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Gut fungi play key role in pediatric allergic diseases development

Two new studies jointly published in Nature: The Clinical Microbiome reveal that certain species of fungi in the gut play a key role in the development of immune dysregulation and some pediatric allergic diseases - and may be promising targets for new therapies.

23 Jun 2026

New polymer hydrogel contact lenses heal scratches with UV light

Contact lenses are a great vision correction option for many, but if one of them gets damaged, there is little to do other than throw it away.

23 Jun 2026

Scientists discover how food poisoning bacteria protect themselves from antibiotics

Scientists from the Department of Microbiology of the University of Malaga, also members of the Institute of Subtropical and Mediterranean Horticulture 'La Mayora' (IHSM), have discovered a hitherto unknown mechanism that allows the bacterium Bacillus cereus, which is responsible for food poisoning and human infections, to protect itself against antibiotics and adverse conditions.

23 Jun 2026

Researchers identify control switch protein that starves tuberculosis bacteria

A protein that acts as a 'control switch,' preventing Mycobacterium tuberculosis from accessing the energy sources it needs to survive, has been identified by researchers at the University of Surrey.

23 Jun 2026

Statins may trigger muscle side effects by activating inflammatory danger signals

An experimental study in Science Advances shows that statins, primarily fluvastatin in these experiments, may promote low-level muscle myopathy by reducing isoprenoid-dependent protein prenylation rather than by cholesterol lowering. In primed muscle cells and mouse models, impaired YAP signaling, reduced glycolysis, NLRP3/caspase-1 activation, and nuclear FOXO accumulation increased atrogin-1, reduced protein synthesis, and weakened muscle function.

22 Jun 2026

Scientists find mechanism behind bird flu infections in dairy cattle

When H5N1 bird flu first began infecting U.S. cattle in early 2024, diagnosis was elusive, because in cows, the disease looked completely different.

19 Jun 2026

New method generates renewable supply of progenitor immune cells

In a paper published in Cell, a USC Stem Cell-led team reports a new way of generating a renewable and expandable supply of the progenitor cells that give rise to macrophages.

19 Jun 2026

Study shows jumping genes can transfer between different species

Genes are not passed on exclusively from parents to their offspring. Some are mobile and can also jump to other species, as researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Bremen have now shown.

19 Jun 2026

AI discovers hidden antibiotic candidates inside disease-causing prions

New antibiotic candidates for drug-resistant bacteria may reside inside prions, mis-folded protein in the brain best known for rare and fatal degenerative brain diseases.

19 Jun 2026

Quest Diagnostics study uncovers widespread community reservoirs of deadly gut bacterium

A common bacterial strain that lives naturally in people's guts can cause a dangerous or deadly infection for some, especially when it becomes multidrug-resistant and causes chronic urinary-tract infections (UTIs) in elderly women.

18 Jun 2026

Computer models could design more effective probiotic supplements

Probiotic supplements found in drugstores nationwide contain an assortment of microbes sold for specific health purposes despite limited understanding of the microbes' connections to their marketed use, new University of Virginia School of Medicine research reveals.

18 Jun 2026

WHO Issues Comprehensive Guidelines On Filovirus Disease, Including Ebola And Marburg Disease

As the Democratic Republic of the Congo is battling an Ebola disease outbreak caused by the Bundibugyo virus, the World Health Organization (WHO) has released its first comprehensive guidelines for the clinical management of filovirus disease which include all types of Ebola and Marburg viruses.

18 Jun 2026

Gut microbes may help explain why obesity and type 2 diabetes become harder to reverse

This review describes how gut microbial messengers, including SCFAs, microbiota-modified bile acids, neuroactive metabolites, and extracellular vesicles, may shape obesity and type 2 diabetes through the microbiota-gut-brain axis.

17 Jun 2026

Deep learning identifies novel compounds against antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea

With tens of millions of annual cases, gonorrhea is the second most frequently reported sexually transmitted infection (STI). Alone in the U.S., over 600,000 cases are reported each year.

17 Jun 2026

Prehistoric plague killed hunter gatherers 5,500 years ago

Plague is commonly associated with rats, crowded medieval cities, and the epidemics that swept across Europe during and after the Middle Ages.

17 Jun 2026

Houston Methodist study reveals how strep bacterium causes infection

A fast-rising strep bacterium has become increasingly notorious for causing serious infections in humans, including complications that can lead to muscle damage and patient death. New Houston Methodist research appearing in The American Journal of Pathology, published by Elsevier, sheds light on how Streptococcus dysgalactiae subspecies equisimilis (SDSE) causes disease and may provide important insights to aid in vaccine development.

17 Jun 2026

Probiotics help reduce depressive symptoms in older adults

In a pilot clinical trial published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society that included older adults with depression receiving standard care, adding probiotic therapy produced modest but meaningful reductions in depressive and anxiety symptoms compared with adding a placebo.

17 Jun 2026

New pico-calorimeter detects antibiotic resistance via direct heat traces

When living cells grow, divide, or respond to drugs, they give off tiny amounts of heat that offer information about what the cells are doing. But since these heat signals are so vanishingly small, they have been traditionally impossible to measure directly.

17 Jun 2026

Synthetic biology platform unmasks hidden bacterial targets of bacteriophages

An interdisciplinary team of Rice University researchers has uncovered previously unknown relationships between bacteriophages - viruses that infect bacteria - and their bacterial hosts, offering a powerful new tool for next-generation microbiome engineering.

17 Jun 2026

Bionic cooling skin accelerates healing and combats wound infections

As the global burden of infected wounds continues to rise-with over 300 million surgeries performed annually and postoperative infections affecting 5–20% of patients-conventional wound dressings face a critical limitation: no single product has successfully integrated protective function, wearing comfort, and efficient antibacterial activity.

15 Jun 2026