponoti-rufipedis, known as the "zombie ant fungus"- must kill its ant hosts outside their nest to reproduce and transmit their infection,so they manipulate its victims to die in the vicinity of the colony, e ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 18 2014 - 6:00pm

3 New Ways To Separate Clostridium Difficile From Good Microbes

The bacterium Clostridium difficile causes antibiotic-related diarrhea and is a growing problem in the hospital environment and elsewhere in the community. Understanding how the microbe colonizes the human gut when other "healthy" microbes have ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 19 2014 - 9:13am

How Guardians Of The Intestinal Galaxy Are Formed

Even the most careful chosen meal can contain surprises and to defend against infectious microbial fifth columnists in the intestines, a dedicated contingent of immune cells keeps watch within the thin layer of tissue that divides the contents of the gut ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 24 2014 - 6:04pm

Bacteria In Hot Springs Use Far-Red Light Wavelengths For Photosynthesis

Bacteria growing in near darkness can still harvest energy and produce oxygen from sunlight. ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 25 2014 - 9:44am

13 Year Old Finds Fungus Deadly To AIDS Patients

Fungal infections that have been sickening HIV/AIDS patients in Southern California for decades literally grow on trees. For that discovery, we can thank a 13-year-old girl who spent the summer gathering soil and tree samples from areas around Los Angeles ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 22 2014 - 12:30pm

Visualizing Algae-Eating Viruses From Space

Emiliania huxleyi, up close and personal. Alison R. Taylor, CC BY ...

Article - The Conversation - Aug 23 2014 - 11:30am

Changes To Bugs In The Gut Could Prevent Food Allergies

Allergic reactions to food have dramatically increased over the past 10 to 20 years. Dan Peled/AAP, CC BY By Alexandra Miller, The Conversation and Reema Rattan, The Conversation Changing the bacteria in the gut could treat and prevent life-threatening al ...

Article - The Conversation - Aug 26 2014 - 9:30pm

Why Listeria Is So Hard To Fight

Credit: CDC Listeria is a dreaded bacterium that can be found in foods. The bacterium is notoriously difficult to fight because it has an almost uncanny ability to adapt to changes in its surrounding. In the United States, it is more prevalent in products ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 27 2014 - 9:51am

Zombie Bacteria Invasion? Nothing To Worry About

Cellular reproduction seems simple but the ability to faithfully copy genetic material and distribute it equally to daughter cells is fundamental to all forms of life- and complex. Even seemingly simple single-celled organisms must have the means to metic ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 28 2014 - 2:30pm