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Originally published by Anne Trafton, Massachusetts Institute of Technology , on December 23, 2024  A study from MIT biological engineers has yielded new insight into how bacteria in the gut microbiome adapt their CRISPR defenses as they encounter new threats. Credit: Donny Bliss, NIH Within the human digestive tract are trillions of bacteria from thousands of different species . These bacteria form communities that help digest food, fend off harmful microbes, and play many other roles in maintaining human health. These bacteria can be vulnerable to infection from viruses called bacteriophages . One of bacterial cells' most well-known defenses against these viruses is the CRISPR system , which evolved in bacteria to help t hem recognize and chop up viral DNA . A study from MIT biological engineers has yielded new insight into how bacteria in the gut microbiome adapt their CRISPR defenses as they encounter new threats . The researchers found that while bacteria grown in t...

Originally published by University of Sheffield , on September 2, 2024   Swimming bacteria experience larger changes in concentration over time, whereas twitching bacteria experience larger changes in concentration over the lengths of their bodies. Credit: Nature Microbiology (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41564-024-01729-3 Scientists from the University of Sheffield have discovered a new sensory capability in bacteria which c ould transform treatments for bacterial infections . It was previously thought that bacteria are too small to directly sense differences in chemical concentration . However, contrary to decades of established scientific belief, a new study has shown bacteria can in fact directly sense their chemical environment across the length of their cell bodies with an unprecedented degree of precision . The research , published on September 2, 2024, in Nature Microbiology , is a key step towards the development of innovative treatments t hat manipulate bacterial...

  Originally published by University of California - San Diego, on August 10, 2023 Upper: The bacterium A. baylyi can incorporate DNA from its environment through natural competence. This allows horizontal gene transfer and the integration of cell-free DNA into the A. baylyi genome. Lower: Researchers engineered A. baylyi to find the mutated KRAS gene, which helps colorectal cancers grow. Detection of tumor DNA activated an antibiotic resistance gene to confirm that a tumor was found. Credit: Cooper et al Pushing into a new chapter of technologically advanced biological sensors, scientists from the University of California San Diego and their colleagues in Australia have engineered bacteria that can detect the presence of tumor DNA in a live organism . Their innovation, which d etected cancer in the colons of mice , could pave the way to new biosensors capable of identifying various infections, cancers and other diseases. The advancement is described in the journal Scienc...