Microbes
- Animals
Cool Jobs: Finding new uses for nature’s poisons
Scientists study toxins and other natural compounds in search of alternatives to ineffective antibiotics and dangerous pesticides.
- Health & Medicine
Nobel goes for developing drugs from nature
The 2015 Nobel Prize in medicine went to scientists who used nature as the model for important human drugs to combat malaria and serious infections.
- Agriculture
‘Wildlife-free’ farms don’t make salads safer
Scientists find that removing wildlife from farms did not make raw vegetables safer to eat.
- Animals
Chikungunya wings its way north — on mosquitoes
A mosquito-borne virus once found only in the tropics has adapted to survive in mosquitoes in cooler places, such as Europe and North America.
- Health & Medicine
How ‘brain-eating’ amoebas kill
When people infected with a “brain-eating amoeba” die, their own immune systems might be to blame.
- Health & Medicine
Five things to know about ‘brain-eating’ amoebas
These parasites can be scary, but they rarely trigger infections. Still, knowing more about them can help you avoid behaviors that heighten risks.
- Microbes
Bacteria help water effortlessly go with the flow
By adding bacteria to water, scientists were able to make a fluid flow with almost no resistance.
- Chemistry
Bacteria become source of ‘greener’ blue jeans
Manufacturing indigo to dye blue jeans now relies on harmful chemicals. But researchers have found a less polluting way to produce the blue tint: bacteria.
- Health & Medicine
How this vitamin can foster pimples
Oh no! Vitamin B12 can cause skin bacteria to secrete chemicals that cause zits.
- Health & Medicine
New ways to fight the flu
Influenza sickens millions each year. A worldwide epidemic could kill many of them. Fortunately, new ways to fight the flu offer hope — before it’s too late.
- Genetics
A germ stopper for blood products
A new system can disable almost all viruses or bacteria that are lurking in donated blood platelets and plasma.
- Health & Medicine
MERS virus hits South Korea hard
MERS — a killer viral disease — emerged for the first time only three years ago. That was in the Middle East. Now it has spread to Asia.
