MicrobeWorld

The newly discovered virus that killed a Saudi Arabian man in June and is now causing life-threatening illness in a person from Qatar is similar to strains carried by bats, researchers reported Thursday.

Most of the bat strains do not infect people. Why the new strain does — and how it got in... Read More

Waves at the beach are relaxing. Waves at a baseball game are fun. Waves in the bacterial world are deadly. This is according to a study offered by scientists from Rice University and the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston Medical School.

The study’s findings show one of the... Read More

Dennis writes:

Dear Vincent,

I am glad you had a chance to get a glimpse of the BSL4 world. You might remember that I have been trying for 1 1/2 years to get you to see the Galveston National Laboratory, a facility with an actual ACTIVE program and a number of... Read More

At a time when the value of gold has reached an all-time high, Michigan State University researchers have discovered a bacterium’s ability to withstand incredible amounts of toxicity is key to creating 24-karat gold.

“Microbial alchemy is what we’re doing – transforming gold from something th... Read More

Healthy people's lungs are home to a diverse community of microbes that differs markedly from the bacteria found in the lungs of cystic fibrosis patients. That's the result of new research from Stanford University and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, which has wide implications for treatment ... Read More

Thousands of German schoolchildren have fallen ill with a vomiting and diarrhea bug. Officials are still awaiting laboratory results, but the norovirus has been found in some cases.

More than 8,300 preschoolers and schoolchildren in eastern Germany, as well as a few teachers, have fallen ill ... Read More

Eye proteins that can kill harmful bacteria may prove useful in developing new powerful and inexpensive antimicrobial drugs, according to a new study.

The finding was made by University of California, Berkeley, researchers investigating why eyes are so resistant to infection. They noticed tha... Read More

A short post from my microbiological blog describing a bit of humorous "microbial art." Read More

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory has been named a Milestones in Microbiology site by the American Society for Microbiology. This ASM program recognizes institutions and the scientists who worked there that have made significant contributions toward advancing the science of ... Read More

New animal research suggests it may be possible to use a form of smallpox virus to infect and kill the tumor cells of a particularly virulent form of breast cancer.

To date, this novel approach to attacking what's known as triple-negative breast cancer has centered exclusively around work wit... Read More

Malaria-drug monitoring over the past 30 years has shown that malaria parasites develop resistance to medicine, and the first signs of resistance to the newest drugs have just been observed. At the same time, resistance monitoring at the University of Copenhagen shows that the previously efficac... Read More

Scientists who helped to fight the 2003 epidemic of SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) have sprung into action again to investigate the latest threat: a new SARS-related virus that has killed one man and left another seriously ill. Last week, the researchers reported the genome sequence of... Read More

Observing signaling molecules before they leave a cell could give researchers insights into how cells in our bodies influence one another.

Chemical communication between cells keeps tissues functioning and systems coordinated, but eavesdropping on the conversation is challenging. Now, researc... Read More

Scientists have recently discovered three new human viruses.

One, from the Arabian Peninsula, causes severe pneumonia and kidney failure. Another sent two Missouri farmers to the hospital with severe fatigue and low blood platelets. The third, in central Africa, causes a new kind of hemorrhag... Read More

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, ... Read More

Since first discovered in 2007 in New York, white-nose syndrome has spread to 16 states, including Virginia and Maryland, and four Canadian provinces. The disease is estimated to have killed over five million hibernating bats. An outbreak of infectious disease among bats on the order of white-no... Read More

Scientists have said they have come up with a new way to destroy a bacteria which killed four babies in hospitals in Belfast and Londonderry. Three babies died from pseudomonas in January, while another newborn died in December. The team from Queen's University Belfast believe they have made a s... Read More

The gold you see in the photo above was not found in a river or a mine. It was produced by a bacteria that, according to researchers at Michigan State University, can survive in extreme toxic environments and create 24-karat gold nuggets. Pure gold.

Maybe this critter can save us all from the... Read More

Hemorrhagic fevers are among the most graphic viral diseases, inspiring movies, novels, and a general fear of infection. They are characterized by an abrupt onset and a striking clinical course involving bleeding from the nose and mouth, vomiting with blood, and bloody diarrhea. The most famous ... Read More

Nikon Small World Honorable Mention 2010 photomicrography competition, Gerd A. Guenther, Düsseldorf, NRW, Germany

Subject Matter: Paramecium caudatum fed with Congo red-stained yeast, living specimen (600x)
Technique: Differential interference contrast Read More