In 2001 there was a massive outbreak of Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) in the United Kingdom.  This caused, in terms of prices at that time £8bn / $13–16bn of loss to the UK economy, and much…

Whole genome sequencing has shown drug-resistant bacteria were transmitted from animals to humans in two disease outbreaks that occurred on different farms in Denmark. Drug-resistant bacterial…

The bacterial foodborne pathogen Listeria monocytogenes is the causative agent of listeriosis, a debilitating disease linked with about 2,500 illnesses and more than 500 deaths in the U.S.A. each…

Viruses and genes interact in a way that may increase the risk of developing schizophrenia significantly - even in a developing fetus, according to an international team which scanned the genomes of…

It's among the most ancient of questions in history, covering metaphysics, chemistry, biology and theology: What are the origins of life on Earth? A new experiment simulating conditions in deep space…

Scientists say they have done laboratory resurrections of several 2 to 3 billion-year-old proteins, ancient ancestors of the enzymes that enable today's antibiotic-resistant bacteria to shrug off…

Studies by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)  Agroecosystems Management Research Unit in Lincoln, Nebraska  are shedding some light on the microbes that dwell in cattle manure—what…

An international group of scientists has discovered a new class of molecular compounds capable of killing the influenza virus.  You learned this from your parents; too much even of a good thing…

Species facing widespread and rapid environmental changes can sometimes evolve quickly enough to dodge the extinction bullet. Studies have shown that the more gradual the change, the better the…

It's the weekend, which means it is time for scientists, science journalists, book authors and intellectually curious readers to think about microbiology.  And that means beer. Beer is actually…