In their classical experiments, Oswald Avery, Colin MacLeod, and Maclyn McCarty showed that streptococci in a specific growth phase take up exogenous DNA, resulting in a transformation of their phenotype...
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Difficult as it may be to predict which agent will cause the next pandemic, which *single* measure would you recommend should be taken now to mitigate its future effects?
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Some authors have written describing single cells as "cognitive" or "agents with agendas." Cognition may not be far from consciousness… . In whatever sense you choose, could you argue that bacteria have consciousness?
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There is talk that Vibrio natrigens may supplant Escherichia coli as the model system for many bacterial studies. Do you think that the day of such model systems may have passed and, if so why?
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Many environmental bacteria appear to be obligate oligotrophs, that is they can only be cultivated on media containing very low nutrient concentrations. There are probably many reasons for this. Which one do you favor and why?
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A twist on Schrödinger’s Cat… Instead of radioisotope, a Geiger counter, a poison and a cat, inside a sealed box with a light and kept at ambient temperature and atmospheric pressure, you place a Winogradsky column and a sealed vial...
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The purpose of this blog is to share our appreciation for the width and depth of the microbial activities on this planet. We will emphasize the unusual and the unexpected phenomena for which we have a special fascination... (more)