Bacteria

What is living in your gut? It might depend less on your diet, exercise habits, weight and sex than you think, according to new findings. Our health is tied to trillions of organisms that live in and on us.

Living near livestock farms and manure-treated fields are found to be associated with higher rates of antibiotic-resistant infection

As #SciAmFood week draws to a close, we’ve heard a lot about the food we consume, from not getting enough to astronaut nutrition (and getting too much) to tricking your brain about what it’s getting.

A group of researchers enlist fungi and E. coli to make the first biofuel of its kind

Some heavy metals are required in trace amounts for the survival of living organisms, however at higher concentrations these metals can be incredibly toxic.

In order to isolate, study and efficiently treat a bacterial outbreak, it is vital to be able to grow, store and identify the particular strains of bacteria that cause the disease.

Reconfiguring the genetics of the food pathogen E. coli produces hydrocarbons indistinguishable from those burned in trucks

Scientists collect crazy things. I’m not talking thimble-crazy or frog-themed-crazy. That kind of tchotchke barely ranks on the crazy scale.

New diagnostic tests inadvertently undercut surveillance abilities of public health officials

A new fluorescent probe can detect tuberculosis bacteria using a homemade light box and a mobile-phone camera

A new study locates the bacterial hot spots of your hotel room. Tip: don't turn anything on. Katherine Harmon reports

Learn about the bacteria, fungi and other micro-organisms that maintain human health.