The bacteria powering a truly green revolution in personal electronics

UMass Amherst team engineers biofilm capable of producing long-term, continuous electricity from your sweat

08-Aug-2022 - Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst recently announced that they have figured out how to engineer a biofilm that harvests the energy in evaporation and converts it to electricity. This biofilm has the potential to revolutionize the world of wearable electronics, powering ...

Structure of virus that infects bacteria in hot springs is revealed

06-Feb-2019 - Scientists have revealed the structure of a virus infecting bacteria that thrive in 160-degree hot springs in places like Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. The discovery could lead to better targeted delivery of drugs into cells and new DNA sequencing technology, according to a study by ...

Pathogens may evade immune response with metal-free enzyme required for DNA replication

23-Oct-2018 - Some bacterial pathogens, including those that cause strep throat and pneumonia, are able to create the components necessary to replicate their DNA without the usually required metal ions. This process may allow infectious bacteria to replicate even when the host's immune system sequesters iron ...

Malaria-causing parasite manipulates liver cells to survive

24-May-2018 - When the malaria-causing Plasmodium parasite first slips into the human bloodstream, injected by the bite of an infected mosquito, it does not immediately target red blood cells. Instead, it seeks refuge inside the liver and rapidly reproduces, copying itself as many as 30,000 times in the span ...

Molecule may help tame virulent bacteria and prevent infection

Findings discuss how Staphylococcus can colonize our noses but not cause infection

27-Apr-2018 - According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about one in three humans carries Staphylococcus aureus, or "staph," in our noses, and 2 percent of us carry the dreaded methicillin-resistant (MRSA) strain that thwarts common antibiotics. So how is it that most of us never get ...

Unexpected environmental source of methane discovered

17-Jan-2018 - Nitrogen-fixing bacteria are the chief means by which nitrogen gas in the air is changed into a form that plants and animals can use. Roughly 10 percent of these nitrogen-fixing microorganisms contain the genetic code for manufacturing a back-up enzyme, called iron iron-only nitrogenase, to do ...

Many more bacteria have electrically conducting filaments

12-Dec-2017 - Microbiologists led by Derek Lovley at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, who is internationally known for having discovered electrically conducting microfilaments or "nanowires" in the bacterium Geobacter, announce in a new paper this month that they have discovered the unexpected ...

Bacteria may help babies' digestive tracts more than suspected, scientists find

09-Nov-2017 - Some of the first living things to greet a newborn baby do a lot more than coo or cuddle. In fact, they may actually help the little one's digestive system prepare for a lifetime of fighting off dangerous germs. But these living things aren't parents, grandparents or siblings - they're helpful ...

Immune cells may be key to better allergy, infection therapies

07-Aug-2017 - By learning how a recently discovered immune cell works in the body, researchers hope to one day harness the cells to better treat allergies and infections, according to new Cornell University research. Type 1 regulatory (Tr1) cells are a type of regulatory immune cell that help suppress immune ...

Illuminating the field of microscopy with nanoparticle 'buckyswitch'

14-Jul-2017 - Visualizing biological cells under a microscope was just made clearer, thanks to research conducted by graduate student Yifei Jiang and principal investigator Jason McNeill of Clemson University's department of chemistry. With the help of Rhonda Powell and Terri Bruce of Clemson's Light Imaging ...