microbiomes

  • A pair of friends walk down a city street while talking and laughing.
    microbiomes

    Your friends affect the bacteria in your body

    "What's so fascinating is that we're so interconnected. Those connections go beyond the social level to the microbial level."
  • A person feeds a premature baby with a bottle in a hospital room.
    preterm delivery

    Study reveals surprises about vaginal bacteria linked to preterm birth

    Multiple species of Gardnerella, bacteria sometimes associated with bacterial vaginosis and preterm birth, can coexist in the same vaginal microbiome.
  • A young girl watches a sunset outside.
    children's health

    Team links children’s microbiome with autism, ADHD

    Bacteria in children’s microbiomes may contribute to the development of neurodevelopmental disorders like autism and ADHD years before they are diagnosed.
  • An older woman in a yellow sweater sits at a table with her hand touching her face.
    Alzheimer's disease

    Blame gut bacteria for why more women develop Alzheimer’s?

    Two new studies investigate the roles of the gut microbiome and estrogen in higher Alzheimer's disease rates among women.
  • Two pandas cuddle while laying on a climbing structure in a zoo.
    pandas

    Pandas are big ‘social media’ users

    Pandas use smelly trees as a kind of social media to keep track of family and friends, leave updates about life events, and check out the dating scene.
  • bodies of three bugs glow green or magenta
    feces

    Why young squash bugs must eat poop

    Squash bugs carry a gut bacterium that's key to their development into adults, but don't have it as nymphs. New findings reveal how they get it.
  • A twisty pink tube from a child's toy on a white background.
    bacteria

    ‘Good’ bacteria sense gut lining to stay in the right spot

    New findings point to possible mechanisms behind intestinal conditions like Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis.
  • A baby's face looking right against a white background.
    children's health

    Racial differences in baby gut bacteria emerge by 3 months

    Racial differences in the gut microbiome emerge as early as 3 months of age and last through childhood, researchers report.
  • A newborn baby cries in a hospital bassinet while touching their own face.
    babies

    ‘Vaginal seeding’ restores healthy bacteria for C-section babies

    Vaginal seeding, a process where C-section babies are swabbed with the mother's vaginal fluid after birth, restores beneficial bacteria.
  • muddy adult and baby rhino stand in grassy area below blue sky
    feces

    To get more baby rhinos, study mom’s poop?

    The gut microbiomes of female southern white rhinos who reproduce successfully in captivity differ from those who are not, a study finds.
  • A white bird sits on a nest made of ropes, metal, and trash.
    plastics

    Microplastics mess with seabirds’ guts

    Microplastics are changing the gut microbiomes of wild seabirds. Humans should be wary, too, researchers say.
  • Orange and white antibiotic capsules on an orange background.
    breast cancer

    Antibiotics linked to higher triple-negative breast cancer death risk

    Triple-negative breast cancer patients who take antibiotics within three years of diagnosis have a higher death risk, researchers report.