Featured
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News |
Bird flu in US cows: where will it end?
Scientists worry that the H5N1 strain of avian influenza will become endemic in cattle, which would aid its spread in people.
- Sara Reardon
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News |
UTIs make life miserable — scientists are finding new ways to tackle them
Researchers are developing vaccines and fresh drug approaches to prevent and treat recurring infections without antibiotics.
- Carissa Wong
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News |
Scientists tried to give people COVID — and failed
Researchers deliberately infect participants with SARS-CoV-2 in ‘challenge’ trials — but high levels of immunity complicate efforts to test vaccines and treatments.
- Ewen Callaway
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News Explainer |
Bird flu in US cows: is the milk supply safe?
Pasteurized milk is probably not a threat to people, but fresh milk droplets on milking equipment could be spreading the virus in a herd.
- Julian Nowogrodzki
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News |
WHO redefines airborne transmission: what does that mean for future pandemics?
The World Health Organization was criticized for being too slow to classify COVID-19 as airborne. Will the new terminology help next time?
- Bianca Nogrady
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News & Views |
Bacteria deploy umbrella toxins against their competitors
Bacteria make protein toxins to compete with other bacteria in microbial communities. A study of a common soil bacterium has revealed a previously unknown type of antibacterial toxin that forms a striking umbrella-like structure.
- Sarah J. Coulthurst
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News Explainer |
Bird flu outbreak in US cows: why scientists are concerned
A virus that has killed hundreds of millions of birds has now infected cattle in six US states, but the threat to humans is currently low.
- Max Kozlov
- & Smriti Mallapaty
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Editorial |
Time to sound the alarm about the hidden epidemic of kidney disease
With rates rising around the world, public-health leaders must prioritize prevention, treatment, funding and data.
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Article |
Depleting myeloid-biased haematopoietic stem cells rejuvenates aged immunity
Antibody-mediated depletion of myeloid-biased haematopoietic stem cells in aged mice restores characteristic features of a more youthful immune system.
- Jason B. Ross
- , Lara M. Myers
- & Irving L. Weissman
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News |
Bird-flu threat disrupts Antarctic penguin studies
Projects have been cancelled in an effort to curb the virus’s spread.
- Carissa Wong
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Outlook |
Fungal diseases are spreading undetected
Low- and middle-income countries are grappling with widespread shortages of diagnostic tests for infections that kill millions.
- Charles Schmidt
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Article |
Dopamine receptor D2 confers colonization resistance via microbial metabolites
In a mouse model of enteric pathogen infection, tryptophan metabolites protect against infection via activation of dopamine receptor D2 and regulation of actin cytoskeletal organization in intestinal epithelial cells.
- Samantha A. Scott
- , Jingjing Fu
- & Pamela V. Chang
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News |
Meningitis could be behind ‘mystery illness’ reports in Nigeria
The WHO confirms three meningitis deaths, which it says might have triggered rumours of an outbreak of an unknown disease.
- Sarah Wild
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News |
Brazil’s record dengue surge: why a vaccine campaign is unlikely to stop it
A vaccine shortage and persistent sanitation problems threaten the success of the world’s first public vaccination campaign against dengue virus.
- Mariana Lenharo
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News |
Why a cheap, effective treatment for diarrhoea is underused
Actors posing as dads of sick children reveal the hidden motives behind doctors’ and pharmacists’ prescription decisions.
- Smriti Mallapaty
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News Explainer |
Measles outbreaks cause alarm: what the data say
A drastic rise in infections in the United Kingdom and Europe follows a drop in vaccine uptake.
- Carissa Wong
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News |
Syphilis microbe’s family has plagued humans for millennia
Ancient DNA recovered from Brazilian remains shows that treponemal diseases originated some 10,000 years earlier than previously thought.
- Ewen Callaway
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Comment |
Boosting microbiome science worldwide could save millions of children’s lives
Studies of the microbes living on and in our bodies are conducted mainly in a few rich countries, squandering opportunities to improve the health of people globally.
- Hilary P. Browne
- , Najeeha Talat Iqbal
- & Samuel Kariuki
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Editorial |
A new class of antibiotics is cause for cautious celebration — but the economics must be fixed
The threat of antimicrobial resistance means that new antibiotics need to be used sparingly. Governments must support their development with a long-term funding plan.
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News & Views |
Contact-tracing app predicts risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission
The risk of catching COVID-19 as calculated by a smartphone app scales with the probability of subsequently testing positive for the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, showing that digital contact tracing is a useful tool for fighting future pandemics.
- Justus Benzler
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News Feature |
Malaria fighter: this researcher paved the way for a game-changing vaccine
Halidou Tinto runs a clinic in rural Burkina Faso that has been instrumental to the approval of the world’s first malaria vaccines.
- Brendan Maher
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News Explainer |
Why has swine flu emerged in a person in the UK — and what’s next?
Scientists are closely monitoring a virus that has been detected for the first time in a UK individual.
- Katharine Sanderson
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News Feature |
These volunteers want to be infected with disease to aid research — will their altruism help?
An advocacy group is pushing for more ‘human challenge’ trials to spur vaccine discovery. Following COVID-19 and Zika studies, hepatitis C could be next.
- Ewen Callaway
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News Explainer |
What’s behind China’s mysterious wave of childhood pneumonia?
Scientists expected a surge in respiratory disease, but what is happening in China is unusual.
- Gemma Conroy
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News Feature |
Polio is on the brink of eradication. Here's how to keep it from coming back
The campaign to eradicate polio could succeed in the next few years. But that’s just the beginning of a new challenge — keeping it away.
