Paper generating a lot of buzz: Nucleic acid purification from plants, animals and microbes in under 30 seconds

Well, this paper is generating a lot of buzz on social media.  Nucleic acid purification from plants, animals and microbes in under 30 seconds.  For example see Eric Topol’s Tweet about it Now this is innovative: paper dipstick extraction of DNA or RNA in < 30 seconds https://t.co/RKuLsAW7fM @PLOSBiology @UQ_News pic.twitter.com/FH1krTFYMw — Eric Topol (@EricTopol) …

Nice title, nice paper: Microbiome Datasets Are Compositional: And This Is Not Optional 

This seems like it is a must read for anyone working on microbiomes: Frontiers | Microbiome Datasets Are Compositional: And This Is Not Optional | Microbiology Gloor GB, Macklaim JM, Pawlowsky-Glahn V and Egozcue JJ (2017) Microbiome Datasets Are Compositional: And This Is Not Optional. Front. Microbiol. 8:2224. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2017.02224 Summary from the paper: Datasets …

Antibiotics Use In Livestock: A Taste of Our Own Medicine 

There is a nice article by Katherine Wu on the history of antibiotic usage in livestock that is worth a look:  A Taste of Our Own Medicine – I Contain Multitudes – Medium This is part of the HHMI/Tangled Bank Studio’s series on “I Contain Multitudes” based on Ed Yong’s book of the same name. It …

Save the date: Dec 12-13 workshop on infectious diseases in the urban built environment

On December 12-13, the National Academies’ Forum on Microbial Threats, in collaboration with the Board on Life Sciences, will host a 1.5-day workshop examining “Urbanization and Slums: New Transmission Pathways of Infectious Diseases in the Built Environment.” This workshop was developed with input from the experts and staff that produced the National Academy of Sciences …

Indoor microbiology paper of interest on effects of moisture & interventions

For those interested in microbiology of the built environment this paper seems definitely worth checking out: Indoor microbiota in severely moisture damaged homes and the impact of interventions. Jayaprakash B, Adams RI, Kirjavainen P, Karvonen A, Vepsäläinen A, Valkonen M, Järvi K, Sulyok M, Pekkanen J, Hyvärinen A, Täubel M. Microbiome. 2017 Oct 13; 5(1):138 Abstract …

Nominate an Expert: Managing Legionella in Water Systems

An update on this story Managing Legionella in Water Systems Nominate Experts for an Upcoming Consensus Project The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine will undertake a project on the management of Legionella in water systems. An ad hoc committee will review the state of science with respect to Legionella contamination of water systems and issue a report that will: describe the microbial …

BE microbiome as biosensors

  Hi MoBE blog, I just wanted to share a piece that I recently wrote for a Special Issue on the journal Microbial Biotechnology. The Special issue presents a collection articles about “The contribution of microbial biotechnology to sustainable development goals”, and the title of my article is “Microbial communities as biosensors for monitoring urban …

Biology of Vector-borne Diseases Course at @uidaho June 24-29, 2018

This looks really good. Posting at the request of one of my ex-UC Davis colleagues – the amazing/brilliant Shirley Luckhart – who has recently moved to Idaho and is helping run the course. The Center for Health in the Human Ecosystem at the University of Idaho is hosting its inaugural annual “Biology of Vector-borne Diseases” six-day course. This …