Genome-scale metabolic models capture the complex chemical reactions that allow cells to function. Yuri Arcurs/iStock via Getty Images Plus After so many years learning how microbes work, researchers ...

COVID-19 showed us how useful monitoring wastewater can be. But the genetic material in our wastewater, namely DNA and RNA, is a treasure trove of other useful information. It reveals the presence of ...

The microorganisms lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on 25 July 2019, headed for the International Space Station, some 400 kilometres above. Their mission: to boldly mine basalt, in low Earth ...

A field known as synthetic biology has become one of the most highly anticipated in science. Its outputs range from golden rice, which is genetically engineered to provide vitamin A, to advances ...

A nne Madden is a self-proclaimed “microbe wrangler.” Her inner explorer and scientist emerged during her undergraduate years at Wellesley College, during an internship in Costa Rica. Surrounded by ...

Imagine printing your Martian home from dust, sunlight, and a bit of biology. A new synthetic lichen system uses fungi and bacteria to grow building materials directly from Martian soil, completely ...

Maximilienne Toetie Allaart receives funding from the Alexander von Humboldt foundation for her postdoctoral work. Her PhD project, of which the work described here was part, was funded through the ...

A collection of short dispatches from the field of climate microbiology conveys the contributions that single-celled life forms make to our climate system, and how we can work with them to address ...

The oral microbiome is being linked to everything from metabolic disease to Alzheimer’s. This article first appeared in The Checkup, MIT Technology Review’s weekly biotech newsletter. To receive it in ...

The idea that a single-celled bacterium can defend itself against viruses in a similar way as the 1.8-trillion-cell human immune system is still “mind-blowing” for molecular biologist Joshua W. Modell ...

(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) Blaise Manga Enuh, University of Wisconsin-Madison (THE CONVERSATION) After so many ...