Microbe Magazine

Microbiologists at the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI) in Rockville, Md., transferred the genome from one bacterium to another, “resulting in new cells with both the genotype and phenotype of the input genetic material,” says Carole Lartigue, lead scientist on the project. “The recipient genome ... More...

A mutation in the West Nile virus (WNV) gene encoding helicase seems to account for major changes in virulence of this virus, enabling such mutants to replicate at least 10⁴ more efficiently than usual, according to Aaron Brault of the University of California, Davis (UCD), and his col... More...

Bacteriophage can be genetically engineered to produce enzymes that dissolve polysaccharide matrices surrounding and protecting bacterial biofilms. These enzymes in turn enhance the ability of phage to break down such biofilms, according to bioengineers James Collins of Boston University in Bosto... More...

The soil-dwelling amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum, although heralded for its social behavior, also has what might be considered an antisocial side—displaying immune-like activities among a subset of cells that protect against bacterial or other threats encountered in its immediate environm... More...

For ordinary bacteria, cell division is tightly linked with cell wall synthesis. Bacterial L forms, however, which are amorphous and penicillin-resistant, supposedly grow without making cell wall, which also is known as peptidoglycan or murein. Not so—at least for Escherichia coli L forms,... More...

Sonicating surgically extracted prosthetic knee and hip joints improves the sensitivity of diagnostic testing for pathogens that form biofilms on such devices, which sometimes cause them to fail, according to Robin Patel and collaborators at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. Conventional testing re... More...

Using pillow lava samples from the Euro Basalt of Pilbara Craton in Western Australia, Canadian geochemist and petrologist Neil R. Banerjee from the University of Western Ontario and his collaborators identified microbial tunnels that they date to the Archean period. If this evidence holds up it ... More...

Women who are pregnant for the first time are highly susceptible to malaria, a condition known as pregnancy-associated malaria (PAM). However, during subsequent pregnancies women typically build up resistance to PAM, except for those who become infected with HIV. Although pregnant women typically... More...

With little fanfare last August, Representative John Dingell (D-Mich.) proposed sweeping legislation to reform the safety of imported foods and drugs. Dingell chairs the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, which has held a series of hearings on the safety of the food and drug supply. The new ... More...