Infectious disease

'You can't afford to be 15 years behind the parasite'

David Fidock will receive the Alice and C.C. Wang Award in Molecular Parasitology at the 2025 ASBMB Annual Meeting, April 12–15 in Chicago.

Quantifying how proteins in microbe and host interact

“To develop better vaccines, we need new methods and a better understanding of the antibody responses that develop in immune individuals,” author Johan Malmström said.

3D shapes of viral proteins point to previously unknown roles

A research team led by Jennifer Doudna has harnessed computational and deep-learning tools to predict the shapes of nearly 4,500 species that infect animals and humans.

Not so selfish after all: Viruses use freeloading genes as weapons

Phage viruses, increasingly used to treat antibiotic resistance, gain an advantage by cutting off a competitor’s ability to reproduce.

This common parasite causes birth defects — but the US doesn’t screen for it during pregnancy

Mother-to-child transmission during pregnancy is called congenital toxoplasmosis and up to 4,400 babies may be born with it in the U.S. each year.

Raw milk is risky, but airborne transmission of H5N1 from cow’s milk is inefficient in mammals

Findings suggest that cow’s milk infected with bird flu poses a real risk to humans, but the virus may not spread very far or quickly to others.

The phageome: A hidden kingdom within your gut

Human innards are teeming with viruses that infect bacteria. What are they up to?

What is mpox?

The World Health Organization this week declared mpox a global health emergency for the second time since 2022. While most infections are mild, some can be fatal, and cases are spreading in Africa.

Brushing with bacteria: The debate over a GMO tooth microbe

One startup has said a genetically modified microbe could prevent cavities. Experts, though, have safety concerns.