How mucus tames microbes
A study from MIT reveals glycans, branched sugar molecules found in mucus, can prevent bacteria from communicating with each other and forming infectious biofilms, effectively rendering the microbes harmless.
Read moreBiotechnology and Bioengineering
Bacteria contradict Darwin: Survival of the friendliest
New microbial research suggests that 'survival of the friendliest' outweighs 'survival of the fittest' for groups of bacteria. Bacteria make space for one another and sacrifice properties if it benefits the bacterial community as a whole.
Read moreA reliable clock for your microbiome
The microbiome is a treasure trove of information about human health and disease, but getting it to reveal its secrets is challenging. A new genetic 'repressilator' circuit acts like a clock that tracks how bacterial growth changes over time with single-cell precision. This tool allows scientists to noninvasively study the dynamics of the microbiome, and also unlocks the potential for complex, synthetic-biology-based diagnostics and therapeutics for the human gut.
Read more'Tricked' bacteria open new pathways to antimicrobial treatments
Scientists have developed a new technique to trick bacteria into revealing hundreds of holes in their cell walls, opening the door for drugs that destroy bacteria's cells.
Read moreScientists are decoding the genetic mechanisms of aging
Scientists describes the mechanisms by which longevity is regulated post-transcriptionally, or after a genetic blueprint has been transcribed from an organism's DNA. The identification of these mechanisms will serve as a road map for screening new, more specific drugs to prolong healthy lifespan. The laboratory focuses on research on regeneration and aging.
Read moreHow chlamydia takes up new DNA from host
Molecular biologists have pinpointed a gene that allows chlamydia to take up DNA from its host environment.
Read moreA Lego-like approach to improve nature's own ability to kill dangerous bacteria
A research team has demonstrated how it could improve upon the ability of nature's exquisitely selective collection of antimicrobial enzymes to attack bacteria in a way that's much less likely to cause bacterial resistance.
Read moreLongtime DNA mystery illuminated by buttons and flies
Biologists have uncovered an important clue in the longtime mystery of how long strands of DNA fold up to squeeze into microscopic cells, with each pair of chromosomes aligned to ensure perfect development.
Read morePlant death may reveal genetic mechanisms underlying cell self-destruction
Hybrid plants, which produced by crossing two different types of parents, often die in conditions in which both parents would survive. Certain hybrid tobacco plants, for example, thrive at 36 degrees Celsius, but die at 28 degrees Celsius, which is the temperature at which both parents would thrive. Researchers have begun to unravel the molecular mechanisms by which hybrid tobacco plant cells meet their demise.
Read moreCore symptom of schizophrenia reversed in adult mice
Researchers have restored normal working memory to a mouse model of schizophrenia, eliminating a core symptom of the disorder that, in people, has proven virtually impossible to treat.
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