The microbes could surrender to the harmless virus, but instead freeze in place, dormant, waiting for their potential predator to go away, according to a recent study in mBio. University of Illinois ...

A newly discovered virus hiding inside a common gut bacterium could help explain one of medicine’s long-standing mysteries: why a microbe found in both healthy people and cancer patients is linked to ...

Like people, bacteria get invaded by viruses. In bacteria, the viral invaders are called bacteriophages, derived from the Greek word for bacteria-eaters, or in shortened form, "phages." Scientists ...

Yibin Zhu’s work highlights how microbiota from both the hosts and vectors can either promote or suppress virus transmission.

Phages, viruses that infect bacteria, could be genetically manipulated to destroy cancerous cells using the immunity we have ...

Viruses, often seen only as disease-causing agents, may hold surprising potential as natural allies in the fight against climate change. A new study published in Nitrogen Cycling reveals that soil ...

A newly discovered parasite has caused quite a stir among microbiologists who were left scrambling to place it on the tree of life – and it seems even the organism itself is confused as to its ...

In the vast and often unseen world of microscopic life, a recent discovery may force scientists to rethink what it means to be alive. Nestled inside a tiny plankton cell, researchers found a ...

Certain gut bacteria might play a key role in letting us know when we've eaten enough, new research shows. Reading time 3 minutes There really is something to the concept of having a gut feeling. New ...

Scientists say they have shed new light on how bacteria protect themselves from certain phage invaders -- by seizing genetic material from weakened, dormant phages and using it to 'vaccinate' ...