News • Green revolution
Bacteria could power medical sensors
Engineers have developed a biofilm capable of producing long-term, continuous electricity from an individuals' sweat.
Bacteria
News • Greenhouse gas emissions
How climate change impacts human pathogenic diseases
A comprehensive assessment of scientific literature has uncovered empirical evidence that more than 58% of human diseases caused by pathogens, such as dengue, hepatitis, pneumonia, malaria, Zika, have been aggravated by climatic hazards.
News • Rare but dangerous infectious disease
New target to combat Melioidosis
Researchers have identified an enzyme that is a promising new therapeutic target to combat the dangerous bacterial disease melioidosis.
News • CD4-PP vs. UTI
Reducing the risk of infection for patients with urinary catheters
Indwelling catheters through the urethra often cause bacterial infections. A newly discovered synthetic peptide is a promising treatment option, even against antibiotic-resistant pathogens.
News • Protective coating
Researchers develop spray-on 'Covid shield'
A sprayable coating that can prevent the surface spread of infection from bacteria and viruses – including Covid-19 – over a sustained period has been developed by Australian researchers.
News • Model to predict efficacy
Phage therapy: a viable alternative to antibiotics?
Bacteriophages – viruses that kill bacteria – could be a solution for fighting antibiotic-resistant pathogens, French researchers have developed a model to better predict their efficacy.
Sponsored • Product of the month
New test with simplified preanalytics for simultaneous detection of GDH and toxins of Clostridioides difficile in compliance with recommendations
Sofia 2 C. difficile FIA is a new solution to provide reliable and rapid test results with high clinical relevance before empiric therapy decisions are implemented.
News • mhealth
Smartphone-powered microchip for at-home diagnostic testing
Researchers developed a new microfluidic chip with broad applications for detecting viruses, pathogens, bacteria and other biomarkers in liquid samples.
News • Elusive variants
Rare genetic markers of drug-resistant tuberculosis identified
The search for rare mutations in bacterial genome could lead to better diagnostics and treatments – reducing morbidity caused by the deadly disease.
Article • Antimicrobial resistance development
AMR and climate change: a worrying dual threat to global health
Climate change and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) are forming an alarming alliance: Global warming creates new breeding grounds for resistant bacteria. A serious and very real threat to public health – but not quite the doomsday scenario some might make it out to be, says Prof Sabiha Essack from the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban, South Africa.
News • Metabolic disorders
Decoding a direct dialog between gut microbiota and brain
Hypothalamic neurons in an animal model directly detect variations in bacterial activity and adapt appetite and body temperature accordingly.
News • Identifying antimicrobials
Automated CAST-R system helps to fight blood infections
When treating acute infections, health care providers must quickly identify the best antibiotics for fighting the infection. An automated system provides swift, accurate results for determining the best antibiotics at the right dose.
News • Connection between genes and disease severity
E. coli: How does an intestinal germ become a pathogen?
In the human intestine, Escherichia coli is mostly harmless, but in certain conditions causes bladder infections and even sepsis - but why? Researchers went to the bottom of this transformation.
News • Deep learning approach
'Curvy' bacteria as telltale sign of drug resistance?
Researchers find that drug-resistant bacteria can be distinguished from non-resistant bacteria based on structural changes evident in electron microscope images with high accuracy using deep learning.
News • Evolution tactics in E.coli
Antibiotic resistance: (Population) size matters
An international team of scientists have shown that small and large bacterial populations follow qualitatively different evolutionary paths to develop antibiotic resistance.
News • Bacterial protection strategy
Protective 'chain mail' of C.difficile revealed
A newly discovered structure of chain-mail may explain the success of C.difficile at defending itself against antibiotics and immune system molecules.
News • COVID and E. coli
Futuristic coating for fabrics kills viruses
Researchers have developed an inexpensive, non-toxic coating for almost any fabric that decreases the infectivity of the virus that causes COVID-19 by up to 90 per cent.
News • Before clinical use of antibiotics
Superbug MRSA arose in hedgehogs
A type of the antibiotic resistant superbug MRSA arose in nature long before the use of antibiotics in humans and livestock, which has traditionally been blamed for its emergence.
News • Pathogen analysis
Unlocking epidemic prevention with affordable genome sequencing
A worldwide consortium aims to equip researchers in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) with cheap and accessible methods for sequencing large collections of bacterial pathogens.
News • Nosocomial infections
Forcing a 'cease-fire' on resistant germs
To counteract the spread of resistant germs, researchers have developed new drug candidates that are able to render one of the most important hospital germs harmless.
News • Microbiology
Using 3D printing technique to create biofilms
Researchers at the University of Rochester, and Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands recently developed a 3D printing technique to engineer and study biofilms—three-dimensional communities of microorganisms, such as bacteria, that adhere to surfaces. The research provides important information for creating synthetic materials and in developing drugs to fight the negative effects of…
News • Sharper than ever
High-res image of bacterial bumps gives clues to antibiotic resistance
The sharpest images ever of living bacteria have been recorded by researchers at University College London, revealing the complex architecture of the protective layer that surrounds many bacteria and makes them harder to be killed by antibiotics.
News • Resistance mechanism discovered
How staphylococci protect themselves against antibiotics
The skin bacterium Staphylococcus aureus often develops antibiotic resistance. It can then cause infections that are difficult to treat. Researchers at the University of Bonn have uncovered an ingenious way in which a certain strain of Staphylococcus aureus protects itself against the important antibiotic vancomycin. The results have now been published in the journal Microbiology Spectrum.
News • Fighting antibacterial resistance
Continued COVID levels of hygiene could transform infection control
Making recommendations for change, academics analyzed global data into the prevalence of antimicrobial resistance in urban areas—the rise of which is threatening the lifesaving role of the medications.
News • Repurposing bacteria
‘Living medicine’ could treat drug-resistant infections
Researchers at the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) and Pulmobiotics S.L have created the first ‘living medicine’ to treat antibiotic-resistant bacteria growing on the surfaces of medical implants. The researchers created the treatment by removing a common bacteria’s ability to cause disease and repurposing it to attack harmful microbes instead.