Small Things Considered

The Vicissitudes of a Talmudic Question

by Elio | When we try to construct a Talmudic Question, we are con­cerned with the accuracy of the premise and ensuring that an answer has not been previously provided. We were toying with this one: “Bac­terial endosymbionts of insects have reduced genomes but, best we know, they have not exported some of their genes to the host cell nu­cleus (as organelles have)... Read more →

Talmudic Question #162

Can you imagine a eukaryotic virus that can infect a bacterium or an archaeon? Read more →

Talmudic Question #161

by Elio
Can you imagine a way in which the micro­bio­me is directly in­volved in human in­telli­gence and/or con­scious­ness? 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 →

Talmudic Question #159

 
Where on Earth would you expect to find the most varied micro­biome (in terms of different taxa per gram) ? Read more →

Talmudic Question #158

The genie has returned yet again. (He al­ready vi­si­ted once back in 2007.) On a moon­lit night, you walk on the beach, stub your toe against a bottle, which con­ven­ient­ly rolls against a rock and shat­ters. A ge­nie emer­ges, eager to grant you one wish. You ask for a mi­cro­bio­lo­gi­cal la­bo­ra­to­ry. The ge­nie grants you that, and tells you that you... Read more →

Talmudic Question #157

by Jacob Bobonis
Is there is such a thing as a taxon-characteristic pathway/feature that cannot be transferred in bacteria? Read more →

Talmudic Question #155 ...and #156

Coxiella burnetii, the agent of Q fever, is the only organism known to sur­vive in an acidic lysosome of its host cells. Why haven’t other intra­cellular bacteria developed this skill? If that's old hat for you, look at Talmudic Question #156 by Samantha Kwah... Read more →

Talmudic Question #154

Mycorrhizal fungi are known to carry out many activities beneficial to plants, such as transporting water and nutrients, protecting against pathogens, and permitting communication between plants. Do they also carry pathogens such as viruses or bacteria? If no, why not? Read more →

Talmudic Question #153

 
Take a 1000 year old sequoia tree. What genetic difference would you expect to find if you analyzed the various branches? Read more →