It’s becoming increasingly well-established that microbes behave differently in microgravity than on Earth… that’s one of the justifications for our own Project MERCCURI. Some previous work has focused on the ability of microbes to survive higher-than-normal levels of antibiotics when grown in space, though the mechanism for this is not at all understood. This article …
The two greatest scientific breakthroughs of twentieth century, if we measure by increased life expectancy, were improvements in our ability to kill microorganisms (drinking water disinfection and the invention of antibiotics). Perhaps as a remnant of these advances, it seems to me that the average citizen has a largely abiotic mindset, seeing microorganisms as agents …
I’ve had a number of conversations over the last decade that have gone something like this: Other person: “I totally agree that overuse of antibiotics and antibacterials is a problem” Me: “Do you realize how pervasive they are? They’re in toys, laundry detergent, hand soap, cosmetics, deodorants, you name it. In fact, I’ll bet there’s …
Day 2: Started off the day with the “Microbes in Action! Dynamics of Single Cells to Communities” which included some great talks by Greg Caporaso, Sarah Cobey, Mary Lidstrom, Trina McMahon, and Jeff Gore. The afternoon was a tough call between “Microbiology’s Next Top Model: Predicting the Future with Math and Microbes” organized by Jack …
In their just published paper in Environmental Science & Technology, “Tetracycline Resistance and Class 1 Integron Genes Associated with Indoor and Outdoor Aerosols,” Alison L. Ling, Norman R. Pace, Mark T. Hernandez, and Timothy M. LaPara have found that genes escape the indoor environment and can be found 2 km away. The abstract can be …
Crossposting this from my Tree of Life blog. Well, press releases can drive me crazy. And this one is one of the worst I have seen in a while: IBM News room – 2013-01-24 IBM and The Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology Develop New Antimicrobial Hydrogel to Fight Superbugs and Drug-Resistant Biofilms – United States This …
The Germ Guy is today’s microBEnet microbiology’s Blog of the Day. Blogs are taken from list of Microbiology Blogs we have curated at microBEnet. The germ guy blog is by Jason “Germ Guy” Tetro and it focuses on “A personal and unique look at germs, hygiene and staying healthy.” He is pretty active in media and social media (e.g., follow him on …
Crossposting from my Tree of Life blog with a few minor edits. I am starting a new “microbiology blog of the day” series here. This is a culmination of something I started at the ASM Meeting in June. When I went to the Communications Committee meeting, I suggested that there were lots of interesting microbiology …
One of the problems I’ve faced as a microbiologist attempting to learn about the built environment is the incredible amount of snake oil and pseudoscience that swirls around the edges of the field. There’s a huge body of solid, peer-reviewed research in the field of course. But there’s a lot of company-sponsored pseudoscience out there …
The second new project to receive funding from the Sloan foundation is a project entitled “Analysis of the ICU room environment as a source of microorganisms colonizing the GI tract of premature infants”. This project is being managed by Jill Banfield at UC Berkeley, along with her Co-PIs; Michael Morowitz (University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine) …