The “cheese microbiome” as a model system continues to yield useful results. Model systems for microbiome & microbial ecology studies are really important and it is great to see how this system has continued to develop. This is worth a look. The search for lively bacterial communities led Rachel Dutton, a microbiologist at UC San …
This may be of interest to some. I made a Storify of some Tweets by me and a few others from a talk by Jo Handelsman yesterday. ———————– UPDATE December 2018 Storify is no longer in existence. Fortunately we were able to convert the Storify summary to one via Wakelet. Wakelet details Link to the …
This looks pretty cool Source: Superbugs | Longitude Prize From their site Destroy deadly bacteria and keep humanity’s precious antibiotics working for as long as you can in this free, fast-paced, and addictive action game. The story of this casual, real-time puzzle game comes straight from today’s headlines: The rise of superbugs, resistant bacteria which …
A University of Washington study found surgeons in the nude shed ‘significantly less bacteria than those wearing scrubs’, but admitted it was not likely to ever happen. So – this DailyMail story certainly has a catchy headline: Surgeons can stop spread of germs by operating NAKED | Daily Mail Online. Alas, the story is seriously …
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 …
This new paper may be of interest: Source: Disparate Antibiotic Resistance Gene Quantities Revealed across 4 Major Cities in California: A Survey in Drinking Water, Air, and Soil at 24 Public Parks – ACS Omega (ACS Publications) Abstract: Widespread prevalence of multidrug and pandrug-resistant bacteria has prompted substantial concern over the global dissemination of antibiotic …
Lots of news stories about a new paper from Jack Gilbert, Simon Lax, and many others on results of their “Hospital Microbiome” study. I apologize that, since I am co-running a conference for the next two days I just have not had time to read all these stories and the paper and thus do not yet …
I’ve been making art for almost two decades now, most of it inspired by developments in science. But it was impossible for me as an artist, an American, and a proud resident of Washington, DC, not to be affected by the political turmoil of the past year. I’ve been protesting my heart out, and eventually I …
OK. So money has microbes on it. Not surprising. And when people find out such information they frequently go overboard in the germophobia. See for example these stories from over the years 1999: Filthy Lucre – Paper Money As A Vector Of Disease 2010: Dirty money 1: Expect germs 2010: How Bad Are Germs on Money 2012: …
The disease-causing organisms Burkholderia multivorans, B. cepacia, genomovars of the B. cepacia complex (BCC), as well as an unclassified species of Burkholderia, and its relatives Ralstonia pickettii and R. insidiosa account for 60% of the bacterial isolates obtained from the filtrated water system on board the International Space Station (ISS). Members of these genera can …