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How Two Became One: Origins of a Mysterious Symbiosis Found
Carpenter ants need endosymbiotic bacteria to guide the early development of their embryos. New work has reconstructed how this deep partnership evolved.
Some Animals Have No Microbiome. Here’s What That Tells Us.
To stay healthy, humans and some other animals rely on a complex community of bacteria in their guts. But research is starting to show that those partnerships might be more the exception than the rule.
Machine Learning Takes On Antibiotic Resistance
To combat resistant bacteria and refill the trickling antibiotic pipeline, scientists are getting help from deep learning networks.
Biodiversity Alters Strategies of Bacterial Evolution
In evolution, context is everything: Bacteria with neighbors evolve to rebuff viruses in a different way.
How Microbiomes Affect Fear
New studies help to explain how microbes in the gut can shape a host’s fear responses.
Cell-Bacteria Mergers Offer Clues to How Organelles Evolved
Cells in symbiotic partnership, sometimes nested one within the other and functioning like organelles, can borrow from their host’s genes to complete their own metabolic pathways.
Bacterial Clones Show Surprising Individuality
Genetically identical bacteria should all be the same, but in fact, the cells are stubbornly varied individuals.
Soil’s Microbial Market Shows the Ruthless Side of Forests
In the “underground economy” for soil nutrients, fungi strike hard bargains and punish plants that won’t meet their price.
Bacterial Complexity Revises Ideas About ‘Which Came First?’
Contrary to popular belief, bacteria have organelles too. Scientists are now studying them for insights into how complex cells evolved.