microbes

The age-old adage “you are what you eat” holds profound truth. Nearly every molecule in your body is absorbed from what you eat and drink. Your food choices are directly linked to your physical, emotional and social health. And…

It wasn’t until Peter Singer’s 1975 book, Animal Liberation, and Tom Regan’s 1983 book, The Case for Animal Rights, that the idea of extending moral consideration to nonhuman animals became popularized in Western analytic philosophy. These…

People in the earliest stage of Alzheimer's disease -- after brain changes have begun but before cognitive symptoms become apparent -- harbor an assortment of bacteria in their intestines that differs from the gut bacteria of healthy…

IgA deficiency is the most common primary immune deficiency worldwide, but its presentation has puzzled physcians and researchers. Some with the disorder present with symptoms like recurrent infections, autoimmune disease, or allergies,…

The finding that Lokis have actin tentacles adds plausibility to a eukaryogenesis scenario called the inside-out model, Spang and Schleper said. In 2014, the cell biologist Buzz Baum at University College London and his cousin, the…

Cancer immunotherapy has transformed the treatment of many types of cancer. Yet, for reasons that remain poorly understood, not all patients get the same benefit from these powerful therapies. One potent factor in treatment outcome appears…

Human skin is home to millions of microbes. One of these microbes, Staphylococcus aureus, is an opportunistic pathogen that can invade patches of skin affected by eczema, also known as atopic dermatitis. In a new study, researchers at MIT…

Our bodies consist of about 30 trillion human cells, but they also host about 39 trillion microbial cells. These teeming communities of bacteria, viruses, protozoa, and fungi in our guts, in our mouths, on our skin, and…

There are few problems larger than the climate crisis. But one potential solution is so small it cannot be seen with the naked eye: microbes.Tegan Nock, a 32-year-old former rancher who grew up on a farm deep in the Australian outback, is…

Almost 5 miles above sea level in the Himalayan mountains, the rocky dip between Mount Everest and its sister peak, Lhotse, lies windswept, free of snow. It is here at the South Col where hundreds of adventurers pitch their final camp each…