In this amazing video, Tom Kirchhausen, PhD, a Harvard Medical School professor of cell biology, shows how tiny protein-bubbles form to carry cargo, such as …
Category: Cellular & Microbiology
Examining the role internal fungi play in our health
As we've reported previously on Scope, cutting-edge techniques and cost-effective methods of rapidly sequencing entire genomes of bacteria and viruses are helping researchers better understand …
Cultivating the human microbiome
In a sense, our body is not our own. Microbes living in and around us outnumber our own human cells ten to one. A review …
Contemplating how our human microbiome influences personal health
As previously reported on Scope, researchers at Stanford and elsewhere are engaged in ongoing efforts to determine how microscopic ecosystems that exist in the human …
Tiny wonders: Small World in Motion competition winners bring microscopic activity to life
Yesterday, Nikon Instruments announced the winners of its inaugural Small World in Motion Photomicrography Competition. From a selection of more than 200 submissions, judges deemed …
Video: "Seven Wonders of the Microbe World"
This neat little documentary from Open University catalogs seven "wonders" of the microbe world, from the making of beer to what caused the Black Death …
Stanford researchers investigate using E.coli to generate biodiesel
Does the basic catalytic engine in E. coli have enough horsepower to convert inexpensive sugars into biodiesel? That's the question posed by Stanford researchers investigating …
A social networking service for digestive health?
As we've previously written about on Scope, microbe hunters are using a host of new technologies to discern the origin of specific diseases and gain …
A look at how building design may affect our health
From office buildings to shopping malls to our homes, we spend a significant about of time in structures with controlled environments. Noting how much time …
Researchers identify caffeine-feeding bacterium
Some days it can feel as if you subsist on caffeine. But, sadly, you're no competition for a newly discovered caffeine-feeding bacterium called Pseudomonas putida …
Study shows intestinal microbes may fall into three distinct categories
You may have read yesterday about new research (subscription required) suggesting there are three distinct types of microscopic ecosystems that exist in the human intestine. …
Study says stress may alter intestinal ecosystem, immune response
Stress can make your heart race, palms sweat and voice crack. But it also may alter the balance of the microorganisms living in your gut, …
Eat a germ, fight an allergy
Anybody who's ever picked up an M&M off the sidewalk and popped it into his or her mouth (and, really, who among us hasn't?) will …
Stanford researchers examine microbial communities of the mouth
You may not think about it often, but your mouth is a neighborhood of sorts: every surface is alive with microorganisms that are moving, competing, …
New York Times explores our amazing microbes
In case you haven't seen it, The New York Times ran a fascinating article today on the key role microbes play in keeping us healthy. …
Bacterial balance in gut tied to colon cancer risk
It’s a fact that has opened many a press release: The human body is made of more bacterial cells than human ones. (The ratio by …