One health
Communicable diseases remain one of the major causes of mortality worldwide. There are disparities in the numbers of individuals affected by disease between low-and-middle-income countries and those in developed nations. Microbes will play in important role in drug discovery: producing anticancer drugs and antimicrobials. Applying One Health principles, to understand the interaction of pathogens and the human host, development of diagnostics, treatments, and disease prevention, applied microbiologists can shape global health and wellbeing outcomes.
News
Mouse study suggests high-fat diets during pregnancy worsen severe GI illness in preterm babies
A new mouse study suggests a link between a high-fat prenatal diet and induction of potentially deadly symptoms of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) in premature babies.
Read story
NewsScientists take crucial step in developing world’s first measles treatment
Scientists have characterized human antibodies capable of neutralizing measles virus. These antibodies bind to key sites on measles virus and prevent the virus from entering host cells.
NewsGlobal outbreaks may fuel violence against women — but most cases go unmeasured
Violence against women and girls may increase during infectious disease outbreaks — as economic strain, isolation and disrupted services reshape daily life — yet those impacts remain largely unmeasured, according to a new study.
NewsScientists discover how gut bacteria toxin invades colon cells to trigger cancer
A common gut bacterium, Bacteroides fragilis, drives colon tumor formation, potentially leading to colorectal cancer, by secreting a toxin that damages the lining of the colon. Researchers have now shown that the B. fragilis toxin BFT must first bind host receptor claudin-4 before it can cause damage.
More One Health
News
‘Atomic snapshots’ of proofreading enzyme could lead to better COVID-19 drugs
A research team used images generated by a cryogenic electron microscope (cryo-EM) to observe the interplay between SARS-CoV-2 proofreading enzyme exoribonuclease (ExoN) and RNA incorporated with antivirals such as remdesivir, sofosbuvir and bemnifosbuvir.
NewsNeedle-free flu vaccine aims to boost children’s immunity
A new study will explore the effects of a nasal spray flu vaccine on children’s immune systems, aiming to boost future protection and lower vaccine hesitancy rates.
NewsSeasonal COVID-19 vaccination in 2025/26 reduced risk of illness by half in Canada
An interim analysis estimates that the COVID-19 vaccine for the 2025/26 season reduced the risk of illness in Canada by about half at about 9 weeks after vaccination, offering protection beyond the vaccine’s target strain.
NewsTuberculosis risk: promising approaches for screening and prediction
It is currently difficult to detect TB in its early stages, or predict who will go on to have TB, and therefore preventive treatment is not widely used. Researchers assessed whether a blood-based 3-gene host-response test can detect active tuberculosis and help predict future disease.
NewsLong-term dynamic virological response patterns and clinical outcomes in hepatitis B virus-related cirrhosis
The long-term clinical outcomes of patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related cirrhosis receiving nucleos(t)ide analog (NA) therapy according to virological response patterns remain inadequately defined. A new study aimed to investigate the association between virological response patterns and clinical outcomes.
NewsResearchers find diagnostic delays are common for US pediatric patients with malaria
Researchers found that more than one in four pediatric patients treated for malaria in the United States had a delay in their initial diagnosis, increasing the risk of more severe infection.
NewsThe Nexus of Food Systems, Ecosystems and Human Health: Sign up for our fascinating free webinar!
What if health is not produced by humans alone, but co-created with the ecosystems, organisms, and food systems we depend on? A fascinating free webinar will explore how microbes connect people to food systems and the ecosystems that undergird food production.
NewsHead impacts associated with altered gut microbiome in football players
Non-concussive head impacts—hits to the head that don’t cause clinically detectable symptoms—are correlated with subsequent changes to the gut microbiome in a small sample of US collegiate football players, according to a new study.
NewsScientists use ultrasound to destroy influenza A and COVID-19 viruses without damaging human cells
Researchers have discovered that high-frequency ultrasound waves similar to those used in medical exams can eliminate viruses such as SARS-CoV-2 and H1N1 without damaging human cells. Acoustic resonance causes structural changes in viral particles until they rupture and become inactivated.
NewsNew kind of CRISPR could treat viral infection and cancer by shredding sick cells’ DNA
A new technology uses a relative of the CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing system to kill target cells. When activated by a specific, programmable genetic target, the Cas12a2 protein rips a cell’s genome apart. Researchers programmed Cas12a2 to kill virus-infected cells or cancer cells while leaving healthy cells untouched.
NewsHow river DNA can track fish, frogs, fungi and human feces — all at once
A single scoop of water from an Irish river revealed evidence not only of Ireland’s only frog species, but also signs of the dreaded B. dendrobatidis fungus, marking the first time this devastating amphibian disease has been spotted in the country and exposing a previously unknown risk to Ireland’s frog population.
NewsStudy uncovers new kind of cold sensor
Investigators studying a bacterial protein have identified a new mechanism of sensing cold temperatures. The finding points to the possibility that this same type of mechanism exists in other organisms, including humans, and may have relevance for disorders involving faulty temperature regulation.
NewsKey magic mushroom ingredient makes fish less aggressive and lazier
Psilocybin, the chemical compound in magic mushrooms, may reduce energetically costly social behaviors like aggressive swimming bursts, shows a study demonstrating the first evidence of a calming effect in fish.
NewsDeath-defying protein found in tardigrades preserves synthetic cells
Researchers have shown how a tardigrade protein protects cell membranes, using the proteins to preserve synthetic cells that were dried out and rehydrated in the lab. The finding could lead to a way to store and transport “microfactories” for producing medicines and other biological products.
NewsScientists discover how HIV hijacks a cellular ‘gateway’ to infect resting immune cells
New research reveals that when HIV spreads directly between T-cells it triggers a molecular signalling chain that temporarily ‘unlocks’ the nuclear pore complex, allowing the HIV virus and capsid to enter and integrate into the host’s DNA.
NewsResearchers flip the CRISPR script to develop world’s first DNA-guided gene editing tool for precise infectious disease diagnosis
A research team has successfully developed the world’s first DNA-guided CRISPR-Cas system capable of programmable RNA targeting and cleavage. This breakthrough overturns the conventional CRISPR paradigm, which uses RNA as a guide to target DNA.
NewsEvolutionary processes shape bacterial populations in the human gut
Researchers used the ‘reverse ecology’ analytical approach to demonstrate that many known gut bacterial species consist of several evolutionarily distinct groups that have adapted to different conditions in the gut.
NewsReview finds no direct link between aluminium adjuvanted vaccines and serious or long term health conditions
Current evidence does not support direct (causal) associations between aluminium adjuvanted vaccines and serious or long term health outcomes, including autism, diabetes and asthma, finds a review of the latest data.
NewsGenetic ‘bonus material’ makes the gut bacterium Segatella copri oxygen-tolerant
Researchers have found that some strains of the gut bacterium Segatella copri possess bonus material that makes them more oxygen tolerant. The presence of the molecular regulator OxyR is crucial for this. The team discovered that strains carrying OxyR are particularly prevalent in industrialized regions of the world.