pathogens Archives

**Controlling Salmonella in the poultry gut: Diversity is key**

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Newborn chicks are especially susceptible to Salmonella.

When microorganisms that interact in a specific environment suppress the growth of pathogens, researchers call this ‘pathogen exclusion’. Salmonella is found in poultry intestines and can harm both the birds and humans. To control Salmonella growth, a balance between microorganisms that colonise the poultry gut is necessary. This involves complex interactions between microbes that we don’t yet fully understand. Dr Margie […]

Microbiomes – the key to a healthier planet?

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Andrew Bartlow and colleagues are researching the importance of microbiomes to animal and human health.

Microbiomes are communities of microorganisms living on or in animals, helping to keep them healthy. Changes in the composition of microbiomes could make wildlife more vulnerable to diseases which may be zoonotic – transmissible to humans – so monitoring them could help us to predict outbreaks of disease and protect global health. Dr Andrew Bartlow and colleagues at the Los […]

RadiaBeam: Safer X-ray sources with smaller particle accelerators

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Many important technologies rely on the production of high-energy radiation, yet without the right precautions, the radioactive sources involved in these processes can be incredibly dangerous. Dr Sergey Kutsaev, together with a team at RadiaBeam Technologies, has now shown how these sources could be replaced by compact, low-cost, and flexible particle accelerators, capable of producing high-energy X-rays on demand. His […]

Leaf spots on the prairies

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Plants face a large number of threats from their surroundings. When microbes such as fungi act as pathogens on plants, they can cause disease. Some fungal pathogens of wheat appear as symptoms of spots on the leaves. Two important fungal species are the tan spot pathogen and the septoria nodorum blotch pathogen. These fungi can infect the same plant and […]

That’s disgusting! How primates decide what not to eat

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Many species either avoid food contaminated with faeces or thoroughly handle the food, trying to clean it before eating.

All animals need to find a way to avoid contact with pathogens when they are eating. For primates, Dr Cécile Sarabian, based at Kyoto University Primate Research Institute in Japan, shows that many species either avoid food contaminated with faeces or thoroughly handle the food, trying to clean it before eating. For the researcher, this is proof that this behaviour […]