bacteria

Scientists at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found a potential new way to stop the bacteria that cause gastroenteritis, tularemia and severe diarrhea from making people sick.

Scientists have shown how bacteria could be used as a future fuel. The research, published in the journal Bioinformatics, could have significant implications for the environment and the way we produce sustainable fuels in the future.

While humans obtain iron primarily through the food they eat, bacteria have evolved complex and diverse mechanisms to allow them access to iron.

Scientists have discovered that some bacteria are equipped with a gene that enables them to harvest iron from their environment or human host in a unique and energy efficient manner.This discovery could provide researchers with new ways to target such diseases as tuberculosis.

Though bacteria are everywhere -- from the air we breathe and the food we eat to our guts and skin -- the vast majority are innocuous or even beneficial, and only a handful pose any threat to us.

What distinguishes a welcome microbial guest from an unwanted intruder?

(DOE/Sandia National Laboratories) Naturally occurring nanotubes may serve as tunnels that protect retroviruses and bacteria as they infect healthy cells.

The unexpected shielding may explain why vaccines fare poorly against some invaders. Sandia researchers now have formed similar nanotubes that could be used to duplicate the phenomenon.

Having found that whether bacteria stick to surfaces depends partly on how stiff those surfaces are, MIT engineers have created ultrathin films made of polymers that could be applied to medical devices and other surfaces to control microbe accumulation.

(Massachusetts Institute of Technology) Having found that whether bacteria stick to surfaces depends partly on how stiff those surfaces are, MIT engineers have created ultrathin films made of polymers that could be applied to medical devices and other surfaces to control microbe accumulation.

Researchers in Korea report development of a way to double production of a sticky protein from marine mussels destined for use as an antibacterial coating to prevent life-threatening infections in medical implants.

The coating, produced by genetically-engineered bacteria, could cut medical costs and improve implant safety, the researchers say.

(Society for General Microbiology) Bacteria that cause the bubonic plague may be more virulent than their close relatives because of a single genetic mutation, according to research published in the May issue of the journal Microbiology.

Scientists have discovered that tiny filaments on bacteria can bundle together and pull with forces far stronger than experts had previously thought possible.

Retraction forces from a bundle allow the bacterium to move objects 100,000 times its body weight.