A group of seventeen virologists is asking a U.S. government biosecurity advisory board to reconsider its controversial recommendation that two research teams omit key details from papers in press at Science and Nature. They note that the H5N1 fatality rate quoted widely is incorrect, and that ...
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Peter Palese and Taia Wang have written a compelling article that uses scientific facts to address the controversy over publication of research involving transmission of avian influenza H5N1 in ferrets. In response to calls in the media to destroy the viruses, curtail the research, and protect t...
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The third annual installment of my virology course at Columbia University, Biology W3310, has begun, and all the lectures will be available online.
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Joe writes: Twivers I did the homework Professor Vince assigned and went to see the movie Contagion. I really liked the movie and was very pleased with the way the science was portrayed. I am an Environmental Health and Safety Manager ... Read More
Elio Schaechter of Small Things Considered has authored an interesting post today about the motility of bacteria, specifically Paenibacillus, although he does highlight several other strains that swarm, glide or twitch.
"Microbes get around. They can be carried by the wind, by insects, or by ... Read More
It is well understood that multiple factors contribute to the dynamics of the gut microbiota residing in an animal host. However, little is known about how bacterial microbiotas change during and after recent speciation events in their hosts. In this Evolution paper, Vanderbilt researchers repor...
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Peter writes: Dear TWiM team I saw this fascinating paper on how the variety of bacteria populating human skin can influence who mosquitoes chose for the... Read More 
The tiny water bacterium Caulobacter crescentus secretes a sugary substance so sticky that just a tiny bit could hold several cars together. First, it attaches to a surface at the end of its cell body, which has a propeller-like flagellum. On contact, the flagellum stops moving with help from ne...
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There are only 7 days left to submit your scientific presentation topic for ASM's General Meeting 2012 in San Francisco, June 16-19, and then vote and comment on your colleagues’ ideas. The people who submit the top 5 entries will receive a travel subsidy of $800 (or $1200 for international subm...
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MIT researchers have discovered that certain photosynthetic ocean bacteria should beware of viruses bearing gifts: These viruses are carrying genetic material taken from their previous bacterial hosts that tricks the new host into using its own machinery to activate the genes, a process never be...
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A species of small, transparent roundworms have a highly evolved language in which they combine chemical fragments to create precise molecular messages that control social behavior, reports a new study from the Boyce Thompson Institute (BTI) at Cornell and the California Institute of Technology ...
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Travelling to a resource-limited country? Spend an extra day with local colleagues! Through the International Visiting Resource Person Program ASM and UNESCO offer you the chance to extend your stay and share your knowledge with scientists from around the world! Visiting Resource Pe... Read More 
Artist Anna Dumitriu's exhibition entitled The Normal Flora Project features live bacteria intertwined with articles of cloth, from a lab coat patterned with bacteria and mold to a dress patterned with pigments from environmental bacteria. Her site features many interesting projects that blur th...
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The H5N1 virus has killed roughly 60 percent of humans infected, a mortality rate which is orders of magnitude higher than that of seasonal influenza virus. Many victims of the former fall heir to acute respiratory distress syndrome—the inability to breathe. Now researchers from the Centers for ...
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A World Health Organization (WHO) official said the agency will play a role in leading discussions on issues related to controversial H5N1 avian influenza transmission studies, as more experts called for a further global discussion of the issues.
Dr Keiji Fukuda, assistant director-general of... Read More
A University of Nevada, Las Vegas microbiologist says he and his team members have identified and cultivated a type of magnetic bacteria in Death Valley that could one day contribute to the biotech industry.
Researcher Dennis Bazylinski says that the bacteria navigate along magnetic field lin... Read More 
Authorities say more than 660 people have been treated for typhoid in Zimbabwe’s capital but that the outbreak of the bacterial disease appears to be waning.
Harare health director Dr. Prosper Chonzi says about 70 people were in the hospital Tuesday. Another 20 were sent home after treatment.... Read More 
Two weeks ago, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that it would ban certain off-label uses of cephalosporin antibiotics in animal agriculture, asserting that these uses posed an undue risk of selecting for antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Many of us who follow this issue closely reco...
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