Research reveals new challenges for mercury cleanup

More forms of mercury can be converted to deadly methylmercury than previously thought, according to a study published Sunday in Nature Geoscience. The discovery provides scientists with another piece of the mercury puzzle, ...

Microbes help plants survive in severe drought

With California in its fifth year of severe drought and many western states experiencing another year of unusually dry conditions, plants are stressed.

Hunting for high life: What lives in Earth's stratosphere?

What lives at the edge of space? Other than high-flying jet aircraft pilots (and the occasional daredevil skydiver) you wouldn't expect to find many living things over 10 kilometers up—yet this is exactly where one NASA ...

Mammals shape their microbiome to prevent disease

Gut microbes are well known to contribute to health and disease, but what has been less clear is how the host controls gut microbes. A study published January 13 in Cell Host & Microbe now reveals that mice and humans produce ...

Moth gut bacterium defends its host by making antibiotic

Nearly half of all insects are herbivores, but their diets do not consist of only plant material. It is not uncommon for potentially harmful microorganisms to slip in during a feast. In a study published on January 19 in ...

A microbe's membrane helps it survive extreme environments

Within harsh environments like hot springs, volcanic craters and deep-sea hydrothermal vents – uninhabitable by most life forms – microscopic organisms are thriving. How? It's all in how they wrap themselves.

20-year field experiment: Rotate corn for better soil health

Soil microbes are living, working barometers of soil health. They are responsible for turning atmospheric nitrogen into forms plants can use, and for releasing nitrogen back into the air. Farm management decisions undoubtedly ...

CRISPRing the microbiome is just around the corner

To date, CRISPR enzymes have been used to edit the genomes of one type of cell at a time: They cut, delete or add genes to a specific kind of cell within a tissue or organ, for example, or to one kind of microbe growing in ...

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