An image showing multiple bacteriophages attached to a bacterium’s cell wall, magnified 2,00,000-times.
| Photo Credit: Prof. Graham Beards (CC BY-SA)
Scientists use AI to design viruses to kill hardy bacteria
Scientists have used AI to design entire genomes for bacteriophages, viruses that infect and kill bacteria. Using ‘genome language models’, they generated thousands of new DNA sequences, then used them with a well-studied virus called ΦX174 as a template to yield 16 functional viruses. These phages were different from any found in nature, and could together successfully kill bacteria known to resist natural viruses. The work offers a path to create treatments to fight drug-resistant bacteria.
Snails tweak one ingredient for five mucus recipes
Cepaea nemoralis snails produce five types of mucus for different tasks, such as crawling, sticking to surfaces, and defence, ‘tuning’ the properties using calcium. Most animal mucus is slippery but snail mucus is versatile. Scientists found that it contains collagen VI as the building block, with the snails secreting calcium carbonate granules to adjust thickness and stickiness. This simple adjustment creates anything from a lubricant to a protective barrier, and could inspire new materials in medicine.
Long view reveals engineering’s effect on Yangtze floods
Human engineering and land-use changes have significantly intensified flood risks on the Yangtze river in the last 500 years. By analysing lake sediments and historical records, scientists found that while flood frequency naturally peaked during the Little Ice Age (1500-1850), human interventions have made recent floods more severe. Embankments increased the intensity of “100-year floods” by 18% and lake reclamation by 8%. The findings show how engineering projects intended to control floods have worsened their impact.
Published – August 09, 2026 08:00 am IST
