Decades of pollution at Pittsburgh brownfields left bacteria that evolved to survive it – and maybe help clean up contaminated soil.

Nature Microbiology, Published online: 17 September 2026; doi:10.1038/s41564-026-02449-6In this Perspective, Levin and Wang give a brief history of bacterial growth rate and discuss how it is connected to nutrient availability and macromolecule synthesis, with a focus on (p)ppGpp as a central hub regulating resource allocation and, indirectly, growth rate at the single-cell level.

Decades of pollution at Pittsburgh brownfields left bacteria that evolved to survive it – and maybe help clean up contaminated soil.

Nature Microbiology, Published online: 17 July 2026; doi:10.1038/s41564-026-02422-3Environmental stress shifts microbial composition towards species with high growth rates, providing community-wide protection.

Your home, particularly the damp areas, may be crawling with microbes. Here's how to contain them.

Carnegie Mellon University graduate Katherine Wang is creating bioinformatics tools to make NCBI analysis more accessible and accelerate breakthroughs in the fight against bacterial diseases.

Your home, particularly the damp areas, may be crawling with microbes. Here's how to contain them.

Abstract. Infectious and metabolic disorders have risen sharply and pose a significant threat to human populations worldwide. Despite being deemed unrelate

Screwworm's return to the U.S. is a study in what happens when preparedness isn’t a priority

Armbruster et al. find that infection-site biogeography impacts evolution of the opportunistic pathogen, Pseudomonas aeruginosa. In the sinuses of adults with cystic fibrosis, P. aeruginosa residing i...

Recent Carnegie Mellon University graduate Jingjing Xu earned the Mellon College of Science Gilman Award.

Abstract. Biofilm microbial communities are characterized by spatial heterogeneity arising in response to environmental characteristics, random events, and

In a randomized trial, pasteurized Akkermansia muciniphila improved weight loss maintenance and metabolic health after a low-energy diet, especially in individuals with initially lower Akkermansia lev...

Many Democrats making the switch to politics are motivated by the Trump administration’s cuts to science — whereas energy and AI are a pull for some Republicans.

The relative contribution of lipid catabolism on fasting-induced longevity was unknown. Authors showed lifespan extension from fasting depend on silencing lipid catabolism upon nutrient replenishment ...

by Roberto — A brief history of how organisms get their nitrogen.

Pittsburgh has reinvented itself from a steel powerhouse to a hub for health care and education. But the city’s industrial past left a hidden legacy: toxic compounds like benzene and toluene in the so...

Symbiotic bacteria can have exceedingly small genomes. This study finds that ancient bacterial symbionts of planthoppers have repeatedly evolved the smallest known genomes, losing most biosynthetic fu...

Pittsburgh has reinvented itself from a steel powerhouse to a hub for health care and education. But the city’s industrial past left a hidden legacy: toxic compounds like benzene and toluene in the so...