Magical microbes – how to feed your gut

Want a healthy gut? Reach for the kimchi, sauerkraut, artichokes, coffee and chocolate. But watch out – one category of food will make your microbes wither

 Treating Disease by Nudging the Microbes Inside Us

We’ve spent centuries trying to kill bacteria. Now, scientists have shown that subtler approaches can work—at least in mice.

A Look at the Trillions of Microorganisms That Live in and on You

Scientists are continuing to learn what the microbiome does for our health, and how certain diseases and disorders are associated with changes in your microbes.

A Year Without Germs

Months of exuberant hand-sanitizing and social isolation during the pandemic have changed our exposure to microbes, in ways good and bad.

All life on Earth, in one staggering chart

Scientists estimated the mass of all life. It’s mind boggling.

At Last, I Meet My Microbes

A veritable jungle of organisms is helping keep each of us alive. But we've been rather negligent hosts. For starters, we don't even know who has shown up for the party.

Don’t Let the Pandemic Make You Hate Microbes

Inside or outside of your body, you need them.

From jet fuel to clothes, microbes can help us recycle carbon dioxide into everyday products

You may have heard of microscopic organisms, or microbes — we use them to make beer, spirits and bread. But we can also use them to create biofuels such as ethanol. They typically need sugar as an input, which competes with human food consumption. However, there are other microbes called “acetogens” which can use carbon dioxide as their input to make several chemicals including ethanol. Acetogens are thought to be one of the first life-forms on Earth. The ancient Earth’s atmosphere was very different to the atmosphere today — there was no oxygen, yet plentiful carbon dioxide..

Healthy Soil Microbes, Healthy People

The microbial community in the ground is as important as the one in our guts.

Human Health Is in the Hands of Bacteria

When bacteria were first discovered more than three centuries ago, most attention was on the ones we fought, which caused diseases like cholera, typhoid and tuberculosis. Through vaccines and antibiotics, we have made amazing progress in conquering these scourges. Now, through the combined tools of DNA sequencing and computer-based analysis, we have a first approximation of the innumerable other bacteria with which we cooperate daily.

Were viruses around on Earth before living cells emerged? A microbiologist explains

Microbes are living, single-celled creatures surrounded by a membrane. They consume and convert nutrients into biological molecules or energy and are too small to be seen without a microscope.

Why we should celebrate the creepy-crawly microbes all around us

We are constantly surrounded by a vast jungle of tiny creatures we can't see. Self-described "microbe wrangler" Anne Madden explains the power these microscopic organisms have to help humans.

Your Microbes and You

Microscopic creatures—including bacteria, fungi and viruses—can make you ill. But what you may not realize is that trillions of microbes are living in and on your body right now. Most don’t harm you at all. In fact, they help you digest food, protect against infection and even maintain your reproductive health. We tend to focus on destroying bad microbes. But taking care of good ones may be even more important.