The Sloan Foundation has just announced funding for another two projects, we’ll be posting details here. The first project is called the “Hospital Microbiome Study” and will be managed by Jack Gilbert (University of Chicago) and Captain Benjamin Kirkup at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. Check out the project website here.
Well, normally I find popular press stories about getting rid of dust and bacteria to be mostly fear mongering. But this article from WebMD (which much of the time I have complaints about) actually seems worth a look: Are Vacuum Cleaners Bad for Your Health?. The article discusses in part new work from Australian researchers on …
Myth 1. Microbes are ALL bad (including “Bacteria are bad”, “Viruses are bad”, “Fungi are bad”, and so on). Probably the most common myth about microbes in general, the “microbes are bad” myth, inspires irrational fears and excessive, cleaning, sterilization and use of biocides. There are certainly dangerous microbes that can be found in the …
For those interested in microbial diversity and/or metagenomics there are two volumes that are coming out soon that are of interest: Handbook of Molecular Microbial Ecology I: Metagenomics and Complementary Approaches. Handbook of Molecular Microbial Ecology II: Metagenomics in Different Habitats Edited by Frans J. de Bruijn these two volumes are the most comprehensive coverage …
An automated search I have of Google News for “emerging infectious diseases” pulled up this: Orkin Issues Statement on Recent Bedbugs Study. In the press release Orkin discusses how they will help people deal with this new issue of bedbugs possibly carrying MRSA. The press release is actually not so awfully worded (compared to many). And …
National Academy of Sciences Climate Change, the Indoor Environment, and Health (2011) Sequence-Based Classification of Select Agents: A Brighter Line (2010) Antibiotic Resistance: Implications for Global Health and Novel Intervention Strategies: Workshop Summary (2010) Microbial Evolution and Co-Adaptation: A Tribute to the Life and Scientific Legacies of Joshua Lederberg (2009) The New Science of Metagenomics: …
Days 4 and 5 of the meeting were a real mix of things including chemistry, evolution, and ‘omics. Also Kevin Bonham took fairly detailed notes throughout the entire conference and put those all online here, worth checking out if you want more detail. Started off the day with Mohamed S. Donia from Princeton University, “Small …
The story behind: Toward the Drug Factory Microbiome: Microbial Community Variations in Antibiotic-Producing Clean Rooms (OMICS. 2018 Feb;22(2):133-144. doi: 10.1089/omi.2017.0091.) PMID: 28873001 [Preprint] It was in 2013, on my return to Cairo University after a couple of years as a visiting scientist at UCSD, that I met Amal for the first time. Amal was a fresh master’s …
Highlighting MoBE Research !! I am putting together a slide deck to highlight MoBE research at the Microbiology of the Built Environment Symposium October (10th-12th) at the National Academy of Sciences. The images will be run during breaks and prior to the beginning of the symposium each day. Please send your group’s photos, logos, …
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 …