by Jeff Marlow — The submersible's headlights shine brightly into the water, illuminating a patch of the seafloor with a hazy glow, like a car moving tentatively over a snowy mountain pass. In front of us, white patches of craggy rock extend upward, decorated with hardy corals... Read more →
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Watch ASM Live 2015 - The Live Internet Talk Show from ASM's General Meeting in New Orleans
Watch ASM Live 2015 - The Live Internet Talk Show from ASM's General Meeting in New Orleans. (videos no longer available) Read more →
Pictures Considered #26 : Rolling-Circle Replication
by Christoph — In the late 1960s, readers of structural biology papers were frequently confronted with (and confused by) electron micrographs of heavily intertwined DNA molecules that resembled a hopelessly tangled ball of wool. They were really hard to "read" even for experts, and pictures as the one considered here were notable exceptions... Read more →
"S" is for Self
by Elie & Rachel Diner — For all things alive, from Nobel laureates to microbes, defining one's "sense of self" is crucial for success and survival. This allows every organism to distinguish itself from foreign and potentially harmful agents. But to be of benefit, simply identifying destructive agents is not enough. Identification must ultimately lead to... Read more →
This Week in Microbiology #104: Feed me polyamines, biofilm
On This Week in Microbiology, the team discusses how measles vaccination protects against other infectious diseases, and links between bacterial biofilms and colon cancer. Read more →
In Memoriam — S. Marvin Friedman
by Elio, on behalf of the STC team — We sadly inform you of the death of one of our associate bloggers, S. Marvin Friedman, Professor Emeritus of the Department of Biological Sciences at Hunter College of the City University of New York. He joined the team some 5 years ago and was a steadfast contributor... Read more →
Oddly Microbial: Honey Bee Gut Microbiomes — Queen vs. Workers
by Marcia Stone — The gut microbiome of 'farmed' honey bee queens is unusually acquired, yet, in the end, surprisingly like that of their royal sisters in the wild and very different than the workers who care for them... Read more →
If Microbes Could Tweet...
by Daniel P. Haeusser — Each spring the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics at UT Houston goes on an annual departmental retreat to Camp Allen for science, recreation, and festivities. This year, before the ever-popular 'social time' that extends into the wee hours, the first years finished 'Science Fun Time' with a PowerPoint presentation of 'If Microbes Could Tweet'... Read more →
TWiM #103: The battle for iron
Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, Elio Schaechter and Michele Swanson discuss the ocelloid and an evolutionary battle for iron between mammalian transferrin and bacterial transferrin-binding protein. Read more →
The Awesomest Thing in Biology
by Elio — So says a blogger by the name of Psi Wavefunction regarding an eye-like structure of some protists called the ocelloid. She wrote this in a now defunct blog eponymously called 'The Ocelloid'. I couldn't agree with her more. The ocelloid is the structural and functional equivalent of the sophisticated eye of metazoans... Read more →