bacteria

FDA Bans 19 Chemicals Used In Antibacterial Soaps

1:38pm September 02, 2016

by Alison Kodjak

Manufacturers didn't provide data showing the chemicals are safe and effective, the FDA says. It says there's no evidence that they do a better job at preventing illness than plain soap and water.

Bacteriophages, in red, look like tiny aliens, with big heads and skinny bodies. They use their "legs" to stick to and infect a bacterial cell, in blue.

Your Gut's Gone Viral, And That Might Be Good For Your Health

8:23pm August 29, 2016

by Michaeleen Doucleff

Think of it as a gift within a gift. Some beneficial gut bacteria contain viruses called "bacteriophages." And some of these phages now have been associated with good intestinal health in humans.

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Environment

How Bacteria Could Be The Key To Healthier Crops

12:44am August 09, 2016

by Bethany Chafin

As the world's population continues to grow, some North Carolina scientists are doing research on how to feed a larger number of people. The answer, they say, could be found in bacteria.

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These mitochondria, in red, are from the heart muscle cell of a rat. Mitochondria have been described as "the powerhouses of the cell" because they generate most of a cell's supply of chemical energy. But at least one type of complex cell doesn't need 'em

Look, Ma! No Mitochondria

3:06pm May 12, 2016

by Nell Greenfieldboyce

Scientists have found the first eukaryotic organism that functions fine without mitochondria, the "powerhouses" that make energy for the cells of yeast, humans and other animals.

Scientists Discover A Second Bacterium That Causes Lyme Disease

5:41pm February 08, 2016

by Rae Ellen Bichell

It's not the tick that causes Lyme disease, but the bacteria that live in its spit. Scientists at the Mayo Clinic have found a second bacterium capable of causing the disease in people.

Burkholderia pseudomallei bacteria, colored enhanced scanning electron micrograph (SEM). These motile bacteria are the cause of melioidosis, a tropical disease spread through contaminated water and soil. The bacteria can infect the skin, causing inflammat

This Germ Can Live Decades In Distilled Water, Kill Humans In 48 Hours

4:14pm January 11, 2016

by Angus Chen

It causes melioidosis, whose yearly death toll of 90,000 is about the same as for measles. But the disease hasn't been on the global health radar — until now.

Wherever You Go, Your Personal Cloud Of Microbes Follows

8:38pm September 22, 2015

by Rob Stein

You're not just shedding microbes on every surface you touch. Research suggests you're actually walking around in an airborne plume of bacteria and other microscopic organisms that's unique to you.

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Bacillus subtilis may look like pasta under the microscope, but the bacteria are common in the gut of humans. Could the microbes be contributing to our belly fat? Too soon to tell, scientists say.

Does This Phylum Make Me Look Fat?

10:35am August 20, 2015

by Katherine Harmon Courage

The relationship between the types of microbes in our gut and belly fat is turning out to be a lot more complicated than scientists first thought.

Loki's Castle, the field of deep sea vents between Norway and Greenland, is home to sediments containing DNA from the newly discovered archaea.

Missing Link Microbes May Help Explain How Single Cells Became Us

7:55pm May 06, 2015

by Nell Greenfieldboyce

Near a field of deep sea vents between Norway and Greenland, scientists discovered the DNA of microbes that seem to be primitive archaea, but with a lot more genes — typical of complicated creatures.

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Compared with Americans' digestive tracts, Yanomamis' teem with life, like a lush, tropical rain forest.

How Modern Life Depletes Our Gut Microbes

3:03pm April 21, 2015

by Michaeleen Doucleff

For the first time, scientists have looked at the microbiome of an isolated Amazon tribe. The study finds that the Western lifestyle has wiped dozens of species out of American guts.