Small Things Considered

Book Review: The Power of Plagues

by Daniel | Microbiology nonfiction books tend to fall into the acade­mic category, basically as curated collections of review articles that detail a relatively specialized niche of the field. At the other end of the spectrum lie those books written purely for a general audience that might bring in microbiological themes within a larger scope, usually human health. Read more →

On your marks, get set, go!

by Christoph | When did you first hear about the "ge­ne­tic code" ? In high school ? Or in col­lege, in an un­der­gra­du­ate course in mo­le­cu­lar bio­lo­gy and/or ge­ne­tics ? In either case you were cer­tain­ly shown the fa­mous co­don table that spe­ci­fies which of the 64 pos­sible trip­lets in mes­sen­ger RNA (mRNA) are trans­la­ted in­to one of the 20 ca­no­ni­cal... Read more →

The Human Story, as Told by Our Genomes

by Jamie | As one of our wiser bloggers put it, "I doubt that STC readers are fo­cus­ed on­ly on mi­cro­bio­lo­gy. They must have other in­terests too." With that in­sight in mind, we're of­fer­ing up our im­pres­sions of a couple of books on­ly tan­gent­ial­ly re­la­ted to mi­cro­bes. In this case, a book de­scr­ibing the in­crea­sing­ly de­tail­ed pic­ture... Read more →

Ancient Microbial DNA: Paleomicrobiology

by Daniel P. Haeusser | As our readers are likely aware, we are holobionts whose functional genetic makeup goes beyond just the human cells. Not surprisingly, investigation of ancient microbial DNA (paleomicrobiology) can also help scientists understand human history and evolution. Read more →

The History and Politics Surrounding our Attempts to Harness and Control Germs

by Daniel | The scientific pursuit does not occur in a social vacuum, dis­con­nected from our cultural experiences. At Small Things Considered, we usu­ally stick to the data and stay away from potentially explosive topics like po­litics. Sometimes we detour into historical context or con­sider bio­gra­phi­cal tidbits on the personalities involved... Read more →

Voices and Perspectives from the Past: Memoirs of Scientists and Departmental Histories

by Daniel P. Haeusser | I started a draft of this post while sitting out on the Memorial Union lakeside terrace at the University of Wisconsin Madison. It was about halfway through the Molecular Genetics of Bacteria and Phages Conference, a fabulous and inspiring experience that Ananya Sen wrote about here last week. Originating in 1950 and born from the courses of the Luria/Delbrück-organized 'phage group' at Cold Spring Harbor, the early seminal Phage Conference meetings featured the birth of molecular biology through interactions between scientists now known as giants in the field. Read more →

Life at the Edge of SightReview of a Book by Scott Chimileski and Roberto Kolter

by Brian Barry | A few days ago, my neighbor Elio came by and gave me a newly published book, "Life at the Edge of Sight" by Scott Chimi­leski and Roberto Kolter. He said that I might like it because it has a lot of pictures. After I thanked him, he continued somewhat slyly, "Let me know what you think after you've finished reading it." Read more →

E Pluribus Duo : A Review of Two Recent Books on Microbiomes

by Daniel Haeusser | In place of a weekly sermon this month, my church is having members give TED-style talks in their fields of ex­per­tise. Like the actual TED series, the idea is for speakers to share "ideas worth spreading", relating novel developments in their field that are shaping humanity’s view of the world, while also... Read more →

A Star-Studded Phantastic Voyage of Phages

by Jamie Henzy | In which the writer attempts to convey the abundant charm of: Thinking Like a Phage: The Genius of the Viruses That Infect Bacteria and Archaea, by Merry Youle. Read more →

A naturalist's book of viruses

by Jamie Henzy | Who isn't intrigued by viruses? Capable of wiping out entire populations, causing epidemics of biblical proportions, and wrecking crops, viruses entered the consciousness of humans because of their destructive potential. Too tiny to be seen, they were born from Koch's postulates, at first existing only in the imaginations of their early discoverers, such as Beijerinck, Ivanovsky, Twort, and d'Herelle. In the 1940s, electron micrographs revealed the first shadowy images of bacteriophage particles, and the eeriness of their outlines encouraged dread and captured the imagination of those who saw them. Read more →