If you’re not already acquainted, meet Mycobacterium tuberculosis – a wildly successful bacterium that has marched in lockstep with our population growth and history. The cause of tuberculosis, this bacterium is said to infect a new host every single second.

Research lead Caitlin Pepperell from University of Wisconsin-Madison remarked, "Evolutionary theory predicts that M. tuberculosis populations should be vulnerable to extinction. Yet it is obviously highly prevalent. It must have some incredibly clever strategies and tricks to hang on."

A paper published last month in PLoS Pathogens investigated 63 genomes from the bacteria and related pathogenic mycobacteria to gain insight into how natural election pressures have shaped its evolution and ...

The deadliest substance known to man is a recently discovered type of botulinum toxin (botox). The scientists who discovered it haven’t found an antitoxin yet, so they have decided not to publish the gene sequence due to security concerns. The toxin comes from the bacterium Clostridium botulinum and blocks the chemical signals that makes nerves work, causing botulism and death by paralysis. The image shown above is the protein structure of botulinum toxin.

Have you heard about two new gigantic viruses that have been discovered? They measure around 1 micrometer long & half that across – larger than some eukaryotic cells! Massive genomes up to 2.5 Mb (millions of base pairs) are present to match their giant size. Their discovery raises many questions on viral diversity that remains unexplored.