On This Week in Microbiology: A peptide from commensal bacteria that protects skin from damage caused by MRSA. Read more →
« May 2020 | Main | July 2020 »
Summer Vacation
by the STC team — We are taking our customary two week vacation. Do you think we deserve it ? Looking forward to seeing you again on July 13th ! Read more →
Viewing the Pulse of Earth, A Vital Sign
by Scott Chimileski and Roberto — Earth has a pulse. And at this time in human history, we can see it. Instead of a heartbeat, Earth's surface pulsates with the activity of trillions of organisms, each part of one, interconnected biosphere driven by microbial life. Instead of beating about once per second, the biosphere beats around once a year. From 1997 to 2017,... Read more →
Mueller-Hinton Medium
by the STC team — On June 11th, we were addressed in a tweet by microbiologist Joe Harrison (@JoeHarrison1):"This seems like a timely topic for a blog or an article @ASMicrobiology @STCmicrobeblog. Mueller-Hinton agar is used globally and has standardized the study of #AMR. Before today, I'd never read the story of Jane Hinton @citeblackwomen"... Read more →
Retrospective, January to June 2020
by Elio — Here is the list of the posts from the last half year, briefly annotated. Read more →
Touch-Tone Transcription: A Pathogen's Sense of Touch
by Janie — In a world buzzing with sensory input of all stripes and colors, a bacterium isn't one to miss out on any of the latest surrounding scoop. The sense of touch is not ignored. Mechanical feedback influences how a bacterium might move or stay in place... Read more →
Feel dehydrated? Dig for some water then!
by Christoph — Cyanobacteria of the genus Chroococcidiopsis are known to survive harsh environmental conditions, high and low temperatures, ionizing radiation, and high salinity. Add resistance to dehydration or, in the extreme form, desiccation and you have a serious challenger of Deinococcus to the title "champion of resilience". Like the latter, Chroococcidiopsis is easily found in the Atacama desert... Read more →
In Memoriam: Roland Wolkowicz
by Forest Rohwer — In his 14 years at SDSU, Roland studied HIV as well as RNA viruses that are transmitted by mosquitoes – how they affect cells and their possible drug treatments. He was known for a remarkable dedication to his students, refusing to step back from teaching even while severely weakened by advanced lung cancer and its treatment. Read more →
The COVID-19 Virus by the Numbers
by Elio — The trio of Yinon Bar-On, Rob Phillips, and Ron Milo, here augmented by Avi Flamholz, have done it again. In the past, they presented us the astounding numbers for the distribution of biomass on this planet, no less. We highlighted this seminal contribution to our understanding of the living world... Read more →