Press releases

11 September 2024

Researchers from the Quadram Institute working together with the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) have established a human “lung-on-chip” model that recreates how SARS-CoV-2 infects lung cells, in a contained laboratory environment.
 

16 July 2024

As part of BIOQUAL’s Animal Model Development Initiative, BIOQUAL researchers in collaboration with scientists at Virgina Tech have established the cynomolgus macaque as one of the first non-human primate models of Mayaro virus infection.

05 June 2024

• Researchers have identified a significant change in composition and abundance of bacteria in study participants’ oral microbiomes after using a popular brand of alcohol-based mouthwash.
• The oral microbiome is the community of bacteria that live in the mouth, they help us digest our food and keep our mouth healthy.
• Researchers found that two species of opportunistic bacteria were significantly more abundant in the mouth after daily use of the alcohol-based mouthwash, Fusobacterium nucleatum and Streptococcus anginosus.
• These two bacteria have been previously linked to several diseases including gum disease and oesophageal and colorectal cancers.
• Although results show potentially damaging alterations to the microbiome, researchers urge that the study results do not mean that the general public should no longer use mouthwash.

03 April 2024

Scottish researchers are discovering new ways of combatting environmental damage caused by acid mine drainage in Scotland by studying bacteria which can degrade the dangerous waste products.

03 April 2024

Researchers have discovered a new bacterial killer that can target common lung infection caused by Burkholderia bacteria that has exciting potential for biotechnological applications.

23 February 2023

The results of new research into the effects of COVID-19 have suggested that a mild-to-moderate COVID-19 infection can lead to alterations of the upper respiratory tract (URT) microbiota, including a reduction in bacterial diversity and community structure that persists for at least several weeks after the initial infection.

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, USA, observed a relationship between the URT microbiota and the severity of COVID symptoms in their patients. They hope this could lead to new therapy methods to reduce the effects of COVID-19 in the future.
 

14 April 2023

Human activity is contributing to pollution that is affecting our health. According to WHO estimates, atmospheric air pollution is estimated to cause 4.2 million premature deaths worldwide per year. Scientists and the public alike are well aware of how human activity and pollution is affecting our heath, but new research has identified how bumblebees may be caught in the crossfire.  

07 February 2023

The Microbiology Society is pleased to announce Canada’s Federal Science Libraries Network (FSLN) has joined the successful Publish and Read agreement between the Microbiology Society and four Canadian consortia from 2023.

22 November 2023

Research published during World Antimicrobial Awareness Week explores the impact of using recommended chlorine chemicals to tackle Clostridioides difficile, the most common cause of antibiotic associated sickness in healthcare settings globally

21 June 2023

Pneumonia is an inflammation of the lower respiratory tract that can be caused by a variety of microbes. It disproportionately affects patients who are over 65 years of age and according to Asthma + Lung UK more than 25,000 people die from pneumonia in the UK each year.

Now, new research, published in Journal of Medical Microbiology has identified a possible link between wearing dentures and pneumonia.
 

25 May 2022

Bacteria found on the leaves of common UK tree species may remove toxic carbon monoxide (CO) from the air, according to researchers from the University of Warwick, UK.

31 March 2022

A deep-sea sponge found in British and Irish waters could hold a clue to solving plastic pollution of our seas.

25 January 2022

As the Microbiology Society’s founding journal, Microbiology, begins its milestone 75^th year,  the Council of the Microbiology Society is delighted to announce that Microbiology will be the first in the Society’s journal portfolio to transition from a hybrid model to fully Open Access. The transition to Gold Open Access will happen in 2023 and follows two years of unprecedented growth in the proportion of Open Access articles published in the journal, particularly following the introduction of a new Publish and Read licence in 2020.

13 September 2022

Scientists often name new discoveries after celebrities – such as the Beyoncé horse fly (Scaptia beyoncea), the Steve Irwin snail (Crikey steveirwini) or the David Bowie huntsman spider (Heteropoda davidbowie).

So when University of Adelaide researchers discovered a new type of lactic acid bacteria, they wanted to pay homage to someone who allowed them to continue their work during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

08 September 2022

Scientists develop a potential nebulisation treatment using manuka honey to clear a drug resistant lung infection that can be fatal in cystic fibrosis patients. Aston University researchers combined the antibiotic amikacin with manuka honey as a novel treatment for Mycobacterium abscessus. Using the manuka honey combination resulted in an eight-fold reduction in the dosage of the antibiotic.

03 February 2021

Researchers in Costa Rica have found that some bacteria on the skin of amphibians prevent growth of the fungus responsible for what has been dubbed ‘the amphibian apocalypse’.

17 February 2021

Research has found fidaxomicin, an antibiotic usually used to treat bowel infections, prevents growth of resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTb) in the lab.

