MicrobeWorld

"Bacteria have very peculiar sex lives. When humans have kids they mix up their DNA with that of their partner, but bacteria can pick up DNA from all sorts of places, even other species. Our research shows that bacteria which do this, that is undergo sex, with their own and other species are mor... Read More

Just when you thought that everything conceivable has been written about Charles Darwin on his bicentennial, a revealing perspective on his wife, Emma, appeared in the journal International Microbiology. Written by the distinguished science writer Mercé Piqueras, the article sheds light on many ... Read More

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano issued the following statements today in response to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) decision to raise the pandemic threat level on the novel H1N1 vi... Read More

A government report on food hygiene and safety said that many vegetables and fruits contain pesticides and chemicals, meats and meat products contain bacteria and over 60 million Vietnamese people have parasitic worms in their bodies.

Random tests of fruits and vegetables in Hanoi and Vinh Ph... Read More

Sick but still going to work? You'll probably end up taking more sick days in the future than colleagues who stay at home when unwell, according to a Swedish study.

Researchers at the Karolinska Institutet of Stockholm found that employees who often go to work feeling sick -- termed "sickness... Read More

Scientists have used genetic engineering to tame one of the most deadly food poisoning microbes and turn it into a potential new way of giving patients medicine and vaccines in pills rather than injections. The study is in the current issue of ACS’ Molecular Pharmaceutics, a bi-monthly journal.
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A soil microbe that uses chemical warfare to fight off competitors employs an unusual chemical pathway in the manufacture of its arsenal, researchers report, making use of an enzyme that can do what no other enzyme is known to do: break a non-activated carbon-carbon bond in a single step.

The... Read More

Bioremediation of industrial sites and petrochemical spillages often involves finding microbes that can gorge themselves on the toxic chemicals. This leaves behind a non-toxic residue or mineralized material. Writing in the International Journal of Environment and Pollution, researchers in China... Read More

This is an amazing story:

"For eight years, Jessica Terry suffered from stomach pain so horrible, it brought her to her knees. The pain, along with diarrhea, vomiting and fever, made her so sick, she lost weight and often had to miss school.

Her doctors, no matter how hard they tried, cou... Read More

The San Francisco Chronicle has published a light-hearted interview with J. Craig Venter, "one of the leading scientists of the 21st century, a man who has rattled the establishment, turned biology into a high-stakes race and was the first human being to have his entire genome sequenced." I say ... Read More

PPPPAAAAANNNNNDDDDDEEEEMMMMMIIIIIICCCCCCC!!!!

The World Health Organization told its member nations it was declaring a swine flu pandemic Thursday — the first global flu epidemic in 41 years — as infections climbed in the United States, Europe, Australia, South America and elsewhere.

In a ... Read More

Breaking News from the WHO via SkyNews:

In a statement to member countries, the WHO said it decided to raise the pandemic alert level from phase five to six, meaning that a global outbreak of swine flu has begun.

The decision was made after the UN health agency held an emergency meeting on... Read More

The World Health Organization recommended last week that the vaccine against rotavirus, a diarrheal disease that kills 500,000 children a year, be given to every child in the world.

More than 85 percent of those deaths are of poor children in Africa, Asia and Latin America, and the W.H.O. end... Read More

Where a textile mill once drove the economy of this blue-collar town northeast of Charlotte, an imposing neoclassical complex is rising, filled with fine art, Italian marble and multimillion-dollar laboratory equipment. Three buildings, one topped by a giant dome, form the beginnings of what has... Read More

Ratas que olfatean la tuberculosis

Los científ... Read More

Antibiotics, antimicrobials and antifungals are seeping into the waterways of North America, Europe and East Asia, according to an investigation published in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP). Authored by Université de Montréal and Environment Canada researchers, ... Read More

Just in time for discussions on the Food Safety Enhancement Act is the Friday opening of a new documentary called Food, Inc. From the official website - "Filmmaker Robert Kenner lifts the veil on our nation's food industry, exposing the highly mechanized underbelly that has been hidden from the ... Read More

Sciam reports that "many animals, including man's best friend, also suffer from both short-lived and chronic digestive woes. As a result, some veterinarians have begun prescribing supplements containing friendly bacteria, or "probiotics," to ease related symptoms such as diarrhea, vomiting, gas ... Read More

The Scientific American has a new article out that looks at the potential impact of global warming on methane release in the arctic.

"In a complete Arctic thaw, these lakes could discharge a whopping 50 billion tons of methane: 10 times the amount already helping to heat the planet.

Whethe... Read More

For those of you interested in the Food Safety Enhancement Act click source above to view the official discussion site, see a pdf of the draft language and view a pdf summary document. This is currently being discussed in the House today. Read More