MicrobeWorld

John writes:

Dear Vincent and Dickson,

I just heard your most recent TWIP. Please keep these podcasts going! I love listening to your podcasts and hearing your enthusiasm for my favorite biological topic, parasites. Remember that for every fan... Read More

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has released early estimates of the effectiveness of this season’s influenza vaccine in preventing influenza infection. Estimated vaccine effectiveness is 62%. But even if you get infected after immunization, you are likely to have reduced illness, ... Read More

It’s not hard to see that men are more likely to engage in risky behaviors than women, or that crime rates are many times higher among men, but this tendency to break the rules also extends to male scientists, according to a study to be published on January 22 in mBio®, the online open-access jo... Read More

El podcast del microbio Nº 350 summarize the article writen by Nasir A, Kim KM, & Caetano-Anolles and published in BMC evolutionary biology on the hypothesis that giant viruses (mimivirus) are a fourth doma... Read More

Tengo el gusto de anunciarles que mi curso de virologia esta ahora disponible en Español.

Este trabajo se realizó bajo la dirección de la Dra. Susana López, virologa del Departamento de Genética del Desarrollo y Fisiología Molecular del Instituto de Biotecnología de la Universidad Nacional A... Read More

Viruses are obligate intracellular parasites, which means that they must enter a cell to reproduce. As virions are too large to diffuse passively across the plasma membrane, cellular pathways for uptake of extracellular materials provide entry routes. The first step in entry is adherence of viru... Read More

The Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) has developed the benthic microbial fuel cell (BMFC) as a persistent power supply for marine-deployed applications. The BMFC operates on the bottom of marine environments where it oxidizes organic matter residing in sediment with oxygen in overlying water. The... Read More

Recently thousands of dead and decaying pigs were pulled from rivers in Shanghai and Jiaxing, China. Apparently farmers dumped the animals into the water after the pigs became ill, and porcine circovirus was subsequently detected in the in pig carcasses and in the water. Porcine circoviruses are... 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

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Rich Condit,  Read More

This episode: Our brain might be home to helpful bacteria!

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There have been over 60 human infections with avian influenza virus H7N9 in China, and cases have been detected outside of Shanghai, including Beijing, Zhejiang, Henan, and Anhui Provinces. Information on the first three cases has now been published, allowing a more detailed consideration of the... Read More

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Rich Condit, Read More

The US Office of Science and Technology Policy recently released proposed guidelines for maximizing the benefits and minimizing misuse of life sciences research. The measures establish oversight responsibilities for universities and other institutions that receive Federal funding. Read More

Diseases transmitted by mosquitoes have a devastating impact on global health and the situation is complicated due to difficulties with both existing control measures and the impact of climate change. Genetically modified mosquitoes that are refractory to disease transmission are seen as having ... Read More

This episode: Green algae's hydrogen production is analyzed and improved!

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This is a movie by David Bella, Ph.D., at the University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research showing the results of an analysis of Adenovirus binding to blood coagulation factor X, performed in collaboration with Professor Andrew H Baker in the University of Glasgow.

The animation was creat... Read More

A simple new method better assesses the risks posed by emerging zoonotic viruses (those transmissible from animals to humans), according to a study published in PLOS Medicine this week. Dr. Simon Cauchemez and colleagues from Imperial College London in the UK and the Centers for Disease Control ... Read More

A CNN iReport about an integrative lab series known as the Wolbachia in Nashville includes area high school students from School for Science and Math at Vanderbilt with the purpose of bringing real-world scientific research on microbes into high school biology classes. Angela Eeds, director with... Read More

The new season of El podcast del Microbio has begun. The radio broadcast Nº 331, 332 and 333 are dedicated to Francisco Javier Balmis, the Spanish physician who headed an 1804 expedition to Spanish America t... Read More