Microbiology News and Research

RSS

Mosquito excrement offers new way to detect circulating viruses

When public health researchers want to know whether diseases such as COVID-19 or polio are circulating in a community, they can look for genetic evidence in wastewater.

18 Sep 2026

New national guidelines developed to improve sepsis-related care

A UVA Health doctor and other leading national experts have developed important new guidelines to improve care for patients who develop sepsis, a dangerous full-body infection that kills at least 350,000 Americans every year.

18 Sep 2026

Weill Cornell Medicine receives $17.4 million grant to shorten tuberculosis treatment

Researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine have received a $17.4 million, five-year grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to discover new approaches to shorten tuberculosis (TB) treatment, potentially making it easier for patients to complete therapy.

17 Sep 2026

Immunotherapy combined with BCG vaccine drastically lowers tuberculosis relapse risk

Tuberculosis (TB) remains one of the world's leading causes of death, and preventing post-treatment relapse continues to be a major worldwide health challenge.

17 Sep 2026

SARS-CoV-2 uses two fusion keys to enter host cells

To enter our cells, the Covid-19 virus fuses its surrounding membrane with the membrane of the target cell.

17 Sep 2026

Hedgehog coronaviruses reveal potential pathways for cross-species transmission

Washington State University researchers have discovered how a group of coronaviruses circulating in hedgehogs invades host cells, a key to understanding their potential to jump between species and their risk of causing a pandemic in humans.

16 Sep 2026

Genetically modified bacteria create protective shield against Salmonella attacks

The mammalian gut microbiome is teeming with a delicate balance of bacteria and the viruses that keep them in check, called bacteriophages, or phages.

16 Sep 2026

New 3D structure reveals how cancer-linked BRD4 protein binds to chromosomes

A new 3D-structure of a cancer-linked protein bound to its cellular partner reveals details of how the protein binds to chromosomes and could offer insights for future disease treatments.

15 Sep 2026

Study identifies DNA loops as essential for tissue regeneration

After an injury, DNA not only alters its activity but also the way it is organized spatially within the cell nucleus.

15 Sep 2026

Bacterial strains determine pneumonia and meningitis risk from air pollution

Air pollution leads to different risk of bacterial pneumonia, sepsis, and meningitis, depending on the subtype of bacteria a person has, new research suggests.

15 Sep 2026

UCLA researchers develop scalable TCR therapy for solid tumors

T cell receptor, or TCR, therapy is a cancer treatment that genetically reprograms immune cells, called T cells, to hunt down cancer with precision. It's similar to another treatment, CAR T-cell therapy, but with one key difference: CAR T-cell therapy can only spot proteins that naturally appear outside of a cancer cell.

8 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

High-energy tissues rely on macrophages to clear cellular waste

The body's heart muscle (for pumping blood), skeletal muscle (for movement and posture), and brown fat (for heat production), each require a lot of energy and make a lot of waste. And that waste needs to be managed.

4 Sep 2026

Far-UVC light tested to combat avian influenza on farms

When a strain of highly pathogenic avian influenza, HPAI, tore through U.S. poultry farms in early 2025, farmers culled tens of millions of birds and egg prices soared.

3 Sep 2026

Cancer drug eliminates HIV-infected cells in animal model study

Emory University researchers have provided the first proof-of-concept in a nonhuman primate model for eliminating HIV-infected cells with venetoclax, a clinically approved medication for cancer.

3 Sep 2026

Advanced tools and new leadership drive Single Cell Genomics Center into the future

Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences is excited to announce the appointment of new leadership - as well as new tools, analytical services, and a bold vision for the future - for the Single Cell Genomics Center.

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

Newly discovered lung immune cells could transform future flu vaccine design

Influenza continues to cause major illness each year in the United States, leading to more than 35,000 deaths annually. Children, older adults, pregnant individuals, people with weakened immune systems, and those with chronic conditions such as heart disease, metabolic disorders, and cancer are especially vulnerable.

31 Aug 2026

Newly identified cells protect lung tumors from immune attacks

Researchers at Columbia University have discovered a new type of cell that protects lung cancers from attacks by the immune system.

27 Aug 2026

Scalable stem cell method advances off-the-shelf CAR-T therapies

Researchers at the Center for Regenerative Medicine (CReM) at Boston Medical Center (BMC) and Boston University (BU) have developed a scalable method for generating CD4+ helper T cells from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), overcoming a longstanding challenge in the development of stem cell-based immunotherapies.

27 Aug 2026