Microbiology

• Dirty pigs are healthy pigs

  Study finds link between outdoor living and immune health.

  27 November 2009

• Single-celled life does a lot with very little

  Bacterial biochemistry mapped in detail.

  26 November 2009

• Flu-virus prevalence comes under scrutiny

  Projects to monitor antibodies seek true extent of H1N1 infection.

  24 November 2009

• Biologists rally to sequence 'neglected' microbes - Premium content

  For scientists, the thousandth microbial genome is just the start.

  17 November 2009

• Swine flu: One killer virus, three key questions - Premium content

  Nature reports from three laboratories scrutinizing the pandemic flu virus.

  11 November 2009

• Snapshot: Glider eavesdrops on whales - Premium content

  Probe tunes in to cetacean song.

  11 November 2009

• Brain disease treated by gene therapy - Premium content

  A treatment based on HIV finds first success in humans.

  5 November 2009

• Initiative targets malaria eradication - Premium content

  Focus shifts to blocking parasite transmission.

  3 November 2009

• Jury still out on HIV vaccine results - Premium content

  Some experts see hope in trial findings, but others say that the data do not back up such optimism.

  28 October 2009

• Fatal frog fungal disease figured out - Premium content

  Electrolyte imbalance stops amphibians' hearts.

  22 October 2009

• HIV vaccine trial under fire - Premium content

  Expert scrutiny casts doubt on 'historic' results.

  21 October 2009

• Flu virus behind infant pneumonia in poor countries - Premium content

  Viral infection precedes an unexpectedly large proportion of childhood pneumonia cases.

  5 October 2009

• Future of HIV vaccine unclear - Premium content

  Puzzling hints of success require explanation before trials can move forward.

  1 October 2009

• Q+A: Driven out of research - Premium content

  A virologist describes how stringent biosecurity regulations caused her to drop one line of work.

  30 September 2009

• Booming biosafety labs probed - Premium content

  US lawmakers and scientists at odds over how to regulate high-containment labs.

  30 September 2009

• High window on the past - Premium content

  Microbiologists find living stromatolites in the Andes.

  17 September 2009

• Vaccine venture boosts health hopes - Premium content

  Industry and academia join forces to develop cheap jabs against diseases that afflict the poorest.

  16 September 2009

• Potato blight's gene weaponry revealed - Premium content

  Jumping genes may hold key to defeating mould that caused Irish famine.

  9 September 2009

• Pandemic flu: from the front lines - Premium content

  Researchers describe the scientific and public-health challenges they face in battling the H1N1 virus.

  2 September 2009

• Scientists devise new way to modify organisms - Premium content

  Yeast cell surrogate may help scientists to engineer synthetic life.

  20 August 2009

• Staving off ecological disaster in lungs - Premium content

  Protecting the lung's 'ecosystem' may help cystic fibrosis patients.

  7 August 2009

• Immunology: Lights, camera, infection - Premium content

  Multiphoton microscopy is allowing immunologists to watch infections as they happen. Jeanne Erdmann pulls up a seat.

  29 July 2009

• Germany outlines synthetic biology strategy - Premium content

  Scientific opportunities must be balanced with ethical debate, says report.

  27 July 2009

• Wild chimpanzees get AIDS-like illness - Premium content

  Finding challenges long-held assumption.

  22 July 2009

• Regulators face tough flu-jab choices - Premium content

  Rich countries' pandemic strategies may cause vaccine shortages elsewhere.

  21 July 2009

• Cell biology: Ahead of the curve - Premium content

  Cellular life is all slopes, arcs and circles — but there is much debate about how these curves are built. Kendall Powell reports.

  15 July 2009

• Malaria drug-makers ignore WHO ban - Premium content

  Health agency calls for clampdown on artemisinin monotherapy.

  14 July 2009

• Science education: Reading, writing and nanofabrication - Premium content

  With its electron microscope, genetic sequencing machines and observatory, the Yokohama Science Frontier High School is equipped like no other. Will future scientists be inspired there, asks David Cyranoski.

  8 July 2009

• Science journalism: Breaking the convention? - Premium content

  Blogs and Twitter are opening up meetings to those not actually there. Does that mean too much access to science in the raw, asks Geoff Brumfiel.

  24 June 2009

• Patchy pig monitoring may hide flu threat - Premium content

  Experts call for increased surveillance of animals.

  16 June 2009

• Briefing: US ramps up swine flu protection - Premium content

  New technologies may help boost H1N1 vaccine production.

  3 June 2009

• Microscopic marvels: Seeing the system - Premium content

  3 June 2009

• Microscopic marvels: Microscope for the masses - Premium content

  3 June 2009

• Microscopic marvels: The big and the bold - Premium content

  3 June 2009

• Microscopic marvels: The naked microscope - Premium content

  3 June 2009

• Microbiology: Tinker, bacteria, eukaryote, spy - Premium content

  Bacteria and their hosts may reside in different kingdoms, but that doesn't stop them from intercepting each other's communications. Asher Mullard reports.

  13 May 2009

• Protein structures: Structures of desire - Premium content

  What do protein crystallographers dream of? The eukaryotic ribosome, the spliceosome, the nuclear-pore complex, the HIV trimer and almost any transmembrane protein, finds Ananyo Bhattacharya.

  6 May 2009

• How severe will the flu outbreak be? - Premium content

  Epidemiologists race to pin numbers on the global H1N1 spread.

  5 May 2009

• Nano-delivery could help tackle HIV - Premium content

  Tiny plastic particles could smuggle therapies into cells.

  3 May 2009

• Tests on H1N1 virus begin in UK - Premium content

  Virologists hope to investigate how swine flu could mutate to become more deadly.

