Small Things Considered

Farmer Joe Dictyostelium

by Elio
The practice of agriculture is not limited to humans: ants, termites, and snails all grow fungi, and who knows who else do something similar. But not many have claimed that such activities are to be found among simpler organisms. Now we have a report that slime molds have also… Read more →

Pop Quiz

by Elio
Parlez-vous Biologie? In this spirit, we thought you might enjoy taking a quiz that tests your familiarity with terms of biology. To check your answer, you can get a definition of each of the terms by clicking on them. Many are from our column Of Terms in Biology, some from other posts… Read more →

Candida's Unstable Chromosomes & Unorthodox Sex

by Dean Dawson
Who hasn't heard of Candida? It’s one of the most common fungal pathogens of humans. It is also a commensal organism, living mainly in people’s gastrointestinal tract. The diseases it causes range from a fairly mild vaginitis to deadly opportunistic systemic infections. In fact, Candida species are a major cause… Read more →

Worms Have Viruses, Too!

by Manuel Sánchez
When we highlight the importance of viruses in ecosystems, we usually assume that all living things, multi- or unicellular, can be infected by at least one kind of virus. This is not a far-fetched assumption, but one that until now has had to endure some notable exceptions. Viruses had not… Read more →

The Great Epidemic

by Merry Youle
When you read the title – The Great Epidemic – what came to mind? The Black Death (Yersinia pestis) that in two years killed 20 million people in Europe – approximately 30-60% of the population? The 1918 flu pandemic with its tally of 50 million dead in three years? AIDS, with a death toll... Read more →

Talmudic Question #71

As NASA’s hotshot exobiologist, you are asked to design an Earth satellite system in which some organism(s) can live actively (i.e.. no spores) for millennia. How would you go about it? Specify an orbit of your choice. Read more →

Highlights of 2010

by Elio and Mark (Martin)
We asked friends and colleagues to point to papers published in 2010 that tickled their fancy. Here are their responses. Read more →

Of Terms in Biology: Colloids

by Stefan Klumpp
Colloid may not be a common term in biology these days, but in the early 20th century, colloids were believed to hold the key to the secrets of life. So what is a colloid? According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica it is any substance consisting of particles substantially larger than atom… Read more →