https://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. Pneumocystis is an unwieldy genus of fungal pathogens that cause severe pneumonia, particularly in immunocompromised people like those with HIV/AIDs or who have received organ transplants. However, the mechanisms by which it infects a host organism—and how it acquires resistance to known treatments—remain largely unknown, which makes devising new therapeutics a formidable challenge. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-extracellular-vesicles-gene-pneumocystis-fungi.html Cell & Microbiology Wed, 28 Jan 2026 13:00:05 EST news688827105 A deep blue organic light-emitting diode (OLED) developed by researchers at Science Tokyo operates on just a single 1.5 V, overcoming the high-voltage and color-purity problems that have long limited blue OLEDs. The breakthrough was achieved by introducing a new molecular dopant that prevents charge trapping, a problem that previously hampered the performance of low-voltage OLEDs. The resulting device produces sharp blue emissions that meet BT.2020 standards, paving the way towards brighter, more energy-efficient displays. https://phys.org/news/2025-10-deep-blue-emitting-diode.html Optics & Photonics Tue, 14 Oct 2025 12:40:03 EDT news679664016 Field trials conducted at the University of Queensland show microbial biotechnology could be a game-changer for farming with simultaneous benefits for soil regeneration, crop yield and carbon sequestration. https://phys.org/news/2025-04-soil-carbon-beneficial-microbes.html Biotechnology Wed, 09 Apr 2025 13:24:30 EDT news663423866 Researchers have identified a new way to fight infections like Lyme disease and syphilis by disrupting the bacteria's "motor," preventing it from spreading through the body. https://phys.org/news/2025-03-bacterial-mobility-approach-disease.html Cell & Microbiology Fri, 28 Mar 2025 11:07:04 EDT news662378821 Organelles in cells were originally often independent cells, which were incorporated by host cells and lost their independence in the course of evolution. A team of biologists headed by Professor Dr. Eva Nowack at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU) are examining the way in which this assimilation process occurs and how quickly. They now describe their findings about an intermediate stage in this process in Science Advances. https://phys.org/news/2025-03-organelle-evolves-symbiosis-cell-intermediate.html Evolution Wed, 19 Mar 2025 14:00:06 EDT news661593038 Soils are among the largest viral reservoirs on Earth. Yet historically, soil viruses have been ignored. Recent work indicates the soil virosphere as a critical factor in human and environmental health, yet our understanding of global soil viral distributions, activities, and interactions with the soil microbiome remains limited. https://phys.org/news/2024-08-comprehensive-soil-virus-dataset-untapped.html Cell & Microbiology Mon, 05 Aug 2024 10:19:15 EDT news642071952 Trematodes, also known as flukes, are a class of parasitic flatworms with intricate lifecycles. This makes them interesting to scientists, but they are also significant to both human health and wildlife conservation. https://phys.org/news/2024-05-heatmaps-trematodes-congregate-amphibians-bodies.html Plants & Animals Fri, 24 May 2024 10:20:07 EDT news635764801 Modern biology textbooks assert that only bacteria can take nitrogen from the atmosphere and convert it into a form that is usable for life. Plants that fix nitrogen, such as legumes, do so by harboring symbiotic bacteria in root nodules. But a recent discovery upends that rule. https://phys.org/news/2024-04-scientists-nitrogen-organelle-1.html Cell & Microbiology Thu, 11 Apr 2024 16:39:22 EDT news632072349 The microbiome (the symbiotic community of microbial organisms of a host) is of existential importance for the functioning of every plant and animal, including human beings. A research team from Düsseldorf and Kiel headed by Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU) has now used the example of the sea anemone Nematostella vectenis to investigate how the microbiome develops together with the host. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-microbiome-bacteria-lay-foundations-descendants.html Ecology Mon, 20 Nov 2023 10:38:51 EST news619699128 No one had ever seen one virus latching onto another virus, until anomalous sequencing results sent a UMBC team down a rabbit hole leading to a first-of-its-kind discovery. