Bacterial News and Research

RSS

Cat fleas may contribute to murine typhus transmission in Texas

As human cases of flea-borne murine typhus continue to occur in South Texas, researchers are working to better understand the role cats and their fleas may play in the disease's transmission cycle.

2 Jul 2026

New framework redefines phage therapy for combating antimicrobial resistance

A new perspective article in Biocontaminant proposes a three-part evolutionary framework for using bacteriophages to better control antimicrobial resistance.

2 Jul 2026

AI speeds development of therapeutic hydrogels for gum disease

Periodontitis is one of the most common chronic inflammatory diseases worldwide and a leading cause of tooth loss in adults.

1 Jul 2026

New bacterial enzyme blueprint could accelerate cancer treatment development

A team of researchers at the University of Warwick and Monash University has solved a puzzle that's stumped drug developers for decades: how bacteria naturally create multiple versions of powerful cancer therapies.

1 Jul 2026

Botanical prebiotics may steer skin microbes toward healthier balance

Researchers tested plant-derived prebiotic candidates against selected skin-associated bacteria and found that garlic, flaxseed, and mango ginger extracts inhibited S. aureus or acne-associated C. acnes in vitro. Onion and guduchi extracts modestly promoted S. epidermidis, suggesting a microbiome-targeted skincare route that now needs validation in skin models and human studies.

30 Jun 2026

UTSA researchers develop bait pellets to combat Lyme disease

A breakthrough in the fight against Lyme disease is moving from the laboratory to the hardware store.

30 Jun 2026

Breast milk sugars help shape infant gut microbiota during weaning

Research from DTU and Rigshospitalet shows that sugars in breast milk play an important role in the development of the gut microbiota, during weaning or transition from breast milk to solid food.

30 Jun 2026

Probiotic metabolite found to suppress melanoma tumor growth in mice

Immune checkpoint inhibitors like anti-PD-1 have transformed melanoma treatment, yet more than half of patients fail to respond or eventually develop resistance.

30 Jun 2026

New strategy restores vancomycin effectiveness against resistant bacteria

Antibiotic resistance is one of the most urgent threats to global health, linked to an estimated 4.7 million deaths worldwide in 2019 alone.

29 Jun 2026

Melatonin dampens fetal membrane inflammation linked to preterm birth

Melatonin reduced infection-related inflammation in human fetal membranes in an ex vivo model. The study suggests that this effect works partly through melatonin receptors and by suppressing the TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB pathway.

28 Jun 2026

Nasal viruses may drive allergic rhinitis, and ribavirin shows early promise as a targeted spray treatment

Nasal commensal viruses may worsen allergic rhinitis by activating type I IFN-linked neutrophils and NET formation. Ribavirin reduced nasal viral abundance and improved symptoms in mice and in a small phase 2 trial.

28 Jun 2026

New discovery sheds light on how the human body controls Salmonella infections

Salmonella, an infection that causes diarrhea, fever, and abdominal pain, is the most common form of bacterial food poisoning in the U.S., sickening more than a million people each year.

26 Jun 2026

AI and multiomics reveal how gut bacteria trigger colon cancer

Over the past two decades, high‑throughput sequencing has dramatically expanded our understanding of the gut microbiome's composition.

26 Jun 2026

Smart nanoplatform uses wound acidity to trigger accelerated healing

Infected wounds pose a significant medical challenge, often leading to delayed healing and complications due to bacterial biofilms and excessive inflammation.

26 Jun 2026

Gut microbes emerge as potential players in estrogen-driven cancers

A new review maps how the endocrine-microbiome axis expands the estrobolome concept, showing that gut microbes may alter estrogen recycling, produce hormone-like metabolites, and shape inflammation and tissue environments in hormone-driven cancers. Human evidence remains mostly associative, so the authors call for causal models, longitudinal multi-omics, multi-kingdom profiling, and sex-stratified studies before microbiome-guided cancer strategies enter routine care.

25 Jun 2026

Protein-sharing helps dormant bacteria withstand antibiotic treatment

When bacteria are under antibiotic attack, it is not 'every man for himself.' Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine and colleagues from collaborating institutions have discovered that bacterial populations work as a team to survive antibiotics.

25 Jun 2026

Scientists find a universal gut microbiome pattern linked to colorectal cancer

Researchers analyzed 6,779 stool microbiome profiles and 906 tissue samples to identify a colorectal cancer microbial signature that remained consistent across age groups, populations, and sequencing methods. The signature aligned with tumor-resident microbes, showed weaker detection for adenomas, and was inversely associated with dietary fiber intake.

25 Jun 2026