Microbiology

Human Breast Milk- The Magic In The Microbiome

Human breast milk is nutrition for infants but it also contains a large number of bacterial species, including some opportunistic pathogens of humans.  ...

Article - News Staff - Sep 2 2014 - 12:31pm

How We Tricked E. Coli Bacteria Into Making Renewable Propane

By Patrik Jones, Imperial College London Converting renewable energy into electricity is one thing; converting it into fuel is quite another. The vast majority of global energy demand is for fuel, and a renewable source could help us heat our houses and t ...

Article - The Conversation - Sep 2 2014 - 3:00pm

Nature Versus Nurture: Going To Extreme For Enzymes

In the search for enzymes that can break lignocellulose down into biofuel sugars under the extreme conditions of a refinery, researchers are investigating new ways to release plant sugars from lignin for the production of liquid transportation fuels. Sugar ...

Article - News Staff - Sep 8 2014 - 9:01am

Gobbling Up Poison: Immunotoxins For Killing Colon Cancer?

Immunotoxins are targeted antibodies that go after deadly toxins like ricin. In the quest to find targeted therapies for cancer- that kill cancer but spare the surrounding tissue, immunotoxins make perfect sense. But they have not succeeded in part becaus ...

Article - News Staff - Sep 8 2014 - 1:40pm

Microbial Factories Could Produce Locally Brewed Painkillers

Soon to be grown for ornamental use only.Credit: Mark Nesbitt and Samuel Delwen, CC BY By Luc Henry, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne ...

Article - The Conversation - Sep 8 2014 - 11:01pm

Bacteria That Can Eat Radioactive Waste Discovered

Tiny single-cell organisms living underground could help with the problem of nuclear waste disposal, according to a paper in the ISME (Multidisciplinary Journal of Microbial Ecology) Journal.   This is good news for Americans, since the Obama administrati ...

Article - News Staff - Sep 9 2014 - 9:31am

How The African Midge Can Survive Without Water And In The Vacuum Of Space

Imagine being able to go from the hottest of hots to the coldest of colds, and endure both extreme droughts, where 97% of your body water is gone, and airless vacuums such as space. The African midge,  Polypedilum vanderplanki, can do all that and an inter ...

Article - News Staff - Sep 14 2014 - 10:08am

Bioinformatics Tool Shows Impact Of Probiotics On Gut Microbiota

Yogurt with probiotics are one of the latest health fads, but no one is sure they are doing anything at all and, if they are, that it is helping.  Probiotics are defined by marketing groups as "live micro-organisms which, when administered in adequate ...

Article - News Staff - Sep 14 2014 - 6:10pm

It's Flagella Against The Cantilever For The Fate Of Bacteria

A team of researchers has developed a new model to study the motion patterns of bacteria in real time and to determine how these motions relate to communication within a bacterial colony. The researchers chemically attached colonies of Escherichia coli ba ...

Article - News Staff - Sep 16 2014 - 1:07pm

Cryptophytes: Matryoshka Dolls Of The Waters

A team of researchers headed by Prof Dr. Nicole Frankenberg-Dinkel at Ruhr-University Bochum have revealed similarities and differences in the assembly of the light-harvesting machinery of the cryptophyte Guillardia theta compared to cyanobacteria and red ...

Article - News Staff - Sep 27 2014 - 3:00pm