MicrobeWorld

For a fifth-grade science fair, Evie Sobczak found that the acid in fruit could power clocks; she connected a cut-up orange to a clock with wire and watched it tick. In seventh grade, she generated power by engineering paddles that could harness wind. And in eighth grade, she started a project t... Read More

Bacteria, for the most part, thrive in extreme temperatures and in arid conditions. But some types of bacteria have the capacity to do this and more: they grow within diverse environments and adapt easily. One such species is the Bacillus subtilis. Known to make its home in soil and in water, re... Read More

Young children and the elderly are especially susceptible to respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). The three-dimensional structure of respiratory syncytial virus has been solved by an international team from Finland and Switzerland.

RSV is a common cause of respiratory infection, but there is no... Read More

The Polio Wall of Fame is a set of fifteen sculptured busts of 17 individuals who made important contributions to understanding and preventing poliomyelitis. The busts are mounted on an exterior wall of Founder’s Hall at the Roosevelt Warm Springs Institute for Rehabilitation in Warm Springs, Ge... Read More

An antibiotic has been found to stimulate its own production. The findings, to be published in PNAS, could make it easier to scale up antibiotic production for commercialisation.

Scientists Dr Emma Sherwood and Professor Mervyn Bibb from the John Innes Centre were able to use their discovery ... Read More

A Cornell University study offers further proof that the divergence of humans from chimpanzees some 4 million to 6 million years ago was profoundly influenced by mutations to DNA sequences that play roles in turning genes on and off.

The study, published June 9 in Nature Genetics, provides ev... Read More

We continue our semi-annual ritual and post this quick tour of our blog posts published since December, 2012.

Pictures Considered

Our new section dealing with “pictures that made a difference but may be nearly forgotten by now” seems to be off to a good start. Please send us suggestions of... Read More

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, and  Read More

Daniel writes:

Dear Vincent and his fellow TWIMsters,

Hello, my name is Daniel, I am a first year graduate student at Michigan State. I would like to thank you all for making a great podcast. I recently caught up to the most current episodes by having my o... Read More