microbiology

Stanford University researchers determined the code from spare drops in discarded vials of the COVID-19 vaccine and published it on GitHub.

Scientists suspect the gall-forming protist Maullinia hitches a ride on kelp rafts to reach new host populations at far-flung sites.

Altered gut microbiome composition in obese mice and human patients is linked with severity of disease after bone marrow transplantation, a study found.

A study of human populations around the world detects differing rates of horizontal gene transfer in the microbiome depending on what kind of society those people live in.

After a nearly 30-year hunt, researchers have shown that a neurotoxin generated by cyanobacteria on invasive plants is responsible for eagle and waterbird deaths from vacuolar myelinopathy.

In the armpit lymph nodes of people who had received the mRNA vaccine against SARS-CoV-2, researchers found germinal centers needed to generate long-lived antibody-making cells.

Martha Nelson of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases talks about the need to balance data sharing and patient privacy concerns when tracking the spread of variants.

The microbiome-testing company made misleading claims about its prospects and about its business strategy, which allegedly relied on fooling doctors into ordering unnecessary tests, according to the US government.

The vaccine was 79 percent effective at blocking symptomatic infections, according to data from a Phase 3 trial in the US, Chile, and Peru. A US safety oversight board says the data might be incomplete.

Researchers have collected hundreds of COVID-19–related diabetes case reports since August of last year, in hopes of teasing apart the complex links between the two diseases.

Electrical storms, rather than meteorites as scientists had previously thought, could have unlocked phosphorus necessary for the development of ancient life, according to a new study.

Genetic analyses suggest that the virus came from a patient who survived the 2013–2016 West African outbreak.

In a new study, human and mouse cells recognized only one in five bacterial species collected from more than a mile below the Pacific Ocean’s surface.

Rollouts of the shot have ground to a halt following reports of blood clots, but health authorities say that these fears are unfounded and vaccination programs should continue.

Mix-and-match shots could simplify vaccine rollout and stimulate more-robust immune responses. Ongoing clinical trials will soon give answers.

Instead, the full report will be available in mid-March.

The decision adds to evidence that the benefits of plasma infusions from COVID-19 survivors may be limited, but advocates say the case isn’t closed.

The roundworm uses cues from visible light to help avoid eating toxic bacteria with a distinguishing hue.

Sam Wilson discusses a user-friendly set of resources that he and his collaborators developed to aid labs pivoting to study COVID-19.

The P.1 variant, which has also been detected in five US states, could be responsible for cases of reinfection, according to a preprint.