Microorganisms

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Bacteria (2589)
Microorganism (628)
Parasite (492)
Virus (367)

Synopsis: Microorganisms:

Psychologist Paul Rozin, of the University of Pennsylvania, argues that our disgust response reduces the likelihood of ingesting disease-causing microorganisms in decayed meat, faeces, vomit, or blood.

Since germs are transmissible by contact it is not surprising that something that touches a yucky substance is itself forever yucky,

they gobble up far fewer parasitic lungworm larvae. The same is true for sheep. Researchers at the University of Aberdeen, UK showed in experiments how sheep overwhelmingly preferred plots uncontaminated with faeces to those containing it.

They were unable to distinguish between faeces infected with parasites and uninfected faeces and so operated according to an avoid all the poo rule.

must calculate the trade-off between dodging parasites and surviving another day. When you look at it this way

The use of antiseptics against germs took decades to catch on, whereas the use of anaesthetics took just months.

The Black death, a bubonic plague during the Middle ages caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, killed 30%-60%of Europeans (80%of people in the south of France and Spain) and reduced global population from 450 million to around 350 million.

and numerous food-borne disease outbreaks caused by microbes such as salmonella, E coli strain 0157, toxoplasma and listeria.

Consumers the world over now demand to know where their food comes from and how it is produced.

and their leaf litter feeds the acidic soils that nurture networks of microorganisms, such as nitrogen-fixing bacteria,

Indeed, architects are already proposing that microorganisms may power our cities. For example, Alberto Estevez's Genetic Barcelona proposes using synthetic biology techniques

In the near future our buildings may also be grown by industrial-strength microorganisms. Some of these may form the basis of self-healing materials such as, Henk Jonkers'biocrete,

where bacteria are mixed into traditional cement and form solid plugs when activated by water that seeps in from fine cracks in the material.

Larsson's plan involves harnessing the metabolic powers of a sand-particle-fixing species of bacteria to produce sandstone

the value of harnessing the transformational powers of communities of microorganisms, called bioprocessing, is being realised in wastewater gardens.

These may be thought of as bacterial cities within our own, which are fed with and transform our waste organic matter into useful substances.

Why parasites may be good for youjim Turk initially put his symptoms down to stress. The self-described health nut who was in training to run marathons suddenly found himself unable to jog for more than a couple of minutes before coming to a gasping, staggering halt.

if the parasites alleviated any of their symptoms or slowed the spread of telltale brain and spine lesions."

 For the next three months, he and four others visited the lab every two weeks to swallow doses of 2, 500 parasite eggs.

as parasites came to mind. Hygiene does wonderful things, he realised, but there's always a price for change.

and a shift away from farming lifestyles decreased our contact with soil, faeces and contaminated food where bacteria and parasites like helminths live.

The rise in allergies and inflammatory diseases may not necessarily be caused by a general lack of microbes in hygienic environments,

One of those organisms could be the wormlike parasite. Many of our human ancestors would have been infected with helminths,

but also had significantly different gut microbes post-infection. He is currently enrolling ulcerative colitis patients to repeat the experiment in humans.

or safety issues that go along with administering live parasites. Hotez and others including Weinstock's group are working on identifying the molecules responsible for the effects of treatment with worms

Given that bladder infections are one of the most common bacterial infections we face, some women keep a carton of cranberry juice in the fridge at all times, just in case.

which are thought to prevent bacteria from sticking to the wall of the bladder. Apple and grape juice and dark chocolate also contain proanthocyanidins,

or crop parasites) by minimising their investment in farming inputs. As a consequence, farmers remain trapped in a cycle of low agricultural productivity and poverty.

Oh, and the waters are teeming with the dangerous parasite Toxoplasmosa gondii. Doting otter parents do their best to keep juveniles from venturing into the triangle of death,

On the horizon, perhaps, are modified genetically versions of symbiotic bacteria that live in the insect's gut,

including Wolbachia, which may be exploited for pest management. Or, the bugs'pheromones, which tell them where to go

A human disease that comes from wildlife, probably from a subgroup known as RNA VIRUSES. They're highly adaptable, jump species,

Their answers to the second have focused on zoonoses, particularly RNA VIRUSES. The prospect of a new viral pandemic, for these sober professionals, looms large.

He'd contracted bacterial meningitis and fallen into a coma in which state he'd experienced visions of intense beauty.

