microbes

Social insects like this termite have evolved multiple strategies over millions of years to keep pathogens from wiping out their colonies. Perhaps it’s time we learned from them. Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University

What can ants and termites teach us about fighting disease?

Social insects have evolved multiple strategies over millions of years to keep pathogens from wiping out their colonies. Perhaps it’s time we learned from them, says Rebecca Rosengaus, an associate professor in marine and environmental sciences.

by Laura Castañón August 18, 2020

Photo by Ruby Wallau/Northeastern University

Our drinking water was always full of microbes. Are the wrong ones thriving in the pandemic?

It’s been months, and life has changed dramatically across the planet. Zooming in where only a microscope can see, Northeastern researchers are trying to determine how the lifestyle changes caused by COVID-19 might be helping harmful bacteria grow in our drinking water.

by Roberto Molar Candanosa June 25, 2020

Andrea Unzueta-Martinez studied Sydney rock oyster larvae at the Port Stephens Fisheries Institute, located 100 miles northeast of Sydney, Australia. Photo by Rachel Kara for Northeastern University

A 10,000-mile journey for microbes

MELBOURNE, Australia—Andrea Unzueta-Martinez, a doctoral candidate at Northeastern’s Marine Science Center, came to the United States to be a dancer, but chose science instead. She spent three months at the Port Stephens Fisheries Institute in Australia raising oyster larvae.

by Andrew Fenton - contributor April 21, 2020

A house made out of a plastic-like material created by bacteria in Neel Joshi's lab. Photo by Ruby Wallau/Northeastern University

Could houses of the future be made by bacteria?

Imagine if we could grow a building the way coral polyps grow a reef, or if living cells in our clothes could break down sweat and body odor. It’s not science fiction, says associate professor Neel Joshi. It’s the future of scientific research in the U.S.

by Laura Castañón February 5, 2020

Minhal Ahmed, a fifth-year bioengineering student, was named the winner of the Harold D. Hodgkinson Achievement Award for 2019. Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University

‘Star Wars’ inspired him to fight disease

Minhal Ahmed was entranced watching Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace at the age of 7, not realizing at the time that he was absorbing an idea that would later propel him to study the gut microbiome as a bioengineering student at Northeastern.

by Khalida Sarwari March 30, 2019

New research sheds light on microbes’ evolution

Ferdi Hellweger, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, and his research colleagues have created an advanced model aimed at exploring the role of neutral evolution in the biogeographic distribution of ocean microbes.

by Jason Kornwitz September 11, 2014

Superbugs

What you see to the left may look like a giant dehydryated cocroach overgrown with some form of alien kudzoo, but in…

by Angela Herring February 7, 2012