Small Things Considered

Active Lysogeny Regulatory Switches: Scars That Can Make Genes Whole

by Daniel P. Haeusser
Last year Small Things Considered was hurt by the loss of one of our regular contributors, Marvin Friedman, who had a strong passion and joy for microbiology and this blog. I found myself looking through some of his featured pieces in remembrance and was intrigued by one that discussed developmentally regulated prophage excision. Read more →

Working on Art about Small Things

by Lindsay Olson
When I begin a new project, the whole effort feels risky. I am stepping into a new and unfamiliar branch of science, a new work culture, and using materials in a novel way. Add to this the normal concerns that all artists have at the end of a project: will the work connect... Read more →

Need Protection? Hire a Virus!

by Jamie Henzy
Is there any denying that pregnancy is a form of parasitism? The developing organism originates at least in part from outside the host (in sexually reproducing creatures, at least), and mediates the rerouting of nutrient supplies at the host's expense. In the case of mammals (and many other classes), where the ... Read more →

Live at ASM Biodefense 2016 - TWiM #121

This Week in Microbiology (TWiM) host, Vincent Racaniello, sits down with Rebekah Kading and Wyndham Lathem at the ASM Biodefense and Emerging Diseases Research meeting to have a conversation about their work on Rift Valley Fever virus and other vector-borne pathogens, and the evolution and pathogenesis of Yersinia pestis, the agent of plague. Read more →

Art about Small Things

by Christoph
STC received an email these days by artist Lindsay Olson: "I found your web site through a blog connected with Cornell's Mycology department. I am an artist using science as the foundation of my studio practice. I created a body of work while I worked with the Chicago Water Reclamation District in Chicago and wondered... Read more →

Movies & Bugs: The Martian

by Manuel Sanchez
Spoiler Warning: I will reveal parts of the story. The first thing that occurred to me when I heard about this film was: Will this to be about a Robinson Crusoe type Cast Away movie located on Mars? After its premiere, the social networks gradually posted positive and laudatory comments, especially regarding the scientific aspects of the story. Read more →

Talmudic Question #130

Have you ever heard of an RNA virus that is capable of a lysogenic existence, either as an episome or by integration into the host genomes? Retroviruses excluded. Read more →

An Electrifying Chemiosmotic Exchange

by Elio
This whole thing started with an email from Margaret Lee, a professor at Ohlone College in Fremont and Newark, CA, asking for an explanation regarding the chemiosmotic theory. Not being comfortable with things electrical, I turned to my friend and esteemed colleague, Frank Harold for a more reasoned response. Read more →

Pictures Considered #34 : The first look at the two membranes of Gram-negatives

by Elio
In a recent "Classic Spotlight" in the Journal of Bacteriology, the editor in chief, Tom Silhavy, pointed out that the first visual proof that Gram-negative bacteria have two membranes came from work by Bladen and Mergenhagen. In their 1964 paper... Read more →

The Evolution of Death or: Is There Anything that the Eukaryotes Invented?

by Jamie Henzy
There is damage, as in a fender-bender, and then there is damage, as in "this vehicle is totalled." The best-studied response to damage in Escherichia coli (some would say, therefore in the world) is the SOS response – mediated by the recA-lexA locus – in which the cell attempts to repair damage to its DNA. Read more →