All About Prions

Have you ever heard of prions ? Well, even if you haven't, you've probably heard about the "Mad Cow Disease" outbreak that occurred in England a few years ago.
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Antibacterials vs. Soap

Yes, germs are lurking all around you-on doorknobs, handrails, telephones, even sink faucets. So does that mean you should reach for a squirt of antibacterial cleanser rather than plain old soap when you wash up?
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Antibiotic Resistance

Before the first antibiotic, penicillin, was discovered nearly 75 years ago, millions of people died from infections that are easily treated today. As effective as antibiotics have been, however, decades of drug exposure has led to microbes that are fighting back. Antibiotic resistance is increasing worldwide, creating organisms that no longer respond to treatment with many of the drugs that we have. Learn what scientists, doctors, the government and you can do to help slow resistance.
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Biggest Living Thing

What's the largest living thing in the world? Did you say the blue whale? That's a good guess. But there is another living thing that's bigger. Much, much bigger.
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Clues to Extraterrestrial Life

How did life arise on Earth? Are we alone in the universe, a strange fluke, or is there life somewhere out there in the depths of space?
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Cold Patients Want Antibiotics

Quick: you're sick with a bad cold. Your mom and dad want you to feel better as soon as possible. Should they take you to a doctor and demand an antibiotic for you?
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Down With Vaccines?

Doctors are speaking out now to halt a disturbing trend. A small but growing minority of parents are turning against the vaccines given to children.
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Fire Ant Killers

Ever been stung by a fire ant? If you haven't, trust me, it HURTS! They latch onto your skin with their mandibles, or mouth parts, and sting repeatedly, pivoting in circles to sting in different spots. Their venom burns like a hot match.
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Human Genes Decoded

With the help of new techniques and powerful computers, scientists have finally pieced together in order the entire human genome.
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Infections and Sports

This one definitely belongs in the Yuk File: During a 1998 college football game, a bunch of Duke University football players, sick from bad turkey, passed along a stomach-heaving virus to their Florida State opponents through the vomit on their hands and uniforms.
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Life On Mars?

Is there life on Mars? No one knows for sure yet. But in August 1996, scientists announced that they had found what they believed to be fossils of tiny microbes in a meteorite from Mars.
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Light of the Sea

The seas contain an abundance of living forms that are bioluminescent, that is, capable of emitting light. Just like fireflies on land, certain fish, squid, and jellyfish can produce light.

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Living Microbes From A Dead Lake

In a lake so poisonous its water is like battery acid, scientists were surprised to find microbes of all kinds-bacteria, algae, protozoa and fungi-living and thriving.
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Metal-Eating Microbe Makes Acid

How about a nice, refreshing swim-in battery acid?! Ok, so maybe this doesn't sound like heaven to you, but it's home-sweet-home for an archaeon that lives deep in an abandoned California mine.
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Microbial Magic Trick

A research team has discovered a variety of bacteria that can break down certain toxic wastes into a component of ordinary table salt and other harmless chemicals.
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Microbiology Of Farts

Alright, let's face it: animals-and people-pass gas, either by belching or farting. But some are more gassy than others. Cows, for example, give out so much methane gas that some suspect them as one cause of global warming. Ever wonder why this might be?
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New Antibiotic Targets Tough Germs

New type of antibiotic drug has been approved by the Food & Drug Administration. It is the first totally new type of antibiotic in more than 30 years.
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Parasite Gives Rats Suicidal Tendencies

What would make a rat think it could take on cat? Scientists have discovered that a certain microbe, Toxoplasma gondii (tocks-oh-plaz-ma gone-dee-ee), causes rats to lose their typical fear and avoidance behavior.
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Plants Sickly? Try Fungi!

If you do any gardening, or if your family does, then you know a lot goes into keeping hungry insects off your plants and helping your flowers or veggies grow big and healthy.
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Slime, Sweet Slime

Ooze. Slime. Gunk. These are just a few of the terms you might use to describe a microbial biofilm. To us, biofilms are just slimy coatings on objects, sometimes helpful, sometimes a nuisance. But to microbes, biofilms are home.
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Teen's Research Gets Notice

Could a kid do scientific research that even real scientists would take note of? Well, 17-year-old Ashley Mulroy did. She set out to test drinking water for traces of antibiotic drugs.
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The Fungus Behind The Famine

Ever heard of the Great Potato Famine? This was a tragic time in Irish history when a plant disease killed off Ireland's potato crops in 1845, 1846 and again in 1848. During this time, more than a million people died of starvation and illness brought on by malnutrition.
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Water Quality

Water is an absolutely vital element of our everyday lives and we depend on it to be clean and safe. But when outbreaks of waterborne illnesses occur, we begin to wonder: How safe is the water? Where do these infectious microbes come from? How is water treated now and what’s being done to make it even safer?
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West Nile Virus

Since its U.S. arrival in 1999, West Nile virus has spread across the United States and northward into Canada. In 2002, more than 4,000 people in the United States became sick from the virus; 284 died. Learn steps we can take to protect ourselves, our families, our communities, and our pets and livestock.
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