Talmudic Question #112
Many, perhaps most bacteria, divide into daughter cells of almost precisely the same size. Why is that?
Other Posts
From Geology to Biology: A Serpentine Story of Early Life
by Samantha Trumbo — Over 4.5 billion years ago, the Earth was a superheated sphere of molten rock, radiating heat to space at over 2000 K. A billion years later, it had global oceans, teeming with microorganisms. In that time, the Earth underwent massive geological changes, somehow serendipitously creating conditions right enough to lead...
Talmudic Question #103
Why do you suppose there are few, if any, mycorrhizae in aquatic environments?
Talmudic Question #56
The genie has returned. During a moonlit walk on the beach, you stub your toe against a bottle, which rolls against a rock and shatters. A genie is liberated, eager to grant you one wish. You ask for a microbiological laboratory fully equipped to your specifications. The genie grants you that but with the condition that you can study only one organism. Which would you choose?
Fecal Transplants in the "Good Old Days"
by Stanley Falkow — I had a conversation with some colleagues last week about "personalized medicine," which has been transformed now into the term "precision medicine." The conversation revolved around what to do about the perceived effects of antibiotic treatment on the microbiota of individuals. How does one treat a patient without disrupting their…
Golden Nuggets
by Elio — Copper, uranium, gold, and other metals are mined by bacteria and archaea, and this takes place on an industrial scale. Consortia of these organisms leach minerals from ores — even low-grade ores — and thus have commercial blessing. This is an old story. Rio Tinto, a river in Southern Spain, has been known...
A Whiff of Taxonomy – Verrucomicrobia, The Bacterial Warthogs
by Elio — Unlike warthogs, likely to be considered beautiful only by their mother, the Verrucomicrobia (verruca means "wart, thus the warty bacteria; more about this later) have considerable appeal, be it morphological, physiological, or ecological. This is yet another phylum that owes its recognition to nucleic acid technology. Although few of its members…
