Microbiology

Genetically Modified Bacteria Mop Up Mercury Spills

Thousands of tons of toxic mercury are released into the environment each year and much of it ends up in sediment where it is converted into toxic methyl mercury,- and then enters the food chain, including in the fish we eat.  New research in BMC Biotechn ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 11 2011 - 3:30pm

Found: 3.4 Billion-Year-Old Fossils Of Sulfur-Metabolizing Microbes

The fossils of 3.4-billion-year-old microbes that used sulfur compounds for energy have been found in rocks from Western Australia, reports a paper published in Nature Geoscience.  David Wacey, Martin Brasier and colleagues analyzed microstructures present ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 21 2011 - 6:34pm

Viruses Taught To Self-Assemble Into Structures

Using a single-step process, researchers recently developed a technique to cause M13 phages to become building blocks for materials with a wide range of properties. These benign viruses self-assembled into hierarchically organized thin-film structures, wit ...

Article - News Staff - Oct 21 2011 - 4:38pm

Fighting Antibiotic Resistance

Antibiotic resistance is a huge problem. More and more resistant strains of microbes are appearing. Needless to state that this has a huge human and economic cost. Combining this with the increasing globalization, the threat of a global outbreak of an inf ...

Article - Gunnar De Winter - Nov 6 2011 - 10:43am

Can Science Define Life In Three Words?

In November 2011, NASA launched its biggest, most ambitious mission to Mars. The $2.5 billion Mars Science Lab spacecraft will arrive in orbit around the Red Planet this August, releasing a lander that will use rockets to control a slow descent into the a ...

Article - Carl Zimmer - Jan 12 2012 - 12:43am

Zombie Bacteria- Lag Phase In Salmonella

Bacteria can multiply rapidly, potentially doubling every 20 minutes in ideal conditions but this exponential growth phase is preceded by a period known as lag phase, where no increase in cell number is seen. Lag phase was first described in the 19th Centu ...

Article - News Staff - Feb 3 2012 - 12:00pm

Do Bacteria Talk? Maybe In Their Own Way

What if bacteria could talk? Or use touch? A new study hypothesizes that bacterial cells may need to communicate in order to perform certain functions.  ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 1 2012 - 2:14pm

Fungi: Weapons Of Biomass Destruction

Where would we be without fungi and microbes to break down dead trees and leaf litter in nature? Up to our eyeballs in arborial garbage, that's where. ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 22 2012 - 5:30pm

How Do White Blood Cells Stay On Target?

Imagine, if you will, that your computer screen (or iThingie, or DroidDevice) were to suddenly explode, driving a shard of shrapnel deep into your shoulder.  Very quickly, your white blood cells would sense the intruder and rush to the site of the insult, ...

Article - Robert Cooper - Apr 12 2012 - 9:45am

Made To Order Microbes And The Future Of Food

At one time,  J. Craig Venter, Ph.D.,  was a maverick outsider, determined to beat Big Science to the human genome and at a lot less cost.  Now he is the ultimate insider, giving  a plenary talk at the most recent American Chemical Society meeting. ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 26 2012 - 12:19am