Bacteria

A small daily dose of kombucha made from black tea has been shown to meaningfully reshape the gut microbiome in adults – particularly those with obesity – without any dietary changes. It also reveals a lot about the importance of micro-biodiversity.

A new study from scientists at Michigan State University sheds light on a recently discovered microbe and its potential for scavenging pollutants in deep soil. Further work could lead to novel solutions in providing clean drinking water worldwide.

No Soviet records, no logs or official drilling reports – just a 100-foot (30-m) deep, 226-foot (69-m) wide pit of relentless fire that’s burned for 50-plus years in Turkmenistan’s Karakum Desert called the Door to Hell.

A study has described how certain bacteria living on our skin can act as microbial sunscreen, protecting us from harmful UV rays. These microbes neutralize UV-induced immune changes, offering a natural defense against the damaging effects of sunlight.

Ultraviolet light is well-known for its ability to kill germs, including ones that cause food to spoil. And while there doesn't tend to be any food-preserving UV light in our refrigerators, a new consumer device is out to change that.

Engineers from Montana State University have developed a building material using the root-like mycelium network of a fungus. It's the first time fungal mycelium has been tested as a scaffold for living materials.

A decade-long study of 35 million Americans in 10 states has found that group A streptococcus infections have more than doubled. What's more, "strep" – which can cause a bizarre flesh-eating disease – has become increasingly resistant to antibiotics.

We're going to be on the Moon more often soon, and we'll need places to rest and work there. Building habitats and maintaining them will be tough, but bacteria could come to the rescue by helping repair cracked bricks made from lunar soil.

A new antibiotic to relieve stubborn urinary tract infections and a blood-clot dissolving treatment for acute ischemic stroke will be commercially available in the coming months. It's been nearly three decades since adjacent drugs have hit the market.

It's never a good thing, when a bacterial biofilm forms on the surface of a medical implant. There could soon be a new way of eradicating such films, however, using tiny remote-control liquid-bodied robots.

In seeking new antibiotic sources, researchers have turned to an unlikely source: a whiffy frog known as Odorrana andersonii. By unclumping a compound it produces naturally, they've found a potential gut-friendly ally in the fight against superbugs.

Scientists have made a major breakthrough in the accuracy and speed at which serious and often deadly pathogen infections can be diagnosed and treated. Often, this is time that is critically important in saving a patient's life.