- Aisling Irwin
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Article |
Latent human herpesvirus 6 is reactivated in CAR T cells
Genomics analyses reveal that in vitro culture of CAR T cells can lead to reactivation of a latent herpesvirus, which might be involved in complications in patients receiving associated cell therapies.
- Caleb A. Lareau
- , Yajie Yin
- & Ansuman T. Satpathy
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News Explainer |
Dengue is spreading. Can new vaccines and antivirals halt its rise?
Scientists warn that it will take multiple methods to stop the disease, which is also known as breakbone fever and was once confined to the tropics.
- Mariana Lenharo
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News |
Are these moths blinding children? Nepalese researchers seek answers
Researchers are carrying out environmental surveys and genomic sequencing to try to learn more about SHAPU, a severe eye condition that mainly affects children — but funding is still scarce.
- Saugat Bolakhe
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News |
‘Groundbreaking’: first treatment targeting ‘super-gonorrhoea’ passes trial
Antibiotic could turn the tide on drug-resistant form of the infection — if it’s used wisely.
- Ewen Callaway
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Outlook |
The search for a connection between RSV and asthma
The consequences of respiratory syncytial virus infection sometimes linger for years — and scientists are trying to work out whether there’s a causal link.
- Sandy Ong
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Outlook |
Tracking RSV in low- and middle-income countries
By surveilling respiratory syncytial virus, the World Health Organization is hoping to understand who the virus infects and the burden it has.
- Pratik Pawar
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Outlook |
For Indigenous infants, RSV prevention is better than a cure
Governments need to put remote communities at the forefront of strategies to prevent the respiratory disease.
- Anna Banerji
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Article |
C. difficile intoxicates neurons and pericytes to drive neurogenic inflammation
The molecular mechanism underlying the severe neurogenic inflammation induced by Clostridioides difficile is presented, providing a therapeutic target for treating this infection.
- John Manion
- , Melissa A. Musser
- & Min Dong
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News |
COVID infection risk rises the longer you are exposed — even for vaccinated people
Rigorous evidence shows that significant contact with a person with SARS-CoV-2 is more likely to lead to transmission than a short encounter.
- Anil Oza
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Article |
Metabolic programs of T cell tissue residency empower tumour immunity
A study describes the metabolic adaptations supporting differentiation, survival and function of tissue-resident memory CD8+ T cells and how to leverage them to enhance immunity against pathogens and tumours.
- Miguel Reina-Campos
- , Maximilian Heeg
- & Ananda W. Goldrath
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Research Highlight |
Could a blood test diagnose the cause of kids' fevers?
RNA transcripts can discriminate between 18 categories of disease, including common bacteria and viruses as well as rare, potentially life-threatening conditions.
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News Explainer |
Why a highly mutated coronavirus variant has scientists on alert
Research is under way to determine whether the mutation-laden lineage BA.2.86 has the potential for global spread — or whether it is nothing to worry about.
- Ewen Callaway
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Article |
Endothelial AHR activity prevents lung barrier disruption in viral infection
The environmental sensor aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) and diet-derived AHR ligands play an important part in protecting against tissue damage following viral pathogen infection in the lung.
- Jack Major
- , Stefania Crotta
- & Andreas Wack
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News |
Can the world really stop wild polio by the end of 2023?
Given that global efforts to eradicate the poliovirus were recently described as unsuccessful, how are Afghanistan and Pakistan now on the verge of eliminating it?
- Clare Watson
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Research Briefing |
Variation in African genomes linked to control of HIV
Genomic analyses of individuals living with HIV-1 revealed a region in chromosome 1 that is associated with reduced viral loads specifically in populations with African ancestry. This could point to much-needed therapeutic targets to address the global public-health crisis caused by HIV-1.
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Research Briefing |
A genetic basis for asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection
A common genetic variant of the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) complex, a family of genes involved in the immune response, is associated with an absence of symptoms during SARS-CoV-2 infection. Previous exposure to cold viruses seems to confer this immunity.
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News |
Had COVID but no symptoms? You might have this genetic mutation
A common variant in an immune-system gene is linked with a much higher chance of dodging symptoms after SARS-CoV-2 infection.
- Max Kozlov
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Technology Feature |
Germs, genes and soil: tales of pathogens past
Armed with DNA sequencers and powerful computational tools, archaeogeneticists are turning their attention towards ancient microbes to give bacteria their due in human history.
- Amber Dance
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News |
New COVID jabs are coming — who should get them?
Countries rolling out updated vaccines weigh up whether to restrict them to high-risk individuals.
- Max Kozlov
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News Explainer |
Long COVID: answers emerge on how many people get better
Studies are shedding light on rates of recovery as well as the prevention and treatment of the complex condition.
- Michael Marshall
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News |
‘Bold’ study that gave people COVID reveals ‘supershedder’ phenomenon
A small subset of infected people spew huge amounts of virus into the air — despite having only mild symptoms.
- Saima Sidik
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Editorial |
Vaccine-derived polio is undermining the fight to eradicate the virus
Wild polio has almost been eradicated, but vaccine-derived strains retain the potential to paralyse. Better vaccines have arrived — but they are only part of the answer.
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Research Briefing |
A bacterial small RNA controls the switch between chronic and acute infection
Bacterial infections with Pseudomonas aeruginosa can shift between chronic and acute. An investigation of P. aeruginosa gene expression during human infection identified a small RNA that is expressed in low-oxygen conditions and controls this transition.
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News |
‘The disease will be neglected’: scientists react to the WHO ending mpox emergency
Researchers worry that certain regions, including Africa, will suffer if global attention moves away from the outbreak.
- Layal Liverpool
Could bird flu in cows lead to a human outbreak? Slow response worries scientists