By Ananya Sen A straight walk from India to the Arctic is approximately 4,000 miles. The trip includes the hot and humid climate of India, the temperate and dry climate of central Europe, and finally the rugged and frozen tundra of Svalbard in the Arctic Circle. Imagine embarking on this adventure as a gene. Seem…
I clearly remember my high school science teacher running across the room with a pressure cooker in hand making a beeline to the sink. After some sizzling when cold water hits its hot surface, my teacher finally opened it. What were we up to? Making agar plates of course! Years later, research published in PLoS…
What started off as an unexpected find in the 1800s could now have big implications for climate. Captain John Ross, a British Royal Navy officer and Polar explorer, embarked on his first polar expedition in 1818. The goal? To find the Northwest Passage, a way to the Pacific Ocean from the Atlantic by crossing the…
As 2018 reaches its last hours, we reflect on the past year and set goals for the upcoming year. At The Microbial Menagerie, the last year showcased a menagerie of microbes in all sorts of environments: within zombie worms in the depth of the ocean, within sourdough starters all over the world, and within sap-feeding…
If you’re a microbiologist, the acronym HGT may have you thinking about horizontal gene transfer, the transfer of genes between microbes. But during the months of November and December, HGT takes on a different meaning: holiday gift transfer. As part of the annual #SecretSerratia holiday gift exchange, pairs of microbiologists exchange gifts, usually science and…