A new study points to possible help for restoring marine ecosystems — and provides more data on the role microbes play in marsh plant health and productivity. 

Collectively responsible for roughly half of global carbon fixation, diverse groups of microbes coexist while relying on limited nutrients even as some microbes depend on energy from the sun to grow via photosynthesis. Precisely because microbes compete for scarce nutrients, how such a vast diversity of ocean microbes coexist has long puzzled scientists. Researchers from Georgia Tech, in collaboration with 13 other institutions, aimed to shed light on the subject as part of new work published in Nature Ecology and Evolution.

Georgia Tech scientists and engineers are building a new DOE-funded instrument that captures 3D images of plant-microbe chemical reactions underground in an interdisciplinary effort to develop biofuels and fertilizers — and help mitigate climate change.

School of Biological Sciences researchers Cody Clements and Mark Hay are building symbiotic ‘underwater gardens’ in the Pacific Ocean to show how different species of coral can work together to possibly restore degraded reefs.

Joshua Weitz, School of Biological Sciences professor and Tom and Marie Patton Chair heads to France to hold Blaise Pascal International Chair of Excellence, continue virus research, and teach.

Georgia Tech’s Center for Microbial Dynamics and Infection (CMDI) merges disciplines, aggressively recruiting microbiologist ‘superstars’ to take back the high ground from antibiotic-resistant pathogens and emerging diseases — and to harness microbes to provide new medicines, cleaner environments, and solutions to the challenges of climate change.

In June, the first ever joint symposium of the Center for Microbial Dynamics and Infection at Georgia Tech (CMDI) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) brought together interdisciplinary researchers to discuss infectious disease dynamics.

SPRUCE experiment study shows elevated levels of greenhouse gases emerging from carbon-rich peatlands

Despite a long-held hypothesis that oxygen determined the size of large, complex multicellular organisms during the early Earth, researchers have found the early rise in global oxygen, should have, “in fact strongly constrain[ed] the evolution of macroscopic multicellularity, rather than selecting for larger and more complex organisms.”

Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease is ravaging Florida's coral reefs, with 20 out of 45 coral species in the state's waters already infected. School of Chemistry and Biochemistry assistant professor Neha Garg has received an NSF CAREER Award to help battle this rapidly spreading disease. 

Julia Kubanek, professor of biological sciences and chemistry and biochemistry, and associate dean for Research in Georgia Tech’s College of Sciences, has been named vice president for Interdisciplinary Research, effective July 1.

Professors in the School of Biological Sciences and the School of Physics capture top annual honors from the Georgia Tech chapter of Sigma Xi scientific research society.

The College's #StraightToTheSource social media series answers Covid-19-related community and frequently asked questions by directly examining scientific findings and research with College of Sciences experts.

In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, two human factors are battling it out: awareness of the virus’s severe consequences and fatigue from nine months of pandemic precautions. The results of that battle can be seen in the oddly shaped case, hospitalization, and fatality-count graphs, a new study suggests.

As Covid-19 outbreaks surge in several states, the choice to see family this holiday season gets more complicated by the day. Thankfully, Georgia Tech developed a tool that can help estimate the potential risk of exposure.

“Think of our research and the risk assessment tool like a weather map. We aren’t telling you to get your umbrella or to stay inside, but we are telling you that outside it is raining," said Clio Andris.

Two Georgia Tech scientists are raising new questions about the development of specialized cells in early multicellular organisms. 

A team of researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have received a three-year, $1.5 million grant for their project entitled “SemiSynBio-II: A Hybrid Programmable Nano-Bioelectronic System.” The target applications for this technology are environmental monitoring and healthcare. 

Video recap: Watch Joshua Weitz and Greg Gibson provide updates on Covid-19 projections and coronavirus surveillance testing, with a focus on the return to campus.

Gina Lewin, postdoctoral fellow in the lab of Marvin Whiteley, investigates the interactions between oral microbes.

The new county-level calculator builds on the team’s interactive state-level tool, which estimates the daily risk that one or more individuals infected with Covid-19 are present in U.S. events of various sizes.

Antibody testing research, led by Biological Sciences’ Joshua Weitz and Emory University professor Benjamin Lopman, earns an NSF urgent funding grant to further study Covid-19 ‘shield immunity’.

A study led by The Diggle Lab found that the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa can quickly evolve in a synthetic media that mimics cystic fibrosis sputum, to develop tolerance and resistance to certain antibiotics.

Examining bacteria growing on toddlers’ teeth, Marvin Whiteley and a team from the University of Pennsylvania found microbes’ spatial organization is crucial to how they cause tooth decay.