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-first-ever-virus.html Cell & Microbiology Thu, 02 Nov 2023 14:59:22 EDT news618155959 Viruses are the most prevalent biological entities in the world's oceans and play essential roles in its ecological and biogeochemical balance. Yet, they are the least understood elements of marine life. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-unraveling-protist-genome-mystery-marine.html Cell & Microbiology Tue, 31 Oct 2023 13:16:34 EDT news617976990 A team led by Tappei Mishina at the RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research (BDR) has discovered that parasites manipulate their hosts using stolen genes that they likely acquired through a phenomenon called horizontal gene transfer. The study was published in Current Biology on October 19. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-stolen-genes-parasitic-behavior-host.html Evolution Thu, 19 Oct 2023 11:00:01 EDT news616924497 The gut microbiome—the population and variety of bacteria within the intestine—is thought to influence a number of behavioral and disease traits in humans. Most obviously, it affects intestinal health. Cancer, inflammatory bowel disease, and celiac disease, for example, are all affected by the gut microbiome. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-method-microbiome-human-gut.html Cell & Microbiology Mon, 16 Oct 2023 10:12:26 EDT news616669943 Research led by multiple institutions in China has examined how small, furry, viral vectors affect the spread and evolution of viruses. They report the identification of 669 viruses, including 534 novel viruses, greatly expanding our knowledge of the mammalian virome, including previously unknown coronaviruses and orthorubulaviruses. https://phys.org/news/2023-09-cross-species-virus-transmission-species-small.html Ecology Mon, 25 Sep 2023 09:19:50 EDT news614852387 All multicellular organisms—from the simplest animal and plant organisms to humans—live in close association with a variety of microorganisms that colonize their tissues and form symbiotic relationships with the host. https://phys.org/news/2023-08-good-wrinkly-bacteria-host.html Evolution Thu, 31 Aug 2023 12:51:04 EDT news612705061 We've long known that hosts malfunction without their microbiome—whether they are missing key microbial species or are completely microbe free. This malfunctioning is usually explained by the need for microbes to perform unique and beneficial functions, but evolutionary ecologist Tobin Hammer of the University of California, Irvine, is questioning that narrative. https://phys.org/news/2023-08-hosts-evolutionary-addiction-microbiome.html Evolution Tue, 29 Aug 2023 11:00:01 EDT news612519463 A human or animal's microbiome—the collection of often beneficial microorganisms, including as bacteria and fungi, that live on or within a host organism—can play an important role in the host's overall immune response, but it is unclear how vaccines against harmful pathogens impact the microbiome. A new study led by researchers at Penn State found that a new vaccine against the deadly chytrid fungus in frogs can shift the composition of the microbiome, making frogs more resilient to future exposure to the fungus. https://phys.org/news/2023-06-vaccine-deadly-chytrid-fungus-primes.html Ecology Sun, 11 Jun 2023 19:00:03 EDT news605518678 The microbes that inhabit the gut are critical for human health, and understanding the factors that encourage the growth of beneficial bacterial species—known as "good" bacteria—in the gut may enable medical interventions that promote gut and overall human health. In a new study, Yale researchers have uncovered a novel mechanism by which these bacteria colonize the gut. https://phys.org/news/2023-03-boosting-survival-beneficial-bacterium-human.html Cell & Microbiology Fri, 17 Mar 2023 14:20:54 EDT news598281643 Scientists at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory have confirmed that bacteria-killing viruses called bacteriophages deploy a sneaky tactic when targeting their hosts: They use a standard genetic code when invading bacteria, then switch to an alternate code at later stages of infection. https://phys.org/news/2023-03-team-bacteria-killing-viruses-deploy-genetic.html Cell & Microbiology Thu, 16 Mar 2023 11:33:03 EDT news598185182 A research team from Kiel University describes an unknown defense mechanism in bacteria that selectively wards off foreign and potentially harmful genetic information. https://phys.org/news/2023-03-insights-bacterial-immune.html Cell & Microbiology Wed, 08 Mar 2023 17:04:03 EST news597517441 ATP, the compound essential for the functioning of photosynthetic organisms such as plants, algae, and cyanobacteria, is produced by an enzyme called "chloroplast ATP synthase" (CFoCF1). To