Hacker News with Generative AI: Microbiology

The Ocean Teems with Networks of Interconnected Bacteria (quantamagazine.org)
Tiny bridges, known as bacterial nanotubes, connect the inner spaces of photosynthesizing bacteria throughout the oceans — forming little-known cellular networks of trade and communication.

Science, Biology, Microbiology, Oceanography

3 points by rbanffy 11 days ago | 0 comments

The Ocean Teems with Networks of Interconnected Bacteria (quantamagazine.org)
Tiny bridges, known as bacterial nanotubes, connect the inner spaces of photosynthesizing bacteria throughout the oceans — forming little-known cellular networks of trade and communication.

Biology, Science, Microbiology, Bacteria

17 points by isaacfrond 12 days ago | 1 comments

Scientists Re-Create the Microbial Dance That Sparked Complex Life (quantamagazine.org)
Evolution was fueled by endosymbiosis, cellular alliances in which one microbe makes a permanent home inside another. For the first time, biologists made it happen in the lab.

Science, Biology, Evolution, Microbiology

25 points by isaacfrond 15 days ago | 1 comments

'Obelisks': New class of life has been found in human digestive system (sciencealert.com)
Peering into the jungle of microbes that live within us, researchers have stumbled across what seem to be an entire new class of virus-like objects.

Microbiology, Biology, Human Body, Viruses

476 points by unkeen 19 days ago | 134 comments

Viroid-like colonists of human microbiomes (biorxiv.org)
Here, we describe the “Obelisks,” a previously unrecognised class of viroid-like elements that we first identified in human gut metatranscriptomic data.

Microbiology, Genomics, Human Microbiome, Biology, Science

5 points by seslaire 25 days ago | 0 comments

'Obelisks': New Class of Life Has Been Found in the Human Digestive Sys (sciencealert.com)
Peering into the jungle of microbes that live within us, researchers have stumbled across what seem to be an entire new class of virus-like objects.

Biology, Microbiology, Viruses, Human Body, Science

10 points by SMAAART 25 days ago | 1 comments

Technical Report on Mirror Bacteria: Feasibility and Risks (purl.stanford.edu)
This report describes the technical feasibility of creating mirror bacteria and the potentially serious and wide-ranging risks that they could pose to humans, other animals, plants, and the environment.

Biotechnology, Microbiology, Risk Assessment, Environmental Science

20 points by Hooke 33 days ago | 1 comments

The brain microbiome: could understanding it help prevent dementia? (theguardian.com)
Long thought to be sterile, our brains are now believed to harbour all sorts of micro-organisms, from bacteria to fungi. How big a part do they play in Alzheimer’s and similar diseases?

Microbiology, Neuroscience, Dementia, Alzheimer's Disease

7 points by pseudolus 44 days ago | 0 comments

Bacterial World (ox.ac.uk)
Bacteria survive, thrive, fight and die by the trillion every moment. They swim using nanoscopic motors, and battle with spears. They sense, communicate, remember. And as scientists discover more about these tiny organisms, it is becoming clear that bacteria wield huge influence over us, shaping Earth’s past, our present and the future for us all. We have only recently realised how much our lives are inextricably linked with the lives of bacteria. We really are living in a bacterial world.

Microbiology, Science, Biology, Earth Science

22 points by tobr 44 days ago | 6 comments

Fish have a brain microbiome – could humans have one too? (quantamagazine.org)
The discovery that other vertebrates have healthy, microbial brains is fueling the still controversial possibility that we might have them as well.

Microbiology, Neuroscience, Vertebrates, Human Health

334 points by rbanffy 46 days ago | 130 comments

Ryugu asteroid sample rapidly colonized by terrestrial life (phys.org)
Researchers from Imperial College London have discovered that a space-returned sample from asteroid Ryugu was rapidly colonized by terrestrial microorganisms, even under stringent contamination control measures.

Space Exploration, Science, Microbiology, Asteroids

33 points by Tomte 52 days ago | 5 comments

Clinical microbiologist explains why you should never kiss a baby (medicalxpress.com)
There is a cognitive bias called "the curse of knowledge" (sometimes also called "the curse of expertise"). It happens when you incorrectly assume that everyone knows as much as you do on a given topic. As a clinical microbiologist, I assumed everyone knew that it was a terrible idea to kiss a newborn baby anywhere on its head.

