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Image of Hawaiian Bobtail squid
To Boldly Go Where No Squid Has Gone Before
Hannah Thomasy, PhD | Dec 1, 2023 | 2 min read
Jamie Foster’s space-faring squid and its symbiotic bacteria illuminate host-microbe communication.
A man wearing a dark blue sweater is smiling and standing in front of a building
When Microbes Meet the Immune System
Mariella Bodemeier Loayza Careaga, PhD | Sep 8, 2023 | 3 min read
Timothy Hand leads a research team that explores how maternal immune signals shape the infant intestinal microbiota.
Brush Up: Quorum Sensing in Bacteria and Beyond
Brush Up: Quorum Sensing in Bacteria and Beyond
Deanna MacNeil, PhD | 4 min read
Microbes communicate with quorum sensing to coordinate their behavior in response to how many neighbors they have.
Microscopic image of a torn piece of gray plastic on a white background.
Alpine and Arctic Microbes Break Down Plastics
Alejandra Manjarrez, PhD | Jul 7, 2023 | 2 min read
Researchers identified cold-adapted microbes that degrade certain plastics at low temperatures, potentially saving energy in industrial recycling.
Cheese wheels with moldy rinds on a wooden plank
Deleting a Gene Quells a Pesky Cheese-Destroying Fungus
Natalia Mesa, PhD | Jun 30, 2023 | 3 min read
Fungi disrupt microbial communities on cheese by making antibiotics. 
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The Scientist Speaks - Rising From the Dead: How Antibiotic Resistance Genes Travel Between Current and Past Bacteria
Nele Haelterman, PhD | 1 min read
Heather Kittredge and Sarah Evans discuss the environmental conditions that facilitate natural transformation in bacteria’s native habitat.  
Pseudomonas Aeruginosa
Cooperation and Cheating
Mariella Bodemeier Loayza Careaga, PhD | Jun 1, 2023 | 6 min read
Bacteria cooperate to benefit the collective, but cheaters can rig the system. How is the balance maintained?
Infographic showing strategies used by cooperators to curb the cheater population in a bacterial community
Infographic: Curbing the Cheaters 
Mariella Bodemeier Loayza Careaga, PhD | Jun 1, 2023 | 1 min read
From spatial structuring to policing, cooperative bacteria have a wide toolkit to contain the spread of cheaters.
Learn About the Latest Innovations in Microbiology Research
Getting Ahead of the Curve with Microbiological Assays
The Scientist and Tecan | 1 min read
Versatile technology helps scientists streamline microbiology research.
Man in blue shirt holding a paper representation of the intestines
Gut Bacteria Contribute to Anorexia
Kamal Nahas, PhD | May 1, 2023 | 3 min read
Microbiomes transplanted from women with anorexia nervosa into mice enhanced symptoms of the eating disorder, such as rapid weight loss and reduced appetite.
Image shows photorhabdus virulence cassettes (green) binding to insect cells (blue) prior to injection of payload proteins. 
Engineered Bacterial “Syringes” Can Deliver Drugs Into Human Cells
Rohini Subrahmanyam, PhD | Apr 20, 2023 | 4 min read
Researchers repurpose tiny bacterial injection systems to specifically inject a wide variety of proteins into human cells and living mice.
John Glass describes why researchers constructed a synthetic unicellular organism and how it unravels the secrets of evolution.
The Scientist Speaks - DIY Cells: Understanding Life with a Synthetic Minimal Cell
Sejal Davla, PhD | 1 min read
John Glass describes why researchers constructed a synthetic unicellular organism and how it unravels the secrets of evolution.
T regulatory cell in red sandwiching an antigen presenting cell in blue
Gut Bacteria Help T Cells Heal Muscle: Study
Natalia Mesa, PhD | Mar 14, 2023 | 4 min read
Regulatory T cells in the colon travel to muscles to promote wound healing in mice, raising questions about how antibiotics may impact injury recovery.
Ribbon diagram of the bacterial histone Bd0055
Bacteria Have Histones After All: Study
Kamal Nahas, PhD | Feb 14, 2023 | 4 min read
Researchers identify hundreds of candidate histone proteins in bacteria, including one with an unusual way of binding to DNA.
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Understanding Our Enemies: Identifying Mechanisms of Antibiotic Resistance
The Scientist | 1 min read
Researchers sample and sequence bacteria from biological and environmental sources to learn how to overcome selective pressure
Structure of a Chlamydomonas, green algae
Drugs Hitch a Ride on Algae for Targeted Delivery
Holly Barker, PhD | Feb 1, 2023 | 3 min read
A new microrobot uses algae to transport antibiotics into the lungs of mice with pneumonia.
Illustration showing microscopic algae swim through mouse lungs and deliver nanoparticles of an antibiotic attached to their surfaces
Infographic: Algae Robots Transport Antibiotics to Infected Tissues
Holly Barker, PhD | Feb 1, 2023 | 1 min read
Microscopic algae dotted with drug-filled nanoparticles may offer a more effective means of treatment than traditional delivery methods.
Manipulating the Microbiome to Manage Disease
The Scientist Creative Services Team in collaboration with Tecan | 1 min read
Cammie Lesser will discuss how she turns a probiotic into a drug-delivering machine, while Andrew Y. Koh will describe the connection between the gut microbiota and cancer immunotherapy efficacy.
Vector image of turquoise and green bacteria and viruses on a navy-blue background.
Death by Illumination
Iris Kulbatski, PhD | Jan 9, 2023 | 3 min read
Researchers use blue light therapy to treat infected burn wounds.
a white mouse sits on a blue exercise wheel, looking out onto the shavings below
Mice With a Healthy Gut Microbiome Are More Motivated to Exercise
Katherine Irving | Dec 16, 2022 | 4 min read
A neural pathway between the gut and the brain led to the release of dopamine when the mice ran on a wheel or treadmill, but only in the presence of a robust microbiome. 
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