One health
Communicable diseases remain one of the major causes of mortality worldwide. There are disparities in the numbers of individuals affected by disease between low-and-middle-income countries and those in developed nations. Microbes will play in important role in drug discovery: producing anticancer drugs and antimicrobials. Applying One Health principles, to understand the interaction of pathogens and the human host, development of diagnostics, treatments, and disease prevention, applied microbiologists can shape global health and wellbeing outcomes.
News
Free webinar: How living conditions can shape microbiomes
A fascinating free webinar will reveal how microbiomes are not based only on biology - but how we live. ‘Microbiomes, Inequity, and Structural Conditions: Rethinking What Shapes Health’ underlines that microbiomes don’t exist in isolation — they reflect the systems we live in.
Read story
NewsWater stress emerges as a key driver of Xylella damage
The damage caused by Xylella fastidiosa in almond orchards may depend on far more than the bacterium itself. New research shows that drought, surrounding vegetation and pathogen-hosting shrubs can all intensify disease severity, suggesting that managing the wider landscape could be key to protecting vulnerable crops.
NewsHow E. coli eavesdrops and senses Bifidobacterium
Gut bacteria may be quietly listening in on one another’s metabolism. Researchers have discovered that E. coli can detect chemical signals released by Bifidobacterium, allowing it to sense what nearby bacteria are doing and adjust its own metabolism in response.
NewsMuseum specimens help solve a 50-year mystery of disappearing frogs
A 50-year-old mystery surrounding frog disappearances in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest may finally have an answer. By testing decades-old museum specimens, researchers found that the chytrid fungus arrived just as amphibian populations collapsed, offering some of the clearest evidence yet linking the pathogen to the historic die-off.
More One Health
News
Scientists map a hidden world of viruses across 102 cities
Cities are home to far more viral diversity than scientists previously realised. A global survey of nearly 3,000 samples from 102 cities identified almost 55,000 RNA virus species, most of them previously unknown, creating a new atlas of the viruses circulating through urban and peri-urban environments.
NewsVaccinating mothers protects offspring from deadly superbug
Researchers found that a vaccine given to pregnant mice protected their newborn pups from a severe bloodstream infection caused by Klebsiella pneumoniae, a dangerous bacterium that kills thousands of infants in low- and middle-income countries each year and is the leading killer of children globally.
NewsEbola vaccine induces T cell cross-reactivity against Bundibugyo virus in humans
A vaccine developed against Ebola virus may offer some immune protection against the related Bundibugyo ebolavirus, for which no licensed vaccine currently exists. Researchers found that a single dose triggered T cells capable of recognising BDBV, raising the possibility that existing vaccines could provide a degree of cross-protection during outbreaks.
NewsNew sequencing tool tracks harmful algal blooms as they emerge
A portable DNA sequencer can detect harmful algae in coastal waters in near real time, including species present at very low levels before blooms become obvious. Researchers also found that several harmful species often appear together, suggesting shared environmental triggers may help drive their growth.
NewsA new generation of mRNA antibody therapies may tackle ever-evolving SARS-CoV-2 variants
Researchers have fashioned an advanced antibody therapy that can neutralize SARS-CoV-2 while constraining the virus’ ability to escape recognition. The therapy protected mice against infections with an immune-evasive Omicron variant, and provides a structural template for antiviral antibodies that can keep up with their constantly evolving viral targets.
NewsScientists explore the latest threats and promising technologies in the fight against antimicrobial resistance
Scientists dive into the latest challenges and opportunities in humanity’s fight against antimicrobial resistance. Highlighted topics include the grave danger posed by drug-resistant tuberculosis and the rollout of AI technologies to streamline the discovery of antibiotics.
NewsResearchers engineer the first bacterial biocatalyst of a toolbox to produce greener pharma and food ingredients
To produce pharmaceuticals, food ingredients, and flavours and fragrances, it is often necessary to oxidise alcohols. But there is a more sustainable route: living organisms, including fungi, produce galactose oxidases, proteins that can carry out the same reactions on alcohols and simple sugars under mild conditions, using oxygen.
