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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

Viruses that attack bacteria, known as bacteriophages, could help doctors fight hospital infections that no longer respond to ...

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego are developing alternatives for antibiotics, such as bacteriophages.

Peering through his microscope in 1910, Franco-Canadian microbiologist Félix d'Hérelle noticed some "clear spots" in his bacterial cultures, an anomaly that turned out to be viruses preying on the ...

Researchers have a new battle tactic to fight drug-resistant bacterial infections. Their strategy involves using collections of bacteriophages, viruses that naturally attack bacteria. In a new study, ...

This 2009 electron microscope image provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows a large group of Gram-negative Salmonella typhimurium bacteria that had been isolated from a pure ...

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 ...

In promising experiments, phage therapy forces bacteria into a no-win dilemma that lowers their defenses against drugs they’d evolved to withstand. By Patience Asanga / Knowable Magazine Published Sep ...

Scientists are learning more about how an intriguing type of virus protects itself. Revealing its strategies could boost the fight against antibiotic resistance. Phages are viruses that attack ...

Body odor from the armpits comes from bacteria metabolizing sweat produced by the apocrine glands. These bacteria are native to our skin, but the odors produced differ among people. Generally, people ...