New light shed on key bacterial immune system

New insights into a surprisingly flexible immune system present in bacteria for combating viruses and other foreign DNA invaders have been revealed by researchers from New Zealand's University of Otago and the Netherlands.

Cod's mysterious defence strategies

There may be entirely new vaccines in the offing for the aquaculture industry, if Monica Hongrø Solbakken can figure out cod's unconventional ways of resisting infection.

Bacteria communicate to help each other resist antibiotics

New research from Western University unravels a novel means of communication that allows bacteria such as Burkholderia cenocepacia (B. cenocepacia) to resist antibiotic treatment. B. cenocepacia is an environmental bacterium ...

The many faces of the bacterial defense system

Even bacteria have a kind of "immune system" they use to defend themselves against unwanted intruders – in their case, viruses. Scientists at the Helmholtz Center for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig, Germany, were ...

Bacterial security agents go rogue

CRISPR, a system of genes that bacteria use to defend themselves against viruses, has been found to be involved in helping some bacteria evade the mammalian immune system. The results are scheduled for publication Sunday, ...

Viruses can have immune systems, new research shows

A study published today in the journal Nature reports that a viral predator of the cholera bacteria has stolen the functional immune system of bacteria and is using it against its bacterial host. The study provides the first ...

Kittens: Their microbiomes are what they eat

For animals as well as people, diet affects what grows in the gut. The gut microbial colonies, also known as the gut microbiome, begin to form at birth. Their composition affects how the immune system develops and is linked ...

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