Microbes | Science News for Students

Microbes

an illustration of a chemical compound that binds to the pit of a virus

A chemical compound (illustrated at center) binds to a never-before-seen pit on the surface (blue, white and magenta) of a type of disease-causing virus. The interaction stops this enterovirus from reproducing.

James Geraets

Microbes
 
Jul 16, 2019
A surface crater in viruses may be key to keeping colds from spreading
an illustration of microbes in the gut

Bacteria living in your tummy (illustrated) could interfere with many oral medicines.

DR_MICROBE/iStock/Getty Images Plus

Microbes
 
Jul 9, 2019
Gut bacteria may affect how well your medicines work
a bat hanging on a tree

Since the 1950s, bats and other wild animals have replaced dogs as the major U.S. source of human deaths from rabies.

ADAMDV18/Encyclopedia of Life (CC-BY-NC-4.0)

Health
 
Jul 3, 2019
Bats are now the primary source of U.S. rabies deaths
a photo of the Odaw River

A new survey finds antibiotics in about two-thirds of 711 river sites tested. They include the Odaw River, shown, running through Ghana’s capital of Accra.

Rob Marchant

Pollution
 
Jul 2, 2019
Antibiotics pollute many of the world’s rivers
a photo of the trio of teen scientists who found a new bacterium

Atlantis Aziz-Dickerson (left), Joyceline Dweh (center) and D’Asia Buchanan (right) swabbed a door handle, a smartphone and a hand dryer — and found a new bacterium.

A. Sue Weisler

Microbes
 
Jun 21, 2019
Teens swipe a door handle and find an antibiotic
An underwater photo of a school of fish swimming past a reef. 

Researchers are studying the bacteria that live on fish in the Pacific Ocean in search of molecules that could be turned into drugs.

strmko/iStock/Getty Images Plus

Microbes
 
May 29, 2019
Slimy fish could aid the search for new drugs
an illustration of Salmonella Bacteria

Prokaryotes are tiny but mighty. They make up two of life’s big domains — archaea and bacteria.

urfinguss/iStock/Getty Images Plus

Cells
 
Mar 28, 2019
Explainer: Prokaryotes and Eukaryotes
a photo of a green spiral of cyanobacteria printed onto a white mushroom marked with black graphene ink

Researchers 3-D print a green spiral of cyanobacteria onto a mushroom. The microbes give off electrons when exposed to light. Those electrons flow into the black graphene ink to produce an electric current.

American Chemical Society

Technology
 
Feb 6, 2019
This bionic mushroom makes electricity
A microscopic image of a spiky round orange amoeba snacking on an algal cell.

An amoeba (in orange) named Vampyrella lateritia finishes eating the contents of an algal cell (green). Though often overlooked, amoebas have an amazing range of unusual behaviors.

Sebastian Hess

Microbes
 
Jan 17, 2019
Amoebas are crafty, shape-shifting engineers
a photo of a hand filling a glass from a water faucet

People assume the water coming out the kitchen faucet is clean and safe. In fact, there are a host of contaminants that could be in there — which is why water experts are looking for better cleanup techniques.

sonsam/iStockphoto

Pollution
 
Nov 29, 2018
Six things that shouldn’t pollute your drinking water