Tag: microbes

Impact Lab > microbes
Analysis, Birth, Health & Fitness, New Discoveries, Science & Technology News

How a breast milk antibody plays an important role in infant gut development

breastfeeding

Breastfeeding is an important strategy to ensure a healthy balance of good bacteria in an infant’s gut.

 Babies have legions of microbes that set up shop in their guts, skin, and more right from birth. These microbes are vital. They help the growing human to digest its food, and to keep harmful microbes away. They are so important that newborns temporarily suppress their own immune system to give their microbial partners a chance to establish themselves.

 

 

Continue reading… “How a breast milk antibody plays an important role in infant gut development”

0
Analysis, Big Problems, Health & Fitness, Latest Trend, Science & Technology News

CDC warns “we will soon be in a post-antibiotic era”

For some patients and for some microbes, we are already in the post-antibiotic era.

The Centers for Disease Control, in a highly unusual new report, warned that America is threatened by a wave of new antibiotic-proof germs that could threaten public health, and that overuse of antibiotics in health care and industrial agriculture bears much of the blame.

 

 

Continue reading… “CDC warns “we will soon be in a post-antibiotic era””

0
Analysis, Health & Fitness, Science & Technology News

What creatures are living on your smartphone?

graph

A graph charts the relative proportions of different types of bacteria on shoes (odd-numbered columns) and cell phones (even-numbered columns).

There are whole communities of microbes living on your cell phone and your shoes.  The microbes are as distinctive as the germs on your fingers and in your mouth.

Continue reading… “What creatures are living on your smartphone?”

0
government, Report, Science & Technology News

Presidential Commission: U.S. Government Urged to Take Caution with ‘Synthetic Biology’

synthetic-biology

Government needs to ensure laboratory-made microbes do not cause catastrophes.

The emerging field of “synthetic biology” holds great promise for producing new medicines, cleaning up the environment, and providing alternative energy sources and other benefits, but the U.S. government needs to take precautions to ensure that laboratory-made microbes do not cause unexpected catastrophes, the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues has concluded in its first report.

 

Continue reading… “Presidential Commission: U.S. Government Urged to Take Caution with ‘Synthetic Biology’”

0
Analysis, Big Problems, Breakthrough Thinking, Crazy Photos, Crazy Stuff, Internet, Latest News, Science & Technology News

Bacteria Are More Capable of Complex Decision-Making Than Thought

100114143310-large

E. coli culture.

It’s not thinking in the way humans, dogs or even birds think, but new findings from researchers at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, show that bacteria are more capable of complex decision-making than previously known.

Continue reading… “Bacteria Are More Capable of Complex Decision-Making Than Thought”

0
Breakthrough Thinking, Ecological Products, New Discoveries, Science & Technology News

Scientists Developing A Better Microbe For Biofuel

glow_x220

Scientists are engineering Rhodococcus bacteria to boost production of lipids, which can be converted into biodiesel.

While most attempts to engineer biofuel-producing microbes have focused on well-known organisms such as yeasts and E. coli, scientists also hope to co-opt the unique metabolic functions of some of the microbial world’s less-studied creatures. Anthony Sinskey and his team at MIT have been cataloguing the genomic secrets of Rhodococcus bacteria, soil-dwelling microbes known to eat a variety of toxic compounds. The goal is to make a biodiesel-producing organism that can use a variety of sources as fuel. “We have done a lot of the basic chemistry and biology,” says Sinskey. “Now we need to figure out how to maximize yields.”

 

Continue reading… “Scientists Developing A Better Microbe For Biofuel”

0
Breakthrough Thinking, Green Friendly, Nanotechnology, Science & Technology News

How Microbes Can Fuel America In The Future

How Microbes Can Fuel America In The Future 

Scientists Use Tiny Organisms to Create Fuel, Viruses to Make Batteries

For millenniums, microbes have been a staunch technological ally. They have leavened our bread and cured our cheeses. Now, engineers are asking them to convert carbon dioxide into fuel and to build a new generation of batteries. Some of the smallest life forms with which we share the planet are helping us cope with the energy challenges of the 21st century.

Continue reading… “How Microbes Can Fuel America In The Future”

0