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microbiome
Latest Articles
The Gut Microbiome Helps Social Skills Develop in the Brain
New research in fish suggests that gut microbes can have a crucial early influence on the brain’s social development.
The Year in Biology
While the study of the SARS-CoV-2 virus was the most urgent priority, biologists also learned more about how brains process information, how to define individuality and why sleep deprivation kills.
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.
How Microbiomes Affect Fear
New studies help to explain how microbes in the gut can shape a host’s fear responses.
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.
New Squid Genome Shines Light on Symbiotic Evolution
Researchers hope that the genes of a glowing squid can illuminate how animals evolved organs for beneficial bacteria.
Should Evolution Treat Our Microbes as Part of Us?
How does evolution select the fittest “individuals” when they are ecosystems made up of hosts and their microbiomes? Biologist debate the need to revise theories.
On Waste Plastics at Sea, She Finds Unique Microbial Multitudes
Maria-Luiza Pedrotti is illuminating the unseen worlds of plastic-eating bacteria that teem in massive ocean garbage patches.