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. A scientific breakthrough not only promises faster testing for antimicrobial resistance, but also an ethical solution to the controversial issue of using rodents in research. University of Exeter scientists have created the world's first genetically engineered wax moths—a development which could both accelerate the fight against antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and significantly reduce the need for mice and rats in infection research. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-moths-mice-antimicrobial-resistance.html Plants & Animals Mon, 09 Feb 2026 20:00:03 EST news689874961 Stainless steel is widely known for its impressive corrosion resistance, but it is not invincible. When exposed to environments containing chloride ions, such as seawater, the risk of corrosion increases. To achieve the sleek, clean appearance the material is famous for, manufacturers typically grind the surface to smooth it. However, this finishing process reduces corrosion resistance, and the underlying mechanism has remained poorly understood. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-rough-stainless-steel-prone-corrosion.html Analytical Chemistry Mon, 09 Feb 2026 13:20:01 EST news689861590 Antibiotic resistance (AR) has steadily accelerated in recent years to become a global health crisis. As deadly bacteria evolve new ways to elude drug treatments for a variety of illnesses, a growing number of "superbugs" have emerged, ramping up estimates of more than 10 million worldwide deaths per year by 2050. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-crispr-tool-bacteria-disable-antibiotic.html Molecular & Computational biology Fri, 06 Feb 2026 15:20:01 EST news689607947 McGill researchers have developed a diagnostic system capable of identifying bacteria—and determining which antibiotics can stop them—in just 36 minutes, a major advance in the global effort to curb antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Current clinical testing methods typically take 48 to 72 hours, leaving physicians without timely guidance. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-quick-curb-antimicrobial-resistance-bacteria.html Bio & Medicine Wed, 04 Feb 2026 16:20:06 EST news689432516 In the plant world, when two different species mate, their offspring often don't survive. The reason lies in their DNA: incompatible genes often mix in their offspring, triggering a fatal breakdown known as hybrid lethality that acts as a reproductive barrier to keep species separate. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-stacking-genetic-deck-hybrids-odds.html Molecular & Computational biology Wed, 04 Feb 2026 09:23:45 EST news689419382 Australian researchers have developed a powerful new way to target deadly, drug-resistant bacteria by designing antibodies that recognize a sugar found only on bacterial cells—an advance that could underpin a new generation of immunotherapies for multidrug resistant hospital-acquired infections. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-antibody-bacteria-specific-sugar-lethal.html Molecular & Computational biology Wed, 04 Feb 2026 05:00:01 EST news689358467 Each year, bacterial infections are responsible for roughly 7.7 million deaths worldwide, with this problem further exacerbated by rising antibiotic resistance. Not only are wound infections increasingly difficult to treat, they also impede healing of the surrounding tissue at the same time. This is because the wound infection causes a misdirected inflammatory reaction in which the immune system is constantly activated, damages healthy tissue and blocks the repair processes required for healing. Antibiotics offer little assistance in such situations, even if they are effective against the underlying bacteria. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-infrared-hydrogel-lysozyme-nets-combat.html Cell & Microbiology Tue, 03 Feb 2026 08:18:33 EST news689329081 An analysis of an unusual enzyme could result in a new generation of antimicrobial medicines to counter antibiotic resistance. Key details in the enzyme-driven biosynthesis of a natural molecule with potent antibiotic activity have been revealed by chemists at RIKEN. This discovery has the potential to enable a swathe of new antibiotics to be developed, which are urgently needed to counter the increasing emergence of drug-resistant bacterial superbugs. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-enigmatic-enzyme-potential-antibiotic-drug.html Biochemistry Mon, 02 Feb 2026 14:18:14 EST news689264281 Antimicrobial resistance—when bacteria and fungi defend themselves against the drugs designed to kill them—is an urgent threat to global public health, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. To combat this threat, the Gerdt Lab at Indiana University Bloomington studies how to weaken bacteria's defenses against viruses. