MicrobeWorld

Why should an organism kill itself when it could be having offspring? Now, researchers have shown that in bacteria, suicide can be worthwhile—and has no major downside. Scientists compared two strains of Escherichia coli bacteria, one that self-destructs when infected with a lethal virus and one... Read More

What cancerous conditions lead to what kinds of bacterial infections? If doctors knew, they could predict which patients would likely benefit from pre-treatment with certain kinds of antibiotics. A University of Colorado Cancer Center study published in this month's issue of the International Jo... Read More

“I’m the poet who does the impossible thing. I am the poet who aspires to have the biggest imagination in the room,” Christian Bök says bluntly. Yet his grandiose inventiveness has been focused on the most minuscule attempt at verse. After 11 years of working on what he’s dubbed “The Xenotext,” ... Read More

Olympus Bioscapes, Honorable Mention, Dr. Petr Znachor, Laboratory of Phytoplankton Ecology, Institute of Hydrobiology,Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic.

Specimen: Cyanobacterium Anabaena planctonica, Technique: Nomarski contrast, 20x Objective Read More

Those of you with an interest in virology, or perhaps simply sensationalism, have probably seen the recent headlines proclaiming another laboratory-made killer influenza virus. From The Independent: ‘Appalling irresponsibility: Senior scientists attack Chinese researchers for creating new strain... Read More

Lecture by C. Erec Stebbins, Associate Professor, The Rockefeller University

When it comes to the evolution of life on earth, those who have been here longest have seniority. And after four billion years, bacteria reign supreme. Unfortunately for us, some of them have been using that time to ... Read More

There’s been a recent surge in cases of the avian influenza A (H7N9) viral infection in China. As of this morning, there have been over a hundred reported cases and more than twenty deaths. The virus’ relatively sudden appearance in April, usually considered the end of flu season in the northern... Read More

A macrophage (pale brown) interacts with Borrelia cells (blue), the spirochete bacteria that cause Lyme disease. Although the outer membrane of Borrelia contains a strong antigen, the OspC protein, the bacterium successfully evades the human immune system by hiding out in places less accessible ... Read More

Certain Streptococci increase their production of toxic shock syndrome toxin 1, sometimes to potentially dangerous levels, when aerobic bacteria are present in the vagina. But scientists from the University of Western Ontario have discovered certain strains of lactobacillus bacteria are capable ... Read More

This is the first Viral Video ever recorded! It was made in 1885 and features Louis Pasteur describing the first rabies vaccine clinical trial. This clearly makes it a viral video and not a bacterial or fungal video!

Enjoy!

(Yes, the first patient was a boy, but things get lost in translat... Read More

Researchers use a protein-lipid complex found in human breast milk to increase the activity of otherwise-ineffective antibiotics against drug-resistant pathogens. A protein-lipid complex that naturally occurs in human breast milk can increase the sensitivity of methicillin-resistant Staphylococc... Read More

Producing vaccines against viral threats is a potentially hazardous business and that's why manufacturers have to operate strict controls to ensure that no pathogens escape.

British scientists have developed a new method to create an entirely synthetic vaccine which doesn't rely on using live... Read More

The mysterious SARS-like virus that appears to be originating in the Middle East has claimed two more victims after people died from the infection in Germany and in Britain.

Their deaths brings to 11 the number of fatalities attributed to the virus, and six others have been determined to have... Read More

When Jessica Green competed in roller derby, she wondered how training, socializing and colliding with other roller girls could be affecting her health in invisible ways.

As a member of the Emerald City Roller Girls, Green went by "Thumper Biscuit" on the track, but she is also the director o... Read More

Northwestern Medicine scientists have identified a component of the herpesvirus that "hijacks" machinery inside human cells, allowing the virus to rapidly and successfully invade the nervous system upon initial exposure.

Led by Gregory Smith, associate professor in immunology and microbiology... Read More

Treating people with HIV rapidly after they have become infected with the virus that causes Aids may be enough to achieve a "functional cure" in a small proportion of patients diagnosed early, according to research.

Scientists in France who followed 14 patients who were treated swiftly with H... Read More

Industry says antibiotic pipeline is being blocked by overly stringent clinical-trial requirements for new treatments.

The latest skirmish in the battle between human and microbe played out on 29 November in a hotel conference room in Silver Spring, Maryland. There, an assembly of scientists ... Read More

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Rich Condit,  Read More

Genes relocated from their correct position in the nucleus cause them to malfunction and this may lead to the heart, blood vessels and muscles breaking down. This new discovery by A*STAR scientists may be the key to finding new cures in the future.

Scientists from Singapore and Germany have i... Read More

Geobacter's pili conduct electrons along their length using the rings on aromatic amino acids, according to a study in mBio this week. Contrary to all other known forms of biological electron transport, in which electrons are carried by discrete entities and passed from one to another, Geobacter... Read More