All Microbial Genetics articles
-
News
Could microRNAs help us understand why different birds react differently to being infected with bird flu?
Since microRNA was found to have a role in cell protein production, a connection between microRNA and birds infected with bird flu has been found in ruddy turnstones, which has significance with respect to the spread of bird flu due to their long distance flights.
-
News
Scientists unveil novel anti-CRISPR protein mechanism
Apart from their counter-defensive function, anti-CRISPR proteins hold great promise for enabling more precise control over CRISPR technologies. Researchers have now further elucidated the function of an important yet so far uncharacterized anti-CRISPR protein.
-
News
New study sheds light on the causes of fevers of unknown origin in sub-Saharan Africa
By conducting a retrospective observational study, the causes of fevers of unknown origin (FUO) in sub-Saharan Africa were investigated using conventional diagnostic methods, highlighting the appropriate needs of point-of-care testing in the regions.
-
News
Uncovering two rare infectious diseases which might be responsible for COVID-19
A study has adopted a more-advanced AI technique that revealed two rare infectious diseases might be involved in causing the emergence of COVID-19. The machine learning technique is also important to be used for other biomarker studies.
-
News
New study uncovers key differences in allosteric regulation of cAMP receptor proteins in bacteria
A new study provides key insights into how bacterial cAMP receptor proteins (CRPs) respond differently to the ubiquitous signaling molecule, cyclic AMP (cAMP), challenging the assumption that structural similarity predicts functional behavior in allosteric proteins.
-
News
Scientists map essential genome of malaria parasite Plasmodium knowlesi
Comprehensive genetic mapping of Plasmodium knowlesi, a zoonotic parasite that causes malaria, has revealed the genes required for malaria infection of the blood, and those driving drug resistance.
-
News
Researchers in Brazil discover a gene that may afford protection against COVID-19
During the pandemic, health worker Maria Tereza Malheiros Sapienza’s curiosity was aroused by her immunity to SARS-CoV-2, even though her husband was infected twice. A new study reveals that an overexpression of IFIT3 protein was responsible.
-
News
The secret ‘sex lives’ of bacteria: Study challenges old ideas about how species form
Researchers discovered that microbial species form and maintain their distinct identities through unique way of genetic material exchange, especially via homologous recombination, apart from the common asexual reproductive method.
-
News
Looking to Kenya’s Lake Victoria for what may come for Lake Erie
Scientists conducted a genetic survey on cyanobacteria in the Winam Gulf of Kenya’s Lake Victoria, which serves as a model for the cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (cyanHABs) in Lake Erie under the warming climate.
-
News
Research using non-toxic bacteria to fight high-mortality cancers prepares for clinical trials
A promising research study in treating high mortality late-stage cancers with a non-toxic bacterial therapy - BacID - has proven to be safe and more targeted. The newly developed treatment would undergo clinical trials with cancer patients in 2027.
-
News
Bacterial toxin offers hope to tackle soybean nematode pest
A new study reveals how genetically equipping soybean plants with bacterial toxin Cry14 could revolutionize the fight against the microscopic soybean cyst nematode. This approach has been implemented successfully to prevent SCN from feeding on soybean roots.
-
News
How fungi strengthen their defenses - and how we could break through them
A research team has discovered that the enzyme Mod5 in the fungus Aspergillus fumigatus plays an important role in the modification of fungal tRNA and helps confer temporary antifungal resistance.
-
News
Bacterial gene deployed in new trees to combat devastating citrus greening disease
Scientists are testing a new type of citrus tree, deploying a bacterial gene that can fight off the tiny insects responsible for citrus greening.
-
News
Researchers have uncovered how foreign DNA can evade bacterial defense systems and neutralize them
A new study reveals how bacterial defense mechanisms can be neutralized, enabling the efficient transfer of genetic material between bacteria.
-
News
Scientists discover and engineer ChCas12b for precise genome editing
Researchers have developed a highly specific Cas12b nuclease—ChCas12b-D496A, capable of distinguishing single-base mutations. This expands the targeting range of gene editing and demonstrates broad prospects for gene therapy applications.
-
News
Mutation could facilitate H5N1 bird flu virus infection and potential transmission in humans
A recent study reveals that a single mutation in the H5N1 bird flu virus that has recently infected dairy cows in the U.S. could enhance the virus’ ability to attach to human cells, potentially increasing the risk of passing from person to person.
-
News
The viral puzzle of why humans are susceptible to hepatitis B - but monkeys are not
Scientists collaborated to reveal the structural features of hepatitis B viral receptor homologue in macaques that restrict viral entry into their cells.
-
News
Scientists implicate a novel cellular protein in hepatitis A infection
Viruses have thrived in humans for tens of thousands of years, evolving to take advantage of the machinery of cells to replicate and survive inside us. Some can slip past our defenses and invade without even causing symptoms. Source: Shirasaki et al. (2024) (Left) Liver cells infected with ...
-
News
Ancient viral DNA in human genome linked to multiple sclerosis and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
New research has revealed a connection between ancient viral DNA embedded in the human genome and the genetic risk for two major diseases that affect the central nervous system.
-
News
Bacterial ‘flipping’ allows genes to assume different forms
A new study has shown that inversions, which cause a physical flip of a segment of DNA and change an organism’s genetic identity, can occur within a single gene, challenging a central dogma of biology — that one gene can code for only one protein.