Georgia Tech researchers will study dynamics of inter-microbial aggression in bacterial biofilms

School of Biological Sciences Professor Joshua Weitz is honored by the Graduate Student Government Association for his advocacy efforts for students.

The presumed immunity of those who have recovered from the infection could allow them to safely substitute for susceptible people in certain high-contact occupations such as healthcare. Dubbed “shield immunity,” the anticipated protection against short-term reinfection could allow recovered patients to expand their interactions with infected and susceptible people.

School of Biological Sciences Professor Joel Kostka has co-authored a final report for four scientific organizations on the impact of the Deepwater Horizon oil platform disaster on the microbial ecology of the world's oceans.

In this one-hour talk, Joshua Weitz provides background on foundational concepts of disease dynamics, and perspectives on near- and long-term challenges related to the pandemic spread and potential control of COVID-19. 

A new article from Georgia Tech professor Joel Kostka highlights the advances made in microbial science in the 10 years since the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the world's worst environmental disaster. 

COVID-19 has sent many to seek out the latest information and ask questions about the spread of the virus in Georgia and whether initial sources of the coronavirus in the state can be tracked. Georgia Tech College of Sciences faculty and researchers continue to share insights and expertise in news reports focused on the topic.

The science behind the epidemiological detective story regarding the current coronavirus epidemic was the subject of a Georgia Tech forum this week.

Corals exude chemical defenses against bacteria, but when heated in the lab, those defenses lost much potency against a pathogen involved in coral bleaching. There's hope: A key coral's defense was heartier when that coral was taken from an area where fishing was banned. Plenty of fish were left to eat away seaweed that was overgrowing corals elsewhere and may have weakened the key coral's defenses even more.

Mythbuster: The idea that bacterial collaborations within microbiomes, like in the mouth, have evolved to be generous and exclusive very much appears to be wrong. In an extensive experiment, lavish collaborations ensued between random microbes. And some bacteria from the same microbiome were stingy with one another.

The National Institutes of Health has awarded a $2.5 M grant over five years to advance the clinical potential of bacteria-killing viruses to treat antibiotic-resistant infections. Joshua Weitz of the School of Biological Sciences and Justin Debarbieux of Institut Pasteur will lead teams in the U.S. and France to research the interaction between bacteriophage, bacteria, and the innate immune response to enable use of phage therapy even with patients with impaired immune systems. 

Some animals that can’t manufacture their own chemical weapons feed on toxic organisms and steal their chemical defenses, having evolved resistance to them. One animal that does this is a sea slug that lives on the reefs surrounding Hawaii and dines on toxic Bryopsis algae. Marine scientists suspected the toxin is made by a bacterium that lives within the alga but have only just discovered the species responsible and teased apart the complex relationship between slug, seaweed, and microbe.

An international group of microbiologists, including Georgia Tech's Frank Stewart, is warning that as science tries to search for climate-change solutions, it’s ignoring the potential consequences for climate change’s tiniest, unseen victims – the world’s microbial communities.

It is a fact that climate is changing, but how much and how fast are the subject of debate. Georgia Tech researchers are attempting to answer these questions for peatlands, a freshwater wetland ecosystem. Their recent work indicates that warming of peatlands increases microbial production of greenhouse gases, releases more methane than carbon dioxide, reduces microbial diversity, and alters the composition of microbial communities in peat soils. 

Those same antibiotics driving antibiotic resistance could also help defeat it if used with the right strategy. Making it work would require companion health strategies like staying home from work when carrying resistant bacteria.

Georgia Tech has named William Ratcliff and Peter Yunker as recipients of the 2019 Sigma Xi Faculty Best Paper Award. They are co-principal authors of the paper “Cellular packing, mechanical stress and the evolution of multicellularity,” published in Nature Physics in 2018.

Bulking up to avoid being eaten may have been one reason single-celled organisms joined to form multicellular entities.

The American Academy of Microbiology (AAM) has elected 109 new fellows in 2019. Among them are Joel Kostka and Joshua Weitz.

Georgia Tech scientists with expertise in microbial chemical ecology, evolution, and quantitative modeling have formed the Center for Microbial Dynamics and Infection. The center will investigate the mechanisms and consequences of microbial community dynamics in the environment and during infection.

Massive whale sharks headline the Ocean Voyager exhibit at the Georgia Aquarium.  Its tiniest residents are the ones that concern Nastassia Patin in ScienceMatters Episode 4.

Little is known about plant microbiomes, particularly those associated with salt-tolerant coastal plants like Spartina alterniflora, which dominate Georgia’s salt marshes. With funding from Georgia Sea Grant, Kostka is studying the microbes intimately associated with Spartina to better understand how the plant microbiome supports the health of Georgia’s salt marshes.

