MicrobeWorld

This episode: A virus has borrowed a bacterium's defenses to infect better!

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Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Read More

Microbiologist parents of newborns or expecting microbiologists now have a way to indoctrinate their wee little ones with an exciting new book for infants entitled "Baby's First Microbiology Book." Help baby learn about all the important little creatures! The pictures are: a microscope, bacteria... Read More

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, and Read More

This episode: Our brain might be home to helpful bacteria!

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Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Laura Piddock, Read More

Vincent Racaniello and co-host Laura Piddock, Ph.D., with guests Paul Williams, Ph.D., Kalin Vetsigian, Ph.D., and David Harper, Ph.D. Read More

Earlier this month the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) published the DNA sequence of the genome of HeLa cells, the cell line that is widely used for research in virology, cell biology, and many other areas. This cell line was produced from a tumor taken from Henrietta Lacks in 1951.... Read More

David Bhella, Ph.D., MRC Centre for Virus Research, accepts the Peter Wildy Prize for Microbiology Education, awarded annually by the Society for General Microbiology for an outstanding contribution to microbiology education. Read More

This episode: Fungi are found living deep under the sea!

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Recently thousands of dead and decaying pigs were pulled from rivers in Shanghai and Jiaxing, China. Apparently farmers dumped the animals into the water after the pigs became ill, and porcine circovirus was subsequently detected in the in pig carcasses and in the water. Porcine circoviruses are... Read More

This is a movie by David Bella, Ph.D., at the University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research showing the results of an analysis of Adenovirus binding to blood coagulation factor X, performed in collaboration with Professor Andrew H Baker in the University of Glasgow.

The animation was creat... Read More

This episode: Helicobacter pylori seems not to be more harmful than helpful!

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Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, and Read More

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Dickson Despommier

Vincent and Dickson review... Read More

Jason writes:

Hi Drs. Despommier and Racaniello,

This week you wondered why the immune-activating receptor for Toxoplasma gondii, TLR11, is present in mice but not in humans. You noted that it looks like there's no selective pressure keeping it around in us an... Read More

Viruses are obligate intracellular parasites, which means that they must enter a cell to reproduce. As virions are too large to diffuse passively across the plasma membrane, cellular pathways for uptake of extracellular materials provide entry routes. The first step in entry is adherence of viru... Read More

Diseases transmitted by mosquitoes have a devastating impact on global health and the situation is complicated due to difficulties with both existing control measures and the impact of climate change. Genetically modified mosquitoes that are refractory to disease transmission are seen as having ... Read More

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, and  Read More

Our bodies are made up by cells containing our own DNA. Plus 10 times as many with foreign DNA. The bacteria found on our skin, and inside our organs (intestine, vagina, mouth, nose, etc.) are referred to as our “microbiome”, outnumber our own cells by 10 to 1, and make up a vital organ with ind... Read More