MicrobeWorld

The Society for General Microbiology (UK) publication Microbiology Today has a two page feature by Paul Duprex, Ph.D., Boston University, on Vincent Racaniello, Ph.D., Columbia University, and his popular podcast This Week in Virology. The article discusses Racaniello's use of new media to sprea... Read More

Learn about the bacteria, fungi and other micro-organisms that maintain human health.

The body contains 10 times more bacteria, fungi and other micro-organisms than human cells. Most of these species are harmless—although they can still cause illness if they wind up in the wrong place. In add... Read More

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Read More

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Dickson Despommier

Vincent and Dickson discuss loaiasis caus... Read More

Community in the deep seabed uses so little oxygen that it is no longer clear where the lower bound for life lies.

Most humans would struggle to last for much more than a minute under water without coming up for air, whereas some seals can manage more than an hour — but a microbial community ... Read More

Apoptosis writes:

A video of 'Every Major's Terrible: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdyoGruec88&a... Read More

Squishing a stack of virus sheets generates enough electricity to power a small liquid crystal display. With increased power output, these virus films might one day use the beating of your heart to power a pacemaker, the researchers behind them say.

Piezoelectric materials build up charge whe... Read More

Once upon a time, tasters were employed by the well-to-do, in order to check that their food or drink wasn't poisonous. Today, there are electronic biosensors that can do more or less the same thing. Unfortunately, as was no doubt sometimes the case with the tasters, the biosensors can’t always ... Read More

"Take a listen to four very savvy and plain-talking biologists chatting on their business at an inside-the-academy site called This Week in Microbiology, and more specifically at episode TWiM 32. There host and Columbia U. faculty member Vincent Racaniello and two colleagues talk of arsenic and ... Read More

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Rich Condit, and  Read More

David writes:

Love the TWIPs! I'm a helminth user (25 hookworm for allergies), so your programs are fascinating!

Dr. Racaniello, after listening to TWIP 33 where you were discussing the history of your surname, I thought I'd give your listeners a way to remember you... Read More

Imagine you are a tiny caddisfly pupa. When you emerge from your pupal case, it is dark, but not pitch black, and high above you, you see the faint glow of a starry sky. On new wings, you rise. Cue angelic voices.

Suddenly, you struggle against an invisible barrier. Cue scary cello. You begin... Read More

The American Society for Microbiology at the USA Science and Engineering Festival 2012 in Washington, D.C. Learn what kids have to say about the science and microbiology and the various educational resources ASM offers to students, teachers and parents alike.

Filmed on April 27-28,... Read More

All of us use water and in the process, a lot of it goes to waste. Whether it goes down drains, sewers or toilets, much of it ends up at a wastewater treatment plant where it undergoes rigorous cleaning before it flows back to the environment. The process takes time, money and a lot of energy. W... Read More

In a very exciting paper, this study showed that in a mouse model of intestinal bacterial infections using Citrobacter rodentium, commensal bacteria were required to clear the infection. The ability of the commensal bacteria to outcompete the invading C. rodentium pathogen was shown to be in pa... Read More

Conjugative plasmids and transposons have been found guilty of spreading antibiotic resistance genes from pathogen to pathogen. But how do they get past the bacterial defenses against incoming foreign DNA? Most bacteria have some sort of restriction-modification system to take care of just such... Read More

From “green” beer brewing practices to new innovations in food sustainability and energy production, come learn and taste the unique application of microbiology and fermentation. Sip local brews, mingle with like-minded enthusiasts, and connect with ASM at our headquarters.


May 17, 2012 | ... Read More

The WHO releases action plan to tackle the spread of insecticide-resistant mosquitoes.

The war to bring malaria to heel has made slow but steady progress during the past decade, with the overall mortality rate dropping by more than 25% since 2000. A key factor in this progress has been improv... Read More

It’s official: Fish pedicures aren’t just a bizarre beauty ritual with shady animal-welfare considerations, they’re also downright dangerous to your health, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. On Wednesday, the federal agency published a report by U.K.’s Centre for ... Read More

Innate differences in immunity can be detected at birth, according to new research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. And babies with a better innate response to viruses have fewer respiratory illnesses in the first year of life.

"Viral respiratory infections are common... Read More