Microbes

Mirrored chip could enable handheld dark-field microscopes

Simple chip powered by quantum dots allows standard microscopes to visualize difficult-to-image biological organisms.

February 24, 2020

MIT researchers used a machine-learning algorithm to identify a drug called halicin that kills many strains of bacteria. Halicin (top row) prevented the development of antibiotic resistance in E. coli, while ciprofloxacin (bottom row) did not.

Artificial intelligence yields new antibiotic

A deep-learning model identifies a powerful new drug that can kill many species of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

February 20, 2020

MIT physicists have shown that introducing a transient invader (purple) into a population of bacteria can provoke the system to switch from one stable state (in which the yellow bacteria are dominant) to an alternative stable state, in which green becomes dominant.

How transient invaders can transform an ecosystem

Study finds microbes can alter an environment dramatically before dying out.

February 19, 2020

Iron is an essential nutrient for phytoplankton growth, but a new study finds that artificially pumping vast amounts of iron into the oceans won’t bump up the microbes’ populations, or their capacity to sequester carbon dioxide.

Seeding oceans with iron may not impact climate change

Study finds Earth’s oceans contain just the right amount of iron; adding more may not improve their ability to absorb carbon dioxide.

February 17, 2020

A microscopic image shows a culture of C. difficile cells and spores. MIT research suggests the risk of becoming colonized increases immediately following gastrointestinal disturbances that result in diarrhea.

Why C. difficile infection spreads despite increased sanitation practices

Research underscores infection is not a common hospital transmission.

February 12, 2020

Maurice Fox, professor emeritus of biology (1924-2020)

Maurice Fox, professor emeritus of biology, dies at 95

A caring mentor and staunch political activist, Fox cared deeply about his students, the department, and the scientific enterprise.

January 31, 2020

Biology major Rachel Shen sees what most of us can’t: the impurities in our water, the matrices of plant cells, and the invisible processes that cycle nutrients in the oceans.

Testing the waters

MIT sophomore Rachel Shen looks for microscopic solutions to big environmental challenges.

January 28, 2020

Deborah Hung’s talk kicked off a four-part Independent Activities Period seminar series, Microbes in Health and Disease.

The new front against antibiotic resistance

Deborah Hung shares research strategies to combat tuberculosis as part of the Department of Biology's IAP seminar series on microbes in health and disease.

January 23, 2020

Left to right: MIT Provost Martin Schmidt and President L. Rafael Reif stand with 2019 Bose Fellows Kristala Prather, Mary Gehring, and Sandy Alexandre, along with Judy Bose and Ursula Bose.

Bose grants for 2019 reward bold ideas across disciplines

Three innovative research projects in literature, plant epigenetics, and chemical engineering will be supported by Professor Amar G. Bose Research Grants.

December 23, 2019

The co-beta peptide treatment is shown to eradicate biofilm bacteria such as MRSA, a particularly difficult form of bacteria to treat.

SMART and NTU researchers design polymer that can kill drug-resistant bacteria

Polymer may pave the way for drugs to which bacteria are significantly less resistant, a breakthrough that could save hundreds of thousands of lives per year.

December 20, 2019