Category: Microbiology
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The Animal Microbiome
What are microbes doing for animals? We all contain multitudes [1], and the microbiome field has grown by leaps and bounds. Most work has been done in humans and other model animals such as mice, where conditions can be very well controlled in the lab. However animals also have their own microbiome, including those in…
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The Mysteries of the Phage
The phage could save our future in health. A bacteriophage looks like the ultimate out-of-this-world structure, with a geometric head, attached to a tube, and ending in tail fibers that are essentially its landing gear. Watching a bacteriophage attach itself to its host bacteria is eerily reminiscent of a spaceship landing on a planet. The…
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Buying time in drug resistance
Running against the clock in AMR The problem of pathogens acquiring resistance to the antimicrobial drugs that we have is a known issue. While we scramble to find new, improved drugs against these superbugs, researchers like Pamela Yeh are looking into how to use combination of the drugs we already have. Here she talks about…
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LGBTQI in the time of Corona
Recognizing vulnerable communities in pandemics These times of lockdown due to COVID19 are tough for us all. There are some communities however, where there are specific fears and issues that affect them specifically. To look at the science of SARS-CoV2 and how it affects the LGBTQI community, specifically those who are HIV positive, I hosted…
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Social Microbes
Microbes like living together, as it turns out. We learn in school that bacteria are single celled organisms, self sufficient in their genetic and protein machinery. However, in nature bacteria and other microbes like fungi actually prefer to live in communities, with heterogeneous populations that confer important properties to the survival of the community. This…
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Oh My Corona
A resource of sane, up-to-date websites on COVID19 It is hard to escape the Corona phenomenon in the media these days, as a deluge of news, blog posts (like this one), memes and jokes hit us left right and center. Along with this of course is the barrage of supposed miracle cures and dooms-day scenarios,…
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Persistence pays off
There are many reasons why antimicrobials are failing. The discovery of penicillin heralded a new age in treating infectious diseases. We finally had a means to cure infections specifically and successfully, and this created a whole slew of antimicrobial drugs, eradicating diseases that would otherwise almost certainly kill the patient. However, these days, infectious disease…
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The Diversity of Fungi
Fungi are absolutely cooler than you might think. Think of fungi, and images of cheese gone bad, mushrooms and that annoyingly persistent infection between your toes are sure to pop into your head. But fungi are so much more than that. The Westerdijk Insitute.(Photo credit: Thijs Rooimans) I interviewed Professor Pedro Crous, the director of…
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The frog’s guardian angel
A microbe protects frogs from an infectious one. A lucky frog sits on a leaf in the highlands of Panama. Of all the frogs in its little community, it was one of only a handful that survived a deadly plague. Now, you could think that the frog was innately immune and was able to fight…
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On being a fungal physician
Fungal infections are far more wide spread that we all think. The biggest challenge here is the proper diagnosis, treatment and prevention of these infections. I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Dr. Andrej Spec, an infectious disease specialist at the Washington University School of Medicine. Here he talks about what he does, the kinds…