Bacteria
Discovery turns seaweed into biofuel in half the time
August 30, 2011 9:12 am | News | CommentsUniversity of Illinois scientists have engineered a new strain of yeast that converts seaweed into biofuel in half the time it took just months ago.
Method reveals parts of bacterium genome essential to life
August 30, 2011 7:36 am | News | CommentsA team at the Stanford University School of Medicine has cataloged, down to the letter, exactly what parts of the genetic code are essential for survival in one bacterial species, Caulobacter crescentus .
Cars could run on recycled newspaper
August 25, 2011 7:35 am | News | CommentsHere's one way that old-fashioned newsprint beats the Internet. Tulane University scientists have discovered a novel bacterial strain, dubbed "TU-103," that can use paper to produce butanol, a biofuel that can serve as a substitute for gasoline.
Scientists reengineer antibiotic to overcome resistent bacteria
August 25, 2011 7:32 am | News | CommentsA team of scientists from The Scripps Research Institute have successfully reengineered an important antibiotic to kill the deadliest antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The researchers report the finding has clinical significance.
Common bacterium stops mosquitoes from transmitting dengue virus
August 24, 2011 9:55 am | News | CommentsStrains of a bacterium commonly found in fruit flies can prevent the Aedes aegypti mosquito from transmitting the virus that causes dengue fever, researchers have found. Their discovery could lead to a more effective way to control dengue worldwide.
Microwaves to improve drug delivery
August 18, 2011 6:07 am | News | CommentsA team of Swinburne University of Technology researchers has shown that low-temperature microwaves can be used to open up pores in bacterial cells, which could lead to significant improvements in the design of drug delivery systems.
Could microbial life survive on Mars?
August 17, 2011 6:14 am | News | CommentsHow common are droplets of saltwater on Mars? Could microbial life survive and reproduce in them? A new million-dollar NASA project led by the University of Michigan aims to answer those questions.
Rapid blood test answers biggest infection question
August 11, 2011 7:17 am | News | CommentsTo successfully fight infection, the right treatment must be started quickly. But sometimes physicians have difficulty differentiating between a viral or a bacterial affliction. A simple blood test has been developed that should quickly answer this question.
E. coli metabolism reversed for fast production of fuels
August 10, 2011 9:46 am | News | CommentsIn a biotechnological tour de force, Rice University engineering researchers unveiled a new method for rapidly converting simple glucose into biofuels and petrochemical substitutes.
Team discovers conducting properties of bacteria-produced nanowires
August 8, 2011 6:02 am | News | CommentsA team from University of Massachusetts Amherst has discovered a fundamental, previously unknown property of microbial nanowires in the bacterium Geobacter sulfurreducens that allows electron transport across long distances that could impact nanotechnology and bioelectronics.
Ethanol-loving bacteria can crack pipeline steel
August 3, 2011 9:55 am | News | CommentsU.S. production of ethanol has reached more than 13 billion gallons, and transport of this fuel may soon rely on existing gas pipelines. Unfortunately, as NIST testers have found, a common bacteria that is attracted to ethanol can also wreak havoc on the steels used for these pipes.
Newly designed molecule blocks chlamydia bacteria
July 22, 2011 8:09 am | News | CommentsResearchers at Duke University Medical Center have discovered a way to block the damaging actions of chlamydia. The team, which included Duke University microbiologists and chemists, designed a molecule that takes away the bacteria's self-defense mechanisms.
A hot species for cool structures
July 22, 2011 5:36 am | News | CommentsA fungus that lives at extremely high temperatures could help understand structures within our own cells. Scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) and Heidelberg University, both in Heidelberg, Germany, were the first to sequence and analyze the genome of a heat-loving fungus, using that information to determine the long sought 3D structure of the inner ring of the nuclear pore.
Editing the human genome
July 15, 2011 4:40 am | News | CommentsMassachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard University researchers have developed technologies that could be used to rewrite the genetic code of a living cell, allowing them to make large-scale edits to the cell's genome.
Biologists identify new strategy used by bacteria during infection
July 13, 2011 4:59 am | News | CommentsPurdue University biologists identified a new way in which bacteria hijack healthy cells during infection, which could provide a target for new antibiotics.
Hot springs microbe yields heat-tolerant enzyme
July 5, 2011 9:28 am | News | CommentsBioprospectors from the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Maryland School of Medicine have found a microbe in a Nevada hot spring that happily eats plant material—cellulose—at temperatures near the boiling point of water.
Wallaby gut bacteria could put the brakes on livestock methane
July 1, 2011 5:58 am | News | CommentsScientists looking for possible ways to cut down on excessive methane emissions from livestock found a potential answer in an unlikely place: the gut of the Australian Tammar wallaby. This species releases 80% less methane per unit of energy than other animals, and researchers have isolated and grown cultures of the bacteria responsibly.
Cooling system may build eggs' natural defenses against salmonella
June 22, 2011 11:51 am | News | CommentsOnce eggs are laid, their natural resistance to pathogens begins to wear down, but a Purdue Univ. scientist believes he knows how to rearm those defenses.
Engineers create world’s smallest fuel cell, powered by biology
June 20, 2011 12:19 pm | News | CommentsThe new device, the size of a single strand of human hair, generates energy from the metabolism of bacteria on thin gold plates in micro-manufactured channels. The fuel cell recruits necessary bacteria to create a biofilm that utilizes natural organic compounds as fuel to generate power.
Chemist developing materials to detect, repel E. coli
June 16, 2011 5:30 am | News | CommentsRigoberto “Gobet” Advincula, a polymer chemist, says he and his colleagues at the Univ. of Houston have developed two different materials that are both equally effective against E. coli. The first is a graphene material that shows promise as an antimicrobial, and the second is a conducting polymer that can repel the potentially deadly bacteria.
Scientists probe DNA of E. coli for outbreak clues
June 13, 2011 6:38 am | by Maria Cheng, AP Medical Writer | News | CommentsThe source of one of the world’s worst E. coli outbreaks is still proving elusive to science. So far, one strain from a German patient has been sequenced by Chinese and German scientists. While the genetic information is preliminary, experts say there are a few hints about where the bacteria came from and why it might be so lethal.
Tutankhamen’s burial may have been a rush job
June 9, 2011 7:09 am | News | CommentsA Harvard expert in cultural heritage microbiology has made the claim that the famous Egyptian pharaoh may have been buried quickly and furtively. He makes this conclusion based on mysterious brown spots located on a piece of artwork on the tomb’s walls that have stumped archaeologists for decades. The moisture-rich environment of a tomb closed before the paint was dry, he says, may have led to a microbe-friendly environment.
An alternative to antibiotics?
June 7, 2011 12:45 pm | News | CommentsAntibiotics are among the greatest achievements of medical science. But bacteria are increasingly developing resistance to once-potent drugs. Researchers are scrambling for an alternative, and researchers in Germany say they have found one in a therapeutic equivalent that could replace penicillin and related pharmaceuticals.
Researchers identify caffeine-consuming bacterium
June 7, 2011 10:30 am | News | CommentsAs it turns out, humans aren't the only organisms that turn to caffeine for a pick-me-up. University of Iowa scientists have identified four different bacteria that actually can live on caffeine.
Potential treatment for E. coli disease
June 7, 2011 7:04 am | News | CommentsA potential life-saving treatment for severe E. coli food poisoning outbreaks—developed more than a decade ago—hasn't gone forward into clinical trials because of lack of commercial interest. Univ. of Adelaide researchers produced a "designer" probiotic bacterium which binds and neutralizes the toxin produced by E. coli , which causes life-threatening attack on the kidneys and blood vessels.
