MicrobeWorld

The human “microbiome”—the trillions of bacteria, yeasts, and other microscopic creatures that live inside a human body—has been one of the major science stories in recent years. It seems that barely a week goes by that we don’t learn something new about the relationship between the human body a... Read More

Flesh Eating Bacteria Can Infect Anyone – What You Should Know

What is it?

Necrotizing fasciitis, commonly known as flesh eating bacteria, infects various layers of the skin. In most cases, an immunocompromised individual, such as a smoker, drug addict, diabetic, or cancer patient is most ... Read More

Nasty bacteria cling to the surfaces of countertops. They also stick to medical devices—like catheters—that are placed inside the human body, where they can become a dangerous source of infection.

Individually, bacteria are fairly easily killed. But if they multiply on a surface, they eventua... Read More

How much money would you need to put your health at risk? Ten thousand dollars? Five hundred? How about one single dollar? For a teenager in New York City, the latter was enough to test his fate in a subway station. In a video that has gone viral, a young unidentified teen was offered a dollar t... Read More

Proteomics experts and resources at EMSL contributed to a study published in Science centered on the discovery of new bacteria and the metabolic roles, such as carbon cycling, of bacteria in the environment. The bacteria studied were part of microbial communities collected directly from an aceta... Read More

The last few decades have seen dengue, a mosquito-borne viral infection, becoming one of the major public health concerns in the tropical and sub-tropical countries. So much so that over 40 per cent of the world’s population (2.5 billion) is at risk from dengue. According to the World Health Org... Read More

Bacteria found in caves could provide the clues to help produce antibiotics needed in the fight against drug-resistant superbugs, explains Prof Hazel Barton.

When you think about caves, your first thoughts might not include microbes and antibiotics, but these isolated and starved environments... Read More

Are you willing to take a close look at yourself for science?

A really, really close look?

A team of scientists in the Bay Area is inviting citizen scientists to join them in a quest to create the largest database of human microbiomes in the world.

The human microbiome is the ecosystem ... Read More

Legislative efforts aim to tackle rising incidence of disease.

More than ten years after a study in The Lancet falsely linked autism to the measles, mumps and rubella triple vaccine, evidence of reduced immunization rates and rising incidence of disease are spurring politicians to try to make... Read More

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove,  Read More

Potentially deadly antibiotic-resistant “superbugs,” including C. difficile and methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, were among the disturbing findings uncovered in a CBC Marketplace test conducted in dozens of hotel rooms across the country.

In a comprehensive survey, Marketplace did... Read More

Nikon Small World Image of Distinction 2011 photomicrography competition, Sinclair Stammers, Science Photo Library, UK

Nippostrongylus brasiliensis (rat nematode parasite) (560x)
Technique: Differential Interference Contrast Read More

Breast milk promotes colonies of healthy bacteria in a newborn's intestinal tract that aid nutrient absorption and immune system development, a new study shows.

Infant formula does not provide this benefit, which helps protect infants from infections and illnesses, the Duke University Medical... Read More

Tuesday, October 23, 2012
6:30 – 8:30 pm
Busboys and Poets, 5th and K St., NW, Washington, DC

No one can synthesize life from scratch using off-the-shelf ingredients, at least not yet. But the scientific community has been devising ever more powerful ways to intervene in the genetic and mo... Read More

Tattoos become much less appealing when they're infected. It's like when my friend Mitch got his eyebrow pierced in high school, which was obviously an attempt to look tough, but it ended up getting a huge, unsightly scab. Because he kept picking at the scab in his sleep, it simply refused to he... Read More

An FDA advisory panel has voted in favor of a vaccine against the highly pathogenic H5N1 avian flu that would be stockpiled and used in case of pandemic.

By twin votes of 14-0, the panel agreed that the immunogenicity and the safety of the vaccine, made in Quebec by GlaxoSmithKline, were enou... Read More

Eye proteins that can kill harmful bacteria may prove useful in developing new powerful and inexpensive antimicrobial drugs, according to a new study.

The finding was made by University of California, Berkeley, researchers investigating why eyes are so resistant to infection. They noticed tha... Read More

Here are photographs I took during our visit to Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory to record This Week in Microbiology #40. We roamed around campus scouting locations befo... Read More

Scientists have found a soil bacteria that not only resists the toxic effects of antibiotics -- it makes a meal out of them.

Many bacteria can protect themselves from antibiotics by modifying the compounds to make them harmless or by pumping the compounds out of their cells entirely. And othe... Read More

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Rich Condit,  Read More