Bacteria cause tooth decay, plaque, bad breath, and other diseases. Despite being cleaned with water and toothpaste, oral bacteria live on our toothbrushes. Bacterial growth has been shown to be inhibited by different toothpastes and common household spices. This study tested how different toothpastes and common household spices, including cinnamon, cumin, nutmeg, and ground white pepper, can inhibit bacteria from growing on toothbrushes

Large corporations often are known for their financial power, but what social and environmental power and conscious do they have? The more responsible corporations are in relation to environmental, social, and governance criteria the better they do fiscally.

This study aimed to determine whether artificial sweeteners are harmful to the human microbiome by investigating two different bacteria found to be advantageous to the human gut, Escherichia coli and Bacillus coagulans. Results showed dramatic reduction in bacterial growth for agar plates containing two artificial sweeteners in comparison to two natural sweeteners. This led to the conclusion that both artificial sweeteners inhibit the growth of the two bacteria and warrants further study to determine if zero-sugar sweeteners may be worse for the human gut than natural sugar itself.

Since the discovery that thousands of different bacteria colonize our gut, many of which are important for human wellbeing, understanding the significance of balancing the different species on the human body has been intensely researched. Untangling the complexity of the gut microbiome and establishing the effect of the various strains on human health is a challenge in many circumstances, and the need for simpler systems to improve our basic understanding of microbe-host interactions seems necessary. C. elegans are a well-established laboratory animal that feed on bacteria and can thus serve as a less complex system for studying microbe-host interactions. Here the authors investigate how the choice of bacterial diet affects worm fertility. The same approach could be applied to many different outcomes, and facilitate our understanding of how the microbes colonizing our guts affect various bodily functions.

Pillai et al. look at whether exposure to Schistosoma mansoni, a parasitic blood fluke, has any relation to peanut allergies. They found that cockroaches exposed to an antigen found in S. mansoni eggs exhibited an allergic reaction to peanuts.

Unsatisfactory hand hygiene leads to the spread of bacterial infections from person to person. To address this problem, the authors developed and tested the PeelTowel, an antibacterial and water-absorbing towel made of a combination of fruit peels and recycled paper waste.

In this study, the impact of thermal effects on the orbit of an asteroid is investigated. This included determining if the asteroid's orbit would push into a region devoid of asteroids due to the gravitational pull of Jupiter.

Phage therapy has been suggested as an alternative to antibiotics because bacteria resistant to antibiotics may still be susceptible to phages. However, phages may have limited effectiveness in combating bacteria since bacteria possess several antiviral defense mechanisms and can quickly develop resistance to phages. In this study, Wu and Pinta compare the effectiveness and specificity of antibiotics and phages in combating bacteria. They found that T4 phages are more specific and effective in fighting or inhibiting both antibiotic-resistant and sensitive bacteria than antibiotics, suggesting that phage therapy can be developed as an efficient tool to combat antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

In this study, the authors investigated the antimicrobial properties of the tree species, Populus balsamifera. It was observed that the extract of the buds of P. balsamifera was highly effective against gram-positive bacteria. This helps to indicate the potential use of P. balsamifera in the medical field to eliminate gram-positive bacteria.

Mainstream cancer treatments, which include radiotherapy and chemotherapeutic drugs, are known to induce oxidative damage to healthy somatic cells due to the liberation of harmful free radicals. In order to avert this, physiological antioxidants must be complemented with external antioxidants. Here the authors performed a preliminary phytochemical screen to identify alkaloids, saponins, flavonoids, polyphenols, and tannins in all parts of the Amaranthus spinosus Linn. plant. This paper describes the preparation of this crude extract and assesses its antioxidant properties for potential use in complementary cancer treatment.