Website of the Day!

I was taking a bacteria-related break, and I came across a website with various microbial descriptions and drawings!

http://adoptamicrobe.blogspot.com/

Aren't they just precious?

Those of you who have seen the so-called giant microbes (if you haven't, go to giantmicrobes.com) should understand my love for Yersinia Pestis... it is just adorable! The adoptamicrobe site has one as well:

Still a favourite :) Some people are just so creative!

An Article A Day

As I was researching, I found a really interesting article that suggested bacterial communication could lead to a change in Earth's climate. The article can be found at:

http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-10-bacterial-affect-earth-climate.html

I might revisit this idea later on, when I examine the effects of bacterial communication on the environment.

This article assumes that global warming is caused by increased levels of carbon dioxide; this may or may not be true. In order to confirm this, I may do some extra research, or find someone else who is doing a project on global warming and share my findings with him or her.

While on the subject of working with another person, Aditya is studying bioluminescence, and he will be getting some water containing dinoflagellates from Puerto Rico! When he experiments with/studies these, I will be able to investigate further on this kind of bacteria, and incorporate some of his investigation in my research. His ISP blog is http://myintrepidadventures.blogspot.com/.

The Beginning of Life

Sorry I haven’t posted in so long… I keep track of my progress in a journal, and I have all my research and reflections in there. The course this blog will take is based on my journal and more generalized reflections. Occasionally, I may post a poem or short story I have written, inspired by my research.

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Though my project covers a large topic, I have decided that my main goal is to explore specific areas of bacteria: communication between bacterial cells and how bacterial cells carry out the information received through these communications. So far, I have done some background research on bacteria in general (their structure, functions, and interactions) to gain a feel for the field I am exploring.

The structure of bacteria is important to the cell communications, as one of the emergent properties in species is how structure fits function; the physical requirements of certain bacteria determine where they can thrive. The gene exchange between different kinds of bacteria also gives insight on the development of strains that can resist current antibiotics.

Though the structure of bacteria is the most practical place to start, I believe it is necessary to study the history of bacteria as well, to gain a better understanding of what seem to be the simplest creatures on earth, yet are so diverse and impactful. Though it seems impossible to discover a fossil of a bacterium, there are fossil records that extend to about 2.5 billion years ago! Though difficult to obtain, fossil records for certain bacteria exist, and it would be interesting to look through some. It is also fascinating that bacteria can survive in such a diverse plane of environments; studying the habitats of bacteria will also be incorporated into my project.

As I was researching, I began to appreciate bacteria more and more; beneficial bacteria as well as harmful bacteria surround us, and practically create the environment we are in. Without them, it would be impossible to live a normal life. As a result, this blog will be a guide to what I hope everyone can achieve through studying the wonders of bacteria: bacterial appreciation.