Articles for category: Microbiology

a close up of an animal cell structure

Microbial Ghosts in the Colosseum: Ancient Bacteria in Roman Stone

Maria Faith Saligumba

Imagine walking through the ancient corridors of the Colosseum, feeling the weight of nearly two thousand years of history beneath your fingertips as you touch the weathered stone. What you might not realize is that you’re not just touching history – you’re touching life itself. Hidden within the very fabric of Rome’s most iconic amphitheater ...

Diver swimming near the algae

Coral Secrets Revealed: Diver-Operated Microscope Captures Photosynthesis in Real Time

April Joy Jovita

A new diver-operated microscope is revolutionizing coral research by allowing scientists to observe photosynthesis and microalgae behavior directly in the ocean. Developed by UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography, the Benthic Underwater Microscope Imaging PAM (BUMP) offers unprecedented access to coral bleaching and how they respond to environmental stress. A Technological Leap for Coral ...

Arsenic trisulfide in black background

Arsenic and Adaptation: How Ancient Life Survived Earth’s Toxic Ocean

April Joy Jovita

A new study published in Nature Communications reveals that some of Earth’s earliest complex organisms evolved a remarkable survival mechanism: storing arsenic inside their cells. This adaptation helped them endure the chemically hostile oceans of the Paleoproterozoic era, offering rare insight into how life persisted during a time of rising oxygen and environmental stress. Fossils ...

Engineers and technicians in a clean room at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory display the thick-walled aluminum vault

The Microbial Vault: How Scientists Are Racing to Preserve Earth’s Invisible Biodiversity

April Joy Jovita

As Earth enters an age of rapid ecological change, a quiet revolution is taking place in freezers chilled to -80°C. Scientists around the world are building a “Microbial Noah’s Ark”—a global effort to preserve the planet’s microbial diversity before it’s lost to industrialization, climate shifts, and modern living. The Microbiota Vault Initiative, modeled in part ...

bacteria superbug

Real-Time Mutation: The Secret Lives of Superbugs Inside the Human Body

Suhail Ahmed

One of the biggest dangers to contemporary medicine is antibiotic resistance; superbugs are changing faster than we can create new medications. However, if we could monitor these bacterial changes in real time and forecast their next direction before they outmaneuver our treatments? Investigating the genetic battlefield between bacteria and antibiotics as it develops inside human ...

A group of pigs in a farm

The Persistent Threat of African Swine Fever in Europe

April Joy Jovita

New research has confirmed that African Swine Fever (ASF) has been circulating in Europe since 2007, rather than being introduced recently. The virus’s spread is primarily driven by human movement rather than new outbreaks, raising concerns about its long-term impact on pig populations and the pork industry. The Origins and Spread of ASF in Europe ...