Bacterial News and Research

RSS

Study uncovers bacterial weakness during flagellum construction

New research from Indiana University has uncovered a previously unknown vulnerability in how bacteria build the whip-like tails they use to move.

8 Sep 2026

River-type drinking water sources generally carry higher antibiotic resistance risks

Antibiotic resistance is increasingly recognized as a major public health and environmental challenge, yet the risks are not evenly distributed across aquatic environments.

8 Sep 2026

New approach repairs airway barrier defects in cystic fibrosis

A UNIGE team has succeeded in restoring the defective respiratory protective barrier in people with this rare genetic disease.

8 Sep 2026

Retinal immune cell gateway may unlock targeted uveitis treatments

As part of an effort to understand the molecules and mechanisms that regulate transendothelial migration in different vascular beds of the body, researchers focused on the blood vessels of the retina, part of the blood-brain barrier.

8 Sep 2026

Genome sequencing reveals clues about asymptomatic strep throat carriers

Streptococcal sore throat - strep throat for short - is one of the nastier maladies of childhood, causing fever, swollen tonsils, and the namesake sore throat.

8 Sep 2026

Scientists discover new mechanism for bacterial fosfomycin resistance

Bacteria can survive antibiotics in several ways, including by pumping the drugs out of their cells before they can take effect.

7 Sep 2026

The vaginal microbiome may be an overlooked reservoir of antibiotic resistance

Researchers analyzed 1,957 vaginal metagenomic samples from 1,547 pregnant women and found that bacterial community structure was strongly associated with the diversity and distribution of clinically relevant antibiotic resistance genes. Lactobacillus crispatus-dominated communities carried comparatively few acquired resistance genes, while L. iners-dominated and anaerobe-rich communities showed greater resistance diversity, with PPROM associated with broader predicted resistance profiles among ARG-positive samples.

7 Sep 2026

Bacteria found in classroom dust may affect children’s respiratory health

Common bacteria found in classroom dust are associated with reduced lung function in children according to research presented at the European Respiratory Society (ERS) Congress in Barcelona, Spain.

6 Sep 2026

New study uncovers bacterial route to testosterone production

Many prostate cancers depend on androgen hormones, including testosterone, to grow. That is why treatments for advanced disease often try to reduce testosterone production or block its effects.

4 Sep 2026

Gut bacterial metabolite linked to inflammation in liver disease

Researchers have identified a link between specific activities in gut bacteria and the liver disease PSC.

4 Sep 2026

MXene-based hydrogel offers dual-action treatment for periodontitis

Periodontitis is a highly prevalent chronic inflammatory disease worldwide. It leads to periodontal tissue destruction, alveolar bone resorption, and ultimately tooth loosening and loss, severely impacting patients' oral function and quality of life.

4 Sep 2026

Gut bacterial molecule discovered to drive serious bile duct disease

Researchers at the University of Oslo and Oslo University Hospital have, together with international collaborators, discovered that a small molecule made exclusively by gut bacteria can actively drive disease in the bile ducts and worsen primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), a serious liver and bile duct disease.

4 Sep 2026

Lab-grown micro bladder helps explain why urinary tract infections return

A lab-grown micro bladder may explain why urinary tract infections (UTIs) return so frequently, according to a study led by researchers at UCL, the University of Oxford and the University of Leicester.

4 Sep 2026

The obesity-microbiome story is more complicated than ‘good’ and ‘bad’ bacteria

This review finds that obesity is linked to reciprocal interactions between diet, the gut microbiome, microbial metabolites, and host metabolic pathways that influence appetite, insulin sensitivity, inflammation, and energy balance across the lifespan. It highlights diet as a particularly tractable way to influence this system, while emphasizing that microbiome changes associated with GLP-1 therapies remain difficult to separate from weight loss and that functional multi-omics approaches may help enable more personalized interventions.

3 Sep 2026

Menopause may start changing the gut years before periods stop

A longitudinal study of 964 women found that blood markers of gut epithelial barrier dysfunction and microbial product translocation began to rise around 2 to 2.5 years before the final menstrual period and remained elevated after menopause. The findings suggest that changes in gut barrier integrity may form part of the biological transition through menopause and could help explain links between menopause, inflammation, and later health outcomes.

2 Sep 2026

Harvard scientists discover entirely new gene regulation system in mammals

For decades, scientists have understood that each of the roughly 20,000 genes in the human body carries the instructions for a single kind of protein.

2 Sep 2026

Bacterial protein fragment corisin found to drive pulmonary fibrosis

A bacterial protein fragment called corisin drives the process of pulmonary fibrosis by infiltrating and disrupting the cell's quality-control system, researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and Mie University in Japan found in a new study.

2 Sep 2026

Antifungal medication may reduce inflammatory bowel disease symptoms

A commonly used systemic antifungal medication may help reduce symptoms in a subset of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) by restoring a healthier gut microbiome, according to a preliminary study by Weill Cornell Medicine investigators.

1 Sep 2026

Laser-based therapy shows promise against dangerous abdominal infections in children

Children whose appendix has burst often develop serious abdominal infections that are hard to treat and increasingly resistant to antibiotics.

1 Sep 2026

Could the type of fiber children eat matter for their developing gut microbiome?

A recent study found that different dietary fibers can shape the composition and activity of the gut microbiome during early childhood, with xyloglucan, arabinoxylan, and pectin increasing short-chain fatty acid production in laboratory fermentation experiments. Some fibers also supported gut barrier measures and altered inflammatory responses, while observational data linked higher pectin intake with greater microbial diversity in young children.

31 Aug 2026