Horizon Awards 2025: Max Fisher named as individual winner of Dorothy Jones Award
Max Fisher, a leading Disability & LGBTQIA+ Advocate, and Senior Research Associate at ViaNautis Bio, has been named as individual winner of the Dorothy Jones Diversity & Inclusion Achievement Award 2025.
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When movies teach us to love microbes
I have been teaching microbiology for more than 25 years. During that time, I have seen it all – students who arrive eager to learn and others who attend because they have no other choice. Over the years, I have also taught various subjects at different times of day: sometimes ...
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Under the microscope: pasteurisation
Pasteurisation is a process by which raw milk is heated to a specific temperature for long enough to kill any pathogenic bacteria, including those that can cause food-borne illnesses. In the current day, all the milk in supermarkets will have gone through a rigorous pasteurisation process before reaching our store ...
Clostridioides difficile: the unseen passenger from farm to fork
Once known as a hospital superbug, Clostridioides difficile is now turning up in surprising places – production animal farms, soil, retail meats, vegetables, ready-to-eat salads, and even household kitchens. Recent research suggests this gut pathogen may not be confined to just hospital wards but is moving through our food chain, raising questions regarding how C. difficile finds its way to our plates, and what might be the result.
Rewilding the microbiome: how the SanaTerra Living Lab bridges science and tradition to restore One Health
After years of living and working across four continents, Faiza Hajji and her family fell in love with La Vera, a fertile corner of Extremadura, western Spain. This journey gave rise to SanaTerra One Health & Microbiome Living Lab, founded in 2024: a platform where scientists, farmers, educators, and communities co-create innovations rooted in microbiome health, regenerative agriculture, and planetary wellbeing.
Under the Lens video series
The Microbiologist: Under the Lens | Episode 2
In our second episode, Dr Callum Cooper joins Professor Emmanuel Adukwu to talk about all things bacteriophage, from alternatives to antibiotics, social impact, and regulation.
The Microbiologist: Under the Lens | Episode 1
In our first episode, Professor Raquel Peixoto joins Professor Jack Gilbert for a deep dive into coral reefs, microbes, and the future of our planet.
The Microbiologist: Under the Lens | Episode 2
The Microbiologist: Under the Lens | Episode 1
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We couldn’t get people interested in science - until we started speaking their language
In 2020, Puerto Rico faced a misinformation crisis. Melanie Ortiz Alvarez De La Campa reveals how five STEM undergraduates created a sci-comm organization that helped pass legislation, educated thousands, and created an inclusive database of Caribbean scientists.
The politics behind the global divide in bacteriophage therapy
The therapeutic potential of bacteriophages (or ‘phages’) has been widely dismissed for decades in the West, despite being regularly used to treat patients worldwide in the early and mid-20th century. In an age rife with disinformation, can the true potential of clinical phage technology be communicated to a public already uneasy about scientific intervention?
Pride in Microbiology Network: the road so far
Bruno Francesco Rodrigues de Oliveira, a founding member of the Pride in Microbiology Network, reveals how it has developed since it was launched three years ago - and what needs to happen next.
AMR in aquatic ecosystems: A One Health investigation in an irrigation dam in Thailand
Dr Kwanrawee Joy Sirikanchana outlines how her team has launched a major project to address an overlooked question: How much does aquaculture contribute to AMR in shared water systems, and what does this mean for people, animals, and wildlife living around them?
The Future is Fungi 2025: award-winner Michroma’s mission to harness fungi for clean food dyes and flavors
Winner of The Future is Fungi Award 2025, US and Argentina-based foodtech startup Michroma is replacing petrochemical coloring with fungibased natural ingredients, launching one of the world’s leading sustainable platforms for food flavors and colors. Here’s its story.
Summer studentship: Oliver probes AMR in neonatal sepsis - and use of novel bacterial screening methods.
Oliver Spiller-Boulter, from Cardiff, reports back on his AMI-sponsored summer studentship which examined antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in neonatal sepsis and the use of novel bacterial screening methods.
New study reveals that parasite-produced dopamine can alter host behaviour
A new study has shed light on how Toxoplasma gondii, the causative agent of toxoplasmosis, can alter host behaviour. The research findings show that such behavioural changes are achieved, at least in part, through dopamine manipulation caused by dopamine produced by the parasite itself.
Major breakthrough against diabetes thanks to a microbial molecule that disarms inflammation
Researchers have uncovered a surprising ally in the fight against insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes: a microbial metabolite called trimethylamine. TMA, produced by gut bacteria from dietary choline can block a key immune pathway and improve blood sugar control.
Dose of psilocybin, dash of rabies point to treatment for depression
Researchers used a combination of psilocybin and the rabies virus to map how – and where – the psychedelic compound rewires the connections in the brain. Specifically, they showed psilocybin weakens the cortico-cortical feedback loops that can lock people into negative thinking.
Food security
Postharvest apple immunity: a key factor in shelf life and fruit quality
New research sheds light on how the immune system of apple fruits interacts with their microbiomes during storage, playing a crucial role in maintaining fruit health and preventing spoilage.
Clean Water
Previously unrecognized pathway in plants and phytoplankton offers mercury-detox powers
Primary producers—including phytoplankton—possess a previously overlooked ability to internally break down and detoxify methylmercury. The demethylation pathway rapidly converts methylmercury into less toxic inorganic mercury, which is subsequently reduced to gaseous Hg⁰.
Climate extremes triggered rare coral disease and mass mortality on the Great Barrier Reef
Marine biologists have identified a devastating combination of coral bleaching and a rare necrotic wasting disease that wiped out large, long-lived corals on the Great Barrier Reef during the record 2024 marine heatwave.
