We’ve talked in the past about uses for bacteria to sense and repair concrete (e.g. here and here) but this podcast is the first time I’ve heard the idea of using bacteria as pure sensors. In the words of the podcast summary “scientists might be able to develop a bacterial early warning system for our …
This study, just published in Infection and Immunity has been getting a lot of press: Some bacteria ‘live for long periods’ on toys, books and cribs Germs that cause colds can last outside human body for months: study Crib toys, day care items can harbor strep bacteria for months The basic gist of this story …
The study of how aerosols disperse and settle is an important part of the microbiology of the built environment and there are several groups working on the topic. However, this story was the first I’ve heard about modeling this process in zero gravity. The settling of aerosols in particular is quite different in spacecraft than …
A conference organized by the European Commission on the European antimicrobial resistance (AMR) five year action plan and its future challenges is taking place in Brussels today, 11 December. The conference is intended to provide a platform to discuss this action plan at the mid-stage of its implementation, looking at the issue both from a …
One of my spare time activities is to listen to science-themed podcasts and for several years I’ve been following the “This week in Microbiology” and “This week in Virology” podcasts hosted by Vincent Racanielloand friends at Columbia University. During the podcast, the hosts usually discuss a couple papers of interest to them similar to a …
Well, I have always told people that we need more mixing of art and science. In recent years we have seen lots of attempts to do some sort of art inspired by – or even incorporating – microbes. But this is perhaps the other side of the coin. Art is significantly influenced by microbes in …
For those doing microbial diversity studies, analysis of rRNA genes via PCR is still a fundamental tool. And thankfully many people keep maintaining various databases and tools for people to use to carry out analysis of rRNA data. Here are some new papers of relevance: The SILVA and “All-species Living Tree Project (LTP)” taxonomic frameworks. …