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-biochemists-solution-bacteriophages-bypass-bacterial.html Biochemistry Mon, 02 Feb 2026 10:32:48 EST news689250721 Biologists have uncovered a new mode of communication inside cells that helps bacterial pathogens learn how to evade drugs. Their findings, published in the journal Nature Communications, describe how these mechanisms drive antimicrobial resistance in Listeria monocytogenes, the foodborne bacteria that causes listeriosis. The work is a collaboration between researchers at the University at Albany and the New York State Department of Health and could inform the development of new drugs and, potentially, future approaches for personalized medicine. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-crosstalk-cells-pathogens-evade-drugs.html Cell & Microbiology Thu, 29 Jan 2026 12:10:01 EST news688910507 Researchers from the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore (NUS Medicine), have uncovered how a high-risk class of genetic vectors can efficiently spread antibiotic resistance within the gut, enabling even highly virulent bacteria to acquire drug resistance under real-world conditions. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-gut-bacteria-antibiotic-resistance-genes.html Cell & Microbiology Tue, 27 Jan 2026 15:36:43 EST news688750562 The problem of antibiotic-resistant bacteria has many health experts worried. As disease-causing bacteria adapt to some of our ways to reduce them, especially with antibiotics, it presents an arms race which we appear to be losing. Researchers seek to improve the situation by looking at how bacteria adapt to antibiotics. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-stealth-strategies-bacterial-plasmids.html Cell & Microbiology Mon, 26 Jan 2026 15:40:26 EST news688664162 Researchers at Nano Life Science Institute (WPI-NanoLSI) and the Cancer Research Institute at Kanazawa University have uncovered how targeted lung cancer drugs alter the shape and behavior of a key cancer-driving protein—revealing a hidden mechanism that helps explain why some treatments stop working over time. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-visualizing-cancer-drugs-reshape-proteins.html Bio & Medicine Mon, 26 Jan 2026 15:34:38 EST news688664042 Metabolic diseases such as obesity, fatty liver, and insulin resistance are rapidly increasing worldwide, but fundamental methods to regulate the process of fat formation remain limited. In particular, once adipocytes (fat cells) are formed, they are difficult to reduce, making treatment challenging. A research team from KAIST has discovered the existence of a switch that prevents fat formation. This discovery elucidates how an epigenetic switch, which regulates gene activity without altering the DNA sequence itself, functions during the process of adipogenesis, presenting new possibilities for the precise control of obesity and metabolic diseases in the future. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-epigenetic-halt-fat-cell-formation.html Cell & Microbiology Mon, 26 Jan 2026 12:46:33 EST news688653872 A research team at the University of Arizona College of Medicine–Tucson is developing a drug that works in combination with copper to kill bacteria, including those that cause MRSA, a type of staph infection that is resistant to usual treatments. The team's research is published in the journal mSphere. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-copper-compound-mrsa-bacteria-mimicking.html Molecular & Computational biology Thu, 22 Jan 2026 15:48:19 EST news688319187 Research led by the University of Sydney is reshaping scientific understanding of one of the world's most widespread canine parasites, suggesting heartworm disease has a far deeper and more complex evolutionary history than previously believed—including a possible ancient origin of Australian heartworms linked to dingoes. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-ancient-spaghetti-dogs-hearts-reveals.html Evolution Tue, 20 Jan 2026 05:00:03 EST news688034278 Bacteriophages have been used therapeutically to treat infectious bacterial diseases for over a century. As antibiotic-resistant infections increasingly threaten public health, interest in bacteriophages as therapeutics has seen a resurgence. However, the field remains largely limited to naturally occurring strains, as laborious strain engineering techniques have limited the pace of discovery and the creation of tailored therapeutic strains. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-golden-gate-method-enables-fully.html Cell & Microbiology Mon, 19 Jan 2026 15:00:02 EST news687784141 An international team of scientists, led by Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore), has discovered a new method that could speed up the healing of chronic wounds infected by antibiotic-resistant bacteria. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-neutralizing-extracellular-electron-antibiotic-resistant.html Cell & Microbiology Fri, 16 Jan 2026 14:00:02 EST news687719281 Cereals have natural resistance to pathogenic fungi, but powdery mildew, for example, can overcome this resistance. A team at the University of Zurich has now discovered a new mechanism that enables powdery mildew to outsmart the immune system of wheat. This opens the door to targeted development of resistant varieties with a reduced risk of resistance breakthrough. