MicrobeWorld

There is an interesting report in Nature: Biotechnology on the level of activism against environmental genetic modification:

The potential of forest biotechnology to help address significant social and environmental issues is being "strangled at birth" by the rigid opposition of some groups a... Read More

Hast thou considered dirt? This article goes 'deep' into dirt, stuff that's all around us but rarely thought about... Read More

A breakthrough in understanding, if not treatment of, a troublesome infection...

Lyme disease in the U.S. is caused by the tickborne bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi and usually begins with a skin lesion, after which the bacteria spread throughout the body to the nervous system, heart or joints.... Read More

The USDA is on point this year for the Fourth of July with reminding everyone that grilling out often requires special food handling precautions.

The chef of your household might have the skills to cook the perfect burger, but does he or she know the food safety "drills of the grill?" To hel... Read More

An update from the CDC regarding the current status of the recent E. coli outbreak in raw cookie dough. Learn what states have been affected so far, advice for consumers regarding the consumption of these products, and the current status of the investigation of the outbreak. Read More

Researchers from Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, Germany, have developed a new method for better diagnostic of diarrhea causing bacteria. Iit now possible to characterize and distinguish hundreds of bacteria strains in a short time. The method is based on the existence of short, repeti... Read More

A newly discovered molecule in the milk produced by mom, in the first few days after birth, apparently contains a very powerful ingredient which helps protect the "lining of a newborn's gut which is particularly vulnerable to damage as it has never been exposed to food or drink." Read More

Microbes obviously don't have a brain and therefore are not capable of conscious thought however, "many bacteria and protists exhibit behavior that looks remarkably intelligent." Check out six of the most interesting examples of intelligent behavior demonstrated by microbes as compiled from the ... Read More

While estimates of the number of genes in the human genome is said to be around 20,000, new research estimates that if you take into account our microbiota there may be as many as 9 million genes in the human gut.

"A new concept is to consider human as a super-organism containing those microb... Read More

From the abstract - The impact of scientific publications has traditionally been expressed in terms of citation counts. However, scientific activity has moved online over the past decade. To better capture scientific impact in the digital era, a variety of new impact measures has been proposed o... Read More

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Joint Genome Institute (JGI) has selected 71 new genomic sequencing projects for its 2010 Community Sequencing Program (CSP)—a targeted sampling of the planet’s biodiversity—to be characterized for bioenergy, climate, and environmental applications. JGI’s ... Read More

Craig Venter, the controversial American scientist who helped decode the human genome, has announced the discovery of ancient bacteria that can turn coal into methane, suggesting they may help to solve the world’s energy crisis.

The bugs, discovered a mile underground by one of Venter’s micro... Read More

U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) has updated and reintroduced a package of legislation to combat the spread of the infection. The Worker Infection Protection Act would create a new Occupational, Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standard to protect employees who are exposed to drug resi... Read More

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced today that the department will pursue advanced development of new way to make influenza vaccine. The work will be done by Protein Sciences Corporation, Inc., of Meriden, Conn., under a new $35 million contract. The contract could be extended up to five y... Read More

In episode 38 of This Week in Virology, hosts Vincent Racaniello and  Read More

It seems like the low-hanging fruit is always one of the best places to look first... Like handwashing, it's a simple, effective, and cheap way to improve public health.

The stomach ulcer bacterium Helicobacter pylori is not transmitted through drinking water as previously thought, but rather... Read More

Almost certain to spark debate, Norman Pace, in this article from Microbiology Today, argues that prokaryote as a word is outdated and should be eliminated from the microbiologist's vocabulary. He doubts that you even know what the term means and says , "the notion of prokaryote was scientifical... Read More

Bacteriófagos al rescate
Los bacteriófagos son virus que infectan solamente a las bacterias, las “enferman” y las matan. Son la forma más numerosa de entidades biologicas existen... Read More

Sequencing the human genome has revolutionized biomedical research. One of the major challenges that scientists throughout the world are facing in the post-genome era is the mapping of the interactome, which can be defined as the complete set of interaction networks underlying the functioning of... Read More

Implants worldwide have cause for celebration! Iron-oxide nanoparticles can clear up a very worrisome aftereffect of implants, prosthetics or any area where a device joins the body. Read More