This new open access paper from Li et al may be of interest. Global Survey of Antibiotic Resistance Genes in Air. Abstract: Despite its emerging significant public health concern, the presence of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in urban air has not received significant attention. Here, we profiled relative abundances (as a fraction, normalized by 16S rRNA …
This preprint seems like it may be of interest to folks: Precise prediction of antibiotic resistance in Escherichia coli from full genome sequences | bioRxiv Basically, the authors showed that, using a machine learning approach, they can quite accurately predict antibiotic resistance in E. coli from whole genome data. The emergence of microbial antibiotic resistance …
This should be of interest to many: mSystems has a whole issue dedicated to essays by “Early-Career Systems Microbiology Scientists”. Early-Career Systems Microbiology Scientists Jack A. Gilbert mSystems March/April 2018 3:e00002-18; doi:10.1128/mSystems.00002-18 http://msystems.asm.org/content/3/2/e00002-18 Conflict of Interest Declarations by Contributing Editors of the Special Issue on Early-Career Systems Microbiology Scientists, Sponsored by Janssen Human Microbiome …
Legionella is a bacterium found in drinking water distributions systems, as well as premise plumbing, hot tubs, hot water heaters, cooling towers, and other building water systems. At high enough concentrations and when inhaled, Legionella can cause Legionnaires’ disease and Pontiac fever, the former of which can be fatal if infected people are not treated …
The Brito Lab at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY works in the area of systems biology of the human microbiome. We are looking for talented postdocs to fill two open positions for postdoctoral researchers interested in investigating mechanistic linkages between microbes and human health outcomes. Postdoctoral candidates can have an experimental or computational background, or both. One of …
So this sounds like there may be some interesting science going on here: Zero gravity had unexpected effects on E. coli samples, causing them to behave differently. That could present problems trying to treat them. Source: Space-Grown Bacteria Could Pose Major Problems for Astronauts But the article includes a bunch of needless fear mongering. What …
“Should we always antibiotics until the end of their course?” Well, this has been a question asked on and off over the last 10 years or so. And this I was quite interested in a Tweet I saw from Eric Topol this AM (I note – Eric Topol on Twitter is a better source of …
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 …
Microbes indoors DNA metabarcoding to assess indoor fungal communities: Electrostatic dust collectors and Illumina sequencing – Steffi Rocchi – Journal of Microbiological Methods ($39.95) Our study aimed to evaluate metabarcoding and bioinformatic analysis resulting from calibrated samples and samples collected by an electrostatic dust collector (EDC) in dwellings with no moisture problems. Thus, the fungal communities of …
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 …