Small Things Considered

«Anything found to be true of E. coli must also be true of elephants»

by Christoph  
I had a short ex­change with Philip Ball recently when he an­nounc­ed his next book How Life Works  on Twit­ter. If you don't recognize the author's name: Philip is a che­m­ist by train­ing, holds a PhD in physics, was a long-time edi­tor of Na­ture, and is a pro­li­fic book au­thor and science writer... Read more →

Emiliania huxleyi : Past, Present and Future

by Roberto  
Christoph recently brought to my attention a resource for anyone interested in a brief introduction to coccolithophores, with particular emphasis on Emiliania huxleyi. Christoph knew well that I, as a fan of this microalga, would enjoy the site. This got me thinking about Ehux (its endearing name that many use) yet once more. Read more →

An Interlude in Microbiology

by Elio  
If before 1950 you had asked "are bacteria cells?" the chances are that you would be told "it depends…" In other words, no one knew for sure. It took Joshua Lederberg, who, upon discovering mating in E. coli, proposed that bacteria were indeed cells. Read more →

In the Company of Elio

by Roberto  
It's the last week of April and once again there's reason to celebrate. This time of the year we tend to pause and ponder over some eccentric subjects. We've discovered that rare and very special bacterium Eliobacter woosyi, partaken in an exceptional vintage, and discussed the hidden meaning of prime numbers, among others. Read more →

Visualizing DNA Replication

by Roberto  
Christoph's recent post on visualizing introns brought back wonderful memories. In mid-1976, I spent the first several months of my PhD visualizing replicating plasmid DNA. I loved it! Here's why... Read more →

Sensing Blue Light: From Bacteria to Birds

by Mechas  
That many birds migrate over long distances is a well-known fact. But reading the book "World on the Wing: The Global Odyssey of Migratory Birds" by Scott Weidensaul proved to be a true eye-opener. I also learned a fact that really stuck with me. Read more →

A Whiff of Taxonomy – Baudoinia compniacensis

by Roberto  
Several of our past posts described volatile organic compounds of microbial origin that influence our behavior. Acetates from wine, geosmin from soil. Not only are they enjoyable in the moment, such scents often elicit memories. I now offer the opposite perspective, a microbe whose ecology is influenced by a volatile organic compound of human origin. Baudoinia compniacensis, enter center stage. Read more →

An Illustrated Tree

by Roberto  
From the fun­da­men­tal con­cepts of bio­lo­gy, the fact that all or­gan­isms now alive share a com­mon an­ces­tor (LUCA) ranks as one of my fa­vo­rites. When I pause to con­si­der that, des­pite four bil­lion years of evo­lu­tion and di­ver­gence, my ri­bo­so­mal RNA shares some stret­ches of se­quence iden­ti­ty with all other au­to­no­mous or­gan­isms, I still get goose bumps... Read more →

Women in Microbiology Who Fought for Equality, Science, and our World!

by Microbigals  
International Women's day is all about embracing equity! So, we'd love to share some of the amazing women throughout history and around the world that overcame hardships, fought for their rights to be scientists, and embraced equity! Their contributions to other microbiologists, to their communities, to women in STEM, have helped pave the way... Read more →

The van Leeuwenhoek Medal

by Roberto  
When it comes to awards recognizing major contributions to microbiology, my personal favorite is the van Leeuwenhoek Medal given by the Royal Dutch Society for Microbiology. Unlike most such accolades that are presented year after year, this honor has a long tradition of being awarded every ten years (more or less). I believe... Read more →