Bacteria and viruses are often lumped together as germs, and they share many characteristics. They’re invisible to the human eye. They’re everywhere. And both can make us sick, even kill us. That last ...

The idea that a single-celled bacterium can defend itself against viruses in a similar way as the 1.8-trillion-cell human immune system is still “mind-blowing” for molecular biologist Joshua Modell of ...

Microbiologists have long known that ancient, inactive viruses known as cryptic prophages can insert their genetic material into bacterial DNA. These genetic fragments allow bacteria to use ...

AI can now create genome viruses in laboratories and redesign toxins to evade controls, raising biosafety alert and rise of ...

Researchers uncover a notorious cholera strain that contains sophisticated immune systems to fend off viruses, which potentially helped it to fuel a devastating epidemic across Latin America. When we ...

Scientists built a model that allows them to diminish phage communities from a mouse gut microbiome -- and then bring them back -- without affecting the bacteria. On a test run of their model, ...

We all know that freezing foods can make them safer to consume in the long run, but you might have always wondered why.

Peering through his microscope in 1910, Franco-Canadian microbiologist Félix d'Hérelle noticed some "clear spots" in his bacterial cultures, an anomaly that turned out to be viruses preying on the ...

Pathogens can create sticky situations. When microbes invade the body to cause an infection, often one of their first lines ...