Small Things Considered

Talmudic Question #42

Given that horizontal gene transfer between and among prokaryotes seems to be a relatively frequent occurrence, why does it appear to be so rare between prokaryotes and eukaryotes (except perhaps in early times)? Read more →

The Secrets of the Sacculus

by Hans H. Martin | In my retirement, one topic that continues to interest me is the 3D-structure of murein (i.e., peptidogylcan, as is now generally preferred in the literature). I participated in the isolation and description of the "murein sacculus," the "little sac" of E. coli  B, under the directorship of... Read more →

Of Terms in Biology: Synteny

by Elio | Geneticists are known for having developed a language of their own. So is just about everybody else in science. Ergo, looking up definitions is often a necessity. Today’s term is synteny (which etymologically means “on the same ribbon”). You might think that we don't need worry about this so much... Read more →

The Two Edges of the Antibiotic Sword

by Joshua Fierer | Antibiotics transformed medicine. For almost the first time in history, they made it possible to medically cure diseases (granted, surgeons were able to cure some people before the antibiotic era began, little more than half a century ago). However, when someone takes an antibiotic aimed, let’s say, at... Read more →

Two by Two

by Elio & Merry | Two years ago, Elio began this blog. It was a couple of months before Merry realized what Elio was up to and jumped on board. The first article was on the circadian rhythm of cyanobacteria, a topic we’ll revisit soon. These two years, it’s fair to say, have provided... Read more →

Sexually Avoided Disease

by Willie Wilson | The Red Queen’s race in Lewis Carroll’s 'Alice in Wonderland' is a common metaphor for an evolutionary arms race. A good example can be seen in predator-prey dynamics, particularly virus-host interactions where hosts must rapidly evolve immunity to infection for survival of the species. Read more →