Scientists have discovered that important 'good' bacteria arrive in babies' digestive systems from their mother's gut via breast milk. Although this does confirm that when it comes to early establishment of gut and immune health, 'breast is best', a greater understanding of how babies acquire a...
The human body is full of tiny microorganisms—hundreds to thousands of species of bacteria collectively called the microbiome,
which are believed to contribute to a healthy existence. The gastrointestinal (GI) tract—and the colon in particular—is home to the largest concentration and highest...
Slipping bacteria some silver could give old antibiotics new life, scientists at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University reported in Science Translational Medicine. Treating bacteria with a silver-containing compound boosted the efficacy of a broad range of...
The bacteria that live in the human gut may play an important role in immune response to vaccines and infection by wild-type enteric organisms, according to two recent studies resulting from a collaborative effort between the University of Maryland School of Medicine Institute for Genome...
The human gut is loaded with commensal bacteria - "good" microbes that, among other functions, help the body digest food. The gastrointestinal tract contains literally trillions of such cells, and yet the immune system seemingly turns a blind eye. However, in several chronic human diseases such...
New research from North Carolina State University and the University of Colorado shows that households with dogs are home to more types of bacteria - including bacteria that are rarely found in households that do not have dogs. The finding is part of a larger study to improve our understanding...
Vitamin C can kill drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) bacteria in laboratory culture, according to a new, surprising discovery by experts at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University. The research, published in Nature Communications, indicates that adding vitamin C to existing TB...
Using bacteria to ferry radioisotopes commonly used in cancer therapy directly into pancreatic cancer cells in mice, researchers in the US were able dramatically to reduce the number of secondary tumors that arise when the cancer spreads to other parts of the body (metastases). Claudia...
Bacteria are life forms, which, like all other life forms, struggle for the best living conditions for themselves. Therefore they will try to avoid getting attacked by the human immune system, and therefore they have developed various ways to protect themselves from the human immune system. When...
Mosquitoes are deadly efficient disease transmitters. Research conducted at Michigan State University, however, demonstrates that they also can be equally adept in curing diseases such as malaria. A study in the current issue of Science shows that the transmission of malaria via mosquitoes to...
Amoeba eat bacteria and other human pathogens, engulfing and destroying them - or being destroyed by them, but how these single-cell organisms distinguish and respond successfully to different bacterial classes has been largely unexplained. In a report in the journal Current Biology, researchers...
What do acne and chronic back pain have in common? Well, as it turns out, more than people once thought. *A group at the University of Southern Denmark have found that the same bacteria that gives people spots might be to blame for up to 40% of patients with lower back pain. What’s more, these...
They're ba-ack! But in a new disease-fighting role. Viruses that infect and kill bacteria - used to treat infections in the pre-antibiotic era a century ago and in the former Soviet Union today - may have a new role in preventing formation of the sticky "biofilms" of bacteria responsible for...
In biology, we often think of natural selection and survival of the fittest. What about survival of the luckiest? Like pioneers in search of a better life, bacteria on a surface wander around and often organize into highly resilient communities, known as biofilms. It turns out that a lucky few...
Malaria spreads in human populations because female Anopheles mosquitoes carrying malaria-inducing Plasmodium parasites bite people and pass it into their bloodstream. Now a new US study shows it may be possible to use a bacterium that stops the parasite developing in the mosquito and create...
The real reason eggs contribute to heart trouble may have little to do with cholesterol and everything to do with the way they're digested by gut bacteria. More »
Eggs & Heart Disease: Gut Bacteria, Not Cholesterol, May Explain Link is a post from Blisstree - Get tips on healthy living, work...
Yet another study, by the same US research team, links raised risk of heart attack and stroke to the action of gut bacteria on certain compounds contained in digested food. This time the link is to a compound found in eggs: lecithin. Earlier this month, researchers reported in Nature Medicine...
Another new study takes a further step toward revealing the pervasive influence microbial communities that inhabit plants and animals have on their biology. Scientists in the US have discovered that the luminous bacterium Vibrio fischeri regulates the daily rhythm of its host, the Hawaiian...
A strain of probiotic bacteria that can fight harmful bacterial infections in poultry has the ability to change its coat, according to new findings from the Institute of Food Research...
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Gross, but also gorgeous. That's how I describe the "bioart" above, made by British students out of the bacteria that exists on cell phones. More »
Disgustingly Beautiful: Art Made From Cell Phone Bacteria is a post from Blisstree - Get tips on healthy living, work outs, wellness & health food...