Small Things Considered

The Rise of Genomic Superspreaders

by Steven Quistad
One hundred million years ago the earth’s climate was much warmer than today and vast inland seas stretched across entire continents. The land was dominated by charismatic megafauna that would one day serve as inspiration for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s novel The Lost World. This period is commonly referred to… Read more →

Seeing Biology Through the Eyes of Visually-Impaired Students

by Amy Cheng Vollmer
I have been teaching introductory biology in higher Ed since 1985, my first four years at Mills College and now at Swarthmore College since 1989. At both institutions, these courses (lecture + laboratory, taught by faculty members) were open to majors and non-majors. Through these years, it has been… Read more →

An Evolutionary Tale of Zombie Ants and Fungal Villains & Knights

by Gemma Reguera  
In a recent post I shared with you some amazing things I had learnt about coprophilous (‘dung-loving’) fungi that spit their spores like pros. What I did not tell you then is that my six-year-old son also fell in love with the spitting fungi (dung + spit = child’s interest!)… Read more →

Blog Evolution

by Elio  
I am sorry and sad that Merry will have to relinquish her partnership in this blog. She has been oxygen to me. Besides the fact, evident to readers of this blog, that she is a remarkably gifted writer, are less visible attributes. She has been an imaginative and creative editor... Read more →

Galectin 8: The Cell’s New Sheriff?

by Andy Cutting
Bacterial pathogens that invade a host cell either destroy it or persist within it. One of the most important defense mechanisms that mammalian cells have developed against such bacteria is the process of autophagy or “self-eating.” This is a widely studied system that cells use to degrade some of their… Read more →

Fishing With Algae For Malaria Vaccines

by James Gregory
Malaria is a big killer and a major worldwide health concern. The number of malaria-related deaths has fallen to approximately 650,000 in 2010, from well over 1 million just ten years ago, thanks to the World Health Organization (WHO) and to philanthropic organizations, including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. This effort, composed… Read more →

Book Review: Microbes and Evolution

by Elio
Maybe it's the lava fields in the Galapagos, maybe it's the giant tortoises, but something caused a bunch of microbiological luminaries to come out of their shells and write a bit about what they think and feel regarding evolution. A meeting held in those islands in 2009 — being Darwin’s 200th… Read more →

Oddly Microbial: 86 Million Year-Old Deep Seabed Mystery Cells

by Marcia Stone
Life in a high-pressured environment with practically nothing to eat might be ok for high-fashion models, but it’s an unlikely lifestyle choice for a single cell whose usual overriding goal is to become two cells. Yet the largest living ecosystem on Earth—the deep biosphere—is comprised of microbes so energy… Read more →