Gut microbes are the community within you that you can't live without – how eating well can cultivate your microbial and social self

Nurturing your gut microbiome can go hand in hand with nurturing your social community, with health benefits all around.

Christopher Damman, Associate Professor of Gastroenterology, School of Medicine, University of Washington • conversation
Aug. 11, 2023 ~9 min

To deal with drought stress, soil releases more volatile compounds

During drought, soils release more volatile organic compounds into the atmosphere, researchers report.

Rose Brandt-Arizona • futurity
Aug. 7, 2023 ~5 min


Probe expands understanding of oral cavity homeostasis

A new approach opens the door to a greater understanding of protein-microbe interactions.

Lillian Eden | Department of Biology • mit
July 18, 2023 ~5 min

_E. coli_ is one of the most widely studied organisms – and that may be a problem for both science and medicine

Researchers uncovered the foundations of biology by using E. coli as a model organism. But over-reliance on this microbe can lead to knowledge blind spots with implications for antibiotic resistance.

Tobias Dörr, Associate Professor of Microbiology, Cornell University • conversation
July 5, 2023 ~8 min

Do you crush microbes when you step on them?

You can squash small bugs by stepping on them, but can you crush even tinier microorganisms like viruses and bacteria? It turns out that you’d need to apply a lot of pressure.

Kenneth F. Reardon, Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Colorado State University • conversation
June 26, 2023 ~8 min

The melting Arctic is a crime scene. The microbes I study have long warned us of this catastrophe – but they are also driving it

To fully understand the extent of climate-related dangers the Arctic – and our planet – is facing, we must focus on organisms too small to be seen with the naked eye.

Arwyn Edwards, Reader in Biology, Department of Life Sciences, Aberystwyth University • conversation
June 23, 2023 ~27 min

Studying phages far from home

Biology graduate student Tong Zhang has spent the last two years learning the intricacies of how bacteria protect themselves.

Lillian Eden | Department of Biology • mit
June 12, 2023 ~6 min

Like ancient mariners, ancestors of Prochlorococcus microbes rode out to sea on exoskeleton particles

A new study shows the carbon-capturing phytoplankton colonized the ocean by rafting on particles of chitin.

Jennifer Chu | MIT News Office • mit
May 11, 2023 ~8 min


Probing deep-sea mystery: microbes immune to same viruses

Genomic analysis suggests host diversity is far greater than previously thought.

Wendy Heywood • harvard
May 9, 2023 ~4 min

Reconstructing ancient bacterial genomes can revive previously unknown molecules – offering a potential source for new antibiotics

Ancient microbes likely produced natural products their descendants today do not. Tapping into this lost chemical diversity could offer a potential source of new drugs.

Pierre Stallforth, Professor of Bioorganic Chemistry and Paleobiotechnology, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena • conversation
May 4, 2023 ~9 min

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