Every two weeks, I grow a new batch of yogurt, pouring warm milk into my “incubator” and 10 hours later, scooping out the thickened concoction that becomes my yogurt and granola breakfast. In the fridge, sits a small jar of sourdough starter, lying dormant until I revive it again with some flour and water. As…
By Vilhelmiina Haavisto When you think of pollination, you probably think of bees and butterflies flocking to colorful and delightfully scented flowers, transporting pollen from one to another in exchange for a sugary nectar reward. However, there is more to this picture than meets the eye — especially as the third party cannot be seen…
Spooky season is here! While we associate Halloween with ghost stories, haunted houses, zombies, and trick-or-treating, the microbial world contains many eerie, microscopic (and macroscopic) tales. This Halloween, we bring you seven tales of microbial spookiness. (1) Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus, the vampire bacteria Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus has many names such as the vampire bacterium or the predatory…
When you’re scouring the pumpkin patch this autumn for the perfect pumpkin for your carving creations, you likely won’t come across Styrian pumpkins. These pumpkins are known as “naked-seeded pumpkins” because they possess seeds that are encased by just a thin membrane rather than a shell. The Styrian pumpkins were bred in the late 1800s…
The best season is upon us. The time of vibrant foliage, pumpkins, apples… and all the microbes that come with that. When it comes to the intersection of food and microbiology, we typically think of fermented foods (ex: sourdough, yogurt, kombucha, etc.). But plants naturally have their own microbes associated with them too. Today, we’ll…