Podcasts

Watch Latest Video Subscribe to Video Feed

twim_mwsite_badge

twiv_banner

bacteriofilesbanner

isbadge

yellowstonelogo

Subscribe Learn More

mts_banner

This Week in Parasitism

a-radio

MicrobeWorld App

appsquarebannerad200x200

Microbes After Hours

BioEcon-SMALLThumb

Click for more "Microbes After Hours" videos

Featured Image

Featured Video

tedms

Getting Started with MicrobeWorld

More "How to" Videos:
| |
|

BacterioFiles Micro Edition 105 - Pythium Provides Pollutant Pipelines

This episode: Fungi and such can transport pollutants in soil to bacteria for degradation!





Read More

TWiM #53: Live in Manchester (with video!)



Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Laura Piddock, Read More

BacterioFiles Micro Edition 109 - Labeling Lung Lurkers

This episode: Identifying the microbial communities of the lungs!


 




Download Episode (3.35 MB, 3.6 minutes)


Read More

500-million-year-old gene spliced into modern bacteria

Biologists at Georgia Tech have resurrected a 500-million-year-old gene from bacteria and inserted it into modern Escherichia coli (E.coli) bacteria. The researchers have observed the bacterium grow over more than 1,000 generations, allowing them to see "evolution in action".

In a process cal... Read More

Daily Doses Of New Probiotic Reduces Bad And Total Cholesterol

As someone who has been taking a daily regimen of probiotics for some time now, a recent study was of particular interest to me. Probiotics, for those of you who don’t already know, are live microorganisms that are found to benefit the microbiome in your stomach and intestinal tract. They are be... Read More

Quorum sensing: Researchers examine bacteria communication

European researchers at Linköping University in Sweden are showing how bacteria control processes in human cells through a process called quorum sensing. This phenomenon is where bacteria talk to each other via molecules they themselves produce and is an important process during their proliferat... Read More

Influenza study: Meet virus’ new enemy

Simon Fraser University virologist Masahiro Niikura and his doctoral student Nicole Bance are among an international group of scientists that has discovered a new class of molecular compounds capable of killing the influenza virus.

Working on the premise that too much of a good thing can be ... Read More

Viruses act like self-packing suitcases

Researchers at the University of Leeds have identified a crucial stage in the lifecycle of simple viruses like polio and the common cold that could open a new front in the war on viral disease.

The team are the first to observe at a single-molecule level how the genetic material (genome) that... Read More

TWiP 52: Not your ordinary unsegmented roundworm



Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Dickson Despommier


Vincent and Dickson review... Read More

BacterioFiles Micro Edition 103 - Prokaryotes Palliate Plants' Pollution Pressures

This episode: Soil bacteria can help plants adapt to changing climate conditions!





Read More

Superbug MRSA Identified in US Wastewater Treatment Plants

A team led by researchers at the University of Maryland School of Public Health has found that the "superbug" methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is prevalent at several U.S. wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). MRSA is well known for causing difficult-to-treat and potentially fat... Read More

Germ killer in hand soap may weaken muscles

A chemical widely used in soaps, toothpaste, and toys weakens muscles in mice. Triclosan, an antibacterial chemical, hinders muscle contractions at a cellular level, slows swimming in fish, and reduces muscular strength in mice, according to researchers at the University of California, Davis, an... Read More

Meet the Bacteria That Produces Pure Gold

Scientists have discovered bacteria that eats toxic material and, well, poops pure gold. This microbial magician, named Cupriavidus metallidurans, when placed in a minilab full of gold chloride, a nasty toxin, gobbled up the poison and, in about a week, processed it out as 24-karat nuggets of th... Read More

TWiV 201 Letters

Dennis writes:


Dear Vincent,


I am glad you had a chance to get a glimpse of the BSL4 world. You might remember that I have been trying for 1 1/2 years to get you to see the Galveston National Laboratory, a facility with an actual ACTIVE program and a number of... Read More

Microbiologists Will Watch As Bacteria Take Over This Hospital

We often think of the world around us as sterile and static, especially when we are in a hospital. In reality, every surface on earth is literally teeming with millions of bacteria.

Jack Gilbert, a microbiologist from the University of Chicago, has spent his career investigating these invisib... Read More

Giant Viruses Are Ancient Living Organisms

A new study of giant viruses supports the idea that viruses are ancient living organisms and not inanimate molecular remnants run amok, as some scientists have argued. The study may reshape the universal family tree, adding a fourth major branch to the three that most scientists agree represent ... Read More

Missing Carl Woese---RIP!

I comment a bit, as an educator, about the loss of Carl Woese. Not only the importance of his discoveries, but how he went about his work, remains of great value. Read More

Scientists Discover New Type of Virus Responsible for a Devastating Disease in Snakes

A mysterious condition called Inclusion Body Disease (IBD) strikes captive boa constrictors and pythons, causing bizarre behavioral changes and eventually death. Scientists investigating an outbreak of IBD among snakes at the Steinhart Aquarium in San Francisco report they may well have found a ... Read More

Do Cranberries Prevent UTIs?

There is a long history of anecdotal evidence to suggest that cranberries and other alternative therapies to long-term antibiotics can prevent recurrent urinary tract infections but are they really as effective as antibiotics or even a viable alternative for people who do not want to take antibi... Read More

Yeast cells that share food have a survival edge over their freeloading neighbors — particularly when there is bacterial competition.

Many species exhibit cooperative survival strategies — for example, sharing food or alerting other individuals when a predator is nearby. However, there are almost always freeloaders in the population who will take advantage of cooperators. This can be seen even among microbes such as yeast, whe... Read More

American Society for Microbiology
2012 1752 N Street, N.W. • Washington, DC 20036-2904 • (202) 737-3600

Copyright © American Center for Microbiology 2012. All Rights Reserved.