In the Company of Microbes: Ten Years of Small Things Considered

ISBN-13: 9781555819590 / Angielski / Miękka / 2016 / 320 str.

Moselio Schaechter

Opis

A look at the amazing, groovy world of microbes With more than 1,000 posts and 2 million views, the esteemed blog Small Things Considered has been sparking the imagination of microbiologists for an entire decade. Throughout the years, Elio Schaechter and his team of dedicated bloggers have shared exciting, unexpected, and unusual stories from the microbial world. In the Company of Microbes is a carefully selected treasure chest of wise, amusing, and even profound statements about the ubiquity and relevance of the microbial world. Schaechter, past ASM Presidents, and distinguished microbiologists from around the globe reflect on personal, sometimes historic interactions with microbes and unexpected discoveries, each essay conveying the excitement and sense of surprise that microbiology holds for them. This is the reason that Small Things Considered is a scientific and social media phenomenon that has impacted scientists at every stage of their careers and shared the magical of microbes with world. Join Schaechter in discovering a never-ending pageant of astounding variations on the theme of microbial life. Enjoy

Spis treści

Contributors xIntroduction xiPreface xiiiAcknowledgments xvWhat Do We Mean by a Talmudic Question? xviPart 1: The View from Here1 Of Ancient Curses, Microbes, and the ASM 3Bonnie L. Bassler2 On the Evolution of the Genetic Code 6Charles Yanofsky3 Microbes Touch Everything 8Tim Donohue4 Getting a Handle on Cell Organization 11Franklin M. Harold5 The Age of Imaging 16Elio6 Bacillus subtilis: Wild and Tame 19Richard Losick7 The Tyranny of Phylogeny: An Exhortation 22Elio8 Virus in the Room 24Welkin Johnson9 Feynman Said "Just Look at the Thing!" 27Jan Spitzer10 Self-Assembly For Me 34Elio11 On the Definition of Prokaryotes 37Nanne Nanninga12 The Microbial Nature of Humans 42Maureen O'Malley13 Good Writing Beats Bad Writing, Most Any Day 47Elio14 Finally, Farewell to "Stamp Collecting" 52Christoph WeigelPart 2: Accounts of the Past15 Esther Lederberg: Pioneer of Bacterial Genetics 59Mercé Piqueras16 How Proteomics Got Started 66Fred Neidhardt17 Did van Leeuwenhoek Observe Yeast Cells in 1680? 72Nanne Nanninga18 The Louse and the Vaccine 76Elio19 The Ten-Minute Leeuwenhoek Microscope 80Patrick Keeling20 Microbiology in the Andes: Ancient and Unexpected 84Elio21 Dr. Rous's Prize-Winning Chicken 87Welkin Johnson22 The Two Quantitative Steps in the Biology Growth Curve 90Elio23 A Tale of Centenarians 93Claudio Schazzocchio24 A Failed Experiment 99Elio25 "Microbe Hunters" by Paul DeKruif: A Major Force in Microbiological History 104Elio26 Fecal Transplants in the "Good Old Days" 106Stanley Falkow27 Requiem for a Machine 110Elio28 Mad Dogs and Microbiologists 113William C. Summers29 Joshua Lederberg and the "Cellularity" of Bacteria 118ElioPart 3: Small Wonders30 Where Art Thou, O Nucleoid? 123Conrad Woldringh31 Teaching E. coli to Endocytose 126Elio32 The Awesomest Thing in Biology 130Elio33 Let's Not Forget Acetabularia 134Elio34 The Fastest Flights in Nature 139Elio35 Fungal Alchemy: Using Radiation as a Source of Energy 141Elio36 Arms and the Fungus 143Elio37 Bacterial Hopanoids: The Lipids That Last Forever 146Elio38 A Bacterium Learns Long Division 150Nanne Nanninga39 Commuting to Work 153ElioPart 4: On Being a Microbiologist40 Directed Science, Curiosity-Driven Science, and Striking the Balanc 159Jeff F. Miller41 The Gender Bias of Science Faculty 163Vincent Racaniello42 The Excitement of Clinical Microbiology 166Elio43 The Bacterial Chromosome: A Physical Biologist's Apology. A Perspective 171Suckjoon Jun44 Whose Planet is It Anyway? 177Elio45 If Microbes Could Tweet 181Daniel P. Haeusser46 State Microbes 183Elio47 Recalling the Good in the Good Old Days 187Elio48 The Attendee's Guide to Scientific Meetings 189Julian DaviesPart 5: Personal Notes49 The Encyclopedia and I 195Elio50 The Guild 198Elio51 The Magasanik Paradox 200ElioPart 6: The Ways of Microbes52 The Parvome 205Julian Davies53 The World is Pleiotropic 208Elio54 Constructing a Synthetic Mycoplasma 211Shmuel Razin55 By Chance and Necessity:The Role of the Cytoskeleton in the Genesis of Eukaryotes 214Daniel P. Haeusser56 The Gram Stain: Its Persistence and Its Quirks 221Elio57 On the Continuity of Biological Membranes 226Franklin M. Harold58 Energetics of the Eukaryotic Edge 223Franklin M. Harold59 The Road to Microbial Endocrinology 238Mark Lyte60 Begetting the Eukarya: An Unexpected Light 244Franklin M. Harold61 The Higgs Boson and Biology 253Elio62 The Power of Fungal Genetics: Cassava for Food Security and Sustainability in Colombia 257Chris Condaya, Peter Geoghan63 Why is It So Hard to Make an HIV Vaccine? 259John Coffin64 Measuring Up 263Jamie HenzyPart 7: Teaching Things65 On Teaching 267Stanley Falkow66 Hello Again, Metabolism! 271Amy Cheng Vollmer67 Why Medical Microbiology is Not Like Stamp Collecting 273Elio68 Where Mathematicians and Biologists Meet 278Joe Mahaffy69 Short Courses for Long-Term Learning 282Phoebe Lostroh70 Preaching to a Prokaryotic Choir 284Mark Martin71 "The Great Plate Count Anomaly" That is No More 288Gemma RegueraTalmudic Question #73 291List of Contributors to Small Things Considered 292