24/04/2019 Nicola Luchi & Alberto Santini

Once plant pathogens have spread and settled in a certain area, eradication is extremely difficult. Prevention by early detection at ports of entry is fundamental, especially in the context of growing global mobility and trade. In their new paper published in AMB Express, researchers developed a reliable and fast diagnostic assay for the early detection of quarantine pathogens such as Xylella fastidiosa.

24/04/2019 Rebecca Pearce

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24/04/2019 Rebecca Pearce

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17/04/2019 Ralf B Schäfer

Pesticides have been identified as one of the culprits of the loss in biodiversity. Prof. Ralf B Schäfer describes their recent policy paper in which they suggest a new framework for pesticide authorization to meet the goal of protecting biodiversity.

12/04/2019 Dr. AJ Prussin

Compared to bacteria and fungus, the airborne viral microbiome in built environments, is relatively understudied. Recently published research in Microbiome looks to address this imbalance by examining the virome of a daycare center over the course of a year and was inspired by the seasonal pattern of illnesses picked up by the author’s daughter in a similar daycare.

09/04/2019 Dr. Michelle Wille, Dr. Vanessa Marcelino, Professor Tania Sorrell & Professor Edward Holmes

Birds inhabit a range of habitats around the world and play a crucial role as sentinels of antibiotic resistance in the environment. A recent study published in BMC Biology used an innovative approach to detect antibiotic resistance genes in microbiomes of birds from the most remote locations to those from wastewater treatment facilities: here to explain the work are the authors of the paper.

29/03/2019 Jong Bhak, Seungshic Yum & Hak-Min Kim

Despite their seemingly simple appearance, jellyfish might help us understand how complex animal life evolved over hundreds of millions of years. In this blog, the authors of a new paper in BMC Biology explain what they found from the genome of the giant Nomura’s jellyfish.

29/03/2019 Ace North

Malaria-transmitting mosquitoes pose a serious threat to human health, and numerous approaches to reduce these disease-vectors are currently in use or development – including release of genetically modified mosquitoes. Here, Dr Ace North describes his recent paper in BMC Biology, showing how mathematical modelling can be used to plan and predict the effects of such approaches for maximal effect.

28/02/2019 Tony Page

Parasitic worms can cause huge damage by infecting humans and livestock, but the effectiveness of drugs commonly used against them is waning due to increasing resistance. Here Tony Page discusses his group’s study in BMC Biology on how the “golden death” bacterium, Chryseobacterium nematophagum, which digests parasitic nematodes from the inside out, could potentially be used as a future biocontrol agent.

27/02/2019 Rebecca Pearce

How much do you think you know about the great Nanook of the Arctic? Test your polar bear savvy in our International Polar Bear Day quiz compiled by editorial staff at BMC.