A new type of antibiotic uses DNA to fight a common deadly microbe, Clostridium difficile. These new drugs are inexpensive and adaptable and can be modified to target any bacterium, lowering the chance of drug resistance.
By the time they turn one, half of Australian babies have had a course of antibiotics.
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There may be additional long-term health harms from antibiotic exposure in early life and before birth, including an increased risk of infection, obesity and asthma.
Manipulating environmental exposures to optimize a healthy microbiome may hold the promise of preventing chronic inflammatory diseases, such as Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.
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An expert explains how often you should poo and what it should look like.
Though examining poop samples scientists working on the American Gut Project are getting a new perspective on the microbes in our guts.
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In the largest citizen science experiment to date, 11,336 people sent poop samples to this San Diego lab so that microbiologists could figure out how the microbes in our guts make us healthy or sick.
Sugar mama? Researchers are teasing out the benefits of various molecules in human milk.
Stefan Malmesjö
A chemist explains how some molecules in human breast milk help fight infection. Understanding their properties could lead to better infant formulas that share the health advantages of breastfeeding.
Eczema, which is common in babies, is itchy and painful.
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When jetting off on holiday, we rarely give a second thought to what microbes we might be taking with us. But humans spread trillions of bacteria around the globe, potentially harming ecosystems’ balance.
Healthy soil teems with bacteria, fungi, viruses and other microorganisms that help store carbon and fend off plant diseases. To restore soil, scientists are finding ways to foster its microbiome.
Modern diets are changing the compositions of our gut microbiota, and with that, our personalities.
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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.
Unless we do something about about antibiotic pollution in the world’s waterways, the next trip you take to the coast for a seafood dinner just might be your last.