Small Things Considered

Of Terms in Biology: Sympatry and Allopatry

by Elio | Sympatry means that two species coexist in the same physical area, allopatry that they don't. The etymology of the suffix patris, helps. It comes from the Latin for 'fatherland,' as in 'patriot' (or, for those who remember the Marseillaise, "Alons enfants de la Patrie"). Read more →

TWiM 236: Gossamer wings and symbionts on the sea bottom

In this episode, hiring and training expectations for future biomedical life sciences faculty, and the roles of bacterial symbionts in deep-sea hydrothermal vent tubeworms. Read more →

Our (Previously) Purple Planet

by Gillian Belk | A flying saucer hurtles into our solar system, swings past Mercury and Venus, and comes to rest hovering over Earth, 3.7 billion years ago, deep during the Archean. The aliens peer down and ponder a planet as foreign to them as it would be to us. Read more →

Talmudic Question #184

What will be found in the samples collected by Perseverance once they are brought to Earth and fully analyzed? Read more →

A Brief History of Biofilm Research

by George O'Toole | I have studied bacterial biofilms since I joined Roberto Kolter's lab at Harvard Medical School in 1995. I "discovered" biofilms as I was finishing my graduate work at Wisconsin and continued tracking the literature backwards after I joined Roberto's lab. The oldest reference I could find was from the 1920s – a Navy report on hull biofouling cited in another paper I had read. Read more →

History of Microbiology Puzzler

by Roberto | Have a lot of time on your hands? Having trouble with sleepless nights? Consider working on this History of Microbiology puzzler. Read more →

TWiM 235: Green algae and fatty acids

In this episode, how DNA of giant viruses has contributed extensively to the genome of green algae, and inhibition of E. coli virulence by a metabolic product of arachidonic acid in the intestinal epithelium. Read more →

Book Review: The Genesis Quest

by Janie | The Genesis Quest is a tour-de-force recount of the eclectic effort to understand the origins of life on Earth, authored by science writer Michael Marshall. Here is a tale that spans from prebiotic chemistry to protocells, interlaced with tales of the idiosyncrasies of the scientists involved... Read more →

Microcosm: The Current Issue

by Elio and Roberto | The current issue of Microcosm (Fall 2020) is notable for its focus on vaccines, hence this special mention. Read more →

The Bacterial Symbionts of the Giant Tube Worms Are Varied In Shape and Function

by Elio | Some thirty years ago it was my good fortune to sit in an air­plane next to the famed marine micro­biologist, the late Holger Jannasch, of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. He shared with me stories of his deep-sea explor­ations, especially his voyages in the sub­mersible Alvin. These included visits to the recently discovered deep sea hydro­thermal vents... Read more →