Microbes
- Health & Medicine
Explainer: Where and when did HIV begin?
The virus that causes AIDS may have evolved in monkeys or apes more than a century ago.
- Microbes
Mystery microbes of the sea
Biologists find archaea a true curiosity. They make up one of life’s three main branches. The two better known branches are bacteria and eukaryotes (u KARE ee oatz). That last branch includes animals, plants and fungi. But archaea have remained mysterious. Very little is known about them. In fact, their unique status wasn’t even recognized until relatively recently, in 1977.
- Health & Medicine
Camels linked to mystery disease
A mysterious and deadly virus has sickened 94 people — killing 46 — in parts of the Middle East, Europe and northern Africa. A new study finds that camels (the one-humped type) may have introduced the new disease to people. The germ responsible is a virus that lives in people’s lungs, throats and noses. Scientists recently named the disease it causes Middle East respiratory syndrome, or MERS.
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- Microbes
The power of microbes
A living animal is never alone. Its body — like yours — is home to trillions of microbes, or tiny single-celled organisms. Those microbes aren’t just hitchhiking. They can play an important role in separating species, researchers now report.
- Health & Medicine
Infection time
Disease is more severe when it hits in the morning, at least in mice.
- Health & Medicine
Flu in the air
Germs tiny enough to pass through surgical masks may cause half of all cases.
- Health & Medicine
Killer-flu update
Infection that recently developed in China shows signs of being easy to spread and hard to kill.
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- Animals
Infectious animals
Critters spread many germs that can sicken each other — and even kill people.
- Animals
Explainer: People can sicken animals
Wildlife can sometimes become infected with germs shed by people.
