Do bacteria mutate randomly, or do they mutate for a purpose? Researchers have been puzzling over this conundrum for over a century. In 1943, microbiologist Salvador Luria and physicist turned ...

Type 2 diabetes has long been framed as a story of calories, weight and willpower, but a growing body of research is shifting ...

Your gut is not just a reflection of what you eat or which probiotics you buy. It is also, emerging research suggests, partly a mirror of the people you live with and the DNA they carry. The microbes ...

Sourdough starter, a fermented mix of flour and water, is a staple for bakers. It's also a rich experimental testing ground ...

Antibiotic resistance is a growing global health crisis that makes common infections harder to treat and puts many medical ...

Microbes, whether in our environment or on our bodies, exist in communities where individual members influence each other. To better understand the dynamics of these multi-species communities, ...

Soils do more than store carbon from plant residues. Beneath our feet, vast communities of microbes quietly pull carbon dioxide from the air and convert it into organic matter, helping regulate ...

Do they become “snowbirds” and relocate to warmer climates until spring? Do they hibernate like bears? Or do they continue to do the jobs they do so well, waiting for spring and fresh plantings to ...