![]() ![]() coli bacteria in the intestines neutralize acid by producing an alkaline, foul-smelling substance called cadaverine.Į. When you take antibiotics to kill pathogenic bacteria, the antibiotics often also kill friendly bacteria, resulting in diarrhea.Į. In fact, most of the bacteria in your colon are non-pathogenic. coli inhabit the human colon and most strains of E. coli bacteria in the intestines neutralize acid by DiscoveryĮscherichia coli bacteria was discovered by the German-Austrian pediatrician Theodor Escherich. When you take antibiotics to kill pathogenic bacteria, the antibiotics often also kill friendly bacteria, resulting in diarrhea. ![]() We learn how E coli microbes talk to each other, how studies of their evolution represent the most powerful evidence in support of natural selection, and how they might just explain life on other planets.moreĮscherichia coli bacteria was discovered by the German-Austrian pediatrician Theodor Escherich. Most of us might only know E coli for its lethal strain that causes food poisoning, but Zimmer uses E coli as a prism to understand what life is, what it was, and what it will become. Since then, a bacterium that was once nothing more than a humble resident of the human gut has become our best guide to what it means to be alive. Not only had Lederberg proved that bacteria have sex, he had also proved they have genes. The only possible explanation for their survival was that they were a product of sex. But slowly, a few colonies of survivors began to spread accross the dishes. His experiments used defective E coli strains lacking the essential molecules to reproduce by cloning which should, by rights, perish in the petri dish. He chose to observe the breeding habits of a certain bacterium called Escherichia coli, better known as E coli. The 'few things' Lederberg discovered would revolutionise modern science and earn him a Nobel Prize. At the age of seven, he had declared that he hoped to become 'like Einstein' and to 'discover a few things in science.' Lederberg was motivated not by a displaced libido, but by scientific ambition. At the age of seven, he had declared that he hoped to become 'like Einstein' and to 'discover a few things in science.' The 'few things' Lederberg discovered would revolutioni In 1946, a twenty-year-old medical school student called Joshua Lederberg decided to find out whether microbes make love. 179–198.In 1946, a twenty-year-old medical school student called Joshua Lederberg decided to find out whether microbes make love. “Origins of the Genetic Code: The Escaped Triplet Theory”, Annual Review of Biochemistry 74 (2005), pp. “Extensive Mosaic Structure Revealed by the Complete Genome Sequence of Uropathogenic Escherichia coli”, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 99 (2002), pp. “A Core Gut Microbiome in Obese and Lean Twins”, Nature 457 (2008), pp. “Systematic Evolution of Ligands by Exponential Enrichment: RNA Ligands to Bacteriophage T4 DNA Polymerase”, Science 249 (1990), pp. Cycles of Contingency: Developmental Systems and Evolution (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2001). Kaper, “Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli Contains a Putative Type III Secretion System Necessary for the Export of Proteins Involved in Attaching and Effacing Lesion Formation”, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 92 (1995), pp. Werren, “Widespread Lateral Gene Transfer from Intracellular Bacteria to Multicellular Eukaryotes”, Science 317 (2007), pp. Mendel in the Kitchen: A Scientist’s View of Genetically Modified Foods (Washington, DC: Joseph Henry Press, 2004). Relman “Diversity of the Human Intestinal Microbial Flora”, Science 308 (2005), pp. “A Rugged Free Energy Landscape Separates Multiple Functional RNA Folds Throughout Denaturation”, Nucleic Acids Research 36 (2008) pp. ![]() ![]() “Historical Contingency and the Evolution of a Key Innovation in an Experimental Population of Escherichia coli”, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 105 (2008), pp. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |