Team finds novel vehicle for antibiotic resistance

Antibiotic resistance is a significant and growing medical problem worldwide. Researchers at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) and collaborators have found a novel genetic arrangement that may help a common bacterium ...

When viruses infect bacteria

(PhysOrg.com) -- Viruses are the most abundant parasites on Earth. Well known viruses, such as the flu virus, attack human hosts, while viruses such as the tobacco mosaic virus infect plant hosts.

Flu jab for bacteria

Viruses can wreak havoc on bacteria as well as humans and, just like us, bacteria have their own defence system in place, explains Professor John van der Oost, at the Society for General Microbiology's spring meeting. Uncovering ...

Bacterial genome may hold answers to mercury mystery

A newly sequenced bacterial genome from a team led by the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory could contain clues as to how microorganisms produce a highly toxic form of mercury.

Almost 2,000 unknown bacteria discovered in the human gut

Researchers at EMBL's European Bioinformatics Institute and the Wellcome Sanger Institute have identified almost 2000 bacterial species living in the human gut. These species are yet to be cultured in the lab. The team used ...

How bacterial cell recognizes its own DNA

It may come as a bit of a surprise to learn that bacteria have an immune system - in their case to fight off invasive viruses called phages. And like any immune system - from single-celled to human - the first challenge of ...

Programmable DNA scissors found for bacterial immune system

(Phys.org) -- Genetic engineers and genomics researchers should welcome the news from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) where an international team of scientists has discovered a new and possibly more ...

Could viruses be used to treat acne?

Watch out, acne. Doctors soon may have a new weapon against zits: a harmless virus living on our skin that naturally seeks out and kills the bacteria that cause pimples.

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