Brian Hammer and Joel Kostka, in the School of Biological Sciences, are among the most distinguished lecturers and researchers the American Society of Microbiology selected in 2018 to speak at various ASM branch meetings throughout the U.S.

Despite the wealth of information about how bacteria communicate, little is known about how quorum sensing proceeds during an infection. Georgia Tech researchers describe for the first time how close bacteria need to be to “talk” in an environment similar to chronic infection in cystic fibrosis.   

Frank Stewart and Darren Parris are being recognized for their collaborative Summer Workshop in Marine Science (SWiMS) program. The award recognizes genuine and substantial partnerships between Georgia Tech faculty and students and the K-12 community. Also receiving the award is their K-12 partner Jennifer Jones, a chemistry teacher at Rockdale County High School.

Researchers experimenting with live zebrafish witnessed a 200% increase in the strength of intestinal contractions soon after the organisms were exposed to the cholera-causing bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The strong contractions led to expulsion of native gut bacteria.Researchers experimenting with live zebrafish witnessed a 200% increase in the strength of intestinal contractions soon after the organisms were exposed to the cholera-causing bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The strong contractions led to expulsion of native gut bacteria.

Annual two-day event showcases thought leaders in microbiology research from Georgia Tech and beyond

Mark E. Hay, Regents Professor and Harry and Linda Teasley Chair in the School of Biological Sciences at Georgia Tech, is the recipient of the 2018 Gilbert Morgan Smith Medal of the National Academy of Sciences. The award recognizes Hay’s research into algal science, with implications for the world’s imperiled coral reefs.

Antibiotics could become nearly useless by mid-century against intense infections due to bacteria evolving antibiotic resistance. And alternative treatments haven't been able to replace antibiotics in those big infections. It's time for a rethink: Try reducing antibiotic use for small infections and find alternate remedies for them instead to slow the evolution of resistance. That should preserve antibiotic effectiveness for the big infections.

Scholar, educator, award-winning book author, interdisciplinary innovator, and shaper of future scientists, Joshua S. Weitz wears many hats at Georgia Tech, but his influence reaches far beyond. For his contributions to the field of viral ecology, Joshua Weitz has been elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

Sam Brown aims to understand the dynamics of the bacterial populations – or microbiomes – associated with cystic fibrosis to develop treatments targeting the specific microbiomes of individual patients.

The rise of antibiotic-resistant superbugs poses a serious public health threat.  In response, scientists and clinicians are exploring alternative ways to cure bacterial infections that are untreatable by antibiotics. One approach is to use bacteria-killing viruses – also known as bacteriophage, or phage.

What can microorganisms teach us about climate change? Plenty, because microbes respond, adapt, and evolve faster than other organisms. Scientists can discover how microorganisms will change because of global warming more quickly than is possible for complex organisms. Understanding how microbes respond to climate change will help predict its effects on other forms of life, including humans.

Could bacteria with aggressive weapons someday replace some antibiotics? Perhaps. Researchers are using math to predict cholera strains' effectiveness against competing cholera, as they stab and poison each other on the battlefield. Being able to calculate the action virtually as well as a chemical reaction helps open the door to biomedical and other engineering uses.

For marine protected areas established to help coral reefs recover from overfishing, size really does seem to make a difference. 

A recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences analyzed the viral content of the human gut (Manrique et al., PNAS, 2016). The research focused on a particular kind of virus called bacteriophage, which only infect bacterial cells and do not infect human cells. Manrique and colleagues found that healthy individuals had a “core” group of bacteriophage. In addition, they found that these core bacteriophage were less frequently found in individuals with gastrointestinal disease. This novel finding reveals a potential link between the viruses in our gut and our health. Joshua Weitz explains.

Georgia Tech researchers have developed a theory to unite the study of behavior and its effect on the environment. In doing so, they combined theories of strategic behavior with those of resource depletion and restoration, leading to what they term an “oscillating tragedy of the commons.” 

That the right funding can focus science on longer, bigger gains becomes clear through the example of Will Ratcliff, just named a 2016 Packard Fellow. The announcement jolted his research mindset far beyond the horizons of his prior projects, and has inspired a vision for a research legacy and high hopes of making a lasting contribution to evolutionary science.

Global warming is expanding ocean regions where oxygen has already vanished. There, newly discovered bacteria deplete waters of nitrogen, a nutrient essential to life. Though nitrogen depletion itself is natural, it appears to be expanding along with burgeoning dead zones. That could add to greenhouse gas production and cause other imbalances, and newly discovered bacteria play a major role.