Health

Bacteria in and on your body have huge impacts on your overall health. By breaking down food and waste of your body, they produce healthy molecules that affect your brain, heart, gut and muscles.

Bacteria have many superpowers

The incredible superpowers of bacteria: unveiling nature’s tiny heroes

Microbes and bacteria touch every aspect of our lives. They have so many superpowers that impact the environment, food production, bioremediation and even the climate. Here, we will look at 20 of the most fascinating bacterial superpowers and tell you where you might encounter them throughout your day. But don’t forget, there are plenty more.

Bacteria like Desulfovibrio vulgaris produce scissors that cut the bacteria free from their biofilms.

Bacteria breaking free from home

To protect themselves from the environment, bacteria build shielding biofilms houses. But once such a house gets old, bacteria need to break out it. For that, bacteria produce special scissors that can break biofilms and set free the bacteria.

Vibrio bacteria use their T6SS killing machine for movement or DNA uptake.

Should I kill or should I go? Bacteria making decisions

Bacteria have powerful killing machines with which they carve out their own niches. To kill competitors, bacteria from the Vibrio family, have a powerful crossbow and its arrows availble. However, these bacteria can decide whether they risk a kill and take up what’s left of the dead prey or they escape the dangerous situation. Here, we look at how bacteria decide to kill or flee.

Bacteria cause caries by producing an acidic environment.

How bacteria cause caries on your teeth

Bacteria in your mouth protect your teeth from pathogenic bacteria. When you eat lots of sugars, the pathogens can fight off your friendly bacteria. The more pathogenic bacteria grow on your teeth, the more acids they produce that can cause caries and cavities. Learn about the bacterial battles in your mouths.

Invasive bacteria use attachment tools like pili and adhesins to adhere to cells

How bacteria get (too) attached

Pathogenic bacteria developed different mechanisms to attach to human host cells. However, our immune system learned to fight back, so that a constant battle between bacteria and host is happening in our bodies.

Multidrug resistant bacteria have many different ways of dealing with antibiotics

About antimicrobial resistance mechanisms

Bacteria developed different antimicrobial resistance mechanisms to get rid of antibiotics. Here, you will learn what bacteria do with antibiotics so that they don’t harm them and what superbugs are.