Health, Parenting, Microbiology

26 points by bikenaga 55 days ago | 9 comments

Ryugu asteroid sample colonized by terrestrial life despite strict control (phys.org)
Researchers from Imperial College London have discovered that a space-returned sample from asteroid Ryugu was rapidly colonized by terrestrial microorganisms, even under stringent contamination control measures.

Space Exploration, Microbiology, Contamination Control, Asteroids

101 points by bookofjoe 56 days ago | 61 comments

'Achilles heel' of antibiotic-resistant bacteria discovered (studyfinds.org)
SAN DIEGO — In the ongoing battle against antibiotic-resistant “superbugs,” researchers have uncovered an unexpected vulnerability that could change how we fight these deadly infections – and it all comes down to a microscopic competition for resources.

Antibiotic Resistance, Microbiology, Science, Medicine

30 points by Brajeshwar 60 days ago | 5 comments

Effect of a giant meteorite impact on Paleoarchean environment and life (chemistryworld.com)
A giant meteorite that slammed into Earth over 3 billion years ago devastated early microbial life in the oceans, but also freed up a nutrient bonanza.

Paleontology, Earth Science, Microbiology, Meteorites

133 points by kristianp 62 days ago | 53 comments

Microbial community structure in recovering forests of Mount St. Helens (frontiersin.org)
The 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens had devastating effects above and belowground in forested montane ecosystems, including the burial and destruction of soil microbes.

Environmental Science, Ecology, Microbiology, Volcanic Eruptions, Forest Regeneration

3 points by gnabgib 67 days ago | 0 comments

Study reveals superbug MRSA's double defense against antibiotics (phys.org)
Scientists have discovered the mechanism which allows the superbug methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) to become highly resistant to antibiotics, paving the way for new approaches to control infectious disease.

Antibiotics, Superbugs, Microbiology, Medicine, Science

10 points by gmays 69 days ago | 0 comments

Gut microbiota regulates stress responsivity via the circadian system (sciencedirect.com)
Gut microbiota regulates stress responsivity via the circadian system

Microbiology, Health, Circadian Rhythm, Stress

4 points by gnabgib 73 days ago | 0 comments

Hidden Players: the bacteria-killing viruses of the gut microbiome (nature.com)
Viruses known as bacteriophages are difficult to study, but they are beginning to give up their secrets.

Microbiology, Viruses, Gut Microbiome, Bacteriophages, Science

3 points by gnabgib 79 days ago | 0 comments

City microbes surviving on disinfectants, research reveals (phys.org)
New research shows microbes in our cities are evolving to resist the very cleaners we use to eliminate them. It also identifies novel strains living in Hong Kong that were previously only found in Antarctic desert soil.

Microbiology, Urban Environments, Environmental Science, Evolution, Antibiotic Resistance

9 points by pseudolus 93 days ago | 0 comments

Obelisks: A newly discovered viroid-like phylogenetic group in human microbiomes (biorxiv.org)
Here, we describe the “Obelisks,” a previously unrecognised class of viroid-like elements that we first identified in human gut metatranscriptomic data.

Microbiology, Genetics, Human Microbiome, Virology

7 points by arto 115 days ago | 0 comments

Antibiotics damage the colonic mucus barrier in a microbiota-independent manner (science.org)
Antibiotic use is a risk factor for development of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs). IBDs are characterized by a damaged mucus layer, which does not separate the intestinal epithelium from the microbiota.

Science, Health, Microbiology, Antibiotics

83 points by cpncrunch 128 days ago | 63 comments

Hardy bacteria found living inside microwaves (newscientist.com)

Science, Microbiology, Bacteria

15 points by XzetaU8 163 days ago | 4 comments

The effect of daily usage of Mouthwash on the oropharyngeal microbiome (microbiologyresearch.org)

Oral Health, Microbiology, Research

61 points by _glass 186 days ago | 33 comments

The Laboratory for Extraordinary Microbes (asimov.com)

Microbiology, Science, Research

20 points by mailyk 192 days ago | 0 comments

Toxoplasma Gondii (wikipedia.org)