As many as 1.4 million Americans suffer from uncomfortable abdominal cramping and diarrhea that come with ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease. These conditions, collectively known as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), are associated with an imbalance among the thousands of species of “good” bacteria that inhabit the gut. A University of Utah study published on Jan. 22, 2015, in Cell Host and Microbe demonstrates that mice deficient for a component of the immune system, a protein called MyD88, have an imbalanced gut bacterial community – with some species dominating over others - and are more susceptible to contracting a severe IBD-like illness. Further, fecal transplants from healthy donors alleviate IBD symptoms in these mice.

Five genetic variants that influence the size of structures within the human brain have been discovered by an international team that included a Georgia State University researcher.

Texas Tech researchers are beginning to understand how antibiotic-resistant bacteria travel aerially.

A Rutgers historian’s study of the Black Death also sheds light on threats such as climate change.

Scientists design bacteria reliant upon synthetic amino acids to contain genetically modified organisms.

Scientists have identified a gene that helps regulate how well nerves of the central nervous system are insulated, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis report.

If you are looking for clever ways to survive the cold, check out this new ACS video

University of Saskatchewan researchers will share a total of $844,000 from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) for wide-ranging projects that will explore potential health benefits of using pulse crops in pet and fish feeds, energy-efficient technology for removing water from biofuels, catalysts to clean up air and water, and genetic and environmental factors underlying diseases such as cancer and osteoarthritis.

Tomorrow’s doctors could use this technology to obtain a super-clear picture of patients’ organs and tissues.

Salmonella Lubbock will provide new avenues for research into the bacteria’s prevention.

University of Utah biologists say the discovery may help reveal secrets of insulin function and energy metabolism in people.

A recently published study in the Journal of the American Medical Association Pediatrics, based in part on research from the Children’s Hospital of Michigan part of the Detroit Medical Center, shows that oral antibiotics are just as effective as those delivered intravenously to children struggling with osteomyelitis.