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Entomologists Launch 5,000 Insect Genome Project (i5k) | Entomological Society of America (ESA) Entomologists Launch 5,000 Insect Genome Project (i5k) Lanham, MD; June 15, 2011 – It’s been called “the Manhattan Project of Entomology,” an undertaking that has the potential to revolutionize the way we think about insects. The i5k Initiative, also known as the…
The latest news is that the German outbreak strain of Escherichia coli is a member of small family of germs called EAEC that includes an African member (Ec55989 ). This family is clearly distinct from classical EHEC (=STEC) bacteria such as E. coli O157:H7. The Pundit will now start calling them EAEC/STEC recombinant or hybrid…
Written by Matt DiLeo I just went to the new “What’s Cooking, Uncle Sam?” exhibit at the National Archives. It tells the history of the government’s role in U.S. food and agriculture – a story of market protectionism, social engineering and the regulated tension between the aspirations of business and the demands of the people…
For a more recent updated post on this topic go here. Kat Holt, the super-geek pathological-genome breaker at U. Melbourne (who works upstairs from the Pundit, in a room full of expensive computers and a lovely view of sheep) is at it again. She’s found gene rearrangements in the German EAEC outbreak germ. She reports her work…
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”(George Santayana). (Here’s *a reminder* for those who have forgotten or do not know.) Main lessons to be taken from this short history: The type of food label needed here ?- from Bill Marler Bean and various other seed sprouts are the suspects. Humans can carry and…
In 1975 right at the start of the genetic engineering era, all of the genetic behaviour of gut germs that explains the evolution of the HUS German outbreak strain of E. coli was well established [by about 1957, years before genetic engineering in laboratories was ever used]. Evolution of new virulence capabilities in bacteria were clearly…
…[The German outbreak bacteria form fimbriae [pili].” Fimbriae are small tentacles that help EAEC bacteria stick to the intestinal wall. This could lead to a stronger colonization of the gut and more toxin being released into the body. Speed matters: Scientists Rush to Study Genome of Lethal E. coli …an armada of scientists around the…
STEC/EHEC outbreak – horizontally transferred genes « bacpathgenomics: “STEC/EHEC outbreak – horizontally transferred genes” Kat Holt has produced a fantastic visual presentation of the family tree of the German disease causing E. coli EHEC/EAEC/STEC germ. The Pundit won’t spoil her story with too much comment: In the German outbreak bacteria, as in most E. coli,…
Updated 9/06/2011 The mists of uncertainty are starting to clear in Germany, after much waxing and waning over the last few days. To find the culprit good detective work on what people eat and where they eat has been essential. Sprouts have been added to the lists of suspect foods which included cucumbers and tomatoes….