The mortician who carefully embalms the recently deceased may have a great deal more in common than he realises with the chimpanzee who painstakingly removes parasites from her dead infant.

because nitrogen is also a superb fertiliser of algae and bacteria. Fertiliser pollution in lakes and the ocean causes massive blooms of algae,

the bacteria grows to a point where it just goes bad. He then stops and chuckles, admitting he never really expected to know so much,

Microorganisms, for example, can degrade our waste, but not at a rate that matches our production.

the life force or germs now found in the heart of the corn, in the kernel of wheat,

a disintegration that is assisted by microorganisms, insects and lichen. This organic matter decays, feeding more organisms, including, in time, plants.

which bacteria break down the waste. The methane gas produced by the bacteria is used then to fuel cooking stoves,

and the decomposed manure can be spread on the fields as fertiliser. Another way of getting nitrates into the soil is to introduce the few organisms that can create it for you oe so-called'nitrogen-fixers,

'which includes plants like legumes that contain in their root systems bacteria that can make nitrates from the air.

and attracts microorganisms, worms and insects, which help maintain soil fertility and provide ecosystem services.

However, this is not the only way of increasing photosynthesis. Scientists are also exploring the idea that genes from the ancestors of modern-day plants might boost the ability of crops to harness the sun. It is well known that primitive plants known as cyanobacteria have a talent

they achieved a 20%increase in tobacco plants after adding a single cyanobacteria gene called inorganic carbon transporter B (Ictb.

which has been engineered with genes from daffodils and bacteria to produce beta-carotene, a nutrient that the body can convert into Vitamin a.

The city of Alphen aan den Rijn ordered the study five years ago after officials found unexplained abnormalities on trees that couldnt be ascribed to a virus or bacterial infection.

drug targets to control deadly bacteria for which there are currently no effective treatments, she said.

It is likely that the gene transfer was mediated by a parasite or a pathogen. The debate over genetically modified organisms (GMOS) is heated.

The most plausible explanation is that the gene was transmitted by a parasite or pathogen, such as a virus, perhaps with the help of a sap-sucking insect, says Professor Bengtsson.

shelter from the elements and few to no challenges with parasites, Martin said. oethese conditions are great to get at the details of how hosts are dealing with parasites at the molecular and cellular level,

but theyre not representative of natural conditions and may bias our understanding of immune functions.

#Tips on How to Germ-Proof Your Kitchen From Scary Foodborne Illnesses Most people cant help

This summers huge egg recall was the latest reminder that we do battle against dangerous pathogens like E coli and salmonella in our kitchens every day.

and cooking routines after she became ill with E coli that she and her doctors thought she got from bagged lettuce.

I keep a little hydrogen peroxide on my sink to wash down surfaces where any dangerous germs could lurk.

but still cost-conscious, ways to germ-proof your kitchen. USE PASTEURIZED EGGS If you are not willing to give up soft-boiled eggs

oepasteurized eggs are the easiest way to deal with the risk said Dr. Michael Doyle with the Center for Food safety at the University of Georgia. Pasteurized eggs are heated in the shell to kill harmful bacteria

so you dont transfer bacteria from the knife or peeler to the part you are going to eat.

LEARN TO LOVE WELL DONE Cooking thoroughly is the best way to eliminate harmful bacteria from meats and poultry.

it has nothing to do with bacteria and other pathogens. This became especially apparent in 2006,

when some organic growers were involved in the recall of E coli-tainted spinach. On the other hand there is something reassuring about buying from a small organic farmer at a local stand or farmers market,

see or taste the bacteria that causes illness. Keep in mind this advice from the Center for Science in the Public interest:

which people had died from food-borne illnesses such as e coli and CJD. But today Health Secretary Andrew Lansley will unveil a long-awaited white paper containing plans to abolish it as part of a bonfire of quangos.

Sweden, worked with an international team of researchers to generate the novel microorganism. She said,

and bacteria it is possible to make a relatively inefficient transgenic strain that can ferment pentose sugars.

Scientists are still working to determine the exact cause of CCD theories range from parasites to viruses

or bacteria to pesticides but none of these have yet been agreed upon as the reason for this astounding decline The number of managed honeybee colonies in the US fell by 33.8%last winter,

#Corn smut Revolting Fungus That Could Make You Younger and Healthier oethe devils corn This looks like an alien parasite,

the oxygen is picked easily off by bacteria, which speeds up the process of decomposition, breaking the chemical bonds

said Bonitz. oeand that would increase the bacteria and fungi activities in the final product.

