by Christoph — As true 𝘢𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘴 𝘺 𝘢𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘥𝘢𝘴 around the world do, Steve Petrovski's lab at La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia went on the hunt for bacteriophages in the wild. Which they didn't find, but their booty was a predatory bacterium, and... Read more →
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Talmudic Question #193
contributed by Michael Eisen — Do you consider mitochondrial DNA to be part of a eukaryote's genome? Read more →
A Game of Dice
by Christoph — When on the 3rd day of creation − or the 5th, the Old Testament isn't quite clear here − the Bacteria and Archaea were summoned to choose their shapes, there was at once a frantic run on rods and cocci; spirillae were also immediately sold out. The Alphaproteobacteria frolicked and... Read more →
Of Terms for Biologists: Wanderjahre
by Roberto — Hope you noticed the not-so-subtle twist from our usual "Of Terms in Biology" to "Of Terms for Biologists." Indeed, 'Wanderjahre' is certainly not a term in biology. It is, however, a term I hope many biologists-in-training will embrace and put into practice. I'll come forth and admit it; for me, it is... Read more →
Staying in Science Past Retirement
by Elio, Linc Sonenshein, and Roberto — As their years in the profession pass, practicing scientists might ponder on a question regarding their future. When I retire, how can I remain in science? In the United States mandatory retirement was abolished in 1986. In many other countries, mandatory retirement still prevails. Regardless of whether mandated or voluntary, retirement is likely to be... Read more →
Bench to Nature, A Call to Molecular Biologists
by Roberto — Along several decades my curiosity drove me from the comfort of purified enzymes to the complexity of plant root microbial communities, along the way passing through stationary phase physiology, biofilms, interspecies interactions, to mention but a few. All along, somewhere hidden... Read more →
Of Terms in Biology: The Polony Method
by Christoph — If there is one venerable laboratory technique in virology, it is the plaque assay for the detection and quantification of bacteriophages. It was pioneered by Felix d'Herelle already around 1917, and in the early 1950s, plaque assays were also established for eukaryotic viruses... Read more →
E. O. Wilson (1929−2021)
by Roberto — The world lost one of its premier defenders of biodiversity and a pioneering ecologist and evolutionary biologist when E. O. Wilson died on December 26, 2021, at the age of 92. We start the year honoring the memory... Read more →