bacterium

Bubonic plague is the most common type of plague, caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, characterised by swollen lymph nodes called "buboes".

"Antibiotics are failing, and the most likely substitute is viruses themselves. Before using viruses as antibiotic replacements to treat human infections, however, we must understand how the bacterium defends itself from viral attack."

The way in which they bioengineered the octopus pigment, a chemical, in a bacterium represents a novel departure from typical biotechnological approaches.

It is rare for food contaminated by listeria, a bacterium, to cause a very serious infection, known as listeriosis.

Beyond the vast knowledge accumulated about its genetics and the tools that make it easy to engineer, the bacterium grows quickly and predictably on a wide variety of substrates.