They live in symbiosis with bacteria that pass from one generation to the next, producing essential amino acids. Aphids with the same genotype can be winged wingless

life forms from bacteria to whales is wrong. Apparently, the mysterious oe3/4 law of metabolism proposed by Max Kleiber in 1932,

explained theoretically in Science in 1997 and described in a 2000 essay in Nature as oeextended to all life forms from bacteria to whales is just plain wrong. oeactually,

Over the next decades, hundreds of animals resting metabolisms were measured or estimated, from microbes to whales.

A multibillion-dollar bailout and Wall street s swift, subsequent reinstatement of gargantuan bonuses have inspired a narrative of parasitic bankers

and identify whether malarial parasites are present. In October 2011, Ford demonstrated three SYNC apps offering in-car health monitoring for drivers to track chronic conditions such as diabetes, asthma and hay fever.

which experts suspect is caused by a combination of mites, parasites, viruses and pesticides. Bumblebees are having problems, too.

#Dr Yang and his colleagues have developed a technique for inserting human genes into Asian rice using bacteria,

because of the germs they might contain. Surviving on insects when you cant cook them is one thing;

#but they say likely culprits include pathogens, parasites, environmental strains and bee management practices that cause poor nutrition.

However, a tiny parasitic wasp from Asia known as a Trissolcus wasp#a bug smaller than a gnat#is showing promise as a possible biological control.

and parasites, study author Hughes noted. That means the fungi are locked often into one type of host#specialization that might spell doom for fungi species as host species die out.

It works by using ultraviolet light to sterilise the bacteria which cause the offensive odors in footwear.

but that their device, called Sterishoe, will kill 99.9 per cent of bacteria in just 45 minutes.

The Sterishoe shoe sanitiser is clinically proven to destroy microorganisms in shoes using ultraviolet light. It is recommended by doctors as a chemical-free method to kill bacteria in shoes, reducing shoe odor and risk of infection from athletes foot.

The device can be inserted into your footwear as you would a normal shoe tree and a simple press of a button starts a 45-minute treatment cycle.

After 45 minutes up to 99.9 per cent of the harmful microbes that can cause offensive shoe odor are destroyed.

#which is used commonly as a modern disinfectant in hospitals, dental surgeries, public swimming pools and other water treatment systems#to neutralise the bacteria.

operates at wavelengths that spark chemical reactions in germs, neutralising them and making them non-threatening.

The need for better traceability became clear after a national outbreak of salmonella illness in spring 2008 that sickened more than 1, 300 people across the country.

and died when they were exposed to H5n1 bird flu, they didnt transmit the virus to other chickens they came into contact with.

H5n1 bird flu has been circulating in Asia and the Middle east, with occasional outbreaks in Europe, since 2003 and has killed

said this week it was raising its bird flu alert level after detecting H5n1 bird flu at poultry farms.

they infected 10 of them and 10 normal chickens with H5n1 bird flu. Like the normal chickens, the transgenic birds became sick with the virus,

bacteria and other pathogens known to reduce crop yields, which normally force farmers to apply costly pesticides.

blamed on many factors including parasites, fungi, stress, pesticides and viruses. But most studies have focused on honeybees.

and other tests implicate a parasite called Nosema bombi, Cameron said. This is a wake-up call that bumblebee species are declining not only in Europe

Mr. Sechler swears by the concoction as a way to fight off bacterial diseases that plague meat

#bacteria that are impervious to one or more antibiotics. Those bacteria can be passed on to consumers,

who eat meat infected with them and then cannot be treated. In November, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and 25 national health organizations and advocacy groups issued a statement on antibiotics that

#In 2011, there were several prominent recalls involving bacterial strains that are resistant to antibiotics, including more than 60 million pounds of ground beef contaminated withsalmonella Typhimurium

and about 36 million pounds of ground turkey spoiled with salmonella Heidelberg. Consumer Reports released a study last month that found the bacteria Yersinia enterocolitica in 69 percent of 198 pork chop

and ground pork samples bought at stores around the country. Some of the bacteria were resistant to one or more antibiotics.

Analysis of Food and Drug Administration data by the Center for Science in the Public interest found that 80 percent of all antibiotics sold in the United states are used in animals.

