Scientists discover first nitrogen-fixing organelle

Modern biology textbooks assert that only bacteria can take nitrogen from the atmosphere and convert it into a form that is usable for life. Plants that fix nitrogen, such as legumes, do so by harboring symbiotic bacteria ...

A new lexicon in the age of microbiome research

Over the past 20 years, life science research has come to realize that all living beings—from the simplest animal and plant organisms to humans—live in close association with a large number of microorganisms. Together ...

Stolen genes allow parasitic control of behavior of host

A team led by Tappei Mishina at the RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research (BDR) has discovered that parasites manipulate their hosts using stolen genes that they likely acquired through a phenomenon called horizontal ...

A new method for assessing the microbiome of the human gut

The gut microbiome—the population and variety of bacteria within the intestine—is thought to influence a number of behavioral and disease traits in humans. Most obviously, it affects intestinal health. Cancer, inflammatory ...

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