Biofilms News and Research

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Removing SARS-CoV-19 virus from the water cycle

Scientists know that coronaviruses, including the SARS-CoV-19 virus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic, can remain infectious for days -- or even longer -- in sewage and drinking water.

5 Apr 2020

Detailed map of human tongue microbiome

A new study published in the journal Cell Reports in March 2020 reports the use of advanced and rapid spectral imaging techniques to develop a detailed map of microbial communities on the human tongue. The research will help to understand how such communities grow and form organized patterns.

24 Mar 2020

Bacteria multiply and grow into biofilms like settlers form cities

Microbiologists have long adopted the language of human settlement to describe how bacteria live and grow: They "invade" and "colonize." Relations dwelling in close proximity are "colonies."

13 Mar 2020

Understanding how cancer cells interact and collaborate to metastasize

Cancer cells are known to migrate and collaborate to form networks that function as conduits providing access to nutrients and blood vessels.

12 Mar 2020

Novel drug to arrest antibiotic resistance by preventing micro-evolution

Desperate times need desperate measures. Accordingly, scientists, today published a new study in the journal Cell Host and Microbe in March 2020, showing that drugs that prevent the acquisition of DNA-borne antibiotic resistance traits from their surroundings by bacteria can stop mice from becoming resistant to the action of the antibiotics.

3 Mar 2020

New immunotherapeutic strategy shows promise to fight off infectious biofilms

The same way baking soda breaks down grease and grime, making surfaces easier to clean, researchers at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University now show that a new therapeutic molecule can break apart communities of harmful bacteria, opening the way for bacteria-killing antibiotics to more effectively clear out infections.

27 Feb 2020

McMaster researchers identify antibacterial compound made by cannabis plants

McMaster University researchers have identified an antibacterial compound made by cannabis plants that may serve as a lead for new drug development.

26 Feb 2020

Researchers uncover hidden antibiotic potential of cannabis compound

Public health agencies worldwide have identified antibiotic resistance of disease-causing bacteria as one of humanity's most critical challenges. However, scientists haven't discovered a new class of antibiotics in more than 30 years.

26 Feb 2020

Essential oil components could meet the criteria set for drug candidates

A research team at the VIB-KU Leuven Center for Microbiology and the KU Leuven Department of Biology showed that, contrary to generally held belief, most components of essential oils could meet the criteria set for drug candidates.

23 Feb 2020

Random pulsing of gene expression contributes to pattern formation during development

A team of Cambridge scientists working on the intersection between biology and computation has found that random gene activity helps patterns form during development of a model multicellular system.

19 Feb 2020

Princeton researchers find link between microbes and cancers in threatened California foxes

Can staph microbes lead to cancer? Microbes are known to affect digestion, mood and overall health, and now Princeton researchers have shown that a shift in the microbiome is linked to cancer -- at least in a threatened subspecies of foxes found only on one island off the California coast.

4 Feb 2020

KU Leuven researchers develop new antibacterial strategy that weakens bacteria

Bioscience engineers from KU Leuven in Belgium have developed a new antibacterial strategy that weakens bacteria by preventing them from cooperating. Unlike with antibiotics, there is no resistance to this strategy, because the non-resistant bacteria outnumber resistant ones.

14 Jan 2020

New bacteria-destroying technology to combat drug-resistant superbugs

Researchers have used liquid metals to develop new bacteria-destroying technology that could be the answer to the deadly problem of antibiotic resistance.

13 Jan 2020

Tackling antibiotic resistance head-on with CRISPR

With modern advances in genetic engineering occurring almost every day, the latest discovery concerns antibiotic resistance. Using the powerful gene editor CRISPR, scientists reported the development of a gene-drive system that is 100 times as efficient as other current systems at inactivating a specific bacterial gene responsible for making the bacterium antibiotic-resistant and which is present as multiple copies within the same bacterial cell.

16 Dec 2019

Scientists modify approved cancer drug to develop new antibiotic

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are increasingly the source of deadly infections. A team of scientists from the Technical University of Munich and the Helmholtz Center for Infection Research in Braunschweig have now modified an approved cancer drug to develop an active agent against multidrug-resistant pathogens.

16 Dec 2019

New gene technology shows 100-fold efficiency in targeting antibiotic-resistant bacteria

Taking advantage of powerful advances in CRISPR gene editing, scientists at the University of California San Diego have set their sights on one of society's most formidable threats to human health.

16 Dec 2019

New antimicrobial polymer can kill bacteria resistant to common antibiotics

Researchers from Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology, MIT's research enterprise in Singapore, and Nanyang Technological University have designed an antimicrobial polymer that can kill bacteria resistant to commonly used antibiotics, including the superbug Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).

12 Dec 2019

Yeasts derived from food can reduce multi-drug resistant fungal infections

A study by researchers in the United States and India has shown that probiotic yeasts derived from food are able to reduce the virulence of, and even prevent infections by, several types of fungi that are responsible for life-threatening infections in hospitalized and immune-compromised individuals, including the multi-drug resistant Candida auris, which was recently listed as an urgent threat by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control in its 2019 Antibiotic Resistance Threats report.

10 Dec 2019

Early adherence step in intestinal transit of Shigella discovered

The bacterial pathogen Shigella, often spread through contaminated food or water, is a leading cause of mortality in both children and older adults in the developing world.

4 Dec 2019

Hybrid antibiotics show promising results in eradicating deadly staph infections

Eradicating deadly staph using a new breed of antibiotics has revealed promising results in research released by QUT, to help overcome one of the biggest modern medical challenges.

4 Dec 2019