In the late 1990s, Bayer conducted trials on the product, known as Ropadiar in Europe, comparing its ability to control diarrhea in piglets caused by E coli with that of four of the company s products.

found it was effective in controlling the parasites and worms that afflict goats and sheep.

studied the effectiveness of oregano oil on 18 mice infected with staph bacteria. Six mice were given oregano oil,

Mr. Ruth and Mr. Sechler warned that using oregano oil to control bacterial infection also requires maintaining high standards of sanitation in barns where animals are sheltered,

It sits empty for two to three weeks to allow bacteria to die off and to ensure that the rodents that carry salmonella

and campylobacter are eliminated. You can t just replace antibiotics with oregano oil and expect it to work,

#Mr. Sechler said. Photo credit: Y5 Blogging Via New york times Share Thissubscribedel. icio. usfacebookredditstumbleupontechnorati N

#Five technologies IBM predicts will be possible in the next 5 years What if a computer could let us feel#the texture of a fabric before we buy clothes online?

cold beer. 2. Pasteurization/sterilization Useful for the prevention of bacterial contamination in food, particularly milk. 3. Canning Developed in the early 19th century,

More formally, the conversion of carbohydrates to alcohols and carbon dioxide or organic acids using yeasts, bacteria,

Nor were they any less likely to be contaminated by dangerous bacteria like E coli. The researchers also found no obvious health advantages to organic meats.

Organic chicken and pork were less likely to be contaminated by antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Those are the big motivators for the organic consumer,

#Similarly, organic meat contained considerably lower levels of antibiotic-resistant bacteria than conventionally raised animals did,

but bacteria, antibiotic-resistant or otherwise, would be killed during cooking. Dr. Bravata agreed that people bought organic food for a variety of reasons#concerns about the effects of pesticides on young children,

the environmental impact of large-scale conventional farming and the potential public health threat if antibiotic-resistant bacterial genes jumped to human pathogens.

when it detects bacteria associated with plaque buildup, cavities or infection. It could also notify your dentist,

the researchers have used already it to identify bacteria in saliva associated with stomach ulcers and cancers.

and turn a color#orange, say, for E coli. Then you could knock it out with a stronger disinfectant. 27.

Honey bee colonies infected with pathogenic bacteria did not bring in significantly more propolis #despite the fact that the propolis also has antibacterial properties.

In fact, many common bacteria (such as Salmonella, Campylobacter, Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), and E coli) have developed a resistance to available antibiotics.

In the end, the new corporate structure of our food system has cheapened our diets in a way the world has seen never.

a botanist at the University of Glasgow who has been doing research on bacterial photosynthesis for more than 30 years.

That s the way biochemical turbochargers work in algae and cyanobacteria. Griffiths and his colleagues are looking at ways to create similar micro-compartments for higher plants.

Jones said filaments found on the surface of many bacterial species, known as pili, could be adapted for this purpose.

or nanowired bacteria, or turbocharged rice, all these researchers believe that coming up with a better way to turn sunlight into energy is a crucial challenge for the next generation.

#Parasitic flies attack honeybees turning them into zombies Zombie#fly parasite causing decline of honeybee population.

and potentially devastating parasitic fly that has been taking over the bodies of honeybees (Apis mellifera) in Northern California.

That this parasite hasn t previously been reported as a honeybee killer came as a surprise

if this has been a long-term parasite of honeybees, we would have noticed.##The team found evidence of the fly in 77 percent of the hives they sampled in the Bay Area of California,

#And with the discovery that this parasitic fly has been quietly killing bees in at least three areas,

Parasitic fly larva emerging from a dead bee s neck. Courtesy of John Hafernik The parasitic fly lays eggs in a bee s abdomen.

Several days later, the parasitized bee bumbles out of the hives often at night on a solo mission to nowhere.

#Read about other parasites that turn their hosts into zombies in the article Zombie Creatures.#

and their larvae curiously also contained genetic traces of Nosema ceranae, another parasite, as well as a virus that leads to deformed wings which had already been implicated in colony collapse disorder.

If the parasitic fly is just starting to infect honeybee populations, this could be an important move,

Additionally Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea virus, or PED, is taking down piglets in 15 states. And as of now, there s no vaccine in the US just yet.

when a parasite is detected in water; goats with spider genes that produce super-strength silk in their milk;

and synthetic bacteria that decompose trash and break down oil spills and other contaminated waste at a rapid pace.

and helping conduct research on how to rewrite the metabolic pathways of microorganisms to produce useful substances.

including bacteria, fungi, insects, and plants. Galas s team detected the same specific rice mirna that Zhang had dubbed mir-168

if you have a bacterial or viral infection. It can vary from clear to yellow to green with a variety of illnesses.

Actually they will rot given the right conditions#water and warmth for the microbes that break the food down.

and numerous food-borne disease outbreaks caused by microbes such as salmonella, E coli strain 0157, toxoplasma and listeria.

Consumers the world over now demand to know where their food comes from and how it is produced.

Researchers from UCLA now have the first evidence that bacteria ingested in food can affect brain function in humans.

