Bacteria are a major domain of prokaryotic microorganisms characterized by the absence of a membrane-bound nucleus, typically possessing a single circular chromosome, 70S ribosomes, and peptidoglycan-containing cell walls. They exhibit diverse morphologies (e.g., cocci, bacilli, spirilla) and metabolic strategies, including aerobic, anaerobic, phototrophic, chemolithotrophic, and heterotrophic lifestyles. Bacteria reproduce primarily by binary fission and undergo extensive horizontal gene transfer via transformation, transduction, and conjugation, driving rapid adaptation. They occupy virtually all ecological niches, form complex communities such as biofilms, and play central roles in biogeochemical cycles, host-associated microbiomes, biotechnology, and pathogenesis research.
Depending on others for something you need may feel like a risky proposition—and perhaps a human one. It is actually a survival strategy found in the microbial world, and far more frequently than one might expect. Discovering ...
Ecology
Feb 24, 2026
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Researchers at the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology (CEB) have found a new way to organize molecules inside living cells, opening possibilities for more controlled and efficient biomanufacturing. The team ...
Bio & Medicine
Feb 24, 2026
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Antibiotics are medical marvels that have transformed once deadly bacterial infections into manageable conditions. But with a rise in antibiotic resistance that renders existing treatments ineffective, new agents are urgently ...
Cell & Microbiology
Feb 24, 2026
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A research team led by the University of Waterloo is developing a novel tool to treat cancer by engineering hungry bacteria to literally eat tumors from the inside out. "Bacteria spores enter the tumor, finding an environment ...
Cell & Microbiology
Feb 24, 2026
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Sometimes, transporting electrons from one cell to another is a team effort. In electroactive bacteria, that team is a group of proteins that shepherds electrons forward, passing them along like a relay baton, so they can ...
Cell & Microbiology
Feb 23, 2026
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Inside every cell, thousands of molecular signals collide, overlap, and compensate, obscuring the true drivers of gene expression. Scientists have now developed a way to silence that cellular noise, revealing transcription ...
Cell & Microbiology
Feb 23, 2026
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Ribosomes, the cell's protein-making factories, consume large amounts of energy as they build the proteins that keep cells alive and functioning. When cells experience stress—such as lack of nutrients or sudden drops in temperature—they ...
Cell & Microbiology
Feb 20, 2026
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62
Acinetobacter baumannii is a bacteria which can become a virulent killer in health-care settings among severely ill patients. The germ has rapidly developed drug resistance to even last-line carbapenem drugs. Now a group ...
Cell & Microbiology
Feb 20, 2026
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Many insects rely on heritable bacterial endosymbionts for essential nutrients that they cannot get through their diet. A new study, published in Nature Communications, indicates that the genomes of these symbiotic bacteria ...
Some time around 1683, amateur Dutch scientist Antonie van Leeuwenhoek scraped the plaque from between his teeth and peered at it through a home-made microscope.
Cell & Microbiology
Feb 18, 2026
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