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Oak buds contain a useful bacterium for separating rare earth elements

Bacterium from oak trees could help process rare earth elements

31 May 2023

A bacterium found in English oak buds can help separate out the rare earth elements used in technologies such as electric cars and wind turbines

Bacteria seen with an electron microscope

Microfibres that pollute the seas are floating homes for bacteria

30 November 2022

Almost 200 species of bacteria, including one that can cause food poisoning, were found on microfibre particles from the Mediterranean Sea

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Antarctic bacteria reveal an evolutionary limit to dealing with heat

15 July 2022

Some bacteria living in the Southern Ocean can't adapt to temperatures 2°C higher than what they can usually survive, and other organisms could face similar limits adapting to higher temperatures

Computer artwork showing how irritable bowel syndrome affects the digestive tract

Faecal transplants ease irritable bowel syndrome for three years

28 June 2022

Two-thirds of people with IBS who received a stool transplant from a donor with a healthier mix of gut microbes had fewer symptoms and better quality of life three years later

Computer powered by colony of blue-green algae has run for six months

12 May 2022

Blue-green algae, a type of cyanobacteria, set in a container on a windowsill powered a computer continuously for six months using photosynthesis

A coloured scanning electron micrograph of Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria on bladder cells in a urine sample from a patient with a urinary tract infection

Recurring UTIs may be prevented with an antiseptic drug

9 March 2022

A daily dose of an antiseptic drug reduced recurring urinary tract infections as effectively as antibiotics

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Genes from bacteria may have helped plants colonise the land

1 March 2022

When aquatic plants first transitioned onto land, their success may have been due to genes they got from bacteria and fungi that let them take up nutrients from soil