MicrobeWorld

Studies suggest that infants who grow up with dogs in their home are less likely to develop asthma. Researchers may now have found one reason why. Pets, dogs in particular, may protect infants from the effects of a common virus, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).

Infants with severe RSV infec... Read More

The recent H1N1 flu pandemic was found to be particularly dangerous to obese people, and a Wayne State University researcher is looking for clues as to why.

Emily Martin, Ph.D., assistant professor of pharmacy practice in the Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, has begun... Read More

Johnson & Johnson said Monday that it is seeking U.S. approval for the first new type of medicine to fight deadly tuberculosis in more than four decades.

The experimental drug, called bedaquiline, also would be the first medicine specifically for treating multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis. Th... Read More

There is no parasite that is universally infective, even generalist parasites that can infect many different host species are usually limited to a particular taxonomic group - such as fish, insects, or mammals. Some parasites may infect a broad spectrum of hosts during one stage of their life-cy... Read More

At first glance it appears to be a minuscule marble spinning around its vertical axis. Look closer, however, and you see a stationary spherical membrane of fluid, just 3 microns across. It is the stuff inside the droplet that is rotating. This self-contained centrifuge has been created by blasti... Read More

I guess it doesn't sting, which is a plus - clearly we need no more stinging/biting/blood-sucking creatures on this earth - but my real wonder is what's next, and why rat heart muscle? Read More

Some lessons and notes from the ASM meeting from Jonathan Eisen on "The Tree of Life" Read More

Small Things Considered

The purpose of Small Things Considered is to share appreciation for the width and depth of the microbial activities on this pla... Read More

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Read More

Our days of crying over spoiled milk could be over, thanks to Cornell food scientists.

Milk undergoes heat treatment -- pasteurization -- to kill off microbes that can cause food spoilage and disease, but certain bacterial strains can survive this heat shock as spores and cause milk to curdle... Read More

Synthetic biology is getting a boost. So far, most researchers have designed their synthetic circuits using transcription factors found in bacteria. However, these don’t always translate well to nonbacterial cells and can be a challenge to scale. Now, researchers have come up with a new method t... Read More

I still wonder why the influenza virus H5N1 ferret transmission studies generated such fear and misunderstanding among the public, the press, and even some scientists. I still cannot fully explain what transpired, but now that the papers have been published some new clues have emerged. Read More

At one time or another, every human goes through the rather introverted and personal experience of omphaloskepsis.

The term, better known as navel-gazing, originally described the act of self-reflection through a complete physical and mental focus on the bellybutton. The practice has been rec... Read More

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Rich Condit, Read More

The mayor of Dallas declared a state of emergency in the ninth largest U.S. city on Wednesday to combat the spread of West Nile virus infections, which have been more prevalent than usual in Texas and other states this year.

There have been more cases of West Nile virus reported so far this y... Read More

Americans have been on an antibacterial kick for the past several years. Our hand soap, dish soap, and body wash have morphed into an arsenal of bug-killing napalm, eliminating all but the heartiest of bacteria.

And there are, indeed, some scary microbes crawling around out there—Staph and C.... Read More

Be part of the studio audience for the 2012 General Meeting's live internet talk show, ASM Live. Host Stanley Maloy, Chair of the Communications Committee for the American Society for Microbiology will discuss hot topics at the meeting with presenters and will take questions from audience and... Read More

Like bacteria, cancer cells rely on communication and cooperation, says TAU research

Experts agree that, more than ever before, modern wars will be fought in the cyber zone, targeting an enemy’s communications technology to cause untold damage. Now a Tel Aviv University researcher is suggesti... Read More

Did you know that your body is home to 10 times more microbes than human cells? Join us at ASM Headquarters on Thursday, July 19, 2012, from 6-8 PM to learn about the human microbiome and its fascinating practical applications. Come mingle with like-minded enthusiasts and curious citizens ove... Read More

At an ill-fated press conference in 1984, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Margaret Heckler boldly predicted an effective AIDS vaccine would be available within just two years.

But a string of failed attempts - punctuated by a 2007 trial in which a Merck vaccine appeared to make peopl... Read More