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-fungal-mechanism-reveals-powdery-mildew.html Cell & Microbiology Mon, 12 Jan 2026 16:40:01 EST news687457933 A new technique which slashes the time taken to diagnose microbial infections from days to minutes could help save lives and open up a new front in the battle against antibiotic resistance, researchers say. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-infections-minutes-aiding-drug-resistance.html Cell & Microbiology Fri, 09 Jan 2026 11:05:39 EST news687179102 Drugs that act against bacteria are mainly assessed based on how well they inhibit bacterial growth under laboratory conditions. A critical factor, however, is whether the active substances actually kill the pathogens in the body. Researchers at the University of Basel have presented a new method for measuring how effectively antibiotics kill bacteria. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-cell-antibiotics-bacteria-growth.html Cell & Microbiology Fri, 09 Jan 2026 05:00:01 EST news687093001 Fungal infections kill millions of people each year, and modern medicine is struggling to keep up. But researchers at McMaster University have identified a molecule that may help turn the tide—butyrolactol A, a chemical compound that targets a deadly, disease-causing fungi called Cryptococcus neoformans. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-overlooked-molecule-treatments-drug-resistant.html Cell & Microbiology Wed, 07 Jan 2026 16:04:27 EST news687024241 Australian researchers have uncovered how a particular strain of a diarrhea-causing parasite managed to infect more animal species, offering new insights into how parasitic infections emerge and spread to people. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-parasite-gave-sex-hosts-victory.html Evolution Wed, 07 Jan 2026 09:20:16 EST news687000001 Researchers have used a cutting-edge robotic system capable of synthesizing hundreds of metal complexes to develop a possible antibiotic candidate—offering fresh hope in the global fight against drug-resistant infections. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-robotic-hundreds-metal-complexes-potential.html Biochemistry Tue, 23 Dec 2025 05:00:04 EST news685370641 A study led by researchers at the Department of Civil Engineering at The University of Hong Kong (HKU) has uncovered alarming evidence that soil worldwide is emerging as a significant reservoir and amplifier of high-risk antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), which enable bacteria to develop resistance to antibiotics, and that their threat to public health has continued to increase over the past decade or so. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-soil-human-antibiotic-resistance.html Cell & Microbiology Mon, 22 Dec 2025 14:14:38 EST news685635241 Antibiotic resistance is a growing global health crisis that makes common infections harder to treat and puts many medical procedures at risk. Now, Carnegie Mellon University researchers have uncovered a vulnerability in bacteria that could pave the way for an entirely new class of treatments. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-bacterial-decision-outsmart-antibiotic-resistance.html Cell & Microbiology Fri, 19 Dec 2025 13:34:15 EST news685373600 Has a crucial component to the development of human medicine been hiding under our feet? Auburn University Assistant Professor of Entomology Clint Penick and a team of graduate students may have found that ants are far ahead of humans in antibiotic innovation. "In our study, we tested how ants use antibiotic compounds to fight off pathogens and asked why their chemical defenses remain effective over evolutionary time," Penick said. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-ants-solution-human-superbug.html Evolution Thu, 18 Dec 2025 15:20:02 EST news685293507 Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is an increasingly dangerous problem affecting global health. In 2019 alone, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) accounted for more than 100,000 global deaths attributable to AMR. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-machine-capture-rapid-evolution-antimicrobial.html Cell & Microbiology Thu, 18 Dec 2025 11:35:26 EST news685280102 As antibiotic-resistant infections rise and are projected to cause up to 10 million deaths per year by 2050, scientists are looking to bacteriophages, viruses that infect bacteria, as an alternative. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-tiny-viral-drug-resistant-bacteria.html Cell & Microbiology Thu, 18 Dec 2025 11:00:14 EST news685180922 Gut bacteria evolve rapidly in response to different diets, UCLA evolutionary biologists report in a new study. The researchers found that gene variants that help microbes digest starches found in ultra-processed foods have "swept" the genomes of some species of gut bacteria in industrialized parts of the world. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-gut-bacteria-rapidly-digest-starches.html Evolution Wed, 17 Dec 2025 11:00:27 EST news685179421