All Editorial articles
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NewsMeasles outbreak shows how immunity gaps can unravel disease elimination
A year-long measles outbreak in Ontario was concentrated in closely connected, historically under-vaccinated communities and contributed to Canada losing its measles elimination status. Researchers warn that immunity gaps, cross-border social networks and declining trust in vaccination can quickly undermine decades of disease control.
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NewsStudy shows how pre-existing immunity shapes second dengue infections
Why can a second dengue infection be more dangerous than the first? A controlled human challenge study shows how pre-existing antibodies can either boost viral replication or help restrain it, offering new clues for designing vaccines that protect against all four dengue virus types.
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NewsStudy reveals fungi as overlooked players in agricultural antibiotic resistance
Fungi may be helping antibiotic resistance genes survive during livestock manure composting. Researchers found that suppressing fungal activity weakened microbial networks and increased the removal of resistance genes, suggesting that fungi could play an overlooked role in the environmental spread of antimicrobial resistance.
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NewsTranslucent petals create microclimates that shape flower microbiomes
Translucent patches in flower petals can alter the light and heat inside blooms, creating tiny microclimates that shape the microbes living there. Researchers found that warmer flowers tended to harbour fewer microbes, suggesting that petal structure may influence floral microbiomes and potentially plant-pollinator interactions.
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NewsGene-regulatory pathway helps T cells tolerate gut bacteria and prevent inflammation
The immune system somehow tolerates trillions of gut bacteria without constantly attacking them. Researchers have now identified a gene-regulatory pathway that helps regulatory T cells maintain this peace, with defects in the pathway triggering severe inflammation and autoimmunity in mice.
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NewsWhy do some people spread the flu while others avoid infection? Mizzou researchers investigate
Why do some people spread influenza efficiently while others barely pass it on? A new $19 million NIH-funded research programme will investigate how immunity, temperature and humidity shape airborne flu transmission, with the aim of improving vaccines and other prevention strategies.
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NewsMicrobes could become factories for the next generation of food ingredients
Precision fermentation is moving beyond niche ingredients towards a broader role in food production, from egg-white substitutes to proteins that mimic meat. Researchers argue that scaling the technology across both high-value and everyday ingredients could help make food production more sustainable and resilient.
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News$16.4m NIH grant launches new hepatitis C vaccine centre
Hepatitis C has long frustrated vaccine developers with its extraordinary ability to mutate and evade immunity. A new $16.4 million research centre will bring together experts in antibodies, T cells and vaccine design to identify the virus’s most stable weak points and develop broadly protective vaccine candidates.
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NewsHidden fungi may act as masterminds of the forest microbiome
Hidden beneath the forest floor, certain fungi may have an outsized influence on the microbial communities surrounding plant roots. By combining large-scale DNA data with ecological modelling, researchers identified endophytic fungi as potential keystone species capable of reshaping underground microbial networks.
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NewsElectricity-powered yeast converts CO₂ into useful chemicals
Researchers have developed an electrobioreactor that turns carbon dioxide into itaconic acid, a valuable chemical used in plastics, textiles and resins. The system combines electrochemistry with engineered yeast, offering a potential route to produce bio-based chemicals from emissions instead of sugar.
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NewsHorizon Awards 2026: Professor Marciane Magnani named as winner of Basil Jarvis Prize
Professor Marciane Magnani, Professor of Food Science at the Federal University of Paraíba (UFPB), Brazil, has been named as the winner of the Basil Jarvis Food Security & Innovation Award.
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NewsAvian flu could push vulnerable vulture populations into further decline
H5N1 avian influenza is emerging as a serious threat to already vulnerable vulture populations, with deaths reported across the Americas and Europe. Researchers warn that losing these scavengers could also weaken a natural barrier against disease by allowing infected carcasses and pathogens to persist for longer.
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NewsMyxobacteria reveal hidden chemistry with anticancer potential
Researchers have uncovered a previously hidden family of natural products made by soil-dwelling myxobacteria and traced how the molecules are assembled. Follow-up work showed that one of these compounds binds to AKR1C3, a human protein linked to several cancers, highlighting the drug-discovery potential of previously silent microbial genes.
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NewsMarine compound shows promise against deadly brain-eating amoeba
A compound isolated from a marine bacterium may offer a faster way to attack Naegleria fowleri, the amoeba responsible for one of the deadliest known brain infections. In laboratory tests, rutamycin B reached full potency within four hours and was far more toxic to the parasite than to human cells.
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NewsOne Health initiative aims to build safer, more sustainable food systems
A new One Health initiative in Thailand is bringing together expertise across food safety, antimicrobial resistance, climate change and public health. The platform aims to turn scientific evidence into coordinated action across agrifood systems, with a strong focus on collaboration between researchers, government, industry and international partners.
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NewsLeaf spectra reveal hidden nitrogen-fixing nodules in soybean roots
Soybean roots may no longer need to be dug up to reveal how well they are forming nitrogen-fixing nodules. Researchers have shown that hyperspectral signals from leaves can predict below-ground nodule traits, offering a non-destructive way to track plant–microbe partnerships under drought and salt stress.
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NewsCommon cell-death inhibitor reveals an unexpected pathway in tuberculosis
A widely used cell-death inhibitor may be triggering macrophage death during mycobacterial infection through an unexpected off-target pathway. The findings reveal a caspase-8-independent route to necroptosis and could help explain how damaging necrotic granulomas form during tuberculosis.
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NewsDistant climate patterns may offer early warning of Ebola outbreaks
Ebola outbreaks may leave a climatic trail months before they emerge. By analysing nearly five decades of outbreak data alongside large-scale climate oscillations, researchers identified distant weather patterns that could help flag periods and regions where Ebola risk may be increasing.
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NewsSaturn’s icy moon may be more habitable than expected
Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus may be more hospitable to microbial life than previously thought. Laboratory experiments show that methane-producing archaea can survive in conditions designed to mimic its alkaline subsurface ocean, using hydrogen from water-rock reactions and scavenging scarce carbon dioxide.
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NewsAncient virus may have helped shape differences between human and chimpanzee brains
A virus that infected chimpanzees millions of years ago may have left a lasting mark on brain development. Researchers found that a viral DNA remnant silences a gene involved in early brain development in chimpanzees, while the same gene remains active in humans.