Sepsis begins with infection by bacteria or a virus. This panoramic ilustration inside a blood vessel shows rod-shaped bacteria, red blood cells and immune cells called leukocytes.
Kateryna Kon/Science Photo Library via Getty Images
Emily Brant, University of Pittsburgh Health Sciences and Kristina E. Rudd, University of Pittsburgh Health Sciences
Sepsis onset can be difficult to recognize, in part because its symptoms can mimic those of many other conditions. A treatment delay of even a few hours can make the difference between life and death.
Limpets had the highest concentrations of chemical compounds compared to other marine organisms studied.
A. Mertens/Shutterstock
A billion-year-old ‘hydrogen economy’ in the frozen soil of Antarctica provides bacteria with energy, water, and the carbon that makes up their bodies.
Bacteriophages are viruses that infect bacteria and play a potential role in the evolution of life.
NANOCLUSTERING/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY/Science Photo Library via Getty Images
Ivan Erill, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Viruses have gotten a bad rap for the many illnesses and pandemics they’ve caused. But viruses are also genetic innovators – and possibly the pioneers of using DNA as the genetic blueprint of life.
People who lost weight had higher levels of certain beneficial bacteria in their gut.
New Africa/ Shutterstock
Watch Lotti Tajouri explain how mobile phones are vectors for bacteria and viruses, why this is a problem in our hospitals, and how you can sanitise your phone to help stop the spread of disease.
For centuries, sailors have told tales of milky seas – huge swaths of ocean glowing on dark nights, seen in blue in this false–color satellite image.
Steven D. Miller/NOAA
When conditions are just right in some parts of the Indian Ocean, a type of bacteria will multiply and start to glow. Satellites are helping scientists study these milky seas for the first time.
In late summer the snow banks on these mountains turn pink, known as “watermelon snow”, thanks to blooming extremophiles.
Bryant Olsen/Flickr
How do organisms survive extreme conditions – and how can their adaptations help us develop better technology?
Effective delivery of PNA therapies may offer a way to treat multidrug-resistant infections and other diseases.
sorbetto/DigitalVision Vectors via Getty Images
Antibiotic resistance is one of the biggest public health threats in the world. New research, however, may have found a way to keep up with rapidly evolving bacteria.
Crystal jellyfish contain glowing proteins that scientists repurpose for an endless array of studies.
Weili Li/Moment via Getty Images
Three pioneering technologies have forever altered how researchers do their work and promise to revolutionize medicine, from correcting genetic disorders to treating degenerative brain diseases.
The presence of multi drug-resistant bacteria in goats and sheep in southwest Nigeria may be due to regular use of antibiotics and unhygienic practices by farmers.
You could say there are a ‘crapload’ of viruses in the human gut. Luckily, most of these do not attack our cells, but instead feed on bacteria.
A tailings pond at an oilsands facility near Fort McMurray, Alta., in July 2012. The estimated cost of reclaiming oilsands mines is almost $31 billion.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
Solutions to some of the globe’s most daunting environmental challenges may be closer than you think. Scientists are harnessing nature to clean up toxic chemicals and mining waste.