Viruses are mainly known as pathogens – often causing death. However, scientists are now showing how viruses influence the biology of living marine predators. This sheds new light on the general role of viruses in ocean ecosystems. For these insights, the scientists integrated a suite of innovative and high technology methods that have not been applied simultaneously in the study of marine ecosystems.
Read moreA pocket-sized zinc deficiency test could be taken to remote regions where masses are malnourished – no complex transport or preservation necessary. It could be evaluated on the spot, and this initial test could be expanded into more comprehensive micronutrient fieldtests.
Read moreFor the first time, scientists were able to observe bacteria forming pearl chains that protrude from the cell surface. These pearl chains serve to better absorb and store substances from the environment.
Read moreInfections that are treatable in healthy people can often be fatal in immunocompromised individuals (people with a weak immune system), and hence, they require specialized treatment. Eushearilide is already known to be active against a wide range of pathogenic fungi and yeasts, but its antibacterial properties have not been explored. Now, scientists have derived a new compound from eushearilide and demonstrated its antibacterial and antifungal properties. It can be used to treat lung infections, meningitis, and encephalitis.
Read moreA provocative new study looks at the resource utilization and technological strategies that would be needed to make a Mars population of one million people food self-sufficient.
Read moreWhile viruses are typically known for their pathogenic properties, new research findings now also demonstrate a positive influence of bacteriophages on the interaction of host organisms with bacteria. A new study sheds new light on the symbiosis between multicellular organisms and their microbial communities, which may be regulated by bacteriophages in a tripartite relationship.
Read moreFor the first time ever, researchers have mapped how bacterial cells trigger their defense against outside attacks. This could affect how diseases are fought in the future.
Read moreScientists have developed a new class of antibiotic drug candidates which has high potential to be developed into a new generation of antibiotics fighting against multi-drug resistant superbugs including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).
Read moreOne of the WHO's 3 critical priority pathogens, Acinetobacter baumannii, for which new antibiotics are urgently needed is one step closer to being tackled, as researchers have made a breakthrough in understanding the enzymes that assemble the antibiotic enacyloxin.
Read moreThe memory of the immune system is able to distinguish a foreign protein with which the organism has already come into contact from another and to react with a corresponding antibody. Researchers have now discovered in flour beetles that the immune system's ability to specifically fend off pathogens can adapt in the course of evolution.
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