MicrobeWorld

The veined wing of the clanger cicada kills bacteria solely through its physical structure — one of the first natural surfaces found to do so. An international team of biophysicists has now come up with a detailed model of how this defence works on the nanoscale. The results are published in the... Read More

In episode 64 of MicrobeWorld Video, Dr. Stan Maloy talks with Anne Tanner Ph.D., BDS, MDCH (Hon.), Associate Professor at Harvard School of Dental Medicine about her re... Read More

We believe that college students need more microbiology, earlier in their first year biology curriculum. Thus, we interviewed first year biology students regarding some basic concepts in microbiology. We see this as a "call to arms": more microbiology, earlier in the curriculum! Read More

In this clip from Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, guest Fred Guterl, award-winning journalist and executive editor of Scientific American, discusses his new book, "The Fate of the Species,"and touches on viruses, influenza, scientific research, and the recent H5... Read More

We all know that virologists love to dance. But did you know that they can also perform in a rock band?

At the recently concluded 2012 meeting of the American Society for Virology in Madison, WI, seven virologists and a neurobiologist, members of the band Herpetic Legion, entertained meeting ... Read More

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, and Read More

In episode 65 of MicrobeWorld Video, Dr. Stan Maloy talks with Natalie Prystajecky Ph.D., Environmental Public Health Microbiologist, BCCDC Public Health Microbiology and Referen... Read More

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Dickson Despommier

Vincent and Dickson explain how a nematod... Read More

Taken from the 2012 ICAAC meeting...

Outbreaks of enteric disease are most common in highly populated areas. Caused by both bacteria and viruses that often reside in the food we eat, the water we drink, or on surfaces we touch, enteric diseases produce a variety of symptoms including nausea, ... Read More

Staying safe at the beach involves more than just sunscreen and lifeguards. Beaches and oceans are prone to unhealthy levels of bacteria which can cause sickness in people. Pathogens make their way into the water and onto the sand from many sources, including but not limited to, animal and hu... Read More

Craig E. Rubens, MD, PhD, has been named Chair of the Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC), marking the first time a pediatric infectious disease specialist has been appointed to the position. ICAAC is the world's premier meeting on infectious diseases and ant... Read More

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Read More

In a recent post I shared with you some amazing things I had learnt about coprophilous (‘dung-loving’) fungi that spit their spores like pros. What I did not tell you then is that my six-year-old son also fell in love with the spitting fungi (dung + spit = child’s interest!) and wanted to learn ... Read More

Confocal micrograph of wheat stigma hairs (blue) infected with ergot fungus (light pink). The stigma is the female part of the plant. The plant is fertilised by the (male) pollen grain, which sticks to a stigma hair causing growth of a pollen tube into the plant's ovary, causing an embryonic whe... Read More

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Dickson Despommier

Vincent and Dickson review evidence that ... Read More

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, and  Read More

Ed writes:

Vincent, Dick, Rich, Alan et al.,

A couple more visual science-type picks for you to follow on from Kathy Spindler’s pick – APoD

The stunning new Pursuit of Light video from NASA:  Read More

Gram-stained preparation of Bacillus subtilis showing rods, and spores (empty areas). (approx. 1000 X). Taken from the Wistreich Collection. Read More

How can scientists safely conduct avian flu research if the results could threaten or save millions of lives? A series of Commentaries in mBio this week presents some important perspectives on the type of H5N1 influenza research that started (the ongoing) widespread controversy among both scient... Read More

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Dickson Despommier

Vincent and Dickson meet with Judith Stra... Read More