Small Things Considered

The microbial nature of humans

by Maureen O’Malley | Quite a lot has been written about human microbiome research and how it changes older ideas about human autonomy, individuality and identity (e.g., Brüssow 2015; Hutter et al. 2014; Pradeu 2014). Most of these discussions focus on how the biological basis for our 'self' is in fact a consortium of different lineages of cells, and that the majority of these cells are microbial. Read more →

Measuring Up

by Jamie Henzy | One could say that bacteria get quite a bit more attention than viruses here at STC. In fact, one could say that they hog the limelight, chewing the scenery and mugging for the camera while viruses, like stepchildren of a stage mom, hang backstage as understudies. So let’s engage in an inclusive family activity, in which both bacteria and viruses can participate. Read more →

The Louse And The Vaccine

by Elio | Several events in my life that I will recount below have combined to make me feel connected to the rickettsiae. Consequently, I was drawn to a recent book somewhat bombastically entitled "The Fantastic Laboratory of Dr. Weigl" by Arthur Allen. Read more →

A Whiff of Taxonomy (….and Pathogenesis): Akkermansia muciniphila

by Elio | The depth and breadth of the intestinal microbiome seem to have no limit, so highlighting a single species is totally arbitrary. But choose one must, and I have opted for Akkermansia muciniphila as much as anything, for reasons of human interest. Read more →

This Week in Microbiology #110: Exploring unseen life with unpronounceable words

TWiM #110 | The gut microbiome, from a single member, Akkermansia muciniphila, to the effect of antibiotics on its composition and colonization resistance against C. difficile. Read more →

Dine in or take out?: The dilemma of the mixotroph

by Rachel and Elie Diner | One of the most important questions for any microbe is where their next meal will come from. For us, whether to make your own meal or eat food prepared by others is a common, perhaps daily, dilemma. In the natural world, the dine-in vs. take-out dilemma is played out in a different form: namely, do organisms make their own food by means such as photosynthesis, or do they rely on consuming other organisms or pre-made organic compounds for sustenance? Read more →

Talmudic Question #124

Suppose you wanted to find a place in nature where there are bacteria but no extracellular phages. Where would you look? Read more →

Heard at the 2015 ASM General Meeting in New Orleans: Marine Vibrios and Climate Change.

by Elio | Besides enjoying some serviceable crawfish étouffée, I listened to several exciting papers at last June’s General Meeting of the ASM in New Orleans. One that stuck in my mind was presented by Prof. Carla Pruzzo, given at a celebratory session in honor of Rita Colwell. A marine microbiologist at the University of Genoa, she and her colleagues have been concerned with no lesser a subject than the effects of climate change on the microbial ecology of the oceans. Read more →

A Snippet: On the Origin of Truffle Aroma

by Elio | At times, people must think that microbiologists know everything. Case in point: haven’t you been asked whether truffles are fungi? Read more →

This Week in Microbiology #109: Precision killing

The TWiM cohort discusses the use of antimicrobial peptides to target specific bacteria in the microbiome, and how the intracellular bacterium Wolbachia selectively kills male hosts. Read more →