This study aimed to explore the culturable bacterial community in healthy volunteers, with a focus on the staphylococcal population. First, 120 bacterial isolates were collected from conjunctival swabs of 49 healthy volunteers (aged 18 to 77 years). Isolates were characterized by phenotypic analyses, and 68 of them were confirmed as staphylococci by MALDI-TOF/MS and a multiplex PCR assay. The Staphylococcus strains ( n = 68) w...

Bottom trawling affects seabed habitats, but its large‐scale impacts remain poorly quantified. Assessment of trawling impacts is essential to support monitoring and achieving sustainability objectives under international conventions, sustainable development goals, and seafood certification programs. We present a Europe‐wide quantitative assessment of bottom trawling impacts, accounting for regional seabed‐community sensitivity...

This article presents the outcomes of a national initiative aimed at developing a technical document to support the future Italian National Genomic Strategy, carried out from 2021 to 2024 through the collaboration of 14 research institutions. The project was designed to align with major European genomic initiatives, particularly the “1 + Million Genomes” (1 + MG) Declaration and its supporting programs, including Beyond 1 Mill...

The emergence of new SARS-CoV-2 variants poses challenges to global surveillance efforts, necessitating swift actions in their detection, evaluation, and management. Among the most recent variants, Omicron BA.2.86 and its sub-lineages have gained attention due to their potential immune evasion properties. This study describes the development of a digital PCR assay for the rapid detection of BA.2.86 and its descendant lineages,...

Background and aims Intestinal fibrosis is a common complication of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), namely Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC), but the precise mechanism by which it occurs is incompletely understood hampering the development of effective therapeutic strategies. Here, we aimed at inducing and characterizing an inflammation-mediated fibrosis in patient-derived organoids (PDOs) issued from crypts i...

Viral infections have always been the main global health challenge, as several potentially lethal viruses, including the hepatitis virus, herpes virus, and influenza virus, have affected human health for decades. Unfortunately, most licensed antiviral drugs are characterized by many adverse reactions and, in the long-term therapy, also develop viral resistance; for these reasons, researchers have focused their attention on inv...