All Arizona State University articles
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NewsNew model shows how gut microbes help shape how many calories you absorb from food
A new mathematical model follows food through the digestive tract, estimating what the body absorbs directly, what reaches the colon and how gut microbes help process the remaining material into products that are either absorbed or excreted.
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NewsNew urine test for microbial metabolites offers simple way to screen for autism in children
Scientists have developed a new screening tool to test urine for 17 microbial metabolites in children ages 2 to 11 years. By measuring these compounds in urine, they discovered that they could distinguish children with autism from typically developing children in their study groups with high accuracy.
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NewsThe fog is alive - with tiny helpers
What if fog isn’t just misty air, but a living ecosystem? This question hung over cloud researcher Thi Thuong Thuong Cao. As a PhD student at Arizona State University, her curiosity led her from knocking on the doors of microbiologists and chemists, to sampling fog before sunrise in Pennsylvania, to ...
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NewsTiny switch controls rare rotary machine in bacteria - and can even reverse direction of spin
Researchers have discovered a tiny molecular switch that can control and reverse the direction of a rare rotary machine linked to motility, surface colonization and protein secretion in bacteria.
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NewsResearch on tick-transmitted disease reveals potential weakness, opening paths to new treatments
Tularemia is a rare but highly infectious disease caused by Francisella tularensis, a bacterium that can evade immune defenses. Scientists have isolated and studied a set of proteins that play a central role in infection, revealing a potential weakness.
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NewsIs asphalt bad for our health? And can algae help?
Scientists studying how asphalt emissions impact respiratory health are also working on less toxic, lower-emitting asphalt formulations. One project involves growing a strain of algae that could reduce VOC emissions using wastewater from a treatment plant.
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NewsCorpses leave microbial fingerprints behind in the soil long after they’re gone
Researchers have found that trace elements of a cadaver linger at an original dump site even after an extensive amount of time. These elements can provide insights into postmortem processes, helping forensic investigators uncover clandestine burials and relocate the remains of murder victims.
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NewsA parasitic origin for the ribosome?
Scientists propose that the ribosome first emerged from a proto-ribosome, likely a viral parasite, which began by taking advantage of proto-cells, and ended up being incorporated into cells, at some time before the last universal common ancestor.
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NewsNaval Research Lab Space Station study reveals key challenges and opportunities for microbial biomanufacturing in space
Scientists have completed a spaceflight biology investigation aboard the International Space Station (ISS) that reveals how microgravity fundamentally alters microbial metabolism, limiting the efficiency of biological manufacturing processes critical to future long-duration space missions.
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NewsSmarter tools for peering into the microscopic world
In a pair of new studies, researchers introduce powerful tools that make it easier, more accurate and more scalable to figure out how microbes are related. One tool improves how scientists build microbial family trees. The other provides a software foundation used worldwide to analyze biological data.
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NewsSecrets of microbial motion: How bacteria swash, glide and shift gears to survive
Two new studies reveal surprising ways microbes move, with implications for human health and disease. The first shows that salmonella and E. coli can ’swash’ across moist surfaces even when their flagella are disabled, while the second probes the T9SS gearbox in flavobacteria.
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NewsScientists uncover tuberculosis bacterium’s ’heartbeat’, opening door to new treatments
Scientists have identified a molecular system inside Mycobacterium tuberculosis that functions like the organism’s heart or lungs, keeping it alive. The system, known as PrrAB, helps the bacterium generate energy and breathe. When researchers used a gene-silencing tool, the bacterium died.
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NewsBay Area Lyme Foundation opens applications for 2026 Emerging Leader Awards and research grants
Bay Area Lyme Foundation, a leading sponsor of Lyme disease research in the US, has announced its call for applicants from academia and the private sector for the 2026 Emerging Leader Awards (ELA).
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NewsStudy exposes sewage contamination locations threatening West Hawai’i coral reefs
New research reveals the extent to which sewage pollution threatens the fragile coral reef ecosystems of West Hawaiʻi Island. Researchers pinpointed locations where high levels of fecal bacteria associated with populated coastal areas are driving worsening contamination.
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NewsFast, accurate, low-cost diagnostics - and no lab required
Researchers have developed a breakthrough diagnostic tool that could transform how quickly and reliably we detect illnesses like COVID-19, Ebola, AIDS or Lyme disease. The test uses just a single drop of blood, costs a couple of dollars and delivers results in only 15 minutes.
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NewsNew study illuminates how diatoms thrive in — and light up — the Southern Ocean
An area of the remote Southern Ocean that’s long confused ocean color satellites by reflecting large amounts of turquoise-colored light appears to be full of silica-rich diatoms, according to a new study. There is also evidence in these polar waters of coccolithophores.
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NewsNew study highlights neglected dynamics of coral and algae energy use
A new study has challenged a long-standing oversight in coral reef science, revealing that respiration in corals and algae varies significantly throughout the day, rather than remaining constant. It reveals that respiration rates in reef organisms are highly dynamic, peaking in the afternoon several hours after the height of photosynthesis.
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NewsWhen bacteria get hungry, they kill – and eat – their neighbors
Scientists have discovered a gruesome microbial survival strategy: when food is scarce, some bacteria kill and consume their neighbors. The researchers show that under nutrient-limited conditions, bacteria use a specialized weapon — the Type VI Secretion System (T6SS) — to attack, kill, and slowly absorb nutrients from other bacterial cells.
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NewsIs your gut microbiome a calorie ‘super harvester’?
A little-known microbe makes methane in your gut — and may help you get more calories from food, according to a new study. Researchers found that people whose gut microbiomes produce a lot of methane are especially good at unlocking extra energy from a high-fiber diet.
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NewsNew study reveals high levels of fusarium mycotoxins in seized cannabis from Arizona and California
A recent study has uncovered alarming levels of Fusarium mycotoxins in illicit cannabis samples seized in Arizona and California. 16% of the 118 samples tested positive for harmful mycotoxins, posing potential health risks to consumers and highlighting the unregulated and dangerous nature of black-market cannabis.