  1 May 2009

• HIV's undercover route to infection - Premium content

  Virus needs to hitch a ride across the membrane before infecting cells.

  30 April 2009

• Pharmaceutical companies join forces on HIV - Premium content

  GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer create spin-off to develop new combination drugs.

  22 April 2009

• French life-science alliance unveiled - Premium content

  Coordinated approach aims to derive national strategies.

  22 April 2009

• Life thrives beneath Antarctic glacier - Premium content

  Unique chemistry enables microbes to survive harsh conditions.

  16 April 2009

• Disease in a warming climate - Premium content

  Fears of a global rise in infectious conditions may be unfounded.

  9 April 2009

• Viral outbreak in China tests government efforts - Premium content

  Researchers call for greater focus on surveillance and genomics.

  1 April 2009

• Anti-HIV protein made in plants - Premium content

  One greenhouse could produce a million doses of virus-blocking chemical.

  30 March 2009

• Fungus farmers show way to new drugs - Premium content

  Ant colonies could be key to advances in biofuels and antibiotics.

  29 March 2009

• Lasting legacy of the Exxon Valdez - Premium content

  Twenty years on, the iconic oil spill remains an expensive ecological disaster.

  20 March 2009

• Warmer caves may save bats from deadly fungus - Premium content

  Shivering bats need help to fight off white-nose syndrome.

  5 March 2009

• Anthrax investigation still yielding findings - Premium content

  Chemical composition of spores doesn't match suspect flask.

  25 February 2009

• Drug patent plan gets mixed reviews - Premium content

  GlaxoSmithKline's bid to tackle neglected diseases receives a muted response from the rest of the industry.

  23 February 2009

• Viral DNA delivers wasp's sting - Premium content

  Origins of virus-like particles confirmed

  12 February 2009

• Neglected disease boost - Premium content

  Fresh funding aims to raise awareness and improve control measures.

  11 February 2009

• Britain hits a hurdle in replacing key animal-pathogen facility - Premium content

  Ministry pulls out of deal to redevelop Pirbright laboratory.

  10 February 2009

• 'Experiments of concern' to be vetted online - Premium content

  Expert panel to offer advice on science with bioterror applications.

  4 February 2009

• Iranian AIDS doctors' trial draws condemnation - Premium content

  Prison sentence threatens to undermine scientific cooperation.

  28 January 2009

• Cheating bacteria could treat infections - Premium content

  Freeloaders could help their hosts by undermining microbe cooperation.

  21 January 2009

• $630-million for push to eradicate polio - Premium content

  Gates Foundation leads donors promising cash for vaccination and research.

  21 January 2009

• Ebola outbreak has experts rooting for answers - Premium content

  Virus subtype suspected in Philippine swine.

  21 January 2009

• Reversing helps bacterial swarms to spread - Premium content

  Social microbes march forwards by taking a few steps back.

  20 January 2009

• Tiny springboards detect viruses in fluids - Premium content

  Wobbly cantilevers 'feel' pathogens lock onto their targets.

  18 January 2009

• Bush's legacy: An unlikely champion - Premium content

  Was setting up PEPFAR — a massive HIV treatment programme — the best thing that President Bush ever did? Erika Check Hayden investigates.

  14 January 2009

• Fighting cholera by the numbers - Premium content

  New model suggests best course of action.

  9 January 2009

• Bacteria could help control dengue fever - Premium content

  Shortening mosquitoes' lifespans by infecting them with bacteria might limit the spread of disease.

  1 January 2009

• Cell biologists share their snaps - Premium content

  Journal of Cell Biology launches an image bank for microscopy images.

  19 December 2008

• Imaging advances provide immune-cell breakthroughs - Premium content

  Microscopy tracks living cells as they move through the body.

  16 December 2008

• Vaccine failure explained - Premium content

  Immunologists show how deaths in 1966 could have been avoided.

  12 December 2008

• Kansas wins race to host biodefence research centre - Premium content

  University touts its expertise in researching animal diseases.

  10 December 2008

• BRIEFING: Should everyone have an HIV test? - Premium content

  US doctors propose expanding the use of HIV tests to slow the spread of infection.

  1 December 2008

• Q&A: UNAIDS chief prepares to pass the torch - Premium content

  On World AIDS Day, Peter Piot assesses the evolution of the epidemic.

  1 December 2008

• Q&A: UNAIDS chief prepares to pass the torch - Premium content

  On World AIDS Day, Peter Piot assesses the evolution of the epidemic.

  27 November 2008

• Argentina: The come back - Premium content

  Argentina's government has pledged to reverse a decades-long scientific brain drain. Rex Dalton reports.

  26 November 2008

• South Africa suspends water scientist - Premium content

  Anthony Turton may be dismissed after speaking to journalists about a controversial presentation.

  25 November 2008

• Web data predict flu - Premium content

  Search engines provide information about epidemics.

  19 November 2008

• Darwin 200: Beneath the surface - Premium content

  You might think that once evolution has found one way to get something done, it will stick with it. But similar physical forms can hide radically different wiring, finds Tanguy Chouard.

  19 November 2008

• Microbes drove Earth's mineral evolution - Premium content

  A comprehensive history of Earth's mineral wealth concludes that without life, many raw materials wouldn't exist.

  14 November 2008

• How does bleach bleach? - Premium content

  The ubiquitous disinfectant may kill bacteria by unfolding their proteins.

  13 November 2008

• Why plastic isn't always fantastic - Premium content

  Experiment-ruining chemicals leach from plastic lab equipment.

  6 November 2008

• HIV vaccine failure explained? - Premium content

  Failed vaccine makes immune cells easier to infect in culture.

  5 November 2008