MicrobeWorld

On May 8th JoVE will publish research that demonstrates how a biosensor can detect antibiotic resistance in bacteria. This new technology is a preliminary step in identifying and fighting superbugs, a major public health concern that has led to more deaths than AIDS in the United States in recen... Read More

Imagine a substance that was strong and light enough to armour soldiers, flexible and conductive enough to be turned into the next generation of flexible smartphone screens - and even absorbent enough to make tampons more effective.

Now imagine the process for making this wonder material was ... Read More

Global Viral Forecasting Founder Nathan Wolfe explains how his team is searching for humanity's next great plague... so we can stop it before it spreads.

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For a while, Adam Martiny and some of his fellow scientists had suspected something was not right in how researchers understand the oceans. The object of their suspicion was something called the Redfield ratio, a principle stating that, when nutrients are not limiting, ocean microorganisms alway... Read More

The tiny thymus teaches the immune system to ignore the teeming, foreign bacteria in the gut that helps you digest and absorb food, researchers say.

When immune cells recognize essential gut bacteria as foreign, inflammatory bowel disease such as ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease can be ... Read More

A team of researchers from UMass Medical School, the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center and the University of Mississippi Medical Center have reported the first case of a so-called “functional cure” in an HIV-infected infant. The finding, the investigators say, may help pave the way to eliminating ... Read More

Researchers report the detection of a strain of Seoul hantavirus (SEOV) in pet rats in England and Wales. The discovery followed an investigation of a case of haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome in Wales. Hantavirus RNA was detected via real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reactio... Read More

THE WORLD witnessed only 223 polio cases last year, the lowest level in history and an impressive advance from the hundreds of thousands of children afflicted as recently as the 1980s. However, the eradication quest is not over, and the next steps look difficult. The Global Polio Eradication Ini... Read More

Many ladies love their handbags and will spend a lot of money for the latest and greatest, but a new study says what is inside those bags may be covered in germs worse than what you’ll find in the bathroom.

As CBS 2′s Cindy Hsu reported Wednesday, the study said your purse may, in fact, have ... Read More

In a classic case of turning an enemy into a friend, scientists have engineered a protein from flesh-eating bacteria to act as a molecular “superglue” that promises to become a disease fighter. And their latest results, which make the technology more versatile, were the topic of a report here to... Read More

For the past decade, much of the focus in the Arctic has centered on the rate at which ice melts and its ecological impact. Now, as Arctic ice continues to melt, carbon that has been stored in the frozen tundra for thousands of years is creeping up to the surface and exposed to a new element: su... Read More

Food microbiology laboratories continue to submit false negative results and false positive results on a routine basis. A retrospective study of nearly 40,000 proficiency test results over the past 14 years, presented today at the 113th General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology, ... Read More

The squid has fascinated microbiologists for years because of its harmonious relationship with just one bacteria -- Vibrio fischeri. The bacteria does not express light when it is freely roaming in the ocean, but when housed in the squid's light organ (located in its underbelly) it will work wit... Read More

Through the creation of a library of more than 2,000 mutant strains of the Staphylococcus aureus bacteria, the University of Nebraska Medical Center has provided an important tool for scientists around the world seeking answers for how to better deal with staph infections.

Developed over the ... Read More

Michael Pollan, food author, activist and journalism professor, wrote this week’s cover story about the organisms with which we share our bodies — and how we’re dependent on them. His book “Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation” came out last month. His last article for the magazine was ab... Read More

Rabies has been thought of as virtually 100-percent fatal unless treated immediately, but new research shows that a small number of isolated Peruvians have natural immunity from the animal-transmitted disease.

Researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that one in 15 ... Read More

Once upon a time, not too terribly long ago, getting the chicken pox was practically a rite of passage for kids.

But now, nearly 20 years after approval of a vaccine for the varicella virus, which causes the itchy illness, chicken pox is a rarity. A new study conducted by researchers at Kaise... Read More

In the most extensive screen of its kind, Texas Biomed scientists have demonstrated the feasibility of repurposing already-approved drugs for use against highly pathogenic bacteria and viruses. The pathogens included emerging diseases and potential bioterror threats ranging from anthrax to the M... Read More

Circumcision drastically alters the microbiome of the penis, changes that could explain why circumcision offers protection against HIV and other viral infections. In a study to be published on April 16 in mBio®, the online open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology, researchers... Read More

During my visit to Berkeley, CA to record TWiV #228, I met Deb Sklut, an artist who is inspired by the power of science. I recorded a brief conversation with Deb which you can view below. Her work can be found at SqueakySqueegeeArt.etsy.com. Read More