Stainless steel is the metal of choice in hospitals.
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Lack of knowledge and perceived cost issues could be holding back the fight against the superbugs.
Bacterial colonies on a petri dish.
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This research could provide an answer to some of the problems posed by antibiotic resistance.
People mainly think of GPs over-prescribing antibiotics, but ubiquitous use in farming and other areas also contributes to resistance in bacteria.
Reuters/Brian Snyder
We need a concentrated and coordinated effort by government and scientists if we’re to stave off the threat of antimicrobial resistant bacteria.
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From www.shutterstock.com,
Antibiotic resistance is a major health threat that causes almost 700,000 deaths a year, and its toll is expected to grow. Here are some things you can do to offer your own resistance.
Microbes are tiny microscopic organisms such as bacteria and fungi that interact with soils and plants.
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Microbial-based solutions for agriculture are among some of the new innovations having an impact on the sector in the developed world.
Not quite yourself.
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From losing inhibitions and anger to schizophrenia and dementia – science is uncovering the role small critters play in a range of illnesses and behaviours.
James Akena / Reuters
A global trend to regulate frequent antibiotic use in livestock and poultry production is emerging but Africa is still lagging behind.
Will your cellphone be able to communicate with bacteria in your body?
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New research works out how to translate between the language of biology – molecules – and the language of microelectronics – electrons. It could open the door to new kinds of biosensors and therapeutics.
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The bacteria in a mother’s breast milk are important because it helps develop a baby’s gut. Research shows this bacteria are different depending on where mothers live and what they eat.
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New research shows viruses can effectively turn bacteria into animal-like cells.
In us, on us and all around us.
Microbes image via www.shutterstock.com.
Long viewed simply as ‘germs,’ the hidden half of nature turns out to be crucial to the health of people and plants.
Do we contain the most elaborate set of instructions?
Genome image via www.shutterstock.com.
The answer – fewer than are in a banana – has implications for the study of human health and raises questions about what generates complexity anyway.
What does it mean when it’s too hard or too soft?
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For most of us, the form of stool we excrete can vary widely depending, in part, on what we’ve been doing.
The exact composition of each person’s microbiota is as unique as their finger prints.
The Conversation
The make-up of our gut is constantly changing and affects everything from our immune system and digestion, to our brain function.
There are several possible ways your gut bacteria could affect your brain.
Ana C./
Links have been made between the community of bacteria in your gut and depression, pain, stress and sleep. So what does the science say?
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Bacteria are single-celled organisms but you’d be fooled to think they weren’t also hugely complex.
A contaminated water sign on the sand following a rainstorm in Imperial Beach, California, December 2014.
Mike Blake/Reuters
Resistant bacteria enter our aging sewer infrastructure and may eventually end up in the environment through sewage spills.
All things must die. But when?
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Anyone for a 2,512-day-old burger?
We think of coral reefs as a diverse ecosystem, but each coral is an entire and complex microworld of organisms imperceptible to our eyes.
Floriaan Devloo-Delva
Just like humans, corals live with myriad microscopic organisms. We are just starting to understand this unseen world.
Chop, chop.
USFDA
How slow diagnosis of bacterial infections is exacerbating our antibiotics problem.