Race-based variations in gut bacteria emerge by 3 months of age

Variations in the gut microbiome are linked to the incidence and mortality of diseases. A new study highlights a critical development window during which these differences emerge. The findings are based on analysis of data from 2,756 gut microbiome samples from 729 U.S. children between birth and 12 years of age.

This class of microbes is an underexploited source of new bioactive compounds

Demand for new kinds of antibiotics is surging, as drug-resistant and emerging infections are becoming an increasingly serious global health threat. Researchers are racing to reexamine certain microbes that serve as one of our most successful sources of therapeutics: the…

Science Snapshots From Berkeley Lab

These news briefs cover topics including gut microbes, tsetse flies in 3D, an energy use framework for heating and cooling, and new gravitational lensing candidates.

A tale of two understories: How mosses and climate are shaping the fate of nitrogen in the boreal

Northern Arizona University biology professor Michelle Mack is a senior author on the study, which demonstrates the invisible connections between trees and the dynamic understory of mosses and microbes that help govern their growth. Ecoss coordinator Victor Leshyk created the cover art for this month’s New Phytologist.

Scientists hit pay dirt with new microbial research technique

A better method for studying microbes in the soil will help scientists understand large-scale environmental cycles Long ago, during the European Renaissance, Leonardo da Vinci wrote that we humans “know more about the movement of celestial bodies than about the…