Skip to content

PhageDude's blog

Mosaicism: The World of Horizontal Gene Transfer (Part 1)

May 9, 2008

Commonly, gene transfer is thought of as a vertical line from parent to offspring, along which all evolutionary traits are passed. However, as we began delving into genomic sequences, we found that this may not be true and that the lines between "species," especially on the microbial level, are quite fuzzy.

Where the Wild Microbes Are: A New Theory on How Pathogens Survive Food Processing

May 6, 2008

Produce borne diseases have recently been gracing the front pages of our media. Our spinach has E. coli, our onions have Hepatitis A virus and E. coli, our strawberries have Listeria, and our tomatoes and peanut butter have Salmonella. Not to mention the countless tons of ground beef tainted with pathogenic E. coli.

The Definition of Life; and, Taxonomy as We Know It

April 15, 2008

In order to make sense of our surroundings, we, as humans, constantly group things into discrete catagories--states of matter, times of day, types of clothes, etc.

Myxoma Virus: From Rabbits to Cancer

April 15, 2008

More than half a million individuals in the US died in 2004 from cancer and more than 10.8 million Americans are living with the disease.(CDC 2008) The number of cancer deaths each year continues to decline, due to advances in medical technologies. With the advent of a cervical cancer vaccine,Gardasil this number promises to continue to drop dramatically.



About us

Science Blog was started in August 2002. It lives, breathes and eats press releases from research organizations around the globe. Most of what you read here are press releases from the outfits named in the stories themselves. Got a news story you think belongs here? Let's talk. The other half of the equation is blog posts from readers like you. So if you have an interest in science, please register and join others like you in an ongoing, vibrant dialog about what makes the world tick. Meantime, please take a minute to read our Privacy Policy and Site Disclaimer.