Small Things Considered

Talmudic Question #64

by Ramy Aziz

Are any human-associated biofilms "useful" or "beneficial" to human health?

Talmudic Question #63

by Stan Zahler

When you streak out Your Favorite Bacterium on an appropriate agar plate, the colonies reach an expected diameter and stop growing. Why?

Corollary: If you inoculate YFB in the center of an agar plate and incubate it, it would reach its expected diameter. What do you predict would happen if you touch the tip of a sterile hair to the edge of the colony, draw it out on the agar radially, and re-incubate the plate?

Talmudic Question #62

What if all prokaryotic plasmids on this planet went on strike and refused to have their genes expressed?

Talmudic Question #61

Endocytosis is said to be an exclusively eukaryotic property. Why did prokaryotes not develop this ability?

Talmudic Question #60

Are there more different viral "species" or different plasmid genomes on Earth?

Talmudic Question #59

Which prokaryotic cells are more abundant on Earth: planktonic (free living) or sessile (adhering to surfaces)? Keep in mind that the ocean waters contain abundant floating surfaces, e.g., marine snow.

Talmudic Question #58

What if all phages on this planet went on strike and refused to have their genes expressed?

Talmudic Question #57

by Frank Harold

Does anyone know of a solid example of a biological membrane that arises de novo, rather than by the extension of a pre-existing membrane?

Talmudic Question #56

The genie has returned. (He first visited here.) During a moonlit walk on the beach, you stub your toe against a bottle, which rolls against a rock and shatters. A genie is liberated, eager to grant you one wish. You ask for a microbiological laboratory fully equipped to your specifications. The genie grants you that but with the condition that you can study only one organism. Which would you choose?

Talmudic Question #55

The Central Dogma of Molecular Biology has never been seriously challenged. Here is your chance: can you conceive of a mechanism whereby genetic information can flow directly from proteins to nucleic acids?