Nov 25 2015
Researchers from several Chinese, British and US universities announced that they have identified a new form of resistance, to colistin. They say they first perceived a colistin-resistant E. coli in 2013, in a pig from an intensive farm near Shanghai, and then noted increasing colistin resistance over several years. Colistin is a last-resort antibiotic used when …
May 28 2015
A bacterium known to slow fruit ripening shows promise at slowing down white-nose syndrome—a lethal disease of bats. The treatment is based on a bacterium that inhibits fungal growth, and was originally studied to see if it could slow the ripening of fruits and vegetables. Researchers are in their second year of trials with little …
Jul 30 2014
Scientists have discovered a previously unknown virus that lives in the human gut, according to a study published in Nature Communications. An international team of scientists discovered the virus in CrAssphage genetic material from samples of intestine. Scientists believe the virus can affect the behavior of some of the most common bacteria in the …