All Microbial Genetics articles
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NewsResearch 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.
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NewsBacterial 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.
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NewsHow 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.
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NewsBacterial 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.
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NewsResearchers 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.
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NewsScientists 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.
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NewsMutation 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.
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NewsThe 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.
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NewsScientists 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 ...
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NewsAncient 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.
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NewsBacterial ‘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.
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NewsDeeper corals may help shallow reefs recover in the Florida keys
Using the blushing coral star (Stephanocoenia intersepta), found throughout the Western Atlantic, researchers have investigated how coral populations at different depths and locations may be related or ‘connected’ to each other.
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NewsCells ‘repress’ genomic remnants of ancient viruses
Researchers have identified key cellular control sites that regulate gene expression and prevent the activation of ‘cryptic’ genomic regions, including ancient viral sequences.
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NewsCofitness network connectivity determines a fuzzy essential zone in open bacterial pangenome
Based on a robust Tn-seq analysis of independent mariner transposon insertion libraries of Sinorhizobium strains, scientists have identified a strain-dependent variation in the fitness network of the Sinorhizobium pangenome under a nutrient-rich condition.
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NewsShedding light on the mechanism of yeast DNA repair
Researchers investigate the central role of Sae2, a protein in budding yeast, in regulating the DNA repair mechanism in yeast.
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NewsScientists unveil first complete image of the PARIS system
A new study explores the PARIS immune system, which bacteria use to protect themselves against viral infections and which stands for Phage Anti-Restriction Induced System.
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NewsNext time you beat a virus, thank your microbial ancestors
When you get infected with a virus, some of the first weapons your body deploys to fight it were passed down to us from our microbial ancestors. Two key elements of our innate immune system came from a group of microbes called Asgard archaea.
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NewsCRISPR gene scissors switch off with built-in timer
Researchers have discovered a timer integrated into the CRISPR gene scissors that enables the gene scissors to switch themselves off.
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NewsNew genetic editing technique could modify wild populations with less risk
A new technique developed by researchers from Macquarie University and the California Institute of Technology described in Nature Communications on 13 August could allow scientists to more simply and controllably alter the genetic makeup of wild populations than with the use of gene-drives. Coral in Nagoya Aquarium Japan. ...
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NewsBacteria encode hidden genes outside their genome - so do we?
A new study shows that bacteria can create free-floating and ephemeral genes, raising the possibility that similar genes exist outside of our own genome.
