MicrobeWorld

Researchers Jose Cordova of Yale University and Erich Astudillo of Chile’s Universidad de Santiago discovered a molecule they call Keep 32 that kills the bacteria responsible for all the trauma you suffered as a child, lying down blinded by the light as a masked man poked bits of metal in your m... Read More

Three decades ago, some companies began adding a chemical called triclosan to their products and tried to convince consumers that their hand soap or toothpaste was better because it was “anti-bacterial.”

Now, scientists are finding traces of that compound in the environment, and it’s causing ... Read More

Todd writes:

Hello Dixon and Vincent!

Your research and real life experience is slowly getting summarized by researchers so that it can be understood by reporters (aka those who
have a disproportionately loud voice in society):

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Two chicken vaccines have recombined to produce more virulent viruses in Sydney and Melbourne, research has found, prompting the regulator to examine new controls over the approval and use of veterinary vaccines.

A study by a team from the Asia-Pacific Centre for Animal Health at the Universi... Read More

We've all been there. The holidays are approaching and there's that one person on our list for whom we have no idea what to give. It's a common problem that is usually resolved with the purchase of a gift card from a local retailer. From hardware stores to electronic shops to the bookstore, cons... Read More

Hongos que causan dermatitis seborréica hasta algunos que fueron responsables de la hambruna irlandesa:  estos son algunos de los patógenos que estudia la Read More

Researchers from the Univ. of Rochester and Texas A&M Univ. have found that, over a period of five months following the disastrous 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill, naturally occurring bacteria that exist in the Gulf of Mexico consumed and removed at least 200,000 tons of oil and ... Read More

An outbreak of Ebola hemorrhagic fever that began in early July 2012 has involved at least 36 individuals and 16 deaths. So far the disease has been confined to a rural region west of Kampala, the capital of Uganda. The subject of Richard Preston’s scary The Hot Zone, Ebola virus is newsworthy b... Read More

Acinetobacter baumanni, a pathogenic bacterium that is a poster child of deadly hospital-acquired infections, is one tough customer. It resists most antibiotics, is seemingly immune to disinfectants, and can survive desiccation with ease. Indeed, the prevalence with which it infects soldiers wou... Read More

Sugary drinks help bad microbes grow in the human gut, according to a study published in the journal Obesity Reviews. This increase leads to many health complications like obesity and metabolic syndrome, raising risk of diseases associated with metabolic syndrome like diabetes.

The study says... Read More

I recently returned from the ASM yearly general meeting in San Francisco. It happens to be 60 years, no less, since I attended my first such event, that one in Chicago. In those days, many members attended a giant banquet as part of the event, I well remember. As a poor graduate student, I could... Read More

We are teeming with microscopic life. Scientists recently reported on the billions of bacteria and fungi that grow inside us, finding a lot of diversity from person to person — and from spot to spot on the human body.

Those findings were in 242 young adults (ages 18 to 40) in exceptionally go... Read More

Seasonal flu vaccines are targeted for strains of the influenza virus that public health officials believe will be most prevalent in the upcoming season. While the vaccine primes the immune system to protect against those specific strains, what does it mean for other future strains of the virus.... Read More

Lately, we've been learning more and more about the teeming masses of bacteria inside our bodies - essentially trillions of tiny organisms that make us sick and keep us healthy.

Now two scientists at the University of Colorado have dared to ask what kinds of bacteria lives inside our mouths. ... Read More

Pacifiers are among the most aptly named baby paraphernalia, but what if, instead of curing crankiness, they are actually causing babies to be more unruly?

That’s what the latest research suggests: that binkies can be teeming with bacteria, yeast and mold that can actually sicken babies rathe... Read More

Nels writes:

Dear Vincent,

A note of gratitude to you and your crew for generously “interrogating” my recent paper on the experimental evolution of vaccinia virus.

BTW, it was evolutionary biologist Leigh Van Valen (not Richard Dawkins) who proposed an... Read More

This episode: Gut bacteria use phages to beat their competition!

Download ... Read More

This episode: Using a bacterial trick to protect pathogen proteins from radiation could help produce useful vaccines!

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At a time when the value of gold has reached an all-time high, Michigan State University researchers have discovered a bacterium’s ability to withstand incredible amounts of toxicity is key to creating 24-karat gold.

“Microbial alchemy is what we’re doing – transforming gold from something th... Read More

Does beer have anti-virus powers? According to a new study funded by Japanese beer company Sapporo Breweries, a "key ingredient" found in the world's most popular alcoholic beverage may very well help stave off winter sniffles.

Researchers at Sapporo Medical University found that humulone, a ... Read More