Small Things Considered

Talmudic Question #184

What will be found in the samples collected by Perseverance once they are brought to Earth and fully analyzed? Read more →

A Brief History of Biofilm Research

by George O'Toole | I have studied bacterial biofilms since I joined Roberto Kolter's lab at Harvard Medical School in 1995. I "discovered" biofilms as I was finishing my graduate work at Wisconsin and continued tracking the literature backwards after I joined Roberto's lab. The oldest reference I could find was from the 1920s – a Navy report on hull biofouling cited in another paper I had read. Read more →

History of Microbiology Puzzler

by Roberto | Have a lot of time on your hands? Having trouble with sleepless nights? Consider working on this History of Microbiology puzzler. Read more →

TWiM 235: Green algae and fatty acids

In this episode, how DNA of giant viruses has contributed extensively to the genome of green algae, and inhibition of E. coli virulence by a metabolic product of arachidonic acid in the intestinal epithelium. Read more →

Book Review: The Genesis Quest

by Janie | The Genesis Quest is a tour-de-force recount of the eclectic effort to understand the origins of life on Earth, authored by science writer Michael Marshall. Here is a tale that spans from prebiotic chemistry to protocells, interlaced with tales of the idiosyncrasies of the scientists involved... Read more →

Microcosm: The Current Issue

by Elio and Roberto | The current issue of Microcosm (Fall 2020) is notable for its focus on vaccines, hence this special mention. Read more →

The Bacterial Symbionts of the Giant Tube Worms Are Varied In Shape and Function

by Elio | Some thirty years ago it was my good fortune to sit in an air­plane next to the famed marine micro­biologist, the late Holger Jannasch, of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. He shared with me stories of his deep-sea explor­ations, especially his voyages in the sub­mersible Alvin. These included visits to the recently discovered deep sea hydro­thermal vents... Read more →

Fine Reading. Proximate and ultimate causes of the bactericidal action of antibiotics

by Elio | In a Perspective piece in Nature Reviews Microbiology, Fernando Baquero of the Ramon y Cajal University Hospital in Madrid and Bruce R. Levin of the Antibiotic Resistance Canter at Emory University present a most thoughtful essay on the ways antibiotics kill bacteria (or don't). To explain the curious title and what's behind it, let me quote their introductory paragraph: Read more →

TWiM 234: Corkscrewing through snot

On This Week in Microbiology: Salmonella colonization of three-dimensional miniature intestinal organs, and identification of a circadian clock in a non-photosynthetic prokaryote. Read more →

Non-Photosynthetic Bacteria Also Have a Circadian Rhythm

by Elio | The very first entry in this blog, in December 2006, was about the amazing fact that some photosynthetic cyanobacteria have a circadian rhythm. I entitled it "It Don't Mean a Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing." Read more →