Small Things Considered

Talmudic Question #201

Given that today is the day that the US celebrates Thanks­giving... What is Pseudomonas syringae pv phaseolicola – inhabitants of the green beans used for the traditional casserole – most thankful for? Read more →

Talmudic Question #200

what is the leading cause of bacterial or archaeal death? Read more →

Talmudic Question #199

Biosynthetic genes for many an­ti­bio­tics evol­ved hund­reds of mil­lions of years ago. Re­sist­ance genes evol­ved con­cur­rent­ly among neigh­bor­ing bac­teria. If most neigh­bors to anti­bio­tic pro­ducers are re­sist­ant, what is... Read more →

Talmudic Question #198

Biologists are often criticized because they do not have a watertight definition of ‘life.’ Is that really so bad? Does that make biology a ‘lesser’ science? Read more →

Talmudic Question #197

Why aren’t any Archaea known to make spores? Read more →

Talmudic Question #196

The establishment of an oxygen-respiring bacterium in the cytoplasm of an archeon might have given rise to the eukaryotes. What was the first adaptive trait... Read more →

Talmudic Question #195

Can you imagine if Schrödinger's cat is hiding somewhere – and if yes: where – in microbiology? Read more →

Talmudic Question #194

Imagine that some life forms in other planets resemble Bacteria or Archaea. Would you guess that they are most like the Gram positives, the Gram negatives or the Archaea? Read more →

Talmudic Question #193

contributed by Michael Eisen
Do you consider mitochondrial DNA to be part of... Read more →

Talmudic Question #192

contributed by Pok Man Leung
The natural habitats of chemolithotrophs such as Lepto­spirillum and Pyrolobus contain organic compounds. Yet, when grown in the lab, these microbes... Read more →