Colonies of enterococci on a Petri dish. One in a million of the bacteria in this dish will have the blueprints for antimicrobial resistance hidden in their genes. Credit must be given to the creator.

A former intern at The Scientist, Amy studied neurobiology at Cornell University and later earned her MFA in creative writing from the University of Iowa. She is a Los Angeles–based writer, editor, ...

Gut feeling: Stomach bacteria can cause mood swings, even depression 1mo A team of US-based scientists have found "a probable causal connection" between a form of bacteria found in the human gut ...

vomiting blood black and tarry stools, or stools with dark red blood nausea and vomiting that is especially persistent and severe These symptoms indicate a medical emergency. The affected person ...

All better. Except it doesn't always work that way, and sometimes the bacteria can cause lasting harm. One particular critter, Helicobacter pylori, infects the stomach and can live there for ...