Of potential interest: Sept. 12-14 2017. Training course in Preserving, storing and maintaining microorganisms. From the site: Presented by staff from CABI, this course will be of interest to everyone involved in the handling, distributing and storing microorganisms. The course covers all aspects of culture preservation, maintenance and culture collection management and complies with the …
A while back I posted scans of some seminars from a while back here and I thought I would restart this activity (which I call retroblogging). I (and I hope some others) find it really interest to go back and see what people were talking about 10, 20, or more years ago. See for example Retroblogging …
There is a very interesting article by Kate Baggaley in Popular Science from a few weeks ago that is definitely worth a look. “Bacteria and fungi are a menace to paintings, sculptures, and ancient artifacts.” Source: The world’s art is under attack—by microbes | Popular Science It discusses how microbes are damaging various kinds of …
So as more and more companies start marketing cosmetic products with supposedly probiotic microbes in them (see eg., Farris Jabr’s excellent article in the NY Times from two days ago), it is important to recognize that, as the article linked below says “the cosmetic industry is largely self regulated.” Definitely worth a read. Manufacturers are not …
Just saw this story and thought people might be interested in it. Source: Brain-Invading Tapeworm That Eluded Doctors Spotted by New DNA Test – Scientific American The article discusses a new test to be offered by UCSF as well as some other tests from other places that all involve some type of metagenomic sequencing to …
Next week, the Lublin University of Technology in Lublin, Poland will host the Healthy Buildings Europe conference. Over 300 scientists, engineers, and professionals will gather to present and discuss building science. The Sloan Foundation is sponsoring workshops at the meeting to bring together leaders in the field and advance the state of the science. A …
OK – I am not really sure how much of this is new, but a new paper in AEM is getting some press recently. I first found out about it via a Tweet from Elisabeth Bik Wallpaper May Breed Toxins: Study Wallpaper may contribute to “sick building syndrome,”https://t.co/GdVUNBCYha — Elisabeth Bik (@MicrobiomDigest) June 25, 2017 …
The University of Wisconsin at Madison has announced a new microbiome initiative. See below for more details. The initiative aims to position UW-Madison faculty to be more competitive when applying for federal funding. Source: New campus initiative targets microbiome research
This is definitely worth a read: Source: Could the Answer to the Antibiotic-Resistance Crisis Be Found on a Toilet Seat? – The Atlantic Or a listen to since there is an audio version of the story (see below).\ The article basically discusses work by Adam Roberts to survey the world for new antibiotics. The best …
There is a news story of interest from a few weeks ago in the NY Times: Are Pets the New Probiotic? – The New York Times It discusses the concept and some of the research on how animals and their microbiomes could in some cases play a role in shaping the human immune system and human …