All Research News articles – Page 4
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NewsWhat happens when a shoreline scavenger consumes microplastics?
Researchers report on what happens when wharf roaches, a common shoreline scavenger, eat expanded polystyrene (EPS). Analysis of the wharf roach gut microbiome showed little change, but several rare microbes were found only in the EPS-fed specimens.
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NewsMicroplastics may act as pollutant shuttles, carrying chemicals, pathogens and antibiotic resistance genes
A new review reveals how microplastics transport multiple pollutants across ecosystems and proposes a framework for identifying when these vector effects become serious ecological threats.
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NewsbZIP transcription factor AflHapX coordinates iron homeostasis and aflatoxin biosynthesis in Aspergillus flavus
Researchers have identified the bZIP transcription factor AflHapX in Aspergillus flavus by searching its genome with the HapX protein sequence from Aspergillus fumigatus. They discovered that AflHapX is critical for A. flavus’s adaptive response to both iron excess and iron starvation.
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NewsStudy sheds light on how bacteria assemble outer membrane proteins
Researchers analyzed the various conformations that a chaperone protein adopts while delivering unfolded outer membrane proteins to the assembly machinery.
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NewsThe body doesn’t just absorb a plant-based diet—it adapts to one, new review finds
A new review of plant-based diets concludes that the body actively adapts to sustained dietary change, absorbing iron more efficiently, synthesizing more of its own creatine and carnosine, using protein more economically, and remodeling gut bacteria to better ferment fiber.
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NewsDifference in clinical characteristics and outcomes between hospital-acquired and community-acquired pleural infection
A critical aspect of managing pleural infection is understanding differences between hospital-acquired and community-acquired forms, as these two entities differ fundamentally in etiology, microbiology, antimicrobial resistance patterns, and patient populations.
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NewsArchaea as “flexitarians”: Ammonia-oxidizing microbes also feed on amino acids
Symbiotic ammonia-oxidizing archaea in marine sponges are not strict specialists, but true “flexitarians”. Research has shown that these microbes dine not only on ammonia but also on amino acids - and presumably do that to communicate with their animal host.
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NewsProbiotic and postbiotic treatments revive heat-stressed corals
Researchers have established that both live probiotic and inactivated postbiotic treatments improve coral health—while the animals are under thermal stress during a natural marine heatwave.
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NewsVaricella zoster virus can cause serious disease beyond chickenpox and shingles
New research is shedding light on the surprisingly broad range of neurological and systemic diseases that can be caused by varicella zoster virus (VZV), the virus that causes chickenpox and shingles.
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NewsPreliminary wastewater bioremediation by photosynthetic Chlorobium genus isolated from pond water
Researchers have isolated naturally occurring light-driven bacteria from local pond water and shown that, within just one week, these microorganisms can substantially reduce the levels of organic pollutants in raw sewage.
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NewsIndy gene reduction linked to healthier gut microbiota and longer lifespan in fruit flies
Scientists investigating aging have shown that Indy reduction is associated with lower bacterial load and higher bacterial diversity in aging Indy flies compared to controls.
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NewsChina’s 2025 resistance map reveals progress and renewed threats
A 2025 analysis from the China Antimicrobial Surveillance Network (CHINET) tracked 516,309 clinical bacterial isolates from 80 hospitals across China, revealing a mixed picture: resistance declined in some major pathogens, but worrying rebounds appeared in others.
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NewsA decade without congenital syphilis: a Danish success story
The basis for this public health landmark: universal screening of pregnant people during the first trimester of pregnancy has been offered free of charge in the country since 2010.
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NewsHow stressed cells put the brakes on protein shipping
A study in budding yeast suggests that changes in membrane lipids trigger a braking system that slows internal protein transport when the endoplasmic reticulum comes under stress.
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NewsBacterial nanoplatform targets spleen to reprogram immune cells and prevent cancer recurrence
Researchers have announced the development of an engineered nanoplatform named t-SMC, which precisely targets the spleen to reverse splenic myelopoiesis toward an antitumoral immune phenotype.
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NewsCancer medication helps reduce SIV reservoir, increases hope for HIV cure
Researchers have provided the first proof-of-concept in a nonhuman primate model for eliminating HIV-infected cells with venetoclax, a clinically approved medication for cancer.
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NewsSulfur-reducing mechanism of bacterial selenoprotein discovered
A newly discovered multiheme enzyme in Geobacter sulfurreducens contains selenocysteine, which is encoded by a recoded UGA stop codon in the bacterial genome. This enzyme uses a unique selenium–sulfur–heme catalytic center to reduce polysulfides during elemental sulfur respiration.
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NewsHidden DNA in medieval gospels reveal history of deadly livestock virus
New research shows that some of Europe’s most well-known historic manuscripts, including the York Gospels, have proven to be biological time capsules for uncovering the 3,500-year history of the sheeppox virus (SPPV).
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NewsUnderground methane leaks may cultivate microbes that help consume them
Researchers have identified where naturally occurring soil microbes consume methane released from underground natural gas leaks. Methane-consuming microbes were most active in a narrow zone near the surface where methane rising from below meets oxygen entering from the atmosphere.
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NewsAn enzyme with potential: New type of plastic-degrading enzyme discovered in bacteria
Researchers have identified a new enzyme that can not only degrade certain polyesters and bioplastics, but also might provide bacteria with resistance to antibiotics. The discovery raises hopes that microorganisms can adapt to plastic degradation more rapidly than previously thought.