Microbes

  1. rod-shaped E. coli bacteria, colorized in orange
    Life

    Some E. coli set off viral grenades inside nearby bacteria

    A bacterial toxin called colibactin awakens dormant viruses embedded in bacterial DNA, but its ecological role is still unknown.

    By Tina Hesman Saey
  2. image of purple gloved hands filling a bottle with fecal transplant pills
    Health & Medicine

    Fecal transplant pills helped some peanut allergy sufferers in a small trial

    In a small study, a one-day fecal microbiota transplant allowed some peanut-allergic adults to safely eat one to two peanuts several months later.

    By Esther Landhuis
  3. a dirty kitchen sponge on a white background
    Life

    Why kitchen sponges are the perfect home for bacteria

    Sponges are remarkably diverse hot spots for bacteria, in part because of the mixed-housing environment that the tools offer their tenants.

    By Anna Gibbs
  4. illustration of floating Clostridioides difficile bacteria with a chain mail–like outer layer amid a blue background
    Microbes

    A chain mail–like armor may shield C. difficile from some antibiotics

    Examining the structures that protect Clostridioides difficile from medicines could help researchers find new ways to target and kill the bacteria.

    By Erin Garcia de Jesús
  5. a thirteen-lined ground squirrel curled up into a tight ball
    Animals

    Gut microbes help some squirrels stay strong during hibernation

    Microbes living in the critters’ guts take nitrogen from urea and put it into the amino acid glutamine, helping squirrels retain muscle in the winter.

    By Erin Garcia de Jesús
  6. an anole clinging to a wire fence
    Animals

    Urban animals may get some dangerous gut microbes from humans

    Fecal samples from urban wildlife suggest human gut microbes might be spilling over to the animals. The microbes could jeopardize the animals’ health.

    By Richard Kemeny
  7. sawdust
    Chemistry

    A disinfectant made from sawdust mows down deadly microbes

    Antimicrobial molecules found in wood waste could be used to make more sustainable, greener disinfectants.

    By Carolyn Wilke
  8. a European hedgehog next to a mossy plant
    Microbes

    Drug-resistant bacteria evolved on hedgehogs long before the use of antibiotics

    A standoff between bacteria and antibiotic-producing fungi living on hedgehogs may have led to the rise of one type of MRSA some 200 years ago.

    By Carolyn Wilke
  9. an illustration of viruses attacking a rod-shaped bacterium
    Microbes

    A bacteria-virus arms race could lead to a new way to treat shigellosis

    As bacteria that cause shigellosis evolve to escape a virus, the microbes may become less deadly, a hopeful sign for “phage therapy.”

    By Erin Garcia de Jesús
  10. Brood X cicadas on a leaf
    Animals

    Cicada science heats up when Brood X emerges. 2021 was no exception

    Mating mobs of big, hapless, 17-year-old cicadas made for a memorable spring in the Eastern United States

    By Susan Milius
  11. image of vulture bees on a piece of chicken
    Animals

    Gut bacteria let vulture bees eat rotting flesh without getting sick

    Acid-producing bacteria in the gut of vulture bees let these “weirdos of the bee world” safely snack on animal carcasses.

    By Sharon Oosthoek
  12. image of hands holding a pile of soil
    Life

    Fungi may be crucial to storing carbon in soil as the Earth warms

    Fungi help soil-making bacteria churn out carbon compounds that are resilient to heat, keeping those compounds in the ground, a study suggests.

    By Freda Kreier