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+7 +2
How bacteria turbocharged their motors
Using detailed 3D images, researchers have shown how bacteria have evolved molecular motors of different powers to optimise their swimming. The discovery, by a team from Imperial College London, provides insights into evolution at the molecular scale. Bacteria use molecular motors just tens of nanometres wide to spin a tail (or ‘flagellum’) that pushes them through their habitat. Like human-made motors, the structure of these nanoscale machines determines their power and the bacteria’s swimming ability.
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+15 +2
Supercharged antibiotics could defeat superbugs
An old drug boosted by University of Queensland researchers has been released as a new antibiotic that could terminate some of the world’s deadliest superbugs. The supercharge technique, directed by Dr. Mark Blaskovich and Professor Matt Cooper from UQ’s Institute for Molecular Bioscience (IMB), possibly could regenerate other antibiotics. Antibiotic-resistant bacteria, superbugs, trigger 700,000 deaths globally every year, and a UK government review has foretold this number could rise to 10 million by 2050.
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+23 +1
Does vinegar really kill household germs?
Plenty of people swear by vinegar, but can it actually kill nasty household bugs?
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+25 +1
How Dirt Could Save Humanity From an Infectious Apocalypse
Nobody scours Central Park looking for drugs quite the way Sean Brady does. On a sweltering Thursday, he hops out of a yellow cab, crosses Fifth Avenue, and scurries up a dirt path. Around us, the penetrating churn of a helicopter and the honk of car horns filter through the trees. Brady, a fast-talking chemist in his late 40s who sports a graying buzz cut and rimless glasses, has a wry, self-deprecating humor that belies the single-minded determination of his quest. He walks along restlessly. Near the lake, we head up a rock slope and into a secluded area. Brady bends over and picks up a pinch of dusty soil.
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+18 +1
Microbes found in one of Earth’s most hostile places, giving hope for life on Mars
A hardy community of bacteria lives in Chile’s Atacama Desert—one of the driest and most inhospitable places on Earth—where it can survive a decade without water, new research confirms. The work should put to rest the doubts of many scientists, who had suggested that previous evidence of microscopic life in this remote region came from transient microbes. And because the soils in this location closely resemble those on Mars, these desert dwellers may give hope to those seeking life on the Red Planet’s similarly hostile surface.
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+18 +1
New Species of Tardigrade Discovered in Japanese Parking Lot
Say hello to Macrobiotus shonaicus, a completely new species of tardigrade—those incredibly resilient microscopic wee beasties that likely have what it takes to survive the apocalypse.
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+6 +1
How to Prevent Gut Inflammation
If you think about it, there has to be a way for our good bacteria to signal to our immune system that they’re the good guys. There is. And that signal is butyrate. Researchers found that butyrate suppresses the inflammatory reaction and tells our immune system to stand down
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+16 +1
The Purpose of Diarrhoea Is Way More Complicated And Important Than We'd Like
For centuries, scientists have been confounded by one of the messiest aspects of the human experience - diarrhoea, and why exactly we have to endure it.
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+14 +1
Rubber ducks may be haven for nasty germs
Scientists have the dirt on the rubber ducky: Those cute yellow bath-time toys are — as some parents have long suspected — a haven for nasty bugs. Swiss and American researchers counted the microbes swimming inside the toys and say the murky liquid released when ducks were squeezed contained "potentially pathogenic bacteria" in four out of the five toys studied.
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+25 +1
Hot-air dryers suck in nasty bathroom bacteria and shoot them at your hands
Air filters can help, but healthcare and research centers may want to stick with towels.
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+18 +1
The Microbiologist Sniffing Out the World's Perfect Cheese
Rachel Dutton's studies of bacteria may have a huge impact on dairy as we know it.
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+20 +1
Biologists Discover Pathway That Protects Mitochondria
MIT biologists have discovered the first cellular response targeted at helping mitochondria when their protein import goes wrong.
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+3 +1
Can microbes manipulate our minds?
Researchers at the University of Oxford have proposed an evolutionary framework to understand why microbes living in the gut affect the brain and behaviour, published in Nature Reviews Microbiology.
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+4 +1
The incredibly frustrating reason there’s no Lyme disease vaccine
Lyme has quickly become one of the most common infectious diseases in America, with many as 300,000 people infected every year. And public health officials fear the bacterial infection, which jumps from ticks to humans, will only spread farther and faster as climate change makes more parts of the US habitable for ticks. Lyme can be treated with antibiotics. And there are many ways to prevent tick bites. But there’s no vaccine available if you want extra protection against the disease (unless you’re a dog).
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+24 +1
It's food safety lore, but does the 5-second rule really work?
So how long does it take for microorganisms from your kitchen floor to attach themselves to that slice of pizza you dropped? Perhaps you're asking yourself the wrong question.
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+25 +1
Chance discovery links inflammatory bowel disease with common bacterial gut toxin
New research has uncovered a surprise link between a common bacterial toxin found in the gut and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
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+12 +1
Global warming linked with rising antibiotic resistance
New research suggests rising temperatures are encouraging antibiotic resistance in cities across the United States. Until now, health researchers assumed antibiotic resistance was primarily the result of overprescription and overuse. But a new study suggests climate change is also to blame. "The effects of climate are increasingly being recognized in a variety of infectious diseases, but so far as we know this is the first time it has been implicated in the distribution of antibiotic resistance over geographies," Derek MacFadden, an infectious disease specialist and...
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+19 +1
Faecal transplants could help preserve vulnerable species
New gut bacteria can expand the diet of animals like koalas and rhinoceroses.
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+3 +1
First pilot for global expansion of the American Gut Project under The Microsetta Initiative
Researchers at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine and the LifeScience Institute in the Philippines have announced a pilot
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+11 +1
Statins Damage Gut Microbiome and Contribute to Antibiotic Resistance
A recent study published in Nature has found that statins disturb the gut microbiome - they inhibit the growth of some potentially useful bacteria in the gut and allow other bacteria to flourish and become superbugs resistant to antibiotics.
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