Humans play host to many little passengers. Right now, you’re incubating, shedding or have already been colonised by viral, bacterial, parasitic or fungal microorganisms - perhaps even all of them.
Trillions of microorganisms living inside your digestive system may influence your health and even your weight. Here’s how your gut may communicate with your brain, bone marrow and immune system.
For most of the twentieth century, we were at war with microbes, leading to substantial changes in our body’s ecosystem. This has changed our diets, disease profile, moods and even personalities.
The impact of plant disease may be reduced if people are made aware of the many pathways for plant-killing microbes – and why preventing their spread matters to us all.
Researchers are developing biological tools that can boost crop yields to feed a growing world population without harming human health or the environment.
The US Centers for Disease Control has reported a woman in her 70s has died of overwhelming sepsis caused by a bacterium that was resistant to all available antibiotics.
ESA’s second mission to Mars has become prey to the curse of the Red Planet – although the orbiter is heading for success, the Schiaparelli lander seems to have disappeared.
The advent of electron microscopy and nanobiology has moved our appreciation of the living world to unprecedentedly small scales – with entirely new benefits and potential pitfalls to consider.