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You may have encountered the term "D614G mutation" when reading about the COVID delta variant. What does this mean? Why is it important? Why does it make "delta COVID" more infectious? Keep reading.

When combined, science and religion can be a powerful force for good. Let's use it to vanquish COVID.

We need new coronavirus variants like a duodenal ulcer, but they're here – something any virologist would have said was inevitable. Here's a lesson on how mutation works. Plus an explanation of what those crazy letters and numbers mean that you see in the news.

University of Montana researchers discovered that when grown in co-culture, two different species of the fungus Penicillium – the same genus that produces the antibiotic penicillin – cooperate to synthesize an antibiotic that neither species produces when grown alone.

Natural immunity comes from being exposed to a microbe that causes a disease. Vaccination-mediated immunity comes from being exposed to a vaccine that is similar to but not the same as the microbe. If we understand a bit more about our immune system and its memory, it will help us navigate the information and misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines, the COVID variants, and the length of our immunologic memory.

How will the Zika virus impact the U.S.? Hard to say, but researchers are taking it very seriously. In fact, one particular drug looks promising because it works similarly to Sovaldi, Gilead's revolutionary drug that was the first legitimate cure for hepatitis C. Although it's way too soon to tell if this approach will work, science is on their side.

As of today, people who are immunocompromised are allowed to receive a booster shot. Sounds simple, right? That is, until the madness becomes evident.

For many of us, COVID vaccination reduced the severity of illness, but not our becoming infected. We have a hybrid immunity now, tempered by that injectable mRNA of the spike protein and our exposure to real-world COVID. A new study suggests that we, of the hybrid immunity, have a reshaped and more enhanced immune response.

In order to accurately capture the nuance of an article, especially those about scientific and medical matters, headline writers and editors should read the piece before composing a headline.

We are fortunate enough that there is now an FDA-approved drug called Paxlovid, which does an incredible job of keeping COVID patients out of the hospital (or morgue). Yet NBCNews.com chose a sensationalist, scary headline about the drug as its lead health story of the day. Really lousy journalism.

Reporters and science communicators commonly point to widespread COVID misinformation to explain why so many people are skeptical of vaccines and other infection-control measures. Bad pandemic takes clearly influence the public, but there's much more to the story.

Many in mainstream media recently reported on the possibility of COVID-19 being transmitted during the flush of a toilet. While the physics involved appeared to be well modeled, the biologic implications are fuzzy at best. Here's how this scenario plays out.

Bacteria were conquered, at least temporarily, when modern antibiotics arrived on the scene. But the scene has changed. The bugs are fighting back and winning, which is putting us in a dangerous mess. In this chapter of his multi-part series, "What Will the Next Plague Be?" Dr. Steve Schow examines what can happen if we don't come up with better weapons against resistant bacteria.

Nearly a century ago, Lord Carnavon, who attended the opening of King Tut’s Tomb, died shortly afterwards, in April 1923. At the time, the sensational media linked his death to supernatural causes activated by the curse of the mummy’s tomb. More recently, this tale was rationalized by suggesting that his death was due to ancient disease causing microbes, lurking in the tomb, rather than supernatural influences.

Antiviral drugs will be a necessary addition to vaccines to tamp down COVID. Both Pfizer and Merck have drugs in the clinic and they both look good. Roche also has a candidate but things are looking pretty grim. How grim? Better read this.

Big news in the NFL! Superstar Aaron Rodgers, who claimed that he was "immunized" was playing the hidden ball trick with the public. He was nothing of the sort. Rodgers got homeopathic "treatment" instead of a vaccine and caught COVID. Perhaps he has taken too many shots to the head and not enough in the arm.

The activist group GM has attacked gene-edited crops by alleging that they're designed to increase pesticide use. Is there any truth to this allegation? With millions of COVID vaccine doses administered since December 2020, what have we learned about the risks associated with the shots?

Consumer Reports says conventional meat is causing more antibiotic resistance. Here is why they should stick to reviewing toasters.

You never know when you're going to find yourself 2,067 feet underwater off the coast of the Bahamas, looking for a sponge that doesn't exist yet. It's just another day at the office for antibiotic research scientists.

Nabriva, an antibiotic biotech, recently announced that they were winding down its operations. While this is sad, it may not be so much a market failure problem in this particular case.

The FDA approved Optimer Pharmaceuticals’ antibiotic Dificid on Friday, marking the first new medicine in 25 years approved to treat diarrhea caused by the bacterium Clostridium dificile. This is welcome news, since “C-diff” is likely even more of a problem in hospital settings than the antibiotic-resistant Staph, MRSA. C.

It s time to face the music: the golden age of antibiotics is over.

The messaging on vaccination, now entering its booster phase, has been mismanaged. That said, was the decision by the FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee “based” on science? Is it reasonable policy?

A new paper reports that Paxlovid-resistant Covid has been isolated, calling into question the utility of the drug as well as how it should be used. Is this cause for alarm? Not yet, but it could become just that. A look at viral resistance to drugs.

Those are the words of Pliny the Elder (except for the COVID part). Coincidentally, he died while trying to save friends during the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius. As it turns out, today's home is also where COVID-19 comes to visit, brought in by household members.