News – MIT Microbiology Program

Suiting up Microbes for More Sustainable Fertilizers and Textile Recycling

The integration of organic and inorganic materials at the nano- and micro-scale is a key component of many of the recent breakthroughs in biotech, chemical engineering, and materials science. MIT’s Furst Lab is a leader in exploring such hybrid connections...

Pursuing the secrets of a stealthy parasite

By unraveling the genetic pathways that help Toxoplasma gondii persist in human cells, Sebastian Lourido hopes to find new ways to treat toxoplasmosis.

Go before you’re ready

On the Grad Blog, Aarshi J. shares how to be comfortable with being uncomfortable when time is a limited resource.

3 Questions: A shared vocabulary for how infectious diseases spread

Lydia Bourouiba’s research on fluid dynamics influenced new guidance from the World Health Organization that will shape how health agencies respond to respiratory infectious diseases

Ariel Furst and Fan Wang receive 2023 National Institutes of Health awards

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded grants to MIT’s Ariel Furst and Fan Wang, through its High-Risk, High-Reward Research program. The NIH High-Risk, High-Reward Research program awarded 85 new research grants to support exceptionally creative scientists pursuing highly innovative be

Podcast: Curiosity Unbounded, Episode 3 — Decoding the tree of life

In this episode of Curiosity Unbounded, MIT President Sally Kornbluth and Fournier discuss fine-tuning our understanding of evolution; lab life and how research surprises often lead to new discoveries; and advice for those just beginning a career in science.

A novel combination therapy counters antibiotic-resistant Mycobacterium abscessus infections

SMART researchers combine rifaximin and clarithromycin to effectively restore the latter drug's efficacy.

We’ll know it when we sense it

Ariel Furst, assistant professor of chemical engineering, harnesses the potential of electrochemistry to develop faster, more sensitive, even self-powered diagnostic tools.

Like ancient mariners, ancestors of Prochlorococcus microbes rode out to sea on exoskeleton particles

A new study shows the carbon-capturing phytoplankton colonized the ocean by rafting on particles of chitin.

Chemists’ technique reveals whether antibodies neutralize SARS-CoV-2

The method could enable a rapid test to determine whether individuals are producing antibodies that help protect against Covid-19.

Scientists track evolution of microbes on the skin’s surface

A new analysis reveals how Staphylococcus aureus gains mutations that allow it to colonize eczema patches.

Searching across deep time to understand “ecogenesis”

MIT geobiologist Greg Fournier seeks to uncover the conditions leading to the emergence of life. “Our work can help us to understand the time and evolutionary processes that can lead to that critical ‘ecogenesis’ stage, and to perhaps recognize it in other worlds,” he says.

Otto Cordero Studies Bacteria in the Wild

The MIT associate professor wants to understand microbial communities in their ecological context. | The Scientist | June 2019

MIT engineers have programmed viruses called bacteriophages to kill different strains of E. coli, by making mutations in a viral protein that binds to host cells.

Engineered viruses could fight drug resistance

By tweaking bacteriophage genomes, MIT team creates a new weapon to combat infection.

A scanning electron microscope (SEM) image of the polymer network that makes up mucins.

Study reveals how mucus tames microbes

Specialized sugar molecules called glycans can disarm opportunistic pathogens and prevent infection.

“The major research directions and technology platforms that [my] lab is known for today came out of this process where the students or I had a crazy idea, and then the lab executed on it, with all the twists and turns along the way,” says Paul Blainey, associate professor of biological engineering.

Biological engineer Paul Blainey creates new tools to advance biomedical research

His technology platforms have benefited genomics, diagnostics, and drug screening.

MIT research finds the emergence of cooperative cell clusters depends on cells encountering each other and aggregating on the surface of polysaccharide particles.

Microbial cooperation at the micron scale impacts biodegradation

MIT researchers demonstrate how often-ignored microbial interactions have a significant impact on the biodegradation of complex materials.

MIT chemical engineers have incorporated two switching points into metabolic pathways of E. coli, which can help boost the microbes’ production of useful compounds.

A new way to control microbial metabolism

Chemical engineers program bacteria to switch between different metabolic pathways, boosting their yield of desirable products.

Goopy light blue blobs in foreground and pink-hued cholera bacteria photograph in background.

Molecules found in mucus could prevent cholera infection

Harnessing these protective molecules may offer a new way to treat the disease, which spreads through contaminated water.

Graduate student Linda Zhong works in Professor Anthony Sinskey’s biology lab on an answer for plastic pollution.

Unlocking the secrets of a plastic-eater

Graduate student Linda Zhong and professor of biology Anthony Sinskey are studying the plastic-devouring enzyme PETase as a way to improve recycling.

Photo of Shruthi Pandi Chelvam in lab, using a piece of lab equipment in front of a large window with treetops and some buildings in the background.

Researchers pioneer a new way to detect microbial contamination in cell cultures

An anomaly-detection model developed by SMART utilizes machine learning to quickly detect microbial contamination.

In the dark ocean, a cartoon illustration shows a green oval microbe Prochlorococcus eating a dead purple microbe that looks like a Cheeto. A few other microbes appear in background.

Ocean microbes get their diet through a surprising mix of sources, study finds

Up to one-third of the carbon consumed by Prochlorococcus may come from sources other than photosynthesis.

Bench, bath and beyond: Transform your apartment into a yeast lab, and have fun doing it!

In quarantine in my own home, I re-discovered a centuries-old truth: yeast will appear and grow anywhere. With a bit of intuition and a lot of patience, you too can transform any apartment into a lab to grow your pet yeast in!

A scientist standing in a field of grass holds a flask filled with a brownish liquid.

MIT Integrative Microbiology Initiative will stimulate environmental microbiology research

Project supported by the Simons Foundation aims to reinvigorate environmental science by leaning on Parsons Laboratory's past as a leader in the space.

MIT scientists estimate that oxygenic photosynthesis — the ability to turn light and water into energy, releasing oxygen— first evolved on Earth between 3.4 and 2.9 billion years ago.

Zeroing in on the origins of Earth’s “single most important evolutionary innovation”

A new study shows oxygenic photosynthesis likely evolved between 3.4 and 2.9 billion years ago.