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Researchers challenge a popular scenario put forward to explain the arrival of the first eukaryotic organisms

In the beginning, there was boredom. Following the emergence of cellular life on earth, some 3.5 billion years ago, simple cells lacking a nucleus and other detailed internal structure dominated the planet. Matters would remain largely unchanged in terms of evolutionary development in these so-called prokaryotic cells - the bacteria and archaea - for another billion and a half years.

8 Aug 2022

Ancestral molecule from bacteria-like cells may offer evolutionary insight on sexual reproduction

A study from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, among others, presents the theory that egg-sperm fusion, a crucial feature of sexual reproduction in plants and animals, may have originated from an ancient form of genetic exchange that involved the fusion of bacteria-like microorganisms called archaea.

12 Jul 2022

Researchers uncover a novel interplay between coral pathogen and other coral commensal bacteria

Coral is a complicated holobiont, harboring an array of life forms at different scales, including coral cells, zooxanthellae, and associated bacteria, archaea, and viruses.

1 Jul 2022

Rice lab’s microbial community profiling software effectively identifies bacterial species

Part of a gene is better than none when identifying a species of microbe. But for Rice University computer scientists, part was not nearly enough in their pursuit of a program to identify all the species in a microbiome.

30 Jun 2022

Study opens a door to better understanding the role of viruses in ecology

The first discovery of viruses infecting a group of microbes that may include the ancestors of all complex life has been found, researchers at The University of Texas at Austin report in Nature Microbiology.

27 Jun 2022

Chromosome organization affects evolution of DNA in archaea

The structure of how DNA is stored in archaea makes a significant difference to how quickly it evolves, according to a new study by Indiana University researchers.

14 Jun 2022

Eukaryotes emerged in a no-oxygen environment in the ocean, research suggests

The origin of complex cells started without oxygen, new research suggests.

27 Apr 2022

Gut virome may warn of a serious and often fatal disease in preterm infants

Immediately after birth, human infants begin to develop a complex, interwoven fabric of microbes in their gut.

26 Apr 2022

Fritz Lipmann Institute receives 2.5 million euros to advance microbiome research

Fungi, bacteria, archaea and viruses - trillions of microorganisms colonize the skin, mucous membranes and organs of humans. Together, they constitute the microbiome.

3 Feb 2022

Study offers unprecedented insight into the mechanism of action of topo VI enzyme

The function of an enzyme, critical to most forms of life, has been revealed.

2 Feb 2022

Composition of poplar tree microbiome changes dramatically over time, study finds

Recent work shows that the plant microbiome - the microorganisms in a plant and its immediate environment - influences plant health, survival, and fitness. The initial assembly of the microbiome is particularly important.

9 Jan 2022

Ocean living microbes make oxygen in the dark

There is more going on in the deep, dark ocean waters than you may think: Uncountable numbers of invisible microorganisms go about their daily lives in the water columns, and now researchers have discovered that some of them produce oxygen in an unexpected way.

6 Jan 2022

CRISPR-Cas enzyme-based diagnostics to detect SARS-CoV-2 infection

A recent review in the journal Life provided a detailed description of CRISPR-Cas-based diagnostic techniques to identify severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, but also emphasized the potential use of this technology towards developing effective molecular diagnostic platforms for any future pandemic.

13 Dec 2021

Genetically engineered bacteria can monitor health from within

That feeling in your gut? Well, it's in your head, but some of it does truly start in the gastrointestinal tract.

12 Nov 2021

New computer program can read any genome sequence and decipher its genetic code

Yekaterina "Kate" Shulgina was a first year student in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, looking for a short computational biology project so she could check the requirement off her program in systems biology. She wondered how genetic code, once thought to be universal, could evolve and change.

9 Nov 2021

Researchers develop the smallest CRISPR to date for genome editing

A compact and efficient CRISPR-Cas system, named CasMINI, could be broadly useful for cell-engineering and gene-therapy applications because it is easier to deliver into cells. The findings appear in a study publishing September 3 in the journal Molecular Cell.

4 Sep 2021

Stanford researchers engineer an efficient, multi-purpose, mini CRISPR system

The common analogy for CRISPR gene editing is that it works like molecular scissors, cutting out select sections of DNA. Stanley Qi, assistant professor of bioengineering at Stanford University, likes that analogy, but he thinks it's time to reimagine CRISPR as a Swiss Army knife.

4 Sep 2021

Recognizing viral genomes in quick, ‘CRISP’ ways

Researchers from China recently reviewed the latest advancements, applications, and prospects of virus detection using CRISPR-Cas systems.

27 Aug 2021

University of Arkansas receives $6.1 million grant to establish an institute focused on virus research

The National Science Foundation has awarded a $6.1 million grant to the University of Arkansas to establish a research institute focused on virology and virus ecology.

17 Aug 2021

How do host factors like the lung microbiome aid in SARS‐CoV‐2 infection?

A new article has been published in Cellular and Molecular Lifesciences, which focuses on the connection between host factors and the worsening of the COVID-19. Further, the impact of the virus on the host’s microbiome and secondary infection has also been studied.

8 Jul 2021