Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain
the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in
Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles
and JavaScript.
Scientific illustrations help to communicate complex information and data across disciplines. The work of science animators and illustrators is therefore a valuable part of effective science communication, in particular for microbiology, as the majority of organisms studied cannot be seen with the naked eye.
Many bacteria and archaea are polyploid. Here, the means by which some of these prokaryotes carry genomes that are not always equivalent in sequence and/or function are described, and the importance of such non-equivalent genomes is discussed.
Interactive annotation and commenting tools provide a means to ground animations in experimental evidence and to support scientific discourse and progress.
Crystallizing biological complexity into animation has been Arkitek Scientific’s mission for the past 25 years. Co-founder Beth Anderson explains how she got started in science animation and why it remains her passion.
Microbiological research has made important discoveries about how life responds to non-terrestrial environments, such as those found aboard the International Space Station. As human space exploration transitions to longer, deep-space missions, microorganisms will continue to play an increasingly critical role in astronaut health, habitat sustainability and mission success.
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to progress through 2021, microbiology remains in the public eye. Here, we reflect on the content that we published over the past year, from SARS-CoV-2 to all other areas of the field.
A group convened and led by the Virus Evolution Working Group of the World Health Organization reports on its deliberations and announces a naming scheme that will enable clear communication about SARS-CoV-2 variants of interest and concern.
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are being integrated into bioeconomy strategies around the world, including the European Green Deal. We highlight how microbiome-based innovations can contribute to policies that interface with the SDGs and argue that international cooperation in microbiome science is crucial for success.
In the past five years Nature Microbiology has championed research and commentary across the breadth of the discipline. Going forwards, we will expand our scope to include the biology and applications of microorganisms that can help to address the pressing issues of global change and sustainable living.
In response to COVID-19, universities and other education providers pivoted rapidly from in-class learning to digital course instruction. Student tuition was deemed essential, thus swift change ensued. Similarly, if equity, diversity and inclusion are truly deemed essential at those same institutions, change could occur now — not later.
Big data abound in microbiology, but the workflows designed to enable researchers to interpret data can constrain the biological questions that can be asked. Five years after anvi’o was first published, this community-led multi-omics platform is maturing into an open software ecosystem that reduces constraints in ‘omics data analyses.
Microbiology has been front and centre during the ongoing SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. We reflect on the content we published this year and look ahead to aligning output with the Sustainable Development Goals in 2021.
Do you ‘beat’ or ‘treat’ a virus infection? Are you strong if you survive SARS-CoV-2 but weak if you don’t? Language matters if we are to galvanize people to follow public health guidance during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Summer research programmes are renowned for encouraging underrepresented minorities (URMs) to pursue STEM careers, but COVID-19 left many students in the United States unable to participate. We created the National Summer Undergraduate Research Project to matchmake students with mentors, enabling 250 URM students to do summer research.