control ATP production under varying light conditions, the enzyme uses a redox regulatory mechanism that modifies the ATP synthesis activity in response to changes in the redox state of cysteine (Cys) residues, which exist as dithiols under reducing (light) conditions, but forms a disulfide bond under oxidizing (dark) conditions. However, this mechanism has not yet been fully understood. https://phys.org/news/2023-02-uncover-photosynthetic-atp.html Plants & Animals Wed, 22 Feb 2023 08:40:02 EST news596277601 Symbiotic relationships are everywhere in nature. In the soil, for example, mycorrhizal fungi enhance water and nutrient absorption for plants while feeding on sugars their roots release. In another classic mutualism, ants find food and shelter in specialized structures that acacia trees grow; the insects, in turn, defend the trees from being eaten by other hungry critters. https://phys.org/news/2023-02-species-partnerships-evolve-specific-general.html Evolution Thu, 02 Feb 2023 08:58:41 EST news594550718 When bacteria interact, they give off cellular signals that can trigger a response in their neighbors, causing them to behave in different ways or produce different substances. For example, they can communicate to coordinate movement away from danger or to emit light to ward off predators. https://phys.org/news/2023-01-chatterboxes-bacteria-communicate.html Molecular & Computational biology Thu, 26 Jan 2023 03:23:24 EST news593925795 According to the World Health Organization, each year there are an estimated 1 billion cases of influenza, between 3-5 million severe cases and up to 650,000 influenza-related respiratory deaths globally. Seasonal flu vaccines must be reformulated each year to match the predominantly circulating strains. When the vaccine matches the predominant strain, it is very effective; however, when it does not match, it may offer little protection. https://phys.org/news/2023-01-influenza-virus-universal-vaccine.html Biochemistry Wed, 25 Jan 2023 11:49:03 EST news593869741 It's "Treasure Island" author Robert Louis Stevenson who is credited with coining the phrase "You cannot make an omelet without breaking eggs." For us humans, it's now cliché. For pathogens, these are words to live by. Or, rather, spread by. https://phys.org/news/2023-01-symptoms-illness-pathogens-songbirds.html Plants & Animals Wed, 11 Jan 2023 18:00:04 EST news592671102 Modern eukaryotic cells contain numerous organelles, which once used to be independent bacteria. In order to understand how these bacteria were integrated into the cells in the course of evolution and how they are controlled, a research team from the Institute of Microbial Cell Biology at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU) has examined the single-celled flagellate Angomonas deanei, which contains a bacterium that was taken up relatively recently. https://phys.org/news/2022-12-cells-gain-bacterial-symbionts.html Evolution Wed, 07 Dec 2022 11:45:03 EST news589635901 Over the past decades, rising levels of ozone pollution have been interrupting pollination, impacting the livelihood of both plants and the animals that pollinate them. In a review published September 29 in the journal Trends in Ecology and Evolution, researchers explain how an excess of ground-level ozone can damage plant foliage, change plants' flowering patterns, and act as a barrier to pollinators finding blooms. https://phys.org/news/2022-09-ozone-pollution-threatens-health-harder.html Plants & Animals Thu, 29 Sep 2022 11:00:04 EDT news583667017 On the list of scientific tools that help us understand health, evolution or the environment, the Trinidadian guppy doesn't often come to mind. https://phys.org/news/2022-05-guppy-guts-evolution.html Plants & Animals Fri, 27 May 2022 09:15:30 EDT news572861723 A new analysis of ancient faeces found at the site of a prehistoric village near Stonehenge has uncovered evidence of the eggs of parasitic worms, suggesting the inhabitants feasted on the internal organs of cattle and fed leftovers to their dogs. https://phys.org/news/2022-05-prehistoric-faeces-reveal-parasites-feasting.html Archaeology Fri, 20 May 2022 02:15:09 EDT news572231688 Toxoplasmosis is one of the most widespread zoonoses worldwide. It is an infectious disease that can be transmitted from cats to humans. People can also become infected by consuming raw or undercooked meat. Infection is particularly dangerous for pregnant women, as it can cause fetal deformities. https://phys.org/news/2022-05-propagation-parasite-toxoplasmosis-host-cell.html Cell & Microbiology Wed, 11 May 2022 10:08:37 EDT news571482515