Small Things Considered

Talmudic Question #45

What do you think are the most interesting unsolved questions in E. coli and Salmonella research? Read more →

Killer Prophage for Hire

by Merry Youle | Lysogeny is a widespread form of symbiosis among bacteria, but having a resident prophage is a mixed blessing. A prophage can bring benefits such as resistance to attack by other phages or novel virulence factors. But along with the benefits comes a liability... Read more →

Acoustical Mimicry

by Elio | We seldom stray from microbial domains, but here is a stunning (and delightful) reason for wandering further afield. After all, examples of parasitism are surely not confined to the Small Things and lessons can be learned wherever they appear. According to a group of researchers from England and Italy, parasites of some ants mimic the sounds made by the queen of a colony. The ants in question are... Read more →

A Fly in the Frozen Custard

by Elio | Don't you just love a good controversy? Take, for instance, the discussions on long term survival of bacteria. Depending on your point of view, bacteria exist in salt formations going back 250 million years, in 50 million year old amber, or in 500,00 year old permanently frozen ice or permafrost. Some researchers report the isolation of viable bacteria, others are content... Read more →

Retrospective, February 2009

We present here a lightly annotated list that includes most of our posts from the past half year... Read more →

The Microbe That Could Be Seen

by Elio | Biology is replete with definitions that have exceptions. A microbe (from the Greek roots mikros and bios for small life) is typically defined as a microscopic living organism invisible to the naked eye. It is clearly in the nature of living things to stretch our definitions, bend the rules. There are bacteria (surely microbes) that... Read more →

Talmudic Question #44

by Welkin Johnson | It is possible that some viruses evolved from free living organisms, shedding their independent functions on the path to becoming "obligatory intracellular parasites." What minimal steps would be absolutely essential for... Read more →

There is no "Z" in "Division"

by Manuel Sánchez and Miguel Vicente | From wheels to turbines, humans have invented a goodly number of machines to perform various mechanical tasks. The same function, e.g., to move a car, can be carried out by motors of different designs. This is also true for cells, where the same function can be carried out by differently designed machines. Just as most cars use a gasoline engine, most microbes... Read more →