Long before humans became interested in killing bacteria, viruses were on the job. Viruses that attack bacteria, termed “phages” (short for bacteriophage), were first identified by their ability to ...

Jumbo phages belong to a group of viruses that attack bacteria. They inject their DNA and then reproduce by taking over the cell’s DNA-copying machinery. Eventually, a phage makes so many copies of ...

Bacteria often go dormant to avoid being wiped out by antibiotics or other threats, which makes treatment difficult. Now scientists have discovered a virus that can attack these sleeping bugs, ...

In an early animal test, a new nasal-spray vaccine has shown promise against a variety of germs and a common allergen, ...

Scientists at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have revealed that bacteriophages use a small RNA molecule to hijack bacterial cells, a mechanism that had never been described before. A tiny viral ...

Secondary infections caused by bacteria or viruses during hospital care remain a long-standing global challenge, despite advances in modern medicine. In particular, mixed bacterial-viral infections in ...

We share the world with vast numbers of microbes, including archaea, bacteria, and viruses. These microbes have numerous survival strategies. Some bacteria, for example, are able to enter dormant ...

There are hundreds of different viruses on shower heads and toothbrushes, a new study finds. These organisms, called bacteriophages, don’t typically make people sick but instead fight potentially ...

Scientists have discovered a new type of immune defense in E. coli bacteria that turns viral infection machinery against the virus itself. Named after the Chinese military strategist Kongming—who ...

Viruses may get a bad rap, but some of them can be helpful to fight off bacterial infections. Scientists at ETH Zurich have demonstrated a new way to use them to diagnose which bacteria is causing a ...

University of Delaware undergraduate student Spencer Toth was always interested in the environment and biology, so when she arrived at UD and realized that she could combine both of her passions by ...