NewsStudy finds Helicobacter pylori exposure may be associated with more than one in five colorectal cancer cases worldwide
An international collaborative research study has found that exposure to Helicobacter pylori, a bacterium known to cause stomach ulcers and gastric cancer, may be associated with approximately 22% of colorectal cancer cases globally.
NewsResearchers engineer more sensitive CRISPR tool for virus detection
Researchers have engineered a more sensitive version of the RNA-targeting CRISPR enzyme Cas13a, improving its detection performance by 100-fold without sacrificing stability. The tool could support faster and more adaptable tests for HIV and a wide range of other RNA viruses.
NewsAspens ‘remember’ past drought in their leaves
Drought may leave more than narrow rings inside a tree trunk. New research suggests quaking aspen can retain a chemical ‘memory’ of dry years, changing the defensive compounds in their leaves and reshaping the fungal communities that live on them long after soils have rewetted.
NewsAn unusual bacterial defence system hides a powerful molecular switch
Researchers have uncovered a bacterial immune system that appears to work backwards. Unlike known retrons, which keep a toxin suppressed until infection, type VI retrons use phage-triggered DNA production to switch toxin activity on, revealing an unusually complex defence strategy that could inspire new gene-editing tools and antimicrobials.
NewsResearchers explore link between gut, brain health for people with HIV
Oregon Health & Science University researchers have secured a $5.8 million, five-year federal award to investigate whether damage to the gastrointestinal tract contributes to neuroinflammation in people living with HIV — raising the potential for new treatments to preserve brain function in people with HIV and older adults.
NewsPL-5 spray improves healing in infected burn wounds, phase IIIb trial finds
A late-stage clinical trial found that a topical spray called peceleganan (PL-5) helped adults with mild infected burn wounds heal better than placebo. It enrolled 348 adults and compared the spray with a placebo. The study tested once-daily treatment for 14 days and tracked wound closure, bacterial clearance, and safety.
NewsGlobal Virus Network adds six centers of excellence and new affiliate across four continents
The Global Virus Network (GVN), a coalition of leading medical virologists representing more than 100 Centers of Excellence and Affiliates in more than 40 countries, has announced six new Centers of Excellence and one Affiliate in Austria, Brazil, China, India, Panama, Switzerland and the United States.
NewsDeadly fungus Candida auris reveals a new trick for escaping treatment
An accidental laboratory observation has uncovered a new way that Candida auris can survive antifungal treatment. Researchers found that the deadly hospital fungus can duplicate its entire genome and generate different cell populations, giving it more opportunities to adapt, mutate and evade drugs.
NewsResearchers target Zika-related eye damage with new antiviral strategies
Zika virus can damage the developing retina and optic nerve, leaving babies with lifelong vision problems. Researchers have now received $2.7 million to uncover how the virus disrupts eye development and test drug candidates that could protect vision, with some compounds also showing activity against dengue and West Nile viruses.
NewsAn approach for novel antiviral compound discovery
Researchers in India have used an AI-based molecule generation platform to design a novel compound that computationally blocks one of the most conserved and functionally essential enzymes of SARS-CoV-2 — the main protease — with drug-like properties, no predicted toxicity, and a binding profile that compares favourably with clinically studied inhibitors.
NewsMount Sinai awarded five-year, $20.7 million vaccine development agreement to advance next-generation technologies against respiratory threats
Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have been awarded a five-year project agreement to develop Vaccine Immunoengineering for Targeted Antigen Presentation and Layered Control (VITAL), a research program exploring an improved approach to vaccination against respiratory pathogens.
NewsLong-term viral hepatitis control and changing patterns of liver cancer mortality in Japan
A review paper investigated how coordinated policy frameworks and robust epidemiological infrastructure have been associated with reductions in viral hepatitis–related HCC in Japan, and what gaps remain toward achieving hepatitis elimination.