Microbiology

Stuck Fermentation In Wine Triggered By Prions

A chronic problem in wine making is when yeast that should be busily converting grape sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide prematurely shuts down, leaving the remaining sugar to instead be consumed by bacteria that can spoil the wine. ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 28 2014 - 8:30pm

Your Microbiome Is Shared With Your Family...Including Your Pets

Humans transport microbes around their environment. Image: Argonne National Laborator y By Emma Saville, The Conversation and Penny Orbell, The Conversation Microbial communities vary greatly between different households but are similar among members of t ...

Article - The Conversation - Aug 31 2014 - 12:26pm

Cut Greenhouse Gases Using Microbes

Nitrous oxide (N 2 O) is a potent greenhouse gas that is also responsible for destroying the ozone layer.  INRA researchers in Dijon have shown that the ability of soils to eliminate N 2 O can mainly be explained by the diversity and abundance of a new gr ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 31 2014 - 1:00pm

Human Breast Milk- The Magic In The Microbiome

Human breast milk is nutrition for infants but it also contains a large number of bacterial species, including some opportunistic pathogens of humans.  ...

Article - News Staff - Sep 2 2014 - 12:31pm

How We Tricked E. Coli Bacteria Into Making Renewable Propane

By Patrik Jones, Imperial College London Converting renewable energy into electricity is one thing; converting it into fuel is quite another. The vast majority of global energy demand is for fuel, and a renewable source could help us heat our houses and t ...

Article - The Conversation - Sep 2 2014 - 3:00pm

Nature Versus Nurture: Going To Extreme For Enzymes

In the search for enzymes that can break lignocellulose down into biofuel sugars under the extreme conditions of a refinery, researchers are investigating new ways to release plant sugars from lignin for the production of liquid transportation fuels. Sugar ...

Article - News Staff - Sep 8 2014 - 9:01am

Gobbling Up Poison: Immunotoxins For Killing Colon Cancer?

Immunotoxins are targeted antibodies that go after deadly toxins like ricin. In the quest to find targeted therapies for cancer- that kill cancer but spare the surrounding tissue, immunotoxins make perfect sense. But they have not succeeded in part becaus ...

Article - News Staff - Sep 8 2014 - 1:40pm

Microbial Factories Could Produce Locally Brewed Painkillers

Soon to be grown for ornamental use only.Credit: Mark Nesbitt and Samuel Delwen, CC BY By Luc Henry, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne ...

Article - The Conversation - Sep 8 2014 - 11:01pm

Bacteria That Can Eat Radioactive Waste Discovered

Tiny single-cell organisms living underground could help with the problem of nuclear waste disposal, according to a paper in the ISME (Multidisciplinary Journal of Microbial Ecology) Journal.   This is good news for Americans, since the Obama administrati ...

Article - News Staff - Sep 9 2014 - 9:31am

How The African Midge Can Survive Without Water And In The Vacuum Of Space

Imagine being able to go from the hottest of hots to the coldest of colds, and endure both extreme droughts, where 97% of your body water is gone, and airless vacuums such as space. The African midge,  Polypedilum vanderplanki, can do all that and an inter ...

Article - News Staff - Sep 14 2014 - 10:08am