Study suggests why circumcised men are less likely to become infected with HIV
Circumcision, which substantially lowers HIV risk in men, also dramatically changes the bacterial communities of the penis, according to a study led by scientists at the Translational Genomics Research...
View ArticleNew oxygen producing mechanism proposed
(PhysOrg.com) -- Photosynthesis is the mechanism by which plants generate oxygen, but new research on a novel type of anaerobic bacteria supports the theory that bacteria produced their own oxygen long...
View ArticleDog park lit by dog poop
(PhysOrg.com) -- A methane digester called "Park Spark" has been installed in a dog park in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The device produces methane by bacterial digestion of the dog excrement, and the...
View ArticleUK town using fuel from human waste
(PhysOrg.com) -- A town in Oxfordshire has become the first in the UK to have biomethane gas generated from human waste piped to their homes for gas central heating and cooking.
View ArticleGreat balls of evolution: Microbiologists evolve microorganisms to cooperate...
University of Massachusetts Amherst microbiologists Derek Lovley, Zarath Summers and colleagues report in the Dec. 2 issue of Science that they have discovered a new cooperative behavior in anaerobic...
View ArticleBiofuel from biomass one step closer to reality thanks to discovery to...
(Phys.org)—The single most important barrier to the use of lignocellulosic biomass such as switchgrass, populous, sorghum and miscanthus for production of biofuels is the resistant nature of the...
View ArticleScientists identify key factor that controls ocean nitrogen availability
(Phys.org)—During an expedition to the South Pacific Ocean, scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Bremen, along with their colleagues from the GEOMAR and...
View ArticleResearchers discover how soils control atmospheric hydrogen
(Phys.org) —University of Otago researchers are helping to clear up an enduring mystery regarding the composition of the Earth's atmosphere. They have discovered the microbial soil processes that help...
View ArticleEngineering researcher finds new way to fight antibiotic-resistant bacteria
New findings by civil engineering researchers in the University of Minnesota's College of Science and Engineering shows that treating municipal wastewater solids at higher temperatures may be an...
View ArticleBacteria forge nitrogen from nitric oxide: Scientists unravel key pathway in...
The anaerobic oxidation of ammonia (anammox) is an important pathway in the nitrogen cycle that was only discovered in the 1980s. Currently, scientists estimate that about 50 percent of the nitrogen in...
View ArticleLANL develops first genetically engineered 'magnetic' algae
LANL scientists have genetically engineered "magnetic" algae to investigate alternative, more efficient harvesting and lipid extraction methods for biofuels. The researchers seek to reduce the cost of...
View ArticleScientists trick iron-eating bacteria into breathing electrons instead
Scientists have developed a way to grow iron-oxidizing bacteria using electricity instead of iron, an advance that will allow them to better study the organisms and could one day be used to turn...
View ArticleLack of energy an enemy to antibiotic-resistant microbes
(Phys.org)—Rice University researchers "cured" a strain of bacteria of its ability to resist an antibiotic in an experiment that has implications for a long-standing public health crisis.
View ArticleAntibiotics are unique assassins
In recent years, a body of publications in the microbiology field has challenged all previous knowledge of how antibiotics kill bacteria. "A slew of papers came out studying this phenomenon, suggesting...
View ArticleMethane oxidation fuelled by algal oxygen production
Methane emissions are strongly reduced in lakes with anoxic bottom waters. But here – contrary to what has previously been assumed – methane removal is not due to archaea or anaerobic bacteria. A new...
View ArticleStarved-out bacteria aid in wastewater treatment
Scientists have adapted a process normally used to make bioplastic, to remove carbon from wastewater, slashing the amount of energy needed for the treatment process.
View ArticleMicrobes corrode steel in ships, marine infrastructure
Rust is the bane of steel, whether on cars, on ships and boats, or as part of marine infrastructure. Now, contrary to previous thinking, it turns out that the ocean-dwelling, steel-corroding species,...
View ArticleBacteria-based water treatment systems may help prevent the spread of...
Many wastewater treatment facilities rely on membrane bioreactors (MBRs) that use bacterial communities to consume and break down contaminants that make the water unsafe for reuse.
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