How bacteria support wound healing

Although they were not recognized as agents of disease until the late 19th century, the detrimental effects of bacterial infections have been known to humans for thousands of years. Some have even become mythical—for example, ...

How microbes could aid the search for extraterrestrial life

In the quest to address fundamental questions about the nature of the universe and the search for extraterrestrial life, space has been an important frontier for human exploration. Microbes, among the earliest forms of life ...

The spirit of Juneteenth: The freedom to self-determine

To be able to self-determine is to be able to control one's own life and tell one's own story—an ability that people who were enslaved in the U.S. did not legally have before the Emancipation Proclamation (1862) or the ...

How microbes may help mitigate mercury absorption

New research by a team at Pennsylvania State University suggests that microbes in the human gut could be harnessed to help the body absorb useful nutritional metals—like iron, which is critical for red blood cells—and ...

Marine viruses: Submerged players of climate change

While the world has been heavily focused on the usual players of global climate change, like fossil fuels and deforestation, a group of unlikely contenders has emerged from the depths of the ocean—marine viruses. These ...

Heat-loving marine bacteria can help detoxify asbestos

Asbestos materials were once widely used in homes, buildings, automobile brakes and many other built materials due to their strength and resistance to heat and fire, as well as to their low electrical conductivity. Unfortunately, ...

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