H. Pylori’s Survival Strategy: Shut off the Energy

Microbiology professor Steven Blanke, graduate student Ik-Jung Kim and their colleagues discovered how a disease-causing bacterium, Helicobacter pylori, undermines the body’s immune defenses. Photo by L. Brian Stauffer.
Researchers report in a new study that the bacterium Helicobacter pylori – a major contributor to gastritis, ulcers and stomach cancer – resists the body’s immune defenses by shutting down energy production within the cells of the stomach lining that serve as a barrier to infection.

The Evolution of Influenza

Chris Brooke headshot.
Influenza is one of the most adaptable viruses known to man. By tracking down flu’s weak spots, Christopher Brooke’s lab hopes to aid in the development of new treatments.

Staphylococcus aureus: The Villainous Superbug

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Staphylococcus aureus is on the “most wanted list” for the National Institutes of Health, making it a major villain in the microbial world, said Robert B. Gennis, an MCB biochemistry professor. S. aureus also happens to be on the most wanted list in the lab of Thomas Kehl-Fie, MCB...

Infection Genomics for One Health: Where Research Realms Collide

Image of a human head with colorful cells and gene models overlayed on top.
“Between the realms of agriculture, nature, and humans, the unifying factor is the microbes that exist in each and the specific genes those microbes carry.The IGOH theme at the IGB allows research to be contextualized, and to exist in a space where lab work becomes immediately relevant and...

The Next Gold Rush: Mining Microbial Genomes

Graphics depicting floating microbes in blue shades.
“Microbes are king of the world. If human beings ceased to exist, microbes wouldn’t even notice [except those in the human microbiome], but if microbes ceased to exist today, human beings would cease to exist tomorrow.”

Study: Kidney stones have distinct geological histories

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Using a suite of techniques both common and new to geology and biology, researchers, from left, M.D./Ph.D. student Jessica Saw, geologist and microbiologist Bruce Fouke, microscopy expert and plant biologist Mayandi Sivaguru and their colleagues made new discoveries about how kidney stones...