Young Innovators & Early Career Research
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NewsGut microbes key to understanding how exercise boosts cancer immunity
A new study shows how exercise improves cancer outcomes and enhances response to immunotherapy in mice by reshaping the gut microbiome. These benefits are driven by a specific compound called formate, which is produced by gut bacteria in exercised mice.
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NewsResearchers develop superstrong, eco-friendly materials from bacteria
Scientists have developed a scalable approach to engineer bacterial cellulose into high-strength, multifunctional materials. Their biosynthesis technique aligns bacterial cellulose fibers in real-time, resulting in robust biopolymer sheets with exceptional mechanical properties.
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NewsFrom COVID to cancer, new at-home ‘coffee-ring’ test spots disease with startling accuracy
A new, low-cost biosensing technology could make rapid at-home tests up to 100 times more sensitive to viruses like COVID-19. The diagnostic could expand rapid screening to other life-threatening conditions like prostate cancer and sepsis as well.
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NewsStudy reveals negative consequences of trained immunity in the lungs
Exposure to a common fungal molecule can reprogram immune cells in the lungs, causing them to overreact to infection-like signals and worsen lung damage, according to new research.
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NewsNew study suggests Florida has the potential for local Chagas disease transmission
Researchers in Florida have discovered local kissing bugs are harboring the parasite that can lead to Chagas disease, demonstrating that this rare, chronic disease has a secure foothold in the U.S. and warrants more preventative measures.
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NewsAI used to create protein that kills E. coli
Scientists have used artificial intelligence (AI) to generate a ready-to-use biological protein that can kill antibiotic resistant bacteria like E. coli.
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NewsCoral calcification benefits from human hormone injections
Researchers have identified how thyroxine, a human thyroid hormone, can positively influence the life-critical calcification in soft corals, and have developed a unique technique for injecting molecules into coral tissues.
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NewsAlgae of polar origin may impact tropical ocean biogeochemistry and food webs
A single-celled algae genus may have a big impact on how the world’s chemical building blocks cycle between living things and the non-living environment. Polarella was thought to be restricted to polar cap regions, but turns out to be abundant in the tropical Pacific ocean.
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CareersPetri dishes, phages, and public speaking - at the LAM ECS Research Symposium 2025
Rachael Barton and Luka Brajdić open up on their experiences of the Letters in Applied Microbiology ECS Symposium 2025 at the University of Liverpool on June 12.
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NewsT cells take aim at Chikungunya virus
A new study offers the first-ever map of which parts of Chikungunya virus trigger the strongest response from the body’s T cells, bringing researchers closer to developing Chikungunya vaccines or therapies that harness T cells to strike specific targets to halt infection.
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NewsAdults who have survived childhood cancer are at increased risk of severe COVID-19
People who have survived cancer as children are at higher risk of developing severe COVID-19, even decades after their diagnosis. This is shown by a new study from Karolinska Institutet published in the journal The Lancet Regional Health – Europe.
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NewsHep E virus can live out entire life cycle in kidney cells
Scientists have succeeded in proving in cell culture that hepatitis E viruses can infect kidney cells and can multiply with their help. The entire replication cycle of the virus takes place in kidney cells in the same way as in liver cells, their study shows.
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NewsStudy advances understanding of immune system’s crucial role in phage therapy
Scientists have assessed the effectiveness of phage therapy in treating pneumonia. What they discovered about the mechanisms behind phage therapy could inform treatments in clinical settings to help patients facing similarly stubborn infections.
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NewsEngineers develop electrochemical sensors for cheap, disposable diagnostics
Electrodes coated with DNA could enable inexpensive tests with a long shelf-life, which could detect many diseases and be deployed in the doctor’s office or at home.
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NewsNew immunotherapy strategy targets difficult-to-treat brain tumors with gut microbiota
Researchers have demonstrated a new therapeutic strategy that can enhance the efficacy of immunotherapy for brain tumors by utilizing gut microbes and their metabolites. This also opens up possibilities for developing microbiome-based immunotherapy supplements in the future.
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NewsSeasonal allergies caused by fungal spores now start three weeks earlier under climate change
Researchers have found that, on average, spore allergy season in the US was kicking off 22 days earlier in 2022 than it had been in 2003.
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NewsNovel flu vaccine adjuvant improves protection against influenza viruses, study finds
Influenza hemagglutinin subunit vaccines are more effective and offer better cross protection against various influenza virus challenges when combined with a mucosal adjuvant that enhances the body’s immune response, according to a study.
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NewsResearch suppresses coronavirus by targeting Mac1
A new study details the vulnerability of coronaviruses to inhibitors of a small protein domain called Mac1, or the “macrodomain,” found in all coronaviruses such as SARS-CoV-2 and MERS-CoV.
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NewsWith AI, researchers find increasing immune evasion in H5N1
A new analysis suggests that the H5N1 avian influenza virus is evolving clever strategies. Using artificial intelligence tools, researchers analyzed thousands of viral proteins and found that their bonds to protective antibodies have weakened over time.
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NewsPandora’s microbes – The battle for iron in the lungs
Newly discovered natural compounds from the little studied Pandoraea bacterium influence the lung microbiome by competing for iron.