MicrobeWorld

While astronomers scour the skies for signs of life in outer space, biologists are exploring an enormous living world buried below the surface of the Earth.

Scientists estimate that nearly half the living material on our planet is hidden in or beneath the ocean or in rocks, soil, tree roots, ... Read More

Somewhere around two million years ago, the Taylor Glacier sealed beneath 1,300 feet of ice a body of water that contained a ancient community of microbes. A microbe is a living thing, or organism that is too tiny to be seen without the aid of a microscope. Most, but not all are single cell.

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Scientists studying an ancient meteorite crash site in the Canadian Arctic have detected traces of microbes that point to the key role played by impact craters in the evolution of life on Earth and could help determine whether life once existed on Mars.

The discovery -- hailed by an 11-member... Read More

Thousands of types of processed foods -- including many varieties of soups, chips, frozen dinners, hot dogs and salad dressings -- may pose a health threat because they contain a flavor enhancer that could be contaminated with salmonella, the Food and Drug Administration said Thursday.

Offici... Read More

Selective losses of human-associated microorganisms may be responsible for a wide range of modern ailments, including esophageal diseases, obesity, asthma, and the epidemic spread of high-grade pathogens, according to Martin Blaser from New York University Langone Medical Center in New York City... Read More

To help average Americans do something to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, several foundations and travel companies, in cooperation with the United Nations, are starting a campaign to allow travelers to donate $2 every time they pay for a flight, a rental car or a hotel room.

The campai... Read More

Subglacial outflow from the Taylor Glacier in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica. Iron and salt precipitates form where subglacial brine flows from the Taylor Glacier, lending a bright red color to the glacier snout, which is commonly referred to as Blood Falls. The episodic release of subglaci... Read More

As referenced in the most recent episode of This Week in Parasitism, Dickson Despommier, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, and Yuzo Takahashi, Department of Parasitology, Gifu University School of Medicine, have posted hundreds of scanning electron microgra... Read More

Australian scientists said Wednesday that the discovery of a genetically distinct colony of Tasmanian devils may save the species from being wiped out by a contagious cancer that has decimated the population.

So far, the colony in northwestern Tasmania state has proven immune to the face canc... Read More

No matter what advanced method is used to develop and produce vaccines, their efficacy is limited by old technology – the refrigerator. All viral vaccines must either be stored frozen, or kept at low temperatures. If they are not properly stored, they lose potency and do not confer protection ag... Read More

The weird world of quantum mechanics describes the strange, often contradictory, behaviour of small inanimate objects such as atoms. Researchers have now started looking for ways to detect quantum properties in more complex and larger entities, possibly even living organisms.

A German-Spanish... Read More

Texas-based Glycos Biotechnologies Inc. is producing lactic acid and advanced ethanol in a pilot commercial-size facility with the capacity to produce 150,000 liters of chemicals. It’s a major benchmark in the company’s quest to commercialize its microbial technology.

The biochemical company ... Read More

Photo of Hut Cave taken by mountaineer Nick Giguere during the 2008 expedition Exploring the Rock Bottom of the Food Chain in McMurdo's Extreme Environments led by Dr. Laurie Connell and Dr. Hubert Staudigel. For more pictures go to their website: http://earthref.org/ERESE/projects/GOLF439/... Read More

U. S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers at the Bridge of the Americas port of entry seized 107 pounds of “queso fresco” (soft) Mexican cheese hidden in false compartments of a vehicle making entry Wednesday.

A 46-year-old Mexican citizen from Juarez, Mexico and his passenger, a 43-... Read More

A novel study cautions that virus infections might be one of the factors contributing to gluten intolerance.

Researchers at the Academy of Finland's Research Programme on Nutrition, Food and Health (ELVIRA) have found that the genes [basic, functional units of heredity, each occupying a speci... Read More

Did you know that ASM International Fellows may now travel anywhere in the world to perform research?

These Fellowships are offered to promising young investigators in Africa, Asia (including Eastern Europe and Russia) and Latin America and the Caribbean who are within five years of obtainin... Read More

If you're fighting the battle of the bulge, most of your attention — and frustration — is probably aimed at your midsection. It makes sense, since that's where the extra pounds tend to gravitate, especially with the creep of middle age, piling on to form that dreaded spare tire.

But a growing... Read More

The following recall has been announced:

GNS Foods, based in Arlington, Texas, is voluntarily recalling snack mixes containing certain kinds of pretzels. They could be contaminated with salmonella, an organism that can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children and others ... Read More

On episode #72 of the podcast This Week in Virology, Vincent, Dickson, Alan and Rich explain CRISPR/Cas, the immune system of bacteria and archaea, how novel viruses are discovered by deep seq... Read More

The earliest microbes that survived on land may have synthesized fat molecules to prevent their death from dehydration.

The molecules, called wax esters, could have helped the microbes colonize land by protecting them against the harsh environments that probably characterized the lifeless con... Read More