Published in the Journal of Medical Microbiology, the research found that fidaxomicin was more effective than existing tuberculosis (TB) medication at preventing growth of the bacterium that causes TB.  
 

18 June 2021

The Microbiology Society is pleased to announce three new initiatives that provide article-level metrics of all Open Access (OA) articles published by the Society’s six journals.

15 April 2021

Today, researchers published an in-depth look at the SARS-CoV-2 mutations that have taken place during the past year in the Journal of General Virology. The review discusses the findings of over 180 research articles and follows the changes that have taken place in the SARS-CoV-2 genome, and the variants that have occurred as a result.

28 May 2021

While investigating a disease outbreak in a Queensland botanical gardens, researchers discovered a new species of bacteria that causes a fatal disease in palms.

The bacterium, which they named Candidatus Phytoplasma dypsidis was found to cause a fatal wilt disease. This new discovery was reported in the International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology.

13 August 2020

Researchers have developed a new test that can diagnose COVID-19 in just 20 minutes.  

The findings, published in the Journal of Medical Microbiology, show the rapid molecular test called N1-STOP-LAMP, is 100% accurate in diagnosing samples containing SARS-CoV-2 at high loads. 

15 October 2020

“Everyone can make a difference!” urge microbiologists after developing a new approach that could reduce their laboratory’s plastic waste by over 500kg a year.  

The group, based at the University of Edinburgh’s Roslin Institute, developed an approach to reduce plastic waste produced by their lab. They have shared their approach in the journal Access Microbiology, with the hope that other labs will follow suit.

21 May 2020

A new review discusses the findings from over 40 studies on coronavirus immunity and what they could mean for the COVID-19 pandemic.

07 July 2020

Existing public health monitoring systems in the UK, could improve understanding of the risk factors associated with severe COVID-19.

06 February 2020

Research by Professor Chiara Gamberi co-written with entire biology class published in Microbiology. Published in Microbiology, Gamberi's latest study examines the complex metabolic networks of the gut microbiota and how they affect human health, and is co-authored by 94 undergraduate students, offering a rare opportunity for young scholars to be published in a peer-reviewed journal.

10 October 2019

Bacteria have been found in the International Space Station’s drinking water. A research article published in the journal Microbiology discussed the bacteria found coating drinking water pipes and tanks on the International Space Station (ISS).

28 March 2019

Results from a 10-year study suggest two strains of influenza that could mix and form a dangerous new strain of influenza spread by dogs.

28 March 2019

A recently-isolated soil microbe could be used to modify crops and protect them against fungal diseases, researchers say. Researchers at the Agriculture and Food Development Authority (TEAGASC) have identified a novel bacterium which can modify plant characteristics and provide beneficial traits, such as resistance to diseases.

10 January 2019

Two new species of bacteria have been found in the blood of patients in China.

28 March 2019

Researchers are concerned that attitudes to hygiene are being undermined by the hygiene hypothesis, and that this misleading misnomer could contribute to the spread of infectious disease.

12 July 2018

Researchers have found that a major component of cinnamon oil can help to clear certain bacterial infections.

31 May 2018

An expert has compared the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo to the 2014 west African epidemic that killed more than 11,000 people.

12 September 2018

A new species of bacteria has been discovered on a man in Cornwall. The bacteria was found on a 64 year old man seeking treatment for cellulitis. When researchers attempted to find the cause of this skin infection, they found the bacteria, which although similar to others, had not been seen before

30 November 2018

Useful products could be generated from biodegrading plastics, researchers say. In a review published in the journal Microbiology, Tanja Narancic and Kevin O’Connor discuss the advances made in biodegradation of fossil-based plastics, the design of plastics for biodegradation and how microbes can transform plastic waste into useful products.

06 April 2017

Today at the Microbiology Society’s Annual Conference, researchers will show that the overall balance of the bacteria on a person’s skin, rather than the presence or absence of a particular bacterial strain, appears to be an important factor for acne development and skin health.

05 April 2017

Today, at the Microbiology Society’s Annual Conference in Edinburgh, researchers will show that levels of cancer-causing human papillomavirus in Scotland have dropped 90% in young women, following a vaccination campaign that began in 2008. The researchers believe that this may itself lead to a 90% reduction in cervical cancer cases in Scottish women.

25 January 2016

Today, the UK House of Commons Science and Technology Select Committee published the report from their inquiry entitled Science in Emergencies: UK Lessons from Ebola, which makes wide-ranging recommendations to the Government to improve the UK’s preparedness for, and response during, future infectious disease outbreaks.

18 March 2016

Today, at the Microbiology Society’s Annual Conference in Liverpool, scientists will reveal how Arctic microbes are increasing the rate at which glaciers melt, in a process not accounted for in current climate change models.

23 March 2016

Today, at the Microbiology Society’s Annual Conference in Liverpool, scientists will show that the foam made by Trinidadian frogs represents a new, non-toxic antibiotic delivery system that may help to prevent infections.

