The fascinating world of bacteria that live as symbionts or parasites in animal hosts often remains a mystery to researchers. A research team has made a breakthrough that provides insights into this ...

Swallow the wrong microbe, and you might end up in the hospital with a needle or two in your arm — and plenty of itty-bitty bacterial needles poking at you from the inside. That’s because many ...

Explore 25 astonishing things you can only see under a microscope. Discover hidden universes in everyday objects, from ...

Scientists at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory have reimagined the capabilities of atomic force microscopy, or AFM, transforming it from a tool for imaging nanoscale features ...

As far as research subjects go, it's not always easy to find common ground with a single-celled bacterium. Yet the more Paul Wiggins studies his model bacteria, Acinetobacter baylyi, the more he sees ...

Researchers studying bacteria from freshwater lakes and soil say they have determined a protein's essential role in maintaining the germ's shape. Because the integrity of a bacterial cell's 'envelope' ...

We still do not understand exactly how antibiotics kill bacteria. However, this understanding is necessary if we want to develop new antibiotics. And that is precisely what is urgently needed, because ...

The bacterial flagellar motor is finally understood after 50 years. In its workings, columnist Natalie Wolchover finds the ...

Using a tiny, spherical glass lens sandwiched between two brass plates, the 17th-century Dutch microscopist Antonie van Leeuwenhoek was the first to officially describe red blood cells and sperm cells ...