Bacterial spores—the hardy survival structures formed by certain bacterial species—are proving to be a game changer in the field of engineered living materials (ELMs). By embedding Bacillus spores ...

Discover how researchers used bacterial spores to make sustainable, living, smart materials that can endure harsh environments and perform programmed tasks.

The master chemists known as Streptomyces bacteria have turned a compound rich with the tangy odor of moist soil into a hitchhiking scam. This group of bacteria, the inspiration for streptomycin and ...

Researchers led by a team at the University of California San Diego have developed a biodegradable form of thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) that could help reduce the plastic industry’s environmental ...

Researchers at Umeå University have recently developed a highly sensitive method for detecting bacterial spores—tough microorganisms that survive extreme conditions and can cause both food poisoning ...

Scientists have demonstrated a creative solution to plastic pollution, one of our most pressing environmental problems. Plastic was embedded with spores of plastic-eating bacteria that are activated ...

Moss spores have just joined the short list of life forms proven to withstand the raw vacuum of space for months at a time, ...

Researchers at Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) have developed a new class of sustainable materials powered by ...

Strips of plain TPU (top) and "living" TPU (bottom) at different stages of decomposition over five months of being in compost. A new type of bioplastic could help reduce the plastic industry’s ...

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Vol. 106, No. 46 (Nov. 17, 2009), pp. 19334-19339 (6 pages) The bacterial spore, the hardiest known life form, can ...

Bacterial spores can survive for years, even centuries, without nutrients, resisting heat, UV radiation, and antibiotics. How inert, sleeping bacteria -- or spores -- spring back to life has been a ...