Talmudic Question #131
by Nicole Flanagan
Is there any human-associated bacterial species that cannot cause disease if introduced into some site of the body?
Other Posts
A Shining Mystery
by Elio — Who wouldn't agree how enormously gratifying it would be to make ecological sense of every lab finding, to see how the phenomenon being observed fits with the organism's life outside the lab. Sounds easy?
Of Terms in Biology: Syntrophy
by Elio — Syntrophy or "eating together" is a kind of symbiosis widespread in biology and of great importance for key biochemical transactions on this planet. Indeed, the cycling of carbon in many of its aspects depends on microbial syntrophy. Thus, the breakdown of waste material critically depends on chemical modifications brought about...
Talmudic Question #8
Can you think of a place on Earth where there is free water but no microbes?
Catch as Catch Can
by Elio — The much admired late marine microbiologist Ralph Lewin coined the term "ixotrophy" to describe how certain bacteria catch their prey by having a sticky surface. ('Iχo-' is derived from the Greek for "sticky" and 'iχos' means birdlime, the name of the gluey stuff used for trapping birds). Many readers, at least the older ones, will be reminded of flypaper.
Talmudic Question #95
by Barry Goldman — Almost all multicellular critters known (animals, plants, fungi, algae) go through a microbial stage in their life cycle – gamete or spore. Can you think of a multicellular species or higher taxon that has NEVER been caught going through the microbial stage?
Parasites, Predators, and Piggyback Rides
by J. Jeffrey Morris — In the adorable kid's book 'My Lucky Day', a wily and disarmingly cute piglet tricks a fearsome fox into giving him a spaghetti dinner, a bath, and a massage. In the end, Mr. Pig slips away after Mr. Fox passes out from exhaustion. We later learn that, far from being an innocent...
