A growing population and greater wealth will mean more demand for meat in developing nations. That brings concern about air quality related to food production. Some emissions are direct, such as…

Oxygen is necessary for survival on Earth but the planet's atmosphere did not always contain this life-sustaining substance. One of science's greatest mysteries is how and when oxygenic…

All animals live in a microbe rich environment, with immense numbers of bacteria, archaea, fungi and other eukaryotic microbes living in, on and around them. For some of these microbes, the…

Proteins may be more of a factor in shaping regulatory patterns than environment, according to a new study that looks at how cells' protein networks relate to a bacteria's genome. The lab…

A new strain of photosynthetic cyanobacteria have been engineered to grow without the need for light.   The cyanobacterium strain Synechococcus elongatus strain PCC 7942 has been well…

The toxin that causes botulism is the most potent that we know of - just 1/1,000th the weight of a grain of salt can be fatal, which is why so much effort has been put into keeping Clostridium…

'Pestilence', widespread outbreaks of deadly contagious disease, are known throughout history. In popular translations of the Christian Bible, Pestilence is one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse…

The Black Sea sediment record has a terrific variety of past plankton species that left behind their genetic makeup - the plankton paleome. The semi-isolated Black Sea is highly sensitive to climate…

Bacterial vaginosis is a condition that occurs when the typical mix of microbes in the vagina is knocked off-kilter, sometimes resulting in a change in the consistency of vaginal fluids and an…

The emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria is a common concern in hospitals worldwide, and is the evolutionary result of the selective pressures caused by our extensive use of antibiotics to…