Bacteria
Decloaking the germ
The bacterium Listeria infects humans through contaminated food. Once in the gut, this pathogen can be life-threatening if contracted during pregnancy or by newborns and those with weakened immune systems.
But for most people, an encounter with Listeria causes nothing more than vomiting and diarrhoea because our immune system recognises the
long, propeller-like projections on the bacterial [...]
Arsenic-munching bacteria found
In the warm, bubbling pools of Mono Lake in California, scientists have isolated a bacterium that fuels itself on arsenic. Combining light and arsenic, these bacteria make their food and multiply using a chemical that is toxic to most other life forms.
The researchers think using arsenic as an energy source was a [...]
© 2009 Jennifer Carpenter. 
