Scientists have discovered that predatory bacteria like the cholera pathogen can steal up to 150 genes in one go from their neighbors. The study sheds light on one of the most fundamental mechanisms of horizontal gene transfer.
Read moreFor the past two years, researchers have been studying six offspring of a dairy bull, genome-edited to prevent it from growing horns. Scientists report that none of the bull's offspring developed horns, as expected, and blood work and physical exams of the calves found they were all healthy. The researchers also sequenced and analyzed the genomes of the calves and their parents looking for any unexpected changes.
Read moreAntibiotics are still the most important weapon for combatting bacterial infections. But medical science is running out of ''ammunition'' because of more and more frequently occurring resistances. Research teams have now elucidated the structure of the proteolytic complex ClpX-ClpP. This is a key to development of innovative antibiotics which target the degradation process of defective proteins in bacteria.
Read morePeople eat more with friends and family than when dining alone — a possible throwback to our early ancestors' approach to survival, according to a new study. This phenomenon is known as 'social facilitation'.
Read moreWound inflammation which results in impaired wound healing can have serious consequences for patients. Researchers have discovered a new defensive mechanism which enables our skin to actively kill bacteria. Central to this mechanism is a cellular messenger molecule known as 'interleukin 6', whose mode of action may be used in the future to prevent wound infections.
Read moreResearchers have developed a new way to deliver the DNA-editing tool CRISPR-Cas9 into microorganisms in the lab, providing a way to efficiently launch a targeted attack on specific bacteria.
Read moreThe spread of antibiotic resistant genes (ARGs) through the water system could put public safety at-risk. Researchers studied and compared samples from an advanced groundwater treatment facility in California and groundwater aquifers to detect differences in ARG concentrations. They found that the advanced groundwater treatment facility reduced nearly all targeted ARGs to below detection limits, but groundwater samples had a ubiquitous presence of ARGs in both control locations and locations recharged with water from the advanced water treatment facility.
Read moreShiga toxin subtype 2a (Stx2a) may play a key role in promoting the colonization and transmission of life-threatening Escherichia coli strains in cattle, according to a new study.
Read moreBiological engineers can program bacteriophages to kill different strains of E. coli by making mutations in the protein that the viruses use to bind to host cells. These engineered phages are less likely to provoke resistance in bacteria, and could help to overcome antibiotic resistance.
Read moreTaking a 'fingerprint' of the mix of bacteria in the gut can indicate how susceptible individual cancer patients are to gut damage as a result of radiotherapy for prostate and gynaecological cancers, a new study shows. Researchers showed that having a reduced diversity of gut bacteria was associated with an increased risk of both immediate and delayed damage to the gut following radiotherapy.
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