30 March 2015

Recreational users of coastal waters such as swimmers and surfers are at risk of exposure to antibiotic resistant bacteria, according to new research published this week and presented today at the Annual Conference.

31 March 2015

Date syrup – a thick, sweet liquid derived from dates that is widely consumed across the Middle East – shows antibacterial activity against a number of disease-causing bacteria, including Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli.

New research, presented today at the Society for General Microbiology Annual Conference in Birmingham, showed that, in vitro, date syrup is able to inhibit the growth of bacteria faster than manuka honey, which has previously been shown to have antibacterial properties and is increasingly used in dressings to improve wound repair.

31 March 2015

For many, body odour is an unfortunate side effect of their daily lives. The smell is caused by bacteria on the skin breaking down naturally secreted molecules contained within sweat. Now, researchers from the University of York working with Unilever have studied the underarm microbiome and identified a unique set of enzymes in the bacterium Staphylococcus hominis that is effective at breaking down sweat molecules into compounds known as thioalcohols, an important component of the characteristic body odour smell.

31 March 2015

Researchers from the University of Nottingham have shown that a 1,000 year old Anglo-Saxon remedy for eye infections, which originates from a manuscript in the British Library, has been found to kill the modern-day superbug MRSA. This work is being presented this week at the Society for General Microbiology Annual Conference.

Microbiologist Dr Freya Harrison, working with Dr Steve Diggle and Dr Aled Roberts, collaborated with Dr Christina Lee, an Anglo-Saxon expert from the School of English, to recreate a 10th century potion for eye infections from Bald’s Leechbook. The book is widely thought of as one of the earliest known medical textbooks and contains Anglo-Saxon medical advice and recipes for medicines, salves and treatments.

15 April 2014

Control of gonorrhoea is dependent on successful antibiotic treatment, and the bacterium that causes the infection, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, has become increasingly resistance to every antibiotic used to treat it over the last 60 years. Today, at the Society for General Microbiology’s Annual Conference in Liverpool, Professor Cathy Ison explains the challenges facing the treatment of the disease, which threatens to become resistant to all antibiotics.

17 April 2014

Each year in the UK, bacterial infections cause around 6,000 cases of a severe eye condition known as microbial keratitis – an inflammation and ulceration of the cornea that can lead to loss of vision. The use of contact lenses has been identified as a particular risk factor for microbial keratitis.

16 April 2014

Food poisoning outbreaks linked to disease-causing strains of the bacterium Escherichia coli are normally associated with tainted meat products. However, between 20-30% of these are caused by people eating contaminated vegetables, as was seen in the 2011 outbreak in Europe that caused 53 deaths. Research presented today at the Society for General Microbiology’s Annual Conference shows that the disease-causing E. coli O157:H7 interacts directly with plant cells, allowing it to anchor to the surface of a plant, where it can multiply.

14 April 2014

Infection with high-risk human papillomavirus (HR HPV) types 16 and 18 is responsible for around 70-80% of cervical cancers. A study conducted by Public Health England and presented today at the Society for General Microbiology's Annual Conference shows a reduction in these two HR HPV types – which are included in the HPV vaccines used – in sexually active young women in England.

03 September 2013

Candida albicans is a common fungus found living in, and on, many parts of the human body. Usually this species causes no harm to humans unless it can breach the body’s immune defences, where can lead to serious illness or death. It is known as an opportunistic pathogen that can colonise and infect individuals with a compromised immune system. New research, presented today at the Society for General Microbiology’s Autumn Conference, gives us a greater understanding of how mucosal surfaces in the body respond to C. albicans to prevent damage being done during infection.

02 September 2013

Helicobacter pylori is a bacterium that establishes a life-long stomach infection in humans, which in some cases can lead to duodenal ulcers or stomach cancer. New research, presented today at the Society for General Microbiology’s Autumn Conference, gives us a clearer understanding of how these bacteria can manipulate the human immune system to survive in the mucosal lining of the stomach.

30 August 2012

Rosacea is a common dermatological condition that causes reddening and inflammation of the skin mostly around the cheeks, nose and chin. In severe cases skin lesions may form and lead to disfigurement. Rosacea affects around 3% of the population – usually fair-skinned females aged 30-50 and particularly those with weak immune systems. The condition is treated with a variety of antibiotics, even though there has never been a well-established bacterial cause.

03 September 2012

Digested coconut oil is able to attack the bacteria that cause tooth decay. It is a natural antibiotic that could be incorporated into commercial dental care products, say scientists presenting their work at the Society for General Microbiology’s Autumn Conference at the University of Warwick.

31 January 2012

Manuka honey could help clear chronic wound infections and even prevent them from developing in the first place, according to a new study published in Microbiology. The findings provide further evidence for the clinical use of manuka honey to treat bacterial infections in the face of growing antibiotic resistance.