Researchers at the University of Exeter discovered two new mechanisms for how the antibiotic doxycycline works against bacteria, including stacking molecules to block the ribosome exit channel and reconfiguring ribosomes into an inactive state. The findings, published in Nature Communications, reveal how the drug disarms pathogens like Coxiella burnetii and could guide the design of … Read more
Biomedical engineers at Duke University have demonstrated a method for systematically developing novel, complex combinations of probiotics and prebiotics to more effectively maintain gut health and treat gastrointestinal diseases, according to findings published online July 27 in the journal Nature Chemical Biology. By combining robotic automation with machine learning, the approach addresses longstanding consistency challenges … Read more
Rapidly developing antibiotic resistance during severe lung infections can occur when patients acquire circular pieces of DNA called plasmids from transient environmental bacteria, according to researchers at the University of Washington School of Medicine. Publishing their findings in Nature Microbiology, the team reported that this gene transfer can cause pathogen resistance to jump more than … Read more
Lactoferrin-fortified yogurt maintains ferritin levels in pregnant women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) without causing iron overload, according to a randomized trial published in npj Science of Food. The study found that 100 mg of bovine lactoferrin per serving helped stabilize iron stores in women with reduced ferritin, offering a well-tolerated alternative to relying solely … Read more
Naturally occurring bacteria found in flooded uranium mines can immobilize dissolved uranium by converting it into a stable, solid mineral form. According to research published in Nature Communications by scientists at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR), Wismut GmbH, and the University of Granada, microbes can remove nearly 95% of dissolved uranium from mine water when provided … Read more
Researchers at Southern Medical University have identified that Bifidobacterium animalis, a common probiotic, secretes mannose to boost the effectiveness of melanoma immunotherapy. According to a study published in the May 2026 issue of Cancer Biology & Medicine, this sugar activates CD8⁺ T cells by targeting the Hippo-YAP1 signaling pathway, offering a potential new strategy to … Read more
Breakthrough in Antibiotic Resistance: Targeting Bacterial Enzymes How the Study Uncovered a New Approach Antibiotic resistance, a global health crisis linked to 4.7 million deaths in 2019, has seen a critical breakthrough. Researchers at Scripps Research discovered that disabling a bacterial enzyme called secreted antigen A (SagA) makes vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium (VREfm) vulnerable to vancomycin. … Read more
Exclusive breastfeeding for up to six months is associated with a lower risk of ADHD symptoms in children between the ages of three and eight, according to a study published in Biological Psychiatry. Researchers from the University of Bergen analyzed data from 37,600 families in the Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study (MoBa) to … Read more
Scientists are increasingly viewing gut microbes as active participants in hormone-driven cancers, moving beyond the traditional “estrobolome” model to define a bidirectional endocrine-microbiome axis. According to a review published in the journal npj Biofilms and Microbiomes, researchers are investigating how these microbial communities influence the metabolism of estrogen and contribute to the development of breast … Read more
Bacterial populations survive antibiotic treatments by working as a collective, utilizing membrane vesicles to share proteins that protect dormant cells from lethal drugs. According to a study published in the journal Science by researchers at Baylor College of Medicine, this cooperative behavior allows vulnerable bacteria to endure antibiotic stress, explaining why persistent infections are notoriously … Read more