They found that women who regularly consumed beneficial bacteria known as probiotics through yogurt showed altered brain function,

The discovery that changing the bacterial environment, or microbiota, in the gut can affect the brain carries significant implications for future research that could point the way toward dietary

one group ate a specific yogurt containing a mix of several probiotics#bacteria thought to have a positive effect on the intestines#twice a day for four weeks;

#The UCLA researchers are seeking to pinpoint particular chemicals produced by gut bacteria that may be triggering the signals to the brain.

a soya bean equipped with a bacterial gene that allows it to tolerate a Monsanto-made glyphosphate herbicide known as Roundup.

germ-killing cleanliness of the developed world may actually be making us more prone to getting sick

(and presumably more germs) were less likely to have allergies and eczema. Since then the theory has been cited as a possible explanation for everything from multiple sclerosis to hay fever and autism.

They rely on early encounters with germs to learn how to protect our bodies.##oebacteria, fungi, lots of these things we think of as bad#they re all part of our environment,

Through exposure to these microbes early in life, your immune system learns what s harmful and

If your body learns that a specific microbe or substance#any antigen, or visitor to the body#is a foe,

or if it doesn t include the right microbes. The immune system can become overly sensitive,

changing a population s exposure to microbes#by protecting them from parasitic diseases, for example#can make asthma rates rise.

and the microbes that come with them; they were more likely to drink raw milk, which contains microbes not found in pasteurized milk;

and they tended to have more siblings at home. Because each of these factors has been associated with reduced risk of allergies and related diseases,

Parasites and disease-causing microbes have shown also a protective effect, but again it s not clear

which microbes are doing the protecting. A 2007 study that compared genetically related children living in Finland

and who more frequently showed antibodies to the Hepatitis a virus, H. pylori bacteria and other microbes associated with poor hygiene practices#were far less likely to have allergies.

The findings made it clear that microbial infections and environmental differences were conferring an advantage,

#or a parasite#to keep allergies at bay? Probably not, says Barnes: Modern hygiene saves lives

But we may want to rethink our relationship with germs, she says.##oeknowing what I know about the hygiene hypothesis,

We eat a lot of yogurt for the beneficial bacterial cultures it provides.##Zasloff goes even further.

Bacteria that uses a tiny molecular machine to kill attacking viruses could change the way that scientists edit the DNA of plants,

and the engineering of energy-producing microbes, #says Luciano Marraffini of Rockefeller University. The biotech revolution that created drugs like EPO for anemia

The ability to make modular changes in the DNA of bacteria and primitive algae has resulted in drug and biofuel companies such as Amyris and LS9.

The bacteria used to culture milk are particularly prone to becoming infected with viruses that kill them, lowering productivity.

For decades, researchers had realized that bacteria had strange, repeating patterns of DNA sequence scattered throughout their DNA, known as clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR).

The bacteria were keeping track of telltale bits of genetic code from viruses that might try to infect them,

Horvath recognized that this knowledge could be used to create bacteria that were more resistant to infection,

somehow the bacteria had the ability to target specific bits of genetic code. If scientists could harness that,

Horvath and Barrangou s paper set off a race to figure out what the bacteria s mysterious secret weapon was.

they found that the bacteria combined Cas9 with genetic material to create#oehoming molecules#that attack viruses.

Bacteria, like human beings and almost every other living thing, keeps its genetic code in a library of DNA molecules.

the bacteria that live on and in the animals adapt and develop resistance to those bacteria killers.

Pew crunched another new set of data, the FDA s latest release of results from its National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System,

and subjects them to testing for bacterial pathogens. Again the results are sobering. Here a a few highlights pointed to by Pew in an email:#¢

#¢Of the Salmonella on ground turkey, about 78%were resistant to at least one antibiotic and half of the bacteria were resistant to three or more.

These figures are compared up to 2010.#¢#¢Nearly three-quarters of the Salmonella found on retail chicken breast were resistant to at least one antibiotic.

About 12%of retail chicken breast and ground turkey samples were contaminated with Salmonella.#¢#¢Resistance to tetracycline an antibiotic is up among Campylobacter on retail chicken.

About 95%of chicken products were contaminated with Campylobacter, and nearly half of those bacteria were resistant to tetracyclines.

This reflects an increase over last year and 2002. Takeaway: While the FDA dithers with voluntary approaches to regulation, the meat industry is feasting on antibiotics

and sending out product tainted with antibiotic-resistant bugs. Photo credit: TRAP The Real Art of Protest Via Mother Jones Share Thissubscribedel. icio. usfacebookredditstumbleupontechnorati

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