Small Things Considered

Phage Therapy – an Update

by Elio | Has there ever been a more perplexing topic in microbiology than phage therapy? Well, that of probiotics comes close. Both have an over 100-year history, both have proponents as well as detractors, both have seen major investments in research and commercialization. Read more →

Go Ahead, Prove that Eukaryotic Cells AroseVia Endosymbiosis

by Elio | Say you want to prove once and for all the endosymbiotic theory of the origin of eukaryotic cells, substantiating that a cell (according to many, an archaeon) acquired a bacterium that eventually morphed into a mitochondrion. Read more →

Winter Vacation and the New STC Logo

by Team STC | We take advantage of this being the season for rejoicing, whoo-hoo!, and take our annual winter two week vacation. When we return in 2019, we will enter the 13th year of Small Things Considered. And we do so for the first time with our own logo! Read more →

Retrospective, December 2018

by Elio
For your convenience, we present a lightly annotated list that includes most of the posts of the past half year, with suitably links. Note in passing that we are observing the twelfth year of this blog's existence. Read more →

The Charms of Cold

by Elio | The upcoming "protein spotlight" #209 by Vi­vi­en­ne Bail­lie Ger­rit­sen on ice-bind­ing pro­teins brings up the near ma­gic things that hap­pen to mi­cro­bes in the cold. At a time when our worry is glo­bal warm­ing, it may be good to con­si­der that some bac­te­ria do not shun cold ha­bi­tat and thrive in such un­in­ha­bi­table-sound­ing pla­ces as the... Read more →

It Comes With The Terroir

by Roberto | There is something very special about wine, at least for my taste. I do, however, admit to the possibility that many of our readers will wonder what's the big deal about the beverage, it's just fermented grape juice after all. Read more →

Talmudic Question #160

Why are obligate endosymbionts of insects (for example, Buchnera ) more often mutualistic but those of vertebrates (for example, Rickettsia ) more often parasitic? Read more →

Symbiosis

by Elio et al. | For as long as I can re­mem­ber, I have been fas­ci­na­ted by the sub­ject of sym­bio­sis. This is one of the grand themes in bio­lo­gy, what Mar­ga­ret McFall-Ngai has apt­ly called 'the ele­phant in the room', de­serv­ing much love and at­tent­ion. But ex­act­ly, what is it that is so fas­ci­na­ting about it? Read more →

"May I ask you a question?"

by Elio | My first lecture (in 1958, long ago) was to medical students and the subject was DNA. I felt privileged to be given the task to talk about this subject, which was born in its modern incarnation not many years earlier. Read more →

Replay : A Close Encounter of the Enological Kind

by John Ingraham | Early in my career, by good fortune, I encountered the malolactic fermentation. Investigating it by standard microbiologi­cal methods led to results that changed the way California red wines are made, for the better most agree. How satisfying it is to think that I was following in the footsteps of Pasteur, no less, and his early career... Read more →