Bacteria

Spider silk is one of nature’s most impressive materials, exhibiting impressive strength and toughness. Now, researchers at Washington University in St. Louis claim to have created an artificial version that can outperform some natural spider silks.

Through a world-first trial, scientists in the UK have demonstrated the potential of a new vaccine for a life-threatening form of meningitis, and one that can be delivered via nose drops to result in long-lasting protection.

It’s hard to overstate the incredible influence our gut microbiome has on our health. Now, researchers have found that certain metabolites from intestinal bacteria could boost the cancer-killing effect of immunotherapy.

Researchers have found the earliest known strain of the plague-causing Yersinia pestis bacteria, through genetic analysis of teeth and bone from a hunter-gatherer who was buried in present-day Latvia 5,000 years ago.

Bacterial infections of the middle ear are quite common, particularly in children, yet they can be difficult to treat. An experimental new device has been designed to help, by zapping the bacteria with plasma.

Japanese researchers have developed a new type of cholera vaccine by genetically modifying rice to carry a non-toxic cholera antigen. The vaccine needs no refrigeration with the rice simply ground into a powder, mixed with water and consumed.

Presently, if a doctor suspects that a patient has a bacterial infection, that person has to provide a fluid sample that is sent off to a lab for analysis. A new device, however, could allow such samples to be analyzed on the spot, within minutes.

Antibiotics may work, but they drive bacteria to evolve into new drug-resistant forms. Now a new study has uncovered a mechanism that could make the bugs non-infectious without killing them, reducing the evolutionary pressure that leads to superbugs.

Scientists at the University of Edinburgh have taken plastic recycling technology into new territory, demonstrating how an engineered form of E. coli bacteria can be used to turn plastic bottles in vanillin, the primary compound of vanilla flavoring.

Bacteria have a nasty ability to rapidly evolve, allowing them to evade antibiotics in short order. But now, scientists at UC San Diego have used evolution against them, by “training” bacteria-killing viruses to anticipate their next moves.

Bacteria are extremely good at evolving in response to drugs, which can render vaccines ineffective. But now, researchers at ETH Zurich have found a way to weaponize that ability against them, forcing the bugs down harmless evolutionary dead ends.

Scientists have discovered five previously unknown species of listeria, a pathogenic bacteria known to cause food poisoning. One species was found to behave in ways not seen before, resulting in the calls for changes to food safety regulations.