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The spread of vector-borne infectious diseases is driven by a complex array of environmental and social drivers, including climate and land-use changes. Global and regional action is urgently needed to tackle carbon emissions and deforestation to halt future outbreaks.
To coincide with the 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28), taking place in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, we present a set of specially commissioned commentary and review articles that call attention to the outsized impact of microbes on the environment.
Climate changes can destabilize soil microbial communities, but compound and sequential extreme climate events will magnify the destabilizing effects to other trophic levels — thereby impacting terrestrial biodiversity and ecosystem functioning.
The unprecedented extent of highly pathogenic avian influenza coincides with intensifying global climate changes that alter host ecology and physiology, and could impact virus evolution and dynamics.
Critical thresholds are abrupt changes in ecosystems triggered by environmental disturbances, which can be used to assess resilience and vulnerability. Here, we propose how a trait-based approach could be used to harness the predictive power of microbial dynamics to manage ecosystem response to environmental changes.
The Nagoya Protocol was drafted to ensure the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the international use of genetic resources, but the lack of unified procedures and unclear definitions relating to microorganisms present considerable hurdles to microbiology research.
Jimmy Nkaiwuatei is the Head of Research, Discovery and Innovations at Students Against Superbugs Africa, a youth-led organization tackling the problem of antimicrobial resistance through education and outreach in Africa.
As more PhD students and postdoctoral fellows transition to professions outside academia, training programmes must prepare scientists for these alternative careers.
Investment in a new tuberculosis vaccine is a landmark step forward, but continued efforts to advance treatments, diagnostics and biosocial issues are needed to meet targets to end the epidemic by 2035.
The global outbreak of H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza virus and its high toll on animal populations raise concerns about spillover into humans, but human host barriers need to be considered when estimating transmission potential.
Carl Nathan describes how learning from Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which causes tuberculosis, teaches us about the intricacies of bacteria–immune system interplay and its repercussions for non-infectious diseases, including cancer.
Liliane Mukaremera describes her scientific journey studying Cryptococcus neoformans, a major human fungal pathogen that causes life-threatening infections.
Methodological advances have helped identify viruses as causative agents of disease but this is complicated by heterogeneity in patient